Yo, I heard they was givin’ some free PBR’s, Yo.
Hi. My name is Oweinama. You may know me as Captain Heartlock, DJ and multi-instrumentalist in some bands of some sorts. I like long walks on the beach, picking at my aching teeth, drag queen musicals, and being beaten about the head with rock-stale baguettes. But most of all I love 60’s flavored rock and soul, and going to events where such sounds thrive and fill me with feelings, feelings that make me want to dance and to live, as opposed to kill and destroy. I’ll be your man, your Wednesday man and your Thursday lover on this here GaragePunk NYC blog.
There’s something about going out in the middle of the week – often all the big heavies of event-hood save their mojo for the weekends, either because they’re day jobbers or damned traditionalists…but a lot of good stuff happens in the middle. It’s the cream filling in the Ding-Dong of nightlife. Not having to compete so much with the drooling troglodytes who crawl out from their rancid bogs at the Friday 5’o’clock whistle doesn’t hurt either.
WEDNESDAY
This Wednesday night, not a lot of options if it’s live music you’re after, but I’d recommend checking out The Bowery Boys at Public Assembly in Williamsburg. They play a literate yet pretty infectious style of melodic, jingle-jangle punk that reminds me of later period Kinks with a bit of The Raspberries/Big Star. They’re on at 10pm for an $8 cover. There’s TONS of DJ action tonight, though – Brooklyn babies can regale to Reverend Vince and his weekly spin at Savalas. His selections of soul and gospel tracks might be enough to wash the stain of sin off your pathetic backs. Then there’s Living For Kicks at The Satellite Lounge, where DJs Popwell and Bunny Punch spin a bunch of groovy garage, psych, soul & r&b in one of the newest and more understated joints in the hood. Both of these happenings are free and the drinks run cheap. Across the river is Mr. Fine Wine and his unbeatable collection of rare soul 45’s at Botanica on Houston Street, and “The Man Who Need Not Sleep”, Mr. Jonathan Toubin for New York Night Train, playing crazy soul, garage and psych at the dangerous Motor City Bar down on old Ludlow Street.
THURSDAY
Thursday’s move for live music is THE RUNAWAY SUNS and their shimmery, pop-tastic psychedelia at CoCo 66 in Greenpoint. If you haven’t caught them yet, do it before everyone else starts telling you how they always thought they were the coolest. I’m pretty sure it’s a free Lady Bree production. Not too far away and also in Little Poland at relatively new joint The Blackout Bar you can check out the infamous Bushwick Ronnie Seward (Whooping Crane), Alex Moyer and Josh Styles (Smashed! Blocked! and The Stalkers) where they will be educating you kids on the finer points of the Jamaican soul and rocksteady scene of the mid-late 60’s. Or, get your soul saved again by Reverend Vince at Bushwick’s Beauty Bar. If you’re off the beaten path and in Manhattan check out one of the last of the real bars on the island (and you can tell it’s alright if the neighbors are trying to shut it down), Heathers, where Mr. Robinson, Dos Platos and BamaLama Mike spin 50’s and 60’s era soul. All of these happenings are free to get in to.
WHAT TO DO NOW?