THE AGENDA: EXECUTIVE ORDER

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Friday | 10.20.06
Opening. North Jersey turns into, as an imaginary press release might read, “a bustling hub for artists of all stripes” this weekend – that was pretty good, no? Anyway, Newark’s annual Open Doors Studio Tour is going on this weekend, with a studio crawl tonight from 5-9 pm. Be sure to check out the opening reception of what promises to be a great show at Gallery Aferro – it’s a re-curation of an exhibition first shown in 2004, then titled In the Country of Last Things. This year’s installment, In the Country of Last Things 4-Ever, is again “structured around notions of perception and reality in the urban setting,” with work by Eric Harvey Brown and Lori Baker, Maxmilian Goldfarb, Bradley Lucas Hyppa, Reuben Lorch-Miller, Sreshta Rit Premnath, Christian Marc Schmidt, and Pascual Sisto.

Concert. You may have heard the term “beard-folk” before – sure, it’s a ridiculous description, especially since the man it’s named after – Will Oldham – doesn’t even always keep that big ole beard of his. Anyway, somehow the term “beard-folk” caught on as a lazy way to describe folky artists who were intelligently deconstructing the genre while simultaneously paying great homage to its qualities. Maybe “beard-folk” has been replaced with the ever-popular “freak-folk” designation given to Devendra Banhart, et al – how am I supposed to know? I guess you could apply either to Texas native Jolie Holland, whose voice beautifully wavers in and out of sparse country-tinged arrangements on her album, Springtime Can Kill You. She’s at Maxwell’s tonight for an early show.

Opening & Concert. Yeah, so like I said before, it’s art central up here this weekend. Not only do we have the open studios thing going on in Newark, we’ve got the same in Jersey City. As an unofficial kick-off to the weekend’s festivities, 58 Gallery has an opening party -- I Rock Many Styles -- tonight. The show features the work of 13 different artists, as well as music performances by Trisomy X and Lismore. Be sure to check out the official listing of everything going on in Jersey City, there’s a ton of good stuff we can’t even get into here. We can’t just blather on forever now, can we?

Concert. You know, I still love Cyndi Lauper even though she allegedly gave a friend of mine an unprovoked dirty look. After all, dirty looks are just dirty looks. I mean, I still love Rainer Maria even though their guitarist gave me a very dirty look when he overheard me whining to a friend about how far away some club was, but I digress. Anywho, Lauper is more than “Girls Just Wanna Have Fun” and “True Colors,” though you can bet your bottom dollar she’ll break those out tonight at Bergen PAC. It’s just too bad she’s not touring with other 80s stars of the WWF – Captain Lou Albano, Rowdy Roddy Piper and the like.

Saturday | 10.21.06
Festival. As part of the Jersey City studio tour, today we’ve got the 4th Street Art & Music Festival, going all day – let’s hope it doesn’t rain. There will be a ton of bands, art, and a couple of fashion shows put on by Another Man’s Treasure vintage store. It’s all from 1 or so, until 10 pm, at the intersection of 4th St. and Newark Ave.

Concert. It’s hard to believe that Beck is still going strong. I saw him perform a handful of times in the mid-90s, and by 1996, I decided I’d had enough. His shows were spectacles, multimedia extravaganzas, or whatever you want to call them, but at that time, the act was all too apparent. Each show had the same moves, the same routinized spontaneity – it was disappointingly just like going to see any other pop star. Maybe that’s changed, and maybe Beck's current performance repertoire is more balanced and interesting. Me, I always remember him being at his best on the very small stage, acoustic guitar in hand, harmonica slung around his neck, playing songs from One Foot in the Grave and Stereopathetic Soul Manure. I doubt he breaks those jams out much at a big show like tonight’s at the Loew’s Theater in Jersey City, but you can keep your fingers crossed.

Film. As City Belt noted in a story this week, Delivered Vacant, a 14-year-old documentary, resonates with the Jersey City of today, and for that matter, with any city dealing with development, gentrification, and displacement. The screening, at Middle School 4, is a fundraiser for a good cause too, so drop the 5 bucks, check out the film and talk about it with the director and representatives from housing groups and the City Council.

Opening. OK, OK, OK – I know by this point you’re probably sick of hearing about events tied to studio tours. Or maybe you’re not. Either way, there’s one more show that definitely deserves a shout out here. Jersey City’s Bagua Juice has an opening tonight for The Visual HeART of Bagua, which features paintings and photography by Nyugen Smith, Joseph II, Malandela Zulu, Maria Rubio, Beth Achenbach and Reisha Williams. Also, to kick it all off, there’s music by guitarist Glen Coleman and percussionist Catherine Lombardi, and Matt Mango & band (Pat C & Estaban). It all gets started at 6 pm.

Sunday | 10.22.06
Discussion. If you haven’t made it out to the Newark Museum yet to check out the Masters of American Comics exhibit, today is the perfect day to take it in, and then head to the discussion “Heroes of American Comic Art” at 2:30 pm. Famed comic artist (and Pulitzer Prize winner) Jules Feiffer, writer Pete Hamill, and Jerry Robinson, the creator of the Joker and Robin characters, will participate in a panel discussion led by Jim Willse of the Star-Ledger.


Tuesday | 10.24.06
Concert. About a month ago, we reviewed “Today is Tonight” from Chicago’s The Changes – our verdict: well-crafted pop songs. Tonight they stop by Maxwell’s in the midst of a big tour, opening for Tally Hall, a bizarro pop band from Michigan that blends genres but ultimately doesn’t make that much of an impression, except for the thought that they’re perfect for a MTV dating show – the music, that is, not the band members.

Wednesday | 10.25.06
Concert. One of New Jersey’s most celebrated contemporary native sons continues tonight with a recent string of shows opening for much larger acts in large venues – Ted Leo, with his Pharmacists in tow, open a show tonight for the indie-pop darlings Death Cab for Cutie at New Brunswick’s State Theatre. Leo has been working on his debut record for Touch & Go after leaving Lookout!, and he’s sure to feature a lot of those new songs in his sets on this tour. Whether it’s worth the $27 price of admission is another story entirely, but if you’ve got the cash, it just might be.