Chic Fellows and Drug Trenches

Awesome show alert. Every now and then you see the lineup for a show and you think to yourself "there's not a single band on this that I only kinda want to see, cuz I wanna see them as much as I want to see Taco Bell Day become a nationally recognized holiday". I'm not alone on that Taco Bell Day thing, right? Anyway. This Friday we have one of those shows. Hop on the ol' reliable G train and come on out to Tommy's Tavern and catch Iron Chic, Fellow Project, Whiskey Trench and Go Sell Drugs. Cheap show, cheep beers, great bands. Win, win and win. Whiskey Trench is in town from Canada so best see em while they're stateside! Bring some dollas to snag some shwag from them too (its tough times for touring bands!) All bands also have amazing records available from the fine folks at Dead Broke Rekerds. Go buy the hell out of them, especially Iron Chic's new 'Shitty Rambo' 7 inch EP. It's good as hell.

Show details below...

Iron Chic
Fellow Project
Whiskey Trench
Go Sell Drugs
at...
Tommy's Tavern
1041 Manhattan Ave - Greenpoint, Brooklyn
Friday, December 4th - 9pm $5

train to Greenpoint Ave (use the India St exit)

B61 and B43 buses to India St

Papacito's garden opens May 5th!

Who likes Mexican street style food? You're a liar if you didn't raise your hand. Who likes beer? You fucking liars, get your hands up! Well good news for all, on May 5th Papacitos will open their beloved patio and beer garden! Along with the grand fiesta, Papacitos will be unveiling new nightly specials, a daily $1.50 taco special and $ Tecate special. Not to mention they also have a great new vegan menu! Yes, Papacitos caters to eaters of all walks, and everything is delicious.

Oh and did you know they deliver? Cause they do, TIL 5 AM starting May 5th! And they've just expanded their delivery zone to even include the lower parts of Long Island City. Check out their menu on their website, but honestly you're better off just stopping by, grabbing a 32oz Tecate and kickin back with a burrito that could beat up your dad. If your dad was also a burrito...

Papacitos Brooklyn
999 Manhattan Ave
Greenpoint - Brooklyn 11222

train to Greenpoint Ave

B43 and B61 buses to India St

Lulu and Alligators

Lulu's changed to Lost & Found. No biggy. Lost & Found was an excellent neighborhood establishment in north Greenpoint. It offered a decent draft beer selection, cheap Black Label, PBR and High Life, Simpsons pinball, a photobooth, pool table, skeeball (yep, skeeball), free hot dogs and pretty much the coolest bartenders around. It was never packed unless there was a show going on upstairs. Which was fine because that's how I was introduced to one of my favorite bands right now (Bridge & Tunnel, dig em).

The one night, while severely drunk, they informed me that L&F would be closing soon for renovations due to new ownership. I was crushed. I was also shitfaced. So it wasn't too bad. Then they didn't close for a while, and I thought all was honky dory until the day I rode past on my bike, and saw the site we see documented to the left in that photo. There used to be a ferris wheel and it read "Lost & Found". Devistation.

Months go by, and finally it reopens with a new name. Now it's Alligator - Greenpoint. Owned by the same folks who own Crocodile Lounge in the city and Alligator Lounge in Williamsburg, the free hot dogs are gone, replaced by free pizza. Which I'm not against, cause its damn good. But there's so many places to get free pizza in north Brooklyn. I was drunk when I came in to check out the changes, but they were vast. All the cool stuff is gone from the walls. They cleaned off the graffiti in the bathroom. High Life prices went up, no more PBR/Black Label. All the games appear to be gone. New random seating areas. I dunno, it wasn't bad. But it wasn't great. Still the same bar staff though so I can/will enjoy that. I guess you'll just haveta see for yourself. If you're new to it, you'll probably like it. If you're used to Lulu's/Lost & Found, you'll be let down. But I'll give it a chance to grow on me.

Oh yea and they're still doing shows. Bridge & Tunnel on March 12th. Do it.

*Another notable change i realized: happy hour is now only $3 drafts from 3-6 when it used to be half priced til 8. Who the fuck can get there before 6 oclock? I do believe you've lost me now... RIP old friend.

113 Franklin St.
Greenpoint, Brooklyn
train to Greenpoint Ave

or just go somewhere better, like Tommy's or Goodman's ($1.50 Bud draft and nothin but metal).

NYC + Craft Beer = oh shit...

Beer. Anyone who knows a damn thing about me knows how much I like beer of all dimensions and qualities. I will spend $10+ on a single 120z bottle of Dogfish Head 120 Minute IPA. I will also have no problem whatsoever riffling through all my pants for change to cough up $2.50 for a 40 of Colt 45.

It's NY Craft Beer Week and it couldn't have come at a better time of the year. Summer is ending. Fall is starting. The weather is becoming more and more bearable throughout the days and nights. So what better time to get some friends together for a good ol' fashion bar crawl?

