Tag Archives: dance party

Halloween Listings

I’m skipping ahead a bit this week and just laying out some of your options for the holiday, and what options there are!

For some family fun during the day, learn all about the ghosts of The Tenement Museum; costumed storytellers will be stationed throughout the museum and there will be cider, donuts and caramel apples!

Don’t forget the biggest annual Halloween event- the Halloween Parade! I always try to make it down there and I’ve also marched in the parade on several occasions. Here’s a pic of last year’s madness:

Halloween Parade 2008

The Annual Smack Fetish Ball will be full of people who wear latex far more often than once a year. Don’t be scared, they’re about as normal as the average New Yorker.

smack

Dances of Vice is throwing an Edward Gorey-themed bash, featuring

the murder ballads of special musical guests THE SCARRING PARTY, sensational crime scenes performed by resident rapscallions COMPANY XIV, fashions by that ruffled ruffian PUREVILE!, CORNELIUS performing on the theremin, and the musical pandemonium of Ben Ickies’ 24-piece chamber rock orchestra, THIS AMBITIOUS ORCHESTRA. Specialty cocktail menu presented by your charming bartender CHRX! Artists FYODOR PAVLOV and LAWRENCE GULLO will be offering hand-drawn Gorey portraits to our dwindling guests, photographer STEVEN ROSEN will be offering specialty antiquated portraits, and PUREVILE! and COR-LEONIS will be vending handmade jewelry, candles and accoutrements!

G and I may have to make a stop at “The Greatest Halloween Party Ever” since free pierogies are involved. Check out the trailer for more reasons to attend:

If you’re looking for a swinging Halloween, check out the battle of the bands at Grand Harmony Palace. George Gee and Jump Jivin’ Wailers will try to out-swing Lt. Jim and the Blue Saracens; be there or be square baby!

For a different sort of dancing, a bit later in the night, check out the Mile High dance party at Pianos– evil style!

evil mile high

For the hipsters who want to stay close to home (read: Williamsburg) there’s really only one party worth considering- The Last Masquerade:

Three vast spaces in the dark heart of Brooklyn have been re-imagined for this all-night adventure. Over three dozen artists and performers will infuse these forgotten structures with a pre-apocalyptic fairy-tale built on music, mischief and a heavy dose of the unexpected. First is “The Chapel”, a 114 year old brick and iron fortress with 26ft ceilings draped with art and intrigue; then “The Sanctuary”, with five areas of performance, lounges and dance floors spread across three floors; and finally “The Ever After” a beautifully warm loft and open air terrace with music and performance continuing past dawn.

For those of you willing to head a little deeper into Brooklyn, I invite you to join me at Gemini & Scorpio‘s Masquerade Macabre. I’ve been helping Miss Scorpio with some of the set-up and I can assure you this party is going to be phenomenal.

G&S Halloween

I’m going to stop there for fear of overwhelming you but The Village Voice has more comprehensive listings if none of those parties strike your fancy. Happy Halloween! Follow me on twitter for the party play by play!

Dumplings, Marshmallows and Floggers on a Boat

I’m still reeling from being hit in the head by one of Miss Saturn’s hula hoops (more on that later) but there are some events I simply must pass on!

First off, don’t forget about the Marshmallow Civil War I mentioned yesterday, and be sure to check out my review of The Jaguar Club if you want to see a concert tonight.

If you want to start dancing early today you’re in luck; New Release is throwing a ‘Mister Saturday Night Daytime Loft Party‘ starting at 3pm:

Bloody marys and mimosas are on the menu; our friend Fiore Tedesco from The Brooklyn Laundry is making egg tacos and other brunch snacks; and you can bring your little ones and your dogs. We love it when they come. Residents Justin Carter and Eamon Harkin will be laying down the disco, house and such; and our special guest is Moodymann, a Motor City legend. We’ve heard him drop everything from boogie to grime to techno, but no matter what he plays it’s always super funky and super fun.

If you want less dancing and more eating this afternoon you should check out the Dumpling Festival! There will be hundreds of dumplings from around the world so if you missed the Dumpling Crawl I wrote about recently this is your chance to make up for it!

Tonight you can take Halloween to a new level by setting sail on a fetish cruise. When the Baroness is involved you’d better believe the play stations will be HOT. Note: Do not go on this cruise if you will be uncomfortable viewing and/or participating in public flogging, suspension and latex fashion shows.

fetish cruise

For a more literary Saturday night you can celebrate the opening of another independent bookstore in Brooklyn- The Greenlight Bookstore!

The long-awaited 2,000-square-foot space has everything literati (and wannabes) could want, including a huge kids’ section, French and Spanish editions, graphic novels galore, and tons of NY-centric titles.

Tonight is also the Zombiecon! If you feel confident in your ability to drink beer with a fake knife sticking out of your throat, then this is the event for you!

For more fun on boats this weekend you can clamor aboard the Steamship Lilac on Sunday to experience Oktobership– the party comes complete with circus performers, theater troupes and live bands (talk about rocking the boat!)!

oktobership

If you’d rather stay on dry land head over to P.S.1 where they’re opening their fall exhibits in style:

Join us for an opening day celebration of four new exhibitions: 1969, a large-scale presentation of works produced in the year 1969 drawn from all of the collecting areas of The Museum of Modern Art; Robert Bergman: Selected Portraits, twenty-four gripping portraits of individuals the photographer captured during his travels through the American Rust Belt; Between Spaces, a group exhibition organized by the junior curatorial staff for the second time in P.S.1 history; and On-site 2: Chitra Ganesh, a vivid new wall installation by the Brooklyn-based artist in P.S.1’s lobby. Special DJ set by AJ Slim playing rare 1960s funk, soul, rock, afrobeat, and latin. Experience the Afterparty by MOS, winners of the 2009 Young Architects Program in the courtyard. On view through October 26.

