City Belt

THE AGENDA: EXECUTIVE ORDER

For full calendar listings, check The Agenda. To have your event listed, please e-mail the editors.

THIS WEEK'S BEST BETS:

FRIDAY | 3.23.07

Art. The closing party for "True Character," a show of photography by JC's own Laos Fois, is at the Lex Leonard Gallery in JC at 7 pm.

Film. _gaia presents the documentary Until the Violence Stops -- about the growth of Eve Ensler's Vagina Monologues into a national movement and "V-Day" -- at Symposia Bookstore in Hoboken at 7 pm.

Theater. It's the last weekend for Art House Production's Camino Real over at Victory Hall in JC. Be sure to catch it tonight or tomorrow, both shows at 8 pm.

Concert. The early and late shows at Maxwell's are both worth your while...At 7:30 pm, Day Jobber and Ms.-I'm-featured-on-Weeds Jenny Owen Youngs opens for Jim Bianco. At 10 pm, the band named after everyone's favorite gay-or-not-gay weatherman, Sam Champion, opens for Ra Ra Riot and Thing One.

Concert. The Iron Monkey's got another solid Friday night bill tonight, with Water Under Water and 33rd Revolution -- that's at 10 pm.

Concert. Out in Montclair, for you EssexCo folks, there's an interesting show that is, from what I can understand, in the basement of a restaurant. There are six bands, including City Belt favorites Thunder Kids and Fun Machine. Rounding out the bill are Shape, GDP, Bully Mouth and PVD Nabil. The show's at a place called "8 Underground."
 

THE AGENDA: EXECUTIVE ORDER

For full calendar listings, check The Agenda. To have your event listed, please e-mail the editors.

FRIDAY | 2.23.07

Concert. New Brunswick: Sometimes it seems like the Screaming Females play every other week, but they're always worth checking out. Tonight they play an all-ages basement show at the Parlor in New Brunswick, with We Are The Seahorses, Real Life Time Machines, and Zebu. All starts at 6 pm.

Film. New Brunswick: Sure, there have been a rash of Iraq films in the past year or two, and they're all worth checking out -- but When I Came Home takes a really interesting and original angle on the Iraq Vet experience -- director Dan Lohaus examines the phenomenon of the homeless veteran, an oft-overlooked aspect of these "disposable heroes." Lohaus will be on-hand tonight at the New Jersey Film Festival to discuss the film at the 7 pm screening. 

THE AGENDA: EXECUTIVE ORDER

For full calendar listings, check The Agenda. To have your event listed, please e-mail the editors.

FRIDAY | 2.16.07

Art. Newark: Mi Puerto Rico: Master Painters of the Island opens today, following the very popular Masters of American Comics exhibit.

Film. New Brunswick: 2007 US Super 8 Film + Digital Video Festival. Playing tonight: Binta and the Great Idea, Frog Jesus, I Forgot My Name, Loaded: Drowning the Ego and more.

Concert. Hoboken: Last week, we told you what boy/girl does to pay the bills. This week, check them out at Maxwell’s, opening for Detroit’s the Dirtbombs, and the hipsteriffic Brooklyn kid-group Tiny Masters of Today.

Concert. New Brunswick: Two day jobbers with shows in one day – that’s a feat. double-breasted are at the Court Tavern, with Right Foot Running, Sad Punk, and Tunnels to Holland.

THE AGENDA: EXECUTIVE ORDER

For full calendar listings, check The Agenda. To have your event listed, please e-mail the editors.

FRIDAY | 1.26.07

Concert(s). After a little while of relative quiet, with shows seemingly scattered here and there, the Roadside Graves are gearing up for a new album release in April. They've got an EP, What Happened to Him Could Happen to Anyone, coming out Tuesday, and they're playing on two fantastic bills this weekend in New Brunswick. Tonight, they're playing a show put on by 90.3 FM at the Court Tavern, along with Where's Alaska?, Know Think,  and the Carpetbaggers -- New Brunswick bands, one and all. It all starts around 9/9:30 or so. Tomorrow night, they're part of a fantastic basement show at The Parlor, aka 233 Hamilton St. -- also on the bill are some of central Jersey's most interesting bands: Fun Machine, Calamity Menagerie, and Thunder Kids. This one starts up 'round 6/6:30. So you've got your pick -- Friday's bill is a little more straightforward indie rock, possibly a little mellower too (with the exception of the Carpetbaggers); Saturday's is artier, weirder, and will most definitely involve more analog synthesizers. It just goes to show how robust the indie scene in the Hub City and surrounding areas is these days.

THE AGENDA: EXECUTIVE ORDER (WILL BE BACK SOON)

We know, we know -- it''s been a while since the last Executive Order. It's not that there haven't been great shows, films, and cultural events going on around New Jersey. The problem has been that our old calendar hosting service decided to go all high-class and charge $100/month, so we spent the past month or so testing out new services -- we even tried, in vain, to build one ourselves. And we're almost done. We decided to go with the lovely computing behemoth known as Google. While we're still in the process of working out any kinks and loading up the rest of the listings, there's definitely some stuff to check out this week, including a couple of shows at the Iron Monkey in JC (Friday and Sunday), a film program and discussion on this summer's bombardment of Lebanon, also in JC (Saturday), a great art show opening at the Puffin Cultural Forum in Teaneck (Sunday), and countless other shows, films, and art events. So be sure to check The Agenda, and we'll be back in full force with the Executive Order next week, if all goes according to plan.