It's a pretty simple idea. Purchase your $19 ticket for the night online (I assume you print it out?) and check out the event's website to see what bars in what neighborhoods are participating. Each bar has about 3 beers selected for the event week and will provide 8oz glasses (pictured above) to sample each one in. 8oz may seem small, but figure it's 3 beers per bar, and about 8 bars per neighborhood and you're not limited to just one neighborhood for the evening! Next weekend I'll be taking part in the Greenpoint bar crawl (excited to check out the Hop Obama from Sixpoint Brewery at Black Rabbit) which depending on how drunk we get, will trickle down to the Williamsburg bars participating as well. Check out the list of beers available at this week's celebration.

Greenpoint Bars participating:
The Mark Bar
1025 Manhattan Ave
t.b.d.
224 Franklin St
Van Gogh's Radio Lounge
147 Franklin St
Black Rabbit
91 Greenpoint Ave
The Diamond
43 Franklin St
The Gutter Bar
200 N 14th St

Sonic Youth to close the show

Well we all knew it was coming. This summer is the last year for JellyNYC pool parties and other concerts at McCarren Park Pool in Greenpoint (that's right, it's in Greenpoint, sorry Williamsburg). The pool parties have been the apple of our summer eyes for the past few years. Bands you want to see, for free? Shit where do I sign up? Nowhere, just show up. But it must come to an end (maybe), and who better but to ring out the last note but Sonic Youth? OK it's not the final JellyNYC pool party, but it will be the official last concert at McCarren. The last JellyNYC party will be on August 24th and the lineup will be announced soon. This summer has seen some great shows, and more to come. The Loved Ones showed me that I'll stand in the rain if I really like a band that much. And though I can't say I was particularly impressed with anyone's performance at the MGMT show yesterday, the $2 Sixpoint Sweet Action in the VIP area treated me nicely. Seriously who doesn't like cheap beer? While you must purchase tickets for the Sonic Youth show, that's not such a bad thing. Think of all the shows you're seen for free, it can't kill ya to pay for ONE. And it's SONIC YOUTH. You've heard of them right? Ok cool.

Sonic Youth - FINAL CONCERT AT MCCARREN EVER
Sat. August 30th
4PM Doors
get tickets
McCarren Park Pool
780 Lorimer St. Brooklyn, NY
L train to Bedford Ave or Lorimer St
G train to Metropolitan Ave or Nassua Ave

Get Loved at McCarren Pool this month

Usually when someone writes about an upcoming show, it's because of the killer headliner (see three posts down...). And it's not that I don't dig The Hold Steady, they're a solid band. But this is all about The Loved Ones. They first caught my attention in the summer of 06 while I was in Baltimore with my old band recording an album with Brian McTernan, who recorded their first EP and LP. They stopped by the studio while coming through town on tour and were really killer guys. So I checked their tunes out and was super into it. It was that solid, catchy punk rock that while many bands do well, they just do much better. Gritty yet melodic vocals, hook laden guitars and driving drum beats. Nothing outrageous, just something concrete and excellently executed. Their second LP "Build And Burn" brought more of a pop and at times folky element to the songwriting and they really started to shine through with their full potential without sacrificing anything fans of the first two records loved about them. So why did I mention The Hold Steady at first? Oh yeah. Well, The Loved Ones will be opening for them at McCarren Park Pool on June 29th. Like I said, it's not that I don't dig The Hold Steady. I just think The Loved Ones are far better. There will also be a special song performed during The Loved Ones' set. What is it? Well, you'll just have to go to the show (hint: Chuck will be proud!). Details are below.

JellyNYC Presents:
The Hold Steady
The Loved Ones
J Roddy & The Business
Sun June 29 at 2pm
McCarren Park Pool
780 Lorimer St.
Brooklyn, NY 11222

L train to Bedford Ave or Lorimer St.
G train to Nassau Ave or Metropolitan Ave
also accessible from B61, B48 and B43 bus lines.

Another place to dispose of your paychecks...

If there's one thing there will never be too many of in Brooklyn, or anywhere really, is record stores. Not CD stores, record stores where one can make purchases of the vinyl persuasion. While en route to Queens on Franklin Ave in Greenpoint the other week, a friend and I spotted this place, Permanent Records which we'd never noticed before (obviously cause it's pretty new). Immediately we spun our bikes around and popped in. And yes of course, we spent a good forty five minutes perusing through. I gotta say, impressive. Great selection of classic pop, rock and jazz records as well as more contemporary punk and indie stuff. And a great bin of seven inch records. It may not look like much at first glance, but you'll find yourself looking through every last record there and having to decide which ones to get and which to put back. Or maybe not? Everything is very modestly priced. I picked up 7"s from Minor Threat, The Cro(w)s and Wat Tyler and some new record cleaner for under $12. And did I mention that the guy working there (dunno if he was the owner?) was super nice and helpful? Yeah, I know. At a record store in Brooklyn, but believe me it happened. You could tell he really cares about and appreciates music. Give them a shot, you'll be happy. Then go celebrate your new favorite record shop and buy me drinks at Lost & Found as a token of thanks.

Permanent Records
181 Franklin St. (corner of Huron St.)
Brooklyn, NY 11222
718-383-4083

G train to Greenpoint Ave
B61, B43 buses to India St. & Manhattan Ave.