That’s all for the moment; stay tuned for additions and follow me on twitter for the latest from The Big Red Apple!

Sailing the High Seas, a French Revolution Dance Party and much more Madness

This weekend I am truly overwhelmed by the number of events deserving consideration. First off, let me remind you to read my last post for some great suggestions for this evening! You might also be interested to know that I’ve been compiling a list of all the venues I’ve mentioned in The Big Red Apple; check it out HERE.

Dances of Vice is throwing a truly decadent bash Friday night; they’re calling it “The Importance of Being Wilde” in honor of Oscar Wilde. If Wilde was the original glamour queen then party host and glam rocker Michael T is his direct descendant; he’ll be performing along with exotic serpent-dancer NIKKI le VILLAIN and other exciting guests.

Oscar Wilde

If you want to go further back you can head to Glasslands for a French Revolution themed “performance dance party.” I believe the flier says it all:

Cut-it-off

ALSO on Friday, if you’re looking for something a bit more low-key, you can hang out at Madame X’s, where beautiful naked women will be reading aloud.

The concept is simple: Girls. Reading. Naked. On Friday, October 16 Pinchbottom Burlesque presents the New York City debut of Chicago’s hit nude literary salon, NAKED GIRLS READING. Created by Michelle L’Amour (America’s Got Talent, Burlesque Hall of Fame’s Miss Exotic World 2005), the evening is a celebration of beautiful women sharing the books they love … in the altogether. The East Coast Premiere is hosted by Pinchbottom’s own Nasty Canasta and will feature local burlesque celebrities Gal Friday, GiGi La Femme, Jo Boobs, Legs Malone, and Sapphire Jones — as well as a very special guest appearance by Michelle L’Amour herself — reading selections from their favorite banned books.

On Saturday head out to my part of Brooklyn (Kensington/Ditmas Park) for an Oktoberfest Pig Roast at one of my favorite bars- Sycamore, a bar and flower shop! There will be live music and just $25 gets you meat, sides and 2 beers!

Saturday evening celebrate the Clearwater Sloop’s triumphant return to Brooklyn! The 106-foot tall “Tall Ship” will be sailing to Redhook and you can still sign up to be on board! If you’d rather stay indoors you can join the celebration at the dock (southern end of Van Brunt St. in Red Hook, Brooklyn, behind Fairway) and then head round the corner to Sunny’s for mulled cider and bluegrass. The boat should be docking at 6pm; be on site to go on board for a tour of this wonderful classroom on the water!

That’s all for the moment; stay tuned for further announcements and follow me on Twitter for the latest updates from The Big Red Apple.

Behind Closed Doors and other Unlikely Adventures

Sometimes the best way to rediscover The Big Apple is to head into unknown territory. There are a number of ways to do that this week. First, if you’ve never been to Bed-Stuy this is the weekend to check it out; there will be all sorts of opportunities to see the neighborhood from the inside out including tours of historic brownstones and live performances by some of the hippest bands in the area- all part of Bed-Stuy Alive!

If you’re a gamer behind closed doors on Thursday it’s time to take it out in the open; Ethan Gilsdorf will be reading from his book “FANTASY FREAKS AND GAMING GEEKS: An Epic Quest for Reality Among Role Players, Online Gamers, and Other Dwellers of Imaginary Realms” at Solas as part of the St. Mark’s Bookshop Reading Series.

The book is an exploration and celebration of fantasy and gaming subcultures. On a quest that begins in his own geeky teenage past and ends in our online gaming future, former D&D addict Gilsdorf crisscrosses America, the world, and other worlds—from Boston to Wisconsin, France to New Zealand, and Planet Earth to Middle-earth to the realm of Aggramar. He asks game players and fantasy fans—old, young, male, female, able-bodied and disabled—what attracts them to fantasy worlds, and for what reasons. What he discovers is funny, poignant, and enlightening. The event begins with a “geek trivia contest” with prizes that tests the audience’s knowledge of all things Tolkien, Harry Potter, Dungeons & Dragons and more. Prizes will also be given to anyone arriving in costume as their favorite fantasy character or creature (elf, orc, warrior, wizard, Harry Potter, etc).

If you’re not a gamer behind closed doors perhaps you’re a secret fan of Italian Disco, if so you too can come out of the closet this Thursday! Brian Blackout will be spinning “Italian Disco, cheesy european disco, french house and Eurodance” at Trophy Bar for the new Euroflash dance party! Get out there and “shake your hips to the sound of mustachioed gentlemen plying arpeggiated basslines onto English vocals so badly butchered you can barely recognize them.”

Euroflash

If you don’t subscribe to NonsenseNYC you probably haven’t heard about the massive 10 year anniversary bash they’re throwing; buy your tickets NOW and thank me later. I will be in Boston visiting G and let me just say, if missing this party doesn’t prove how crazy in love with him I am then nothing else will.

This weekend you can literally peek behind (normally) closed doors; Open House New York opens up hundreds of private spaces to the public so you can discover the architectural treasures hidden behind the facades. Check out all the listings, read this article for a bit of advice on what to see and use this awesome Serious Eats feature to find a place to eat in-between tours! How trippy does this map of the sites look?

OHNY Sites 2009

I must really love that guy to be missing this, not to mention all the other events I’ll be sending your way in the next day or two- stay tuned! Plus follow me on twitter for real-time updates on the doings of The Big Red Apple.