Friday August 23

Location: Williamsburg, Brooklyn
Music: Born Cages
Show time: 8 PM
Venue: Knitting factory
Food: Fette Sau
Drink: Spuyten Duyvil
Accessory: Union Pool

NYC Alt rock band Born Cages are a band to look out for. They’ve already opened for Guns N’ Roses and have been played on major radio stations so you may want to keep your eyes on this band. If you’re feeling German BBQ, you can head over to Fette Sau (fat pig in German), where the owners of nearby bar Spuyten Duyvil have opened up this meat only restaurant serving up some of the best pork and beef in NYC. For drinks, Spuyten Duyvil is a beer lovers dream, with a selection from all over the world, friendly and knowledgeable bartenders and a neighborhood feel, it’s no wonder this place has been so successful. If you’re still ready for more, you must hit Union Pool, where there’s always a band playing, great DJs, and plenty of action.

Friday August 23

Location: Williamsburg, Brooklyn
Music: Eric Copeland (of Black Dice)
Show time: 8 PM
Venue: 285 Kent Ave
Food: Wild Ginger Pan-Asian Vegan Café
Drink: Teddy’s Bar & Grill
Miscellaneous: Verb Café

Catch Brooklyn experimental electronic artist Eric Copeland when he performs. Part of the band Black Dice, expect lot’s of craziness! Also on board are Regal Degal and Greatest Hits. For vegetarians and those not in the mood for meat, Wild Ginger Pan-Asian Vegan Café offers Pan-Asian cuisine in a relaxed earth-toned environment with a menu featuring veggies, tofu, seitan, and soy. The best thing about Teddy’s Bar & Grill is that it’s just got this great neighborhood vibe that’s warm and friendly, while also having a great menu of drinks and American bar food favorites like burgers, salads, sandwiches, and steak. A great place to get good coffee, take a seat, and watch the passing hipsters stroll by, Verb Café even has excellent sandwiches and baked goods to snack on before the show.

Saturday August 24

Location: Lower East Side, NYC
Music: Geographer
Show time: 8 PM
Venue: Bowery Ballroom
Food: San Loco
Drink: Max Fish
Miscellaneous: Sugar Sweet Sunshine

San Francisco indie rock outfit Geographer have put out two albums worth of acoustic mixed with electronic music that is catchy as hell and worth checking out. Also on board is opener GRMLN. At San Loco, the Mexican food is inexpensive, you can get a heaping amount of nachos for as little as $3.75, and telling by the heavy traffic, the place is doing just fine. What I like about Max Fish is that it’s a local bar for local artists. It’s walls play host monthly for art exhibitions, there’s a pool table in the back, and drinks aren’t pricey, like many new bars springing up in this neighborhood. For one of the best cupcakes in the city, Sugar Sweet Sunshine has 10 varieties, on top of cakes. Try the Sexy Red Velvet or the Bob, a yellow cupcake with chocolate almond buttercream.

Saturday August 24

Location: Union Square, NYC
Event: The Awesome 80s Prom
Show time: 8 PM
Venue: Webster Hall
Food: Thai Me Up Sandwich Bar
Drink: McSorley’s Old Ale House
Miscellaneous: Mudd Cafe

Relive the best and worst of coming of age in high school at The Awesome 80s Prom. This interactive show is part musical and full-on party as the audience gets to drink, dance and vote for the Prom King and Queen. For eats, check out Thai Me Up Sandwich Bar, a sandwich shop offering Thai sandwiches with 7 Steamed Fried Vegetables and a choice of chicken, veggie, tofu or beef on a baguette with 3 types of sauces for $7. One of the city’s oldest bars, at McSorley’s Old Ale House you can feel the history when you enter as memorabilia, since its beginnings in 1854, are all over the walls. Aside from it being a frat hangout nowadays, it’s worth the trip. You’ve seen that orange Mudd coffee truck parked on Astor Place and on various other streets, but check out their Mudd Cafe on East 9th for coffee and a healthy, vegan, and vegetarian menu.

Sunday August 25

Ellsworth Kelly. Chatham VI: Red Blue, 1971. Oil on canvas, two joined panels, 114 1/2 x 102 1/4 inches (290.8 x 259.7 cm). The Museum of Modern Art. Gift of Douglas S. Cramer Foundation, 1998. © 2013 Ellsworth Kelly

Location: Midtown East, NYC
Art: Ellsworth Kelly: Chatham Series
Show time: See website for schedule; Through September 8, 2013
Venue: MOMA
Food: Eatery
Drink: Valhalla
Miscellaneous: Central Park

In celebration of Ellsworth Kelly’s 90th birthday in May 2013, The Museum of Modern Art presents an exhibition of the first series of paintings the artist made after leaving New York City for Spencertown, in upstate New York, in 1970. The studio he rented in the nearby town of Chatham, in a building that had once been a theater, was more spacious than any he had previously occupied. After working there for a year, Kelly embarked on a series of 14 paintings that would become the Chatham Series. Each work takes the form of an inverted ell, and is made of two joined canvases, each canvas a monochrome of a different color. Nearby and delicious, Eatery offers a new American menu that’s asian influenced. Try the Red Curry Chicken Breast over roti pancake, with baby carrots and red curry coconut sauce ($16.95). Valhalla’s minimalist space is chill, letting the 24 brands of beer from all over the world on tap be the main attraction at this bar. While its warm out, waste a little time walking through Central Park, relax, and get out of the hustle and bustle of the city. Just watch your step. The working horses tend to leave surprises behind them!