8 Best Websites For Finding Events In New York City

Given that I've worked with several event & nightlife companies, have produced parties and concerts, and know tons of promoters and DJ types it makes sense that people often come to me when they are looking for something to do. So I thought I'd whip up a little post to help you find events in the city.

Sure, TimeOut, The L Magazine and similar sites/publications have event listings but in my opinion there's a quality control issue with some of those. They list just about everything and therefore it can be tough to weed out the good stuff. There are also tons of apps these days that help with finding events and there are plenty of sites besides the ones listed that do the same. This list is simply the sites I personally find useful when looking for something to do.

Many of the events I hear about I get from press releases and personal invites. Nonetheless when I do resort to the internet for guidance these are the websites I use. If there are any you use not on this list leave in the comment section.

• MyFreeConcert.com: This site is great for finding free and cheap concert listings but don't let the name fool you - they list more than just concerts. There are some pretty solid party listings here as well. They even have a tab where you can see just events with free booze.
• BoozeParty.net: This used to be a blog with listings for free and cheap drinking options but now it's a subscription based daily "boozeletter". Just sign up and you'll get an email everyday with that night's parties. The only issue really is that because it's events happening that night sometimes the listing's guest lists are already closed.
• ThePrintupList.com: Lots of really fun opening parties, launch parties and other types of semi-exclusive events. Most of these events happen in the 6-10pm range so if you're looking for something to do after work, instead of another shitty happy hour, this site is helpful. 
• OhMyRockness.com: If you're strictly interested in seeing bands then this is your site. They have very thorough listings but have always done a good job of sticking to listing good and interesting music. 
• ArtCards.cc: I used to use this site regularly but have fallen out of the art scene since. This site is the go-to site for finding out about art gallery shows. If you're into art, or the free booze that generously comes along with art openings, you should check them out and subscribe to their newsletter. 
• HugeCity.us: I just recently started using this site and I love it. Facebook used to be great for finding events but it's gotten a little harder to use in that sense lately. HugeCity has come along and uses your geographical location and Facebook friend list to find events near you. It's all automated so of course there is a ton of garbage to filter through but I've found some amazing events this way that weren't listed ANYWHERE else. They also have an iPhone app.  
• GarysGuide.com: In the past few years I've gotten into the tech community in NYC. In fact, I now have an agency and work with tech start-ups. Gary's Guide is an amazing source for tech events in NYC. If you already work in tech, or are looking to get into the tech world, this is all you need. 
• ResidentAdvisor.com: Back when I was working for an EDM company I had to keep tabs on all the electronic music events happening in NYC. There are a few sites for this but I found Resident Advisor to be the best. If you're looking for some ooonst this is your site.

Honorable Mentions:

• Brokelyn.com
• TheSkint.com
• BrooklynVegan.com

Black Flag Played Warsaw

Last night, after spending the day drinking awful Heineken under a tent, I walked over to the Warsaw to see if I could get into the Black Flag show. I ended up with a premium Northside Festival badge but I had no idea if that would get me in or not. We got there a little after the doors opened, talked to some people and managed to get in. Apparently something like 75 badge holders are let in so if you have one you might want to think about heading to the show tonight and if you don't they released some earlier today but they're probably sold out.

Anyway, we get in and head straight to the side room for a round of grandma style Polish food, one of my favorite things about going to Warsaw. While we were eating we realized that we missed The Netherlands, which sucks because they're awesome. The other opening bands, one of which includes Ginn on guitar, didn't really blow me away. Honestly, I was super focused on Black Flag so I kinda tuned everything else out.

Black Flag took the stage and went into some weird Ginny jam. Then Ron Reyes came out and they busted into a string of classics from The First Four Years era. Reyes sounded fucking awesome! I was blown away by how great, and dare I say youthful, his vocals sounded. They played a ton of classics during the set like "Six Pack," "TV Party," "Gimmie Gimmie Gimmie," "Nervous Breakdown," and so on.

In the middle of the set Ginn and the gang went into an excessively long jam session where he employed his theremin. Have I mentioned I hate theremins? Why in God's name he decided to include that damn thing in Black Flag songs is beyond me. Sometime after the jam session they played "Rise Above" which set the place off. Every person in the room had their fists in the air and were singing along. The pit, which was already insane, erupted; it was awesome!

As per tradition they closed out the show with "Louie Louie". Some people stuck around trying to encourage an encore but it's Black Flag, they ain't playing no stinkin' yuppie encore. I heard mixed reviews as I filed out. A lot of fans of the Rollins-era were bummed that they played mostly pre-Rollins tunes. However, if you're a bigger fan of the pre-Rollins era, as am I, then it was fucking fantastic! The only other criticism I heard was that damn theremin - fuck that thing. All in all, I can't believe how good Black Flag was last night. I'm totally impressed and highly recommended doing whatever it takes to get in tonight. There's also a secret show in Brooklyn on Sunday. I think I know where it is but I ain't saying shit because it's tiny and you ain't stealing my spot (I actually don't have a spot but hopefully I can weasel my way in).

