Close your eyes and everything will be all right. No swine flu. No lost job. No blemishes. Just visualize your calendar for this week: outdoor parties, indoor feasts, silent auctions and immersive soundscapes. Decadence is denial made richer. Enjoy it while it lasts.
Feast or Famine
May 7, Comix, 353 W. 14th St. (betw. 8th & 9th Aves.); 7:30, $20
You know the drill. The Moth makes people get up and tell stories off the tops of their head for a few minutes then everyone claps and later goes home to have dispassionate sex and chuckle. The only difference is tonight is a GrandSLAM so the quality of storytellers is going to be, generally, higher.The same can’t be said for the following sex.
Bottom Line: Odds are most stories will be about famine or indigestion; both subjects make for fun listening.
Block Party in Fort Greene
May 9, Habana Outpost, 757 Fulton St. (at S. Portland Ave.), Brooklyn; noon, FREE
I was at the Outpost last weekend; it was 90 degrees out and I had a Corona. I guess I jumped the gun because it’s this weekend that officially starts summer in Brooklyn. There’ll be “hot DJs” and a “fashion show,” but I’d just stake out a table and eat Mexican corn until you puke.That’s how you know it’s summer.
Bottom Line: Fort Greeners are always so happy, doing shit like this. In my neighborhood, Bushwick, it’s like “Hey, it’s summer! Give me your flip-flops or I’ll cut you!”
La Stravaganza
May 6 through May 8, New York City Ballet, 20 W. 63rd St. (betw. Broadway & Central Park West); times vary, $20 and up
Set to Vivaldi’s haunting and weird score, the New York City Ballet opens its season strong with this half-hour-long work by modern French/Albanian choreographer Angelin Prelijocaj.This piece, from 1997, is sandwiched between two more classic Balanchine ones: Divirtimiento No. 15 and Symphony in Three Parts, comfortingly urbane fare.
Bottom Line: Like being squeezed in with Balanchine dancers yourself, the line up tonight will leave you feeling good.
Fifth Annual BAMart Silent Auction
May 9, Brooklyn Academy of Music, 30 Lafayette Ave. (at Ashland Pl.), Brooklyn; 5, FREE
BAM is auctioning off a bunch of art including work by Louise Bourgeois, Paul Mpagi Sepuya and Laurie Anderson through May 11.To get a good look at it, visit the online auction or stop by for the two-hour event (with open bar!) emceed by Andrew Andrew.
Bottom Line: Even if you can’t actually buy anything—two grand is cheap for rent but expensive if you’re broke—at least you can drink vodka tonics like you’re a collector.
Sonar Festival
May 12, Baryshnikov Arts Center, 450 West 37th St. (betw. 10th & Dyer Aves.); 8, FREE
An import from the hash-hazed Barcelona festival circuit, Sonar brings Catalan artists and American ones together for one night of parties. A set by DJ d.a.r.y.l. from Barcelona plus appearances by my personal favorites DJ/RUPTURE and Prefuse 73 as well as a hip-hop trio complete the night.
Bottom Line: You don’t need a mullet to enjoy this, just time and a dime bag. Also, you must RSVP at www.ticketcentral.com.
