twi-ny recommended events

HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH FILM FESTIVAL: RESTREPO

Life in the Korengal Valley was not all fun and games for Specialist Misha Pemble-Belkin, Ross Murphy, and the rest of Battle Company, 173rd US Airborne at Outpost Restrepo in Afghanistan (photo © Tim Hetherington)

RESTREPO: ONE PLATOON, ONE YEAR, ONE VALLEY (Sebastian Junger & Tim Hetherington, 2010)
Film Society of Lincoln Center, Walter Reade Theater, 165 West 65th St. at Amsterdam Ave.
Friday, June 18, 9:30; Sunday, June 20, 4:00; Monday, June 21, 4:00
212-875-5601
www.hrw.org
www.filmlinc.com

From June 2007 to July 2008, journalists Sebastian Junger (THE PERFECT STORM) and Tim Hetherington (LIBERIA: AN UNCIVIL WAR) made a total of ten trips to the dangerous Korengal Valley in Afghanistan, documenting the full deployment of Battle Company of the 173rd Airborne Brigade. With snipers hidden all around them, the fifteen soldiers of Second Platoon built a remote, strategic outpost they named Restrepo after PFC Juan Restrepo, the well-liked company medic who was killed early on. Junger and Hetherington film such men as Captain Dan Kearney, Staff Sergeant Kevin Rice, and Sergeant Brendan C. O’Byrne as they go about their daily duties, joking around, playing the guitar, meeting with Afghan locals to get information about the Taliban, and digging trenches while prepared to be shot at at any moment. The journalists took more than 150 hours of footage, supplemented with interviews with several of the soldiers after they were safely back at home base in Italy, talking about what they went through. There is nothing political about RESTREPO, nor does it pull at the heartstrings with melodramatic, overemotional scenes; instead, it depicts the harsh realities of battle, including the long stretches of boredom punctuated by sudden life-or-death situations. There is no narration, no one discusses the possible merits of the war, and no generals or politicians are on hand to defend America’s involvement in the region. There’s no ethnocentric yahooism, nor is there racist treatment of the mostly unseen enemy. It’s just war, pure and simple, seen from the perspective of men who chose to join the army and risk their lives for their country. The film won the documentary Grand Jury Prize at this year’s Sundance Festival and opens at the IFC Center on June 25, but you can catch it before then at the Human Rights Watch Film Festival at Lincoln Center; Hetherington will be present at all three screenings as well as for a reception and Q&A with Junger following the June 20 show.

EVIDENCE, A DANCE COMPANY

Evidence will be looking back at a quarter-century of dance at Harlem Stage

Harlem Stage Gatehouse
150 Convent Ave. at 135th St.
June 17-20, $35
212-281-9240 x19 or 20
www.harlemstage.org
www.evidencedance.com

Celebrating their twenty-fifth anniversary, Ronald K. Brown and his immensely talented troupe, Evidence, a Dance Company, will look back at its history in two special programs during its four-day run at the Harlem Stage Gatehouse June 17-20. Friday and Saturday will feature “For You,” “Better Days,” “Incidents,” and “To Harm the Dangerous,” while Thursday and Sunday will consist of 2007’s “One Shot: Rhapsody in Black and White” and 2008’s “Two-Year Old Gentlemen.” Over the decades, Brown has traveled the world seeking new and traditional forms of dance, so his pieces incorporate music and movements from West Africa, Cuba, and throughout the African diaspora, leading to thrilling works that are both emotionally and spiritually energizing and uplifting.

ROCKS OFF: RAILROAD EARTH

Railroad Earth will be setting sail June 17 aboard the Rocks Off Concert Cruises (photo by twi-ny/mdr)

41st St. & the West Side Highway
Thursday, June 17, $25-$30, 8:00
www.rocksoff.com
www.railroadearth.com

June in the city doesn’t get much better than a sunset music performance aboard a ship sailing down the Hudson River. The Rocks Off Concert Cruises have become a staple of the season in New York, offering a couple dozen of these three-hour tours each summer, where patrons can dance, drink, and groove up close with an astounding variety of musical acts while they ply the waters around New York Harbor as evening settles in. On board the Temptress this Thursday (the flagship vessel, with a capacity of five hundred, and one of a half dozen in the Rocks Off armada), New Jersey roots rockers Railroad Earth will be providing the musical entertainment in a setting that’s as unique and enjoyable as one could imagine. While their music defies a straitjacket definition genrewise, Railroad Earth has been compared to such acts as the Band and WORKINGMAN’S DEAD–era Grateful Dead while resolutely channeling their own musical path — one that mixes string-band instrumentation with drums, great songwriting, the ability to improvise on a tune (don’t say the “J” word — RRE is far from the archetypal jam band), and what can only be described, perhaps, as a spiritually exploratory take on musical ideas ranging from folk to rock to Celtic to bluegrass . . . all set to a groove that will have both passengers and boat swaying from the moment it leaves harbor.

