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.

THE AGENDA: EXECUTIVE ORDER

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

Friday | 10.27.06
Comedy. "Ice cream flavors, what do you want, we've got 31, the flavor of the week, the flavor of the month, but political parties -- we're down to two, jeez. Sources of information, media companies down to five, banks, insurance companies, pharmaceuticals, chemical weapons, oil companies-used to be seven, down to three, pretty soon it's gonna be two. But if you're lookin' for a bagel or a fuckin' donut, hey, what do you want-pineapple supreme, hazelnut; we've got everything you want." George Carlin stops by Bergen PAC tonight for two shows -- it's sure to be a happy time.

THE AGENDA: EXECUTIVE ORDER

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

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.

THE AGENDA: EXECUTIVE ORDER

There’s definitely a lot on New Jersey's proverbial plate this week, and we couldn’t touch it all. Check The Agenda for full listings, which this week includes Peter Frampton, the Melvins, Gwar and Iron Maiden, just for starters. To have an event listed, e-mail the editors.

Friday | 10.13.06
Theater. New Jersey thankfully has a death penalty moratorium for now, while the legislature studies capital punishment -- a punishment that every other Western country just happens to have already ruled as barbaric. But, hey, the US is a country of individuals, right? We just love to march to our own drummer. The powerful play, The Exonerated, looks at the true stories of 12 people who were wrongfully convicted of murder and sentenced to death. And if you think an innocent person wouldn't be convicted in New Jersey, just ask Nate Walker of Newark, who served 12 years for a rape he didn't commit. The play is being performed tonight, and tomorrow night, at the First Congregational Church of Montclair, at 8 pm.

THE AGENDA: EXECUTIVE ORDER

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

Friday | 10.6.06
Film.
On August 22, 1971, 20 antiwar activists were arrested in a draft board office in Camden, New Jersey. As the similarities between the War in Iraq and the Vietnam War multiply by the day, come check out this film that is sure to inspire. The film is followed by a conversation with director, Anthiny Biacchino. This event is co-sponsored by the Teaneck Peace and Justice Coalition and is a benefit for the Teaneck National Guard Armory’s Family Assistance Food Pantry. The night starts at 7 pm at the Puffin Cultural Forum in Teaneck.

THE AGENDA: EXECUTIVE ORDER

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

Friday | 9.29.06
Concert.
It’s taken a few years, but Todd Abramson has finally brought a big rock show back to Jersey City. The last time the Maxwell’s honcho put on a show in JC, Bright Eyes successfully packed the Loew’s Jersey Theater. Tonight, Hoboken’s most famous rockers, Yo La Tengo, are playing at the same historic theater in Journal Square. They’ve got an amazing new album out, I Am Not Afraid Of You And I Will Beat Your Ass, but, as usual, you can expect the band to pull out lots of their old favorites and maybe throw in some classic covers as well. Why? opens, and the show starts at 7 pm. The PATH train runs all night, so don’t worry about getting stranded in the Square. It's not like it's Kansas, folks.

THE AGENDA: EXECUTIVE ORDER

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

Friday | 9.22.06
Film.
Industry people are always lamenting, “No one actually goes out to the movies anymore.” To me, this argument is like the “death of print” argument – it’s an age-old concern, somewhat driven by real developments, but mostly driven by irrationality. People still go to the movies, much like people still buy newspapers. Where was this going? Oh, right – speaking of movies, ahem, the historic Loew’s Jersey Theater in Jersey City is kicking off its fall schedule tonight and tomorrow with classic Hitchcock films – Rear Window at 8 pm tonight, and Rope (4:30 pm) and Vertigo (8 pm) tomorrow. They’re all great films, and the feeling you get watching anything inside such a gorgeous old theater is amazing.

THE AGENDA: EXECUTIVE ORDER

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

Friday | 9.15.06
Opening.
There’s been a vigorous discussion over the last decade or two in the museum world about how to attract new visitors and compete in a hypermediated environment without dumbing art down too much or losing the essence of what a museum means. Some museums have straddled this fine line between art and popular culture well, some not so well. And an exhibit is opening today at the Newark Museum, in conjunction with NYC’s The Jewish Museum, that looks at a true pop-cultural art form, and should prove to be wildly successful. “Masters of American Comics” will showcase 14 great American comic artists, with eight being shown in Newark and 6 on the Upper East Side. They include Charles Schultz, Milton Caniff, and George Harriman in Newark, and Will Eisner, R. Crumb, and Chris Ware in NYC. The exhibit will come down Jan. 27 of next year, so there’s some time – your best bet is to probably go to one of the fantastic panel discussions or film screenings planned and check out the rest of the show then.

THE AGENDA: EXECUTIVE ORDER

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

Friday | 9.8.06
Arts. JC Fridays offers so many events, it’d be a fool’s task to try to list them all here. But that won't stop me from running down some highlights: there will be excellent art on display at some of downtown Jersey City’s gallery spots, including The 58 Gallery, Mana Fine Arts, Residue Gallery and LITM. There will be short films at Janam Tea, a performance from Art House Productions at Bagua Juice, spoken word at the Lex Leonard Gallery, and a fashion show at World of Style Vintage. Be sure to check out late-night events at RockSoupStudios and the Keyhole Underground. You can sleep late on Saturday, right? Theoretically, this is an all-day event, but most stuff is happening as the evening starts.

