this week in music

PETTYFEST 2010

Bowery Ballroom
6 Delancey St.
Thursday, October 28, $20, 8:00
www.boweryballroom.com

When we recently saw Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers at the Garden, one of the things that struck us most was what a truly great songwriter he is, and just how many great songs he has written. His vast catalog will be unleashed at the Bowery Ballroom Thursday night for the annual PettyFest. Billed as “a night to get drunk and celebrate Tom Petty’s sixtieth birthday,” this year’s extravaganza features another all-star lineup of musicians paying tribute to one of Florida’s favorite sons. The Gainesville native might have turned sixty on October 20, but he’s still making vital rock and roll, as evidenced by his latest record, June’s MOJO (his first studio disc with the Heartbreakers since 2002’s THE LAST DJ), on which the grizzled veteran plays with a renewed bluesy swagger, proving that he’s not just a greatest hits act resting on his laurels. Among those who will be covering songs from such classic albums as YOU’RE GONNA GET IT! (1978), DAMN THE TORPEDOES (1979), HARD PROMISES (1981), LONG AFTER DARK (1982), SOUTHERN ACCENTS (1985), LET ME UP (I’VE HAD ENOUGH) (1987), FULL MOON FEVER (1989), INTO THE GREAT WIDE OPEN (1991), WILDFLOWERS (1994), ECHO (1999), and HIGHWAY COMPANION (2006) are Norah Jones, Jesse Malin, Nicole Atkins, Adam Green, Hymns, SNL’s Will Forte and Jason Sudeikis, Catherine Pierce, and members of such groups as Fountains of Wayne, the Mooney Suzuki, the Strokes, and the All American Rejects, joining the Cabin Down Below Band.

HALLOWEEN IS HAPPENING

Trinity Church and Courtyard
Broadway at Wall St.
Friday, October 29, free, 4:00 – 9:00
212-602-0800
www.trinitywallstreet.org

Trinity Church’s annual Halloween festivities begin at 4:00 on Friday in the North Churchyard with Family Fun, two hours of tricks and treats, games, a photo booth, storytelling, and other children’s activities. From 5:00 to 7:00, the Haunted Hamilton Happy Hour takes place in the South Churchyard, honoring the great American leader who is buried at Trinity. Everyone will head inside at 7:00 for a screening of one of the creepiest films ever made, THE CABINET OF DR. CALIGARI (Robert Wiene, 1920), with live organ accompaniment by Robert Ridgell. All events are free, although donations are accepted.

EAR TO THE EARTH 2010: WATER AND THE WORLD

Charles Lindsay and David Rothenberg’s “Western Water” features the Mermaid Bar as part of the Ear to the Earth Festival (photo by Charles Lindsay)

Greenwich House Music School, 46 Barrow St., $5-$15
White Box, 329 Broome St., free-$15
Frederick Loewe Theater, 35 West Fourth St., free
Kleio Projects, 153 1/2 Stanton St., free
October 27 – November 1, Festival Pass $30
www.emfproductions.org