This will be RRE’s first NYC show with bassist Andrew Altman, who signed on at the beginning of the year. As far as the band’s repertoire goes? Well, their last time headlining one of these cruises saw them performing an apropos and full-throttle rendition of Gram Parsons’s “Luxury Liner,” and it would seem keeping in character for them to bust out their original powerhouse “Mighty River” this time afloat. The group has been woodshedding material for a new album in a Brooklyn warehouse as of late. While these compositions have yet to see the light of day in their live show, it’s assured that the band will be playing enough well-loved material from their catalog to please their seafaring followers and create some genuine rocking, river-borne revelry. In other words, it should be a cruise to remember.

And don’t forget that This Week in New York has four pairs of tickets to give away to any of this summer’s Rocks Off concerts. Just send your name, daytime phone number, and event choice to contest@twi-ny.com by Thursday, June 17, at 3:00 pm. Winners will be selected at random and must be at least twenty-one years of age. Only one pair of tickets can be given out for each show. Good luck!

THE WHIZ: OBAMALAND

The Wizard of Oz heads to Obamaland at Abrons Arts Center

NICHOLAS LEICHTER DANCE + MONSTAH BLACK
Abrons Arts Center, Henry Street Settlement
466 Grand St. at Pitt St.
June 16-19, $20, 8:00
212-598-0400
www.henrystreet.org
www.nldnyc.org

Since 1996, nicholas leichter dance has specialized in what it calls “cultural narratives where movement tells the story,” creating such works as KILLA, FREE THE ANGELS, CARMINA BURANA, and SWEETWASH. The company’s latest piece of musical dance theater, made in collaboration with Monstah Black (who also participated in KILLA), reinterprets THE WIZ and THE WIZARD OF OZ through the lens of the Obama generation. Leichter, who previously danced with Ralph Lemon, Jennifer Muller, Ronald K. Brown, and Gus Solomons jr., will ease audiences down the yellow brick road and into Obamaland at the Abrons Arts Center June 16-19, examining America’s hopes, fears, dreams, and recession-busting fantasies.

Monstah Black and nicholas leichter dance ease on down the disco road in a reimagined WIZ for the Obama generation (photo by Steven Schreiber)

Review: A fanciful collaboration between New York City-based choreographer Nicholas Leichter and self-proclaimed Messiah of the Funk Monstah Black, THE WHIZ: OBAMALAND is a campy low-budget send-up and joyful celebration of Sidney Lumet’s 1978 musical, THE WIZ. Black, serving as a sort of emcee à la Joel Grey in CABARET, has adapted songs from the original soundtrack, performing such numbers as “The Feeling That We Have,” “Ease on Down the Road,” and “Slide Some Oil” while wearing some of the most fab costumes this side of 1970s-era Studio 54 and the 1980s PARIS IS BURNING aesthetic. (Oh, those shoes…) Leichter and Black also throw in Missy Elliot’s raunchy “Lick Shots,” Faith Evans’s “Soon as I Get Home,” the Time’s “Jungle Love,” and Survivor’s “Eye of the Tiger” to keep up the funk and, in the latter case, add yet more silly humor to what was already a very funny, groovy show. The dancers, including Lauren Basco, Wendell Cooper, Stephanie Liapis, Aaron Draper, Dawn Robinson, Keon Thoulouis, Laurie Taylor, Yozmit, and Leichter, pay tribute to Diana Ross, Michael Jackson, and Rocky Balboa as they clearly have a ball performing Leichter’s exuberant choreography. Draper brings down the house several times, first holding fans on Robinson to make her dress and feather boa flap in the wind, then coming out as a boxer, his skinny white body soon dancing alongside three men with much, er, bigger, stronger, darker frames. Even at a mere seventy-five minutes it could use a little trimming here and there, but the show is still great fun, with one heckuva surprise near the end that will have you gasping for breath. THE WHIZ: OBAMALAND runs through June 19 at the Abrons Arts Center, but we’re hoping it comes back soon so it can be seen by the wider audience it deserves.