THE AGENDA: EXECUTIVE ORDER

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

Friday | 9.1.06
Concert.
When I first heard Tyrannosaurus Dracula, who are apparently from Montclair, I figured they were just another knock-off coming on the heels of 70s stoner-metal throwbacks like Queens of the Stone Age. But after listening for a few songs, something dawned on me: not only do they dress the part, but these guys are heavy and brutal, excellent musicians, and I’ll betcha they’ll rock your head off live. They’re opening for The Dead Poets and Dan Maxwell & His Band tonight at the Loop Lounge in Passaic.

 

THE AGENDA: EXECUTIVE ORDER

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

The August doldrums continue this week – there just isn’t much going down. But September is right around the corner, so keep the dream alive.

Saturday | 8.26.06
Festival.
The 6th annual Jersey City LGBT Pride Festival, christened “Somewhere Over the Hudson,” closes out a week of Pride events around Jersey City. There’ll be political posturing – JC Mayor Healy, U.S. Sen. Menendez, and U.S. Rep. Sires all plan on stopping by – but the day will be more of a celebration than a lecture. There are too many performers scheduled to name here, but Jersey City Lesbian Gay Outreach, Inc. (JCLGO) promises to “transform Exchange Place into an open-air dance fest.” Ida Castro, who was the first Latina to chair the U.S. Equal Opportunity Commission, will be the keynote speaker. This all goes down all day, from noon to 8 pm, at Exchange Place on the Jersey City waterfront. When the festival is over, the official after-party is at the Cage in Hoboken, but if you’re looking for something a little different, check out the Drag Show at Jersey City’s newest hip artspace, the Project 001 Gallery.

THE AGENDA: EXECUTIVE ORDER

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

For each of the last few weeks, I’ve noticed something … it’s August. The dog days are keeping things at a pretty slow pace, so there isn’t much to write home about this upcoming week. That said, there are still a few gems.

Friday | 8.18.06
Concert.
The bill at New Brunswick’s Court Tavern tonight seems like it pairs some odd acts together at first. But after listening a little more carefully, the math-metal, post-hardcore of Rapid Cities, progressive art metal of Day Without Dawn, and the spacey indie rock of Delft all can be linked together, not only by their NJ roots, but by impeccable musicianship, tight songs, and original thinking about songwriting. All three of these bands are great, and they are playing with Estella, who I couldn’t track down through the internets, though I found a review of their CD that compared them to Godspeed! You Black Emperor, for what’s that worth. This all gets started at 9 pm at the Court.

THE AGENDA: EXECUTIVE ORDER

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

Friday | 8.11.06
Opening.
Jersey City’s Residue Gallery keeps it coming with what looks to be another great opening. Rachel Weidkam’s black-and-white woodcuts and paintings on burlap seem to document aspects of daily life, and they pop with texture. Chuck D will be spinning, and they’re hoping to open up the backyard. From 7-11 pm in downtown Jersey City.

THE AGENDA: EXECUTIVE ORDER

Friday | 8.4.06
Discussion.
If you followed – or attended -- the pro-immigrant rallies in April and May, you may be wondering what’s next for the movement that was so clearly brought to light with the biggest street protests since before the Iraq War began. Tonight, Nativo Lopez, one of the lead organizers of those protests, and the president of the Mexican American Political Organization, leads just such a discussion, “The Struggle for Immigrant Rights: Where Do We Go From Here?” The event is sponsored by the International Socialist Organization, Lazos America Unidos, Sacred Heart Parish and the Central Jersey Coalition Against Endless War, and is at Sacred Heart Church in New Brunswick, at 6:30 pm.

THE AGENDA: EXECUTIVE ORDER

Friday | 7.28.06
Comedy.
Does this guy look familiar to you? What if I told you that he was the carjack victim on the very last episode of Seinfeld? If that doesn’t help connect the dots, I guess it doesn’t really matter anyway. John Pinette was named Stand-Up Comedian of the Year in 1999, and he does a mean impression of the Chipmunks. Isn’t that enough of a reason to check out his act? He’s at the Stress Factory in New Brunswick through Sunday night.

THE AGENDA: EXECUTIVE ORDER

Friday | 7.21.06
Concert.
For lack of a better category, we’ve filed this as  “concert,” but knowing American Watercolor Movement, it’s sure to be a spectacle of sorts. American Watercolor Movement 1600, which features members of the Jersey City band plus a few guests, will play the live soundtrack to a 1920s film, Grass. They’re calling it SSARG, and they also want to clear up that the film is not, I repeat, not, the one about all those people smoking pot. SSARG is at Grace Church Van Vorst in Jersey City, at 8 pm. This one’s free so be sure not to miss it.

THE AGENDA: EXECUTIVE ORDER

Editor’s Note: Each Friday, we will share some highlights from our events calendar, to help plan your weekend and week ahead. This shalt be dubbed The Agenda: Executive Order.

Friday | 7.14.06

Opening. Nyugen E. Smith’s “Bundle House: Crisis Control” opens at Jersey City’s Residue Gallery. It’ll be interesting to see how Smith’s installation projects translate in the gallery space. DJ Chuck D will spin and refreshments will be served, from 7-11 pm.