The Electronic Music Foundation’s fifth annual Ear to the Earth Festival of Sound, Music, and Ecology will examine water and the environment in a series of special events taking place at the Greenwich House Music School, White Box, and the Frederick Loewe Theater, including discussions, concerts, poetry, and multimedia art installations. “We are heading towards a crisis in managing the waters of the world,” explains Joel Chadabe in his curator’s statement. “To address the crisis, we need to reach an understanding of the issues we face with water. And we need to become aware of the ways we use water in the context of the physical realities of our changing environment.” Ear to the Earth begins October 27 with “An Encounter with R. Murray Schafer,” in which the Canadian composer will delve into acoustic ecology and environmental sound art, and continues on October 28 with Bernie Krause’s “Fish Rap: The Life-Affirming Soundscapes of Water” and Yolande Harris’s “Fishing for Sound.” On Friday night, Kristin Norderval presents the world premiere of her interactive “Tattooed Ghosts,” inspired by Dina Von Zweck’s FLUDD — VIRTUAL POLAR ICECAP MELTDOWN; also on the bill is Matt Rogalsky’s sound installation “Memory Like Water.” On Saturday afternoon, Sheila Callaghan, Katie Down, Leah Gelpe, and Daniella Topol collaborate on “Water (or the Secret Life of Objects),” which was developed following the Katrina disaster. Saturday night features a trio of New York Soundscapes world premieres: Miguel Frasconi’s “Inside-Out,” Aleksei Stevens’s “Standing Water: Sound Map of the Gowanus Canal, 2010,” and Paula Matthuson’s “Navigable.” Sunday includes two shows at the Frederick Loewe Theater, beginning at 5:00 with David Monacchi’s “Stati d’Acqua / States of Water,” Maggi Payne’s “Liquid Amber,” and Matther Burtner and Scott Deal’s “Auksalaq,” followed at 8:00 by Phill Niblock and Katherine Liberovskaya’s “Sound Delta,” based on sounds from the Rhine and the Danube, and Michael Fahres’s “Cetacea,” which combines Senegalese Sabar drumming with dolphin sounds. The festival concludes on November 1 with Charles Lindsay and David Rothenberg’s live multimedia “Western Water” and Andrea Polli and TJ Martinez’s documentary “Dances with Waves.” In addition, Jennifer Stock’s “At Water’s Edge” and Liz Phillips’s “Here/Hear: Manhattan Is an Island” will be on display at White Box throughout the festival, while Andrea Lockwood’s “A Sound Map of the Housatonic River” will be up at Kleio Projects, with free admission to both venues. Ear to the Earth 2010 combines science and sound, ecology and music, the environment and film, and other media to offer a fresh and innovative perspective on the world’s water crisis.

HAUNTED OKTOBERFEST

Bohemian Beer Hall & Garden
29-19 24th Ave., Astoria
Tuesday – Sunday through October 31
718-728-9278
www.bohemianhall.com

Astoria’s Bohemian Beer Hall & Garden will be combining two seasonal traditions with its Haunted Oktoberfest, six days of food and drink specials, a daily Jack O’Lantern Contest, and different costume contests for the funniest, scariest, most creative, eco greenest, or celebrity look-a-like, leading up to Sunday’s finale. On Friday, beer lovers can pick up a $15 Tasters Entry Pass, good for unlimited tastings of Brouczek, Czechvar, Golden Pheasant, Krusovice Light, Krusovice Dark, Pilsner Urquell, and Staropramen. The big party takes place on Saturday, with a pig roast, followed by a $20 Tasters Entry Pass good for all beers, and live music by the Air Conditioners, the Eighty 7’s, and KISS Alive.

MATT & KIM

Matt & Kim’s live shows are always exuberant, out-of-control dance parties (photo by twi-ny/mdr)

Webster Hall, Grand Ballroom
125 East Eleventh St. between Second & Third Aves.
Tuesday, October 26, and Wednesday, October 27, $17, 7:00
212-353-1600
www.websterhall.com
www.myspace.com/mattandkim

Over the last few years, keyboardist Matthew Johnson and drummer Kimberly Schifino have grown from local darlings to a beloved internationally recognized act. They met at Pratt and started playing together in 2004, growing a cult following that blew up after the success of their 2009 disc, GRAND. Better known simply as Matt & Kim, they’re back with their latest release, SIDEWALKS (Fader, November 2), which so far has been teased with the lead single, “Cameras,” but you’ll be able to hear the entire album prior to each of their shows this week at Webster Hall. Inspired by Gnarls Barkley’s crossover success with the monster hit “Crazy,” on the new album Matt & Kim have gone a long way toward capturing the infectious exuberance of their live shows, fun dance parties led by their never-ending smiles and Kim standing on top of her drum kit and crowd surfing. SIDEWALKS, which clocks in at ten songs in a brisk thirty-five minutes, is another good-time record, from the rollicking “AM/FM Sound” to the nearly anthemic “Cameras,” which has all kinds of things going on in it. One of the keys to Matt & Kim’s attraction is that they put up no barriers, physical or psychological, between themselves and their adoring audience. In fact, they can be seen at outdoor gigs watching themselves on the screens behind them as if they can’t believe they’re the ones on the stage, playing to thousands of ardent admirers also not afraid to release their inner geek. “These years they come and go / but today is here to stay / I think I know / I know where you’re coming from,” Matt sings on “Where You’re Coming From,” furthering the connection between performer and listener. The Webster Hall shows offer a great chance to catch the endearing duo in a smaller, relatively intimate setting after their headlining gig at this summer’s Siren Festival, and tickets are only seventeen bucks. Atlanta rapper Donnis will open both shows.

