Metroland

10 Fun Things . . . Today

Julie Fowlis' Music of the Scottish Isles at the Troy Savings Bank Music Hall.

Cathy Rigby in Peter Pan at Proctors.

The Mystery of Edwin Drood at the Theatre Institute at Sage.

The Dirty Projectors at Skidmore College.

There are a couple of single tickets left for Amy Schumer at the Egg.

Drop by Tierra Coffee Roasters on Delaware Ave, have a cuppa joe and look at the art.

The United States of Autism screening/Q&A event at the GE Theatre.

Woodstock road trip for the opening of Photography Now at the Center for Photography at Woodstock.

See film fest fave The Sapphires at the Spectrum.

And that GI JOE sequel is still in theaters and Laura Leon says it's fun.

Friday, Jan. 21st: Ellen Sinopoli Dance Company

Two decades is something to celebrate. To mark their 20th season tomorrow (Friday) evening, the Egg-based Ellen Sinopoli Dance Company will debut two works they’re promising will be filled with “sensuous, dramatic, sassy and engaging choreography.”

The two new works are Blue(s), set to the music of Leroy Jenkins, Otis Taylor, Michelle Shocked and Muddy Waters, and Into Dark Moods, set to “Pottery Shards” by Turkish composer Münir Bekin. Selchie, a popular work in the Sinopoli portfolio based on the Celtic myth of the seal people, will complete the program.

The Ellen Sinopoli Dance Company will perform tonight (Friday, Jan. 21) at 8 PM at the Egg (Empire State Plaza, Albany). Ellen Sinopoli will offer a “prelude talk” at 7:15 PM. Tickets are $24, $20 seniors, and $12 children. For more info, visit theegg.org or call the box office at 473-1845.

Tonight at the Egg, Dec. 4: The Roches

The Roches

The Egg, Saturday, 8 PM

The family that sings together stays together—for more than 50 years, in the case of the Roche sisters. The trio who went from backing Paul Simon to being produced by Robert Fripp in the 1970s, helped keep folk music alive through the ’80s. And after taking a decade off to pursue other projects, they’ve been back at it strong for the latter end of the ’00s. We take special note of this Saturday’s performance as it is a holiday-themed affair; surely their sweet harmonies will sound ever more sweet attached to the songs of the season. (Dec. 4, 8 PM, $29.50, Empire State Plaza, Albany, 473-1845)

 

Mountain Man tonight!

I can not reccomend this show more highly. It borders on civic duty for me to make this blog post. I caught Mountain Man at Wilco's Solid Sound festival this summer, after binging on their album Made the Harbor all spring, and it was one of the most moving musical experiences I've had in recent memory. They'll be appearing at the Sanctuary for Independent Media in Troy tonight as part of the Riot Grrrl Weekend (although their stuff isn't really riot grrrl-ie), along with author Sara Marcus. Show's at 7.

Mountain Man "Honeybee" for Yours Truly [part 2 of 3] from Yours Truly on Vimeo.

Night & Day: Vienna Vegetable Orchestra at Proctors

 

Vienna Vegetable Orchestra

When we think of Vienna and music, we must confess we’re stuck in the glorious past. Well, actually, two glorious pasts: the gilt-edged genius of Johann Strauss and son’s waltzes and mazurkas, and the thorny-but-glorious 12-tone compositions of Arnold Schoenberg and Alban Berg.

But something entirely new is coming from Austria to delight American music lovers, and it’s certified organic: the Vienna Vegetable Orchestra. Their genre-hopping, contemporary sounds are created on carrot flutes, pumpkin basses, leek violins and cucumberophones. Each instrument is specially made for each performance; preparation time ranges from zero minutes (for “tomato”) to over half an hour (for the “carrot recorder”).

Sampling assorted offerings on their website, we judge these musical vegetarians to be witty, compelling and entertaining.

The Vienna Vegetable Orchestra will perform Wednesday (Nov. 3) at 8 PM on the mainstage at Proctors (432 State St., Schenectady). Tickets are $10-$20 adults, $5-$10 for those age 17 and under. For more info, visit proctors.org or call 346-6204.

Rest Fest Video

Here's a cool video the B3nson clan put together to whet your appetite for this weekend's Restoration Festival. Two days, 16 bands, $15.

Rest Fest Promo from Machine Should Be Productions on Vimeo.

Restoration Festival

St. Joseph's Church (38 Ten Broeck St., Albany) has been getting a lot of love lately, and for good reason: The defunct Catholic sanctuary is one of the most spectacular buildings in Albany, not to mention one of the coolest art/music spaces around. Following last month's art extravaganza HEAVY comes the Restoration Festival, a two-day music festival featuring a huge selection of local bands. If you can't read the fine print on the poster, the lineup includes Sgt. Dunbar and the Hobo Banned, We Are Jeneric, Matthew Carefully, Railbird, Beware! The Other Head of Science, Scientific Maps, Swamp Baby, RESTYS, Alta Mira, The Red Lions, Aficionado, Grain Belt, El Duke, Que Caro, Barons in the Attic, Goodship, LMNOPF, and the Mathematicians. Whew!

It's this weekend (Aug. 28 and 29) for the low low price of $15/day or $20/weekend. Best of all, 25% of proceeds go to Albany Historic Society's St. Joseph's Restoration Fund. Tickets are available through the Web site, or at Last Vestige and the River Street Beat Shop.

Rock to Rebuild

It's pretty amazing how quickly this community has rallied around Tess Collins, whose bar and restaurant The Lark Tavern was gutted by a fire last Thursday. Lark Street business owners are scrambling to find work for her employees, and community members have pumped more than $20,000 into the Lark Tavern Fire Fund, set up by Bombers owner Matt Baumgartner.

On Saturday, May 22, the Washington Park Lakehouse will be the venue for Rock to Rebuid, a benefit concert and art auction to help allay Tess' cost of reconstruction. The lineup has yet to be announced, but tickets will be $10.

To volunteer, please send an e-mail to [email protected]. To donate art and items to the auction, e-mail Jasen Von Guiness: [email protected].

(Also) Also Noted

Just got last-minute word of this event coming up on Sunday (5/9). The biweekly artists brunch at the Contemporary Artists Center (71 Mill St., Troy) will feature an interactive electronic installation by CasperElectronics (Pete Edwards and Kate Sweater). The event runs from 10:30 AM to noon, and helps raise money for local and incoming artists. Not exactly sure what the installation is all about, but word is it involves karaoke machines (likely altered) and Barbie.

Other Things To Do

Here are 3 things to do.

Monday night, you can check out AIDS Wolf at Valentine's.

From now through Feb. 24 (2008), You can check out Cast Images: American Bronze Sculpture from the Metropolitan Museum of Art at the New York State Museum.

(Paul Manship's Dancer and Gazelles, courtesy Metropolitan Museum of Art.)

Next Saturday and Sunday (Oct.27-28), you can take the kids to see Sleeping Beauty at Steamer No. 10 Theatre.

(The Wicked Fairy [Rebecca Boswell] knocks Beauty [Nicole Signore] into a 100-year-long nap. Photo by Joe Schuyler.)