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As previously stated I will be celebrating my grandmother’s 84th birthday tonight, but here are a few events I would otherwise be forced to choose between:
My friend B informs me that his friend Patrick Bower will be performing tonight at Zebulon in Williamsburg. This is sure to be a fun show and the venue sounds very exciting. According to The Brooklyn Rail it’s…
Run and staffed by musicians from around the world, the place is steeped in a multitude of music traditions—it’s not unusual to see Griot singer Baye Kouyate leave his place behind the bar to lend someone his talking drum.
For those of you who prefer dance to song, I direct you to the Joyce Theater for the opening of Evidence‘s annual New York season. Tonight’s piece Anna Kisselgoff described in her original review as “astounding, something to be sensed as well as seen.” Evidence fuses traditional African dance with contemporary imagery and spoken word; this is sure to be a powerful show.
Evidence Dance Company
As a third option, just to round things out, at BAM tonight you can be the first to see ‘Two Lovers,’a film about a man torn between the nice Jewish girl and the sexy girl next door. It’s directed by James Gray, who will be on hand afterwards for a Q&A. Sadly the actors, Joaquin Phoenix, Gwyneth Paltrow and Vinessa Shaw, will not present.
Have a great night everyone and if you do go to one of these events be sure to send me feedback!
NOTE: The Big Red Apple is now TheBigRedApple.net
To view this post at its new location click HERE!
Apparently yesterday was a very stressful start of the week for a number of you and I had a harder time than I expected finding someone to come along to Mercury with me. In the end I recruited my friend A with the added complication that she has a friend visiting who she wanted to bring along. So I go down to Mercury Lounge to find out if I can get a third ticket. The glum troll at the door tells me there are no “tickets” and I cannot have my hand stamped and return; they have a “no reentry policy.” She says there “might be” tickets still available at 10:00 when Nous Non Plus comes on. I pout. I cajole. I reason with the troll, all to no avail.
A+1 arrives and we wander around the LES to find a place to eat. We end up at ‘inoteca, which is owned by the same people who own ‘ino in the W.Village. I’m going to state for the record that I vastly prefer ‘ino; it’s a better value, more creative, and has more of a neighborhood feel.
At any rate, we munched on over-priced salads and panini and then marched back to Mercury to confront the troll once again. Now she tells me she won’t know if she has an extra ticket “until the last band [Nous Non Plus] hits the stage, which of course totally blows because it means I can’t see any of the opening acts and have an hour to kill. I do a bit more pouting and then the three of us walk down to Pianos to have a few drinks.
Pianos has very positive connotations for me; I saw some of my first concerts in NYC there and I feel like the atmosphere is generally cheerful. We were approached by this very random group of guys, one of whom decided to tell each of us what profession we were suited for. I am apparently destined to be a professional badass. If anyone has advice on how to pursue that goal do let me know!
Finally we end up being given the privelege of purchasing a third ticket and find our way into the back of Mercury to see Nous Non Plus. Luckily they were really awesome and totally worth the nonsense, though I will probably avoid that venue in the future. They were bouncy and faux french and one of the girls was wearing a bodysuit and the other had on a top hat and opera gloves and I was altogether charmed. Here are two (sadly not very clear) pictures:
Nous Non Plus
Nous Non Plus
Here’s the music video for their first single from their new album, Menagerie:
I think it’s awesome that Americans are singing in French, such a cool parallel with all the French musicians singing in English. I’ll be keeping tabs on them!
The Big Red Apple 