REVEALING MEXICO WEEK

Rockefeller Center
47th to 50th Sts. between Fifth & Sixth Aves.
October 25-30
www.revealingmexico.com
www.rockefellercenter.com

In 1810, Mexico declared its independence from Spain. One hundred years later, the Mexican Revolution began, seeking political and social change in the country. In honor of the two events, one celebrating its bicentennial, the other its centennial, Mexican culture will be invading Rockefeller Center this week, built around a photography exhibit and book signing for John Mack and Susanne Steines’s REVEALING MEXICO (powerHouse, September 2010, $75). “Both the good things and the bad things have shown themselves to us within a short amount of time, and both have shown themselves with extreme intensity: the marvelous magic of Mexican culture and the gruesome social reality of the country,” Mack and Steines write in the book’s authors’ note. “We discovered very soon that the reasons for Mexico’s contradictions are highly complex. We also understood that it would be difficult for anybody having lived in this country for longer than ten years to still be able, after such a time span, to borrow power from the amazement that Mexican culture inspires and to use this power to call for an overcoming of anything that keeps Mexico from moving toward a dignified future.” While states such as Arizona have clamped down on foreigners, New York City will once again be opening its doors; in addition to the photo display, there will be Mexican opera and Mariachi music in the skating rink, a free concert by the Nortec Collective’s Bostich + Fussible, a meet-and-greet with Mexico’s soccer captain, Rafael Márquez, and specially prepared Mexican cuisine at the Rock Center Café, Iguana, Toloache, Yerba Buena, Café Frida, Crema, El Aquila, Casa Vieja, Barrio, Hecho en Dumbo, the Taco Truck, and La Palapa.

WORLD STAGES: PEKING OPERA FESTIVAL

The Peking Opera Festival returns to the Skirball Center for its tenth anniversary

NYU Skirball Center for the Performing Arts
566 La Guardia Pl.
Sunday, October 24, $38, 7:00
www.qishufang.com
www.skirballcenter.nyu.edu

As part of its World Stages series, the NYU Skirball Center for the Performing Arts is presenting the tenth annual Peking Opera Festival on Sunday night, October 24. Now in its twenty-second year of “promoting Chinese and Chinese-American culture by bringing Peking Opera — one of China’s national treasures — to a world audience and to foster a deeper cultural understanding between East and West,” the Qi Shu Fang Peking Opera Company will perform “The Monkey and the Princess Iron Fan,” from the epic THE JOURNEY TO THE WEST, in addition to the excerpts “Pick Up the Jade Bracelet” and “The Stone Marker at the Border,” each of which tells a traditional Chinese legend. At previous festivals, the company, which is based in New York City and incorporates martial arts, acrobatics, dance, spectacular costumes, and live music into its productions, has performed such pieces as “Women Generals of the Yang,” “Monkey King: Havoc in Heaven,” “The Flaming Phoenix,” “Melon Garden Brawl,” and “The Nine-Tailed Fox Spirit” at such area venues as the New Victory Theatre on Broadway, the Kaye Playhouse at Hunter College, the Theatre at St. Clement’s, and Flushing Town Hall, where we caught them back in June 2006. The Skirball Center’s World Stages series continues on November 13-14 with ¡Flamenco Festival Gitano! and November 20 with Taiko Thunder: Kenny Endo.