THE AGENDA: EXECUTIVE ORDER

For full calendar listings, check The Agenda. To have your event listed, please e-mail the editors.

FRIDAY | 12.1.06

Arts. It's once again time for JC Fridays, the day-long arts happening in downtown Jersey City. You can check their site for a complete set of listings, but we'll briefly touch on a few highlights. All day long at Janam Tea, there will be a "50 Under $50" sale, featuring small works for sale from local artists. Sounds like holiday shopping time? As they say on the TeeVee, "the price is nice." If you're down in Newport, Kim's is screening short films by James Broughton, the Californian avant-garde filmmaker from 1-10 pm. From 6-8 pm, Mana Fine Arts has an exhibit of black and white images that explore "themes of internal and external politics" -- and there will be live jazz from Bassoon in the Wild. All day long at the Brunswick Window, cut paper works from indie icon Jad Fair (ex-Half Japanese) will be on display. While you're up on that end of town, head over to Another Man's Treasure, where there's a 1960's Swinging London Cocktail Party with live music by the Black Hollies from 8-11 pm. A few doors down at the Residue Gallery, they're hosting their first-ever silent auction from 8-midnight. Down Columbus at the Lex Leonard Gallery, there's an opening party for "eLEmental, my dear, ELeMENtal,” by Karina from 7:30-8:30, followed by a spoken word performance featuring Dujuana Sharese,  Rico Steal, Beth Bentley and Mike Brown from 8:30 -11 pm. For late night options, check out the party at Rock Soup Studios, the Waterbug Hotel's Basement Soul party, or check out our next listing.

THE AGENDA: EXECUTIVE ORDER

For full calendar listings, check The Agenda. To have your event listed, please e-mail the editors.

FRIDAY | 11.24.06

Concert. The Hold Steady's lastest album, Boys and Girls in America, extends many of the band's trademark lyrical themes, like drugs, girls, parties, the Mississippi River, Minneapolis, and, of course, Charlemagne. The buzz that has steadily built around this band since 2004's Almost Killed Me is not misplaced -- these guys are a Rock band with a capital "R," and despite the backlash that is starting to unfold, and the just-a-tad-too-slick production of the new album, the Hold Steady are one of the best Big Rock bands around today. If you've got tickets to see them tonight at Maxwell's (a smaller venue than they've been playing recently), consider yourself lucky. If not, you might want to check the Craig, because it's sure to be a killer party ... er, show.

THE AGENDA: EXECUTIVE ORDER

This week, mostly because of the rapid approach of Thanksgiving, there's not much worth noting past Sunday. So there you have it. For full calendar listings, check The Agenda. To have your event listed, please e-mail the editors.

FRIDAY | 11.17.06
Concert. On first listen, I wrote OK Go off as yet another generic radio-ready power-pop band. After further investigation, though, I'd say one of those descriptors doesn't quite fit the bill: generic. The band reminds me of early Supergrass, the Cars, some Blur, and even a little bit of Weezer. You'll notice two brits there -- strangely, the group isn't from the other side of the pond at all, even though some songs sound like they must be of British blood. At other times, like on "Oh Lately It's So Quiet," they sound a lot like their opening band tonight, the French Kicks, with smooth, clean and slightly bittersweet modern indie-pop. They're both at the Starland Ballroom tonight, starting at 7 pm.

THE AGENDA: EXECUTIVE ORDER

For full calendar listings, check The Agenda. To have your event listed, please e-mail the editors.

FRIDAY | 11.10.06
Concert. Perhaps Boyz II Men really did say it best -- "we've come to the end of the road." Oh well, they probably weren't the first popsters or rockers to express such sentinments, you're right. No matter -- on with it. Tonight, New Brunswick's The Sunshine Will -- with none other than City Belt contributor Matt Hunger wielding the proverbial axe -- will play their last show ever. OK, maybe it's not a breakup on par with K-Fed and Spears, but it saddens nonetheless. Their dissonance, loathing, and noise -- and let's not forget their reverb -- will all be missed. Their sendoff is at New Brunswick's Southwest Burrito and features Philly's excellent Algebra of Need, Secret Photos, and Bubble/Gum. It all starts at 7 pm.

THE AGENDA: EXECUTIVE ORDER

For full calendar listings, check The Agenda. To have your event listed, please e-mail the editors.

Friday | 11.3.06
Concert. It’s CMJ time again, and NYC’s clubs are filled with music writers, bloggorific hipsters, industry types, and, of course, bands “on the cusp” – all just hoping that someone will take to their particular brand of indie rock. Over here in Jersey, where the shows aren’t as glamorous (or as perennially sold-out), Maxwell’s plays host to an amazing showcase tonight. City Belt contributor Tris McCall is being backed by members of the late Cropduster, he promises to “slay you” with “songs that explicitly thematize how royally screwed-up the ‘alternative’ music industry is.” As if that alone weren’t worth the cover, Asbury Park’s Rachel Zamsteen opens the show with her soul-inflected pop gems, the dark pop-rock of Della Valle -- the evening is rounded out by the Jersey power-pop of Readymade Breakup.