BFF10: BICYCLE FILM FESTIVAL

Santos Party House, 96 Lafayette St.
Dash Gallery, 172 Duane St.
Anthology Film Archives, 32 Second Ave. at Second St.
June 16-20
Tickets: $10 per film, Sunday pass $25 (five films), festival pass $50 (all films)
www.bicyclefilmfestival.com

The Bicycle Film Festival celebrates its tenth anniversary with another cool slate of hot shorts, features, and special programs that honor the human-propelled two-wheeler that can go a long way in dissipating the country’s addiction to foreign oil. The party gets started tonight at Santos Party House with Bikes Rock, featuring live performances by DJ C.lo, Frances Rose, and Ninjasonik (you can get in free with the BFF password BIKES ROCK). On Thursday, the “Joyride” group show opens at Dash Gallery, with works by WK Interact, Albert Maysles, Spike Jonze, Tom Sachs, and many others and a live set by Kembra Pfahler, followed by an after-party at Lit Lounge. On Friday, Jeff Tremaine’s widely hailed THE BIRTH OF BIG AIR documentary kicks off three days of screenings at Anthology Film Archives and local after-parties; among the other bike-related weekend films are Stephen Auerbach’s BICYCLE DREAMS, about the three-thousand-mile Race Across America; Jorgen Leth’s 1976 cult classic A SUNDAY IN HELL, about the Paris-Roubaix road race; and Christian Thormann and Luke Stiles’s EMPIRE, which takes a look at some of New York City’s leading riders. As always, please do your best not to drive your car to any of these programs….

SIRSY

Melanie Krahmer and Rich Libutti will be downstate for two revolutionary shows this week

Wednesday, June 16, Lakeside Lounge, 162 Ave. B, free, 9:00
Thursday, June 17, the Bitter End, 147 Bleecker St., $10, 7:30
www.myspace.com/sirsy

Albany-based DIY two-piece Sirsy has been around for the better part of a decade, averaging about 250 gigs a year, so it’s not exactly an overnight success story now that their 2007 self-produced album REVOLUTION is being remixed and remastered for release this summer by Funzalo Records. Lead vocalist, stand-up drummer, flutist, and lyricist Melanie Krahmer and guitarist Rich Libutti are dedicated Paul McCartney fans who have been making soulful indie pop on such albums as BAGGAGE, AWAY FROM HERE, and RUBY and covering such tunes as the Beatles’ “Don’t Let Me Down,” the Eurythmics’ “Here Comes the Rain Again,” and Johnny Cash’s “Folsom Prison Blues.” On REVOLUTION, Krahmer, whose voice can go from high to low register from one line to the next, sings about love and heartbreak and the sadness of letting one’s life slip by, from the upbeat, groovy title track to the sweet ballad “Still.” Regularly named Best Local Band by the readers of the Albany alternative weekly Metroland, Sirsy’s name is a homonym for the daughter of the Sun God as well as meaning intoxicating or alluring, two words that fit their music as well, including such newer songs as “The Cost of You,” in which Krahmer sings, “Oh, the bet was true / But I spent the cost of you / And I’ve lived for less / But it kills me to confess,” and “Goner,” in which she declares, “Arrest my heart for treason / I don’t want to fall for love / I spy a thousand reasons / I don’t want to fall for love / Our crimes change us like seasons.” Upstate native Krahmer and Providence-born Libutti will be in the city this week for two shows, at the Lakeside Lounge on June 16 and the Bitter End on June 17.

TWI-NY TICKET GIVEAWAY: GET YOUR ROCKS OFF

Rocks Off Concert Cruise will offer great views of Red Bull Air Race June 19-20

ROCKS OFF CONCERT CRUISES
Skyport Marina, East 23rd St. & FDR Dr.
West 41st St. & the Hudson River
Through September
www.rocksoff.com

There are plenty of ways to get your rocks off this summer as the Rocks Off Concert Cruise series celebrates its tenth anniversary. In addition to such great live bands as Railroad Earth, the Black Lips, Tortured Soul, Murphy’s Law, Red Rooster, Mr. Scruff, the Electric Six, the Detroit Cobras, and Jesse Malin & the St. Marks Social and tributes to Bruce Springsteen, Pink Floyd, Sublime, and more classic groups, the Temptress, the Jewel, the Half Moon, and other ships will take beer lovers to the June 19 Brewfest on Governors Island and offer choice views of this weekend’s Red Bull Air Race (featuring three and a half hours with an open deck, a full bar, and live DJs; tickets range from $30 to $95 for the actual race, with packages going up to as much as $1,650, but it’s only $20-$25 aboard the Harbor Lights).

This Week in New York has four pairs of tickets to give away to any of this summer’s Rocks Off concerts, as well as the Air Race. Just send your name, daytime phone number, and event choice to contest@twi-ny.com by Thursday, June 17, at 3:00 pm. Winners will be selected at random and must be at least twenty-one years of age. Only one pair of tickets can be given out for each show. Good luck!