Theremin party tonight! Alright!

Northside Festival & Next Expo Start Today

Northside Festival kicks off today so there will be shows all over Williamsburg and Greenpoint the next few days. I'm more interested in the Next Expo element of the festival though. It's a series of tech start-up panels and networking events. I managed to win myself a free badge so I'm heading over there in an hour or so.

I'll be taking a breather from the tech stuff for a while this evening and stopping by Spike Hill for the Paper Garden showcase which has Wild Yaks on at 7pm. Then I'm off to Villain for the Jameson Black party with So So Glos performing. You have to RSVP for the Jameson event, just head to the So So Glos Twitter page for that info.

Shit To Do: New Year's Eve 2012-13

New Year's Eve is chock full of shitty parties with even more shitty people. But don't despair, there's some good things happening if you look around. I'm personally sticking to Brooklyn and taking it easy because I've had enough bullshit this year. I dug through a few hundred invites and here are some parties I would actually consider attending. Have fun tonight, kiddies.

All the Brooklyn weirdos will be here which means I will likely stop by.

RSVP: https://www.facebook.com/events/473239432720451

The MyOpenBar crew is throwing this one so you know it'll be good. Starts at 1am. My night will probably end here. 

$10

RSVP: https://www.facebook.com/events/202042613253994

Superchief and Gold Whistle throw good parties. They're serving dinner early too and it's free 6-9pm.

RSVP: https://www.facebook.com/events/185529531593428

Prince Terrence and Nick Gazin take over both floors of Lit.

RSVP: https://www.facebook.com/events/458239340903226

Andy Pry & Lloydski from Tiki Disco are throwing & DJing this. This should be awesome.

No Cover.

RSVP: https://www.facebook.com/events/530664290277429

Florence & The Machine (DJ Set), Trouble Andrew, Prince Terrence, Dances, Gazin, etc.

RSVP: https://www.facebook.com/events/496346980406109/

Huge Brooklyn bash with Yeasayer (DJ Set), Alex English, Monikkr, etc. 

$40-$50

RSVP: https://www.facebook.com/events/289835447786570

I'm not a Dada Life fan but dudes know how to party. If you wanna go big in BK this is it.

$65-115, 3 hour open bar.

Tickets: http://dadaland.wantickets.com/Events/ShowEvent.aspx?eventId=116881

Handsome Dick Manitoba (Dictators), Sylvain Sylvain (NY Dolls), Daddy Long Legs playing live!

RSVP: https://www.facebook.com/events/490885900952107

Kid Congo, K-Holes, Andy Animal, Jonathan Toubin, Mick Collins, Josh Styles - RnR NYE!

$5-$10

RSVP: https://www.facebook.com/events/411342472267297

Petey Complex, Lacey Youngblood & 50 other people DJ at the bar owned by Death Set. 

RSVP: https://www.facebook.com/events/500334919997015

Lady Jay's is my favorite bar, that's why it's on the list. Great music will be played.

RSVP: https://www.facebook.com/events/385354874884623

Jah Jah from Ninjasonik is DJing Duck Duck, could be fun.

No Cover

RSVP: https://www.facebook.com/events/234591373340633

MeanRed always throws good parties. Nick Hook & Catchdubs are spinning.

Open Bar 9-10pm

RSVP: https://www.facebook.com/events/465000713551146

My friend Aly is DJing over at Matchless tonight. 

RSVP: https://www.facebook.com/events/263857633742280

Sheepshead Bay Got Destroyed By Hurricane Sandy

I just took a trip down to Sheepshead Bay to drop off supplies to a friend in need. She lives in a small bungalow community within feet of the actual bay. The hurricane absolutely destroyed the homes in this community. None of the houses escaped undamaged and several were completely and totally destroyed beyond repair.

When we arrived we entered through the small chain link fence gate and walked down into the alley which has bungalows on each side of the walkway. There were piles of trash, wood debris, furniture, mattresses and anything else you can imagine piled up in the middle. It looked like a bomb went off.

The houses by the gate, which are furthest from the water, were damaged but didn't look so bad. Our friend met us by the gate and walked us down towards the water where her house is. It survived but took on serious flooding. Her neighbors were not so lucky. The facade of several houses were ripped off and one house, closest to the docks, collapsed in on itself. The roof was on the ground with a pile of rubble underneath.

The community shares a small dock and boat house, which was completely destroyed. Only a series of posts are left where it once stood. The actual boat house ended up on shore somewhere down the street. I couldn't see it from the angle I was at but I could see a large sailboat sticking nearly straight up a few lots over. I was told that at one point that very same boat was floating in the shared community yard which is only 20 ft from my friends house.

I grew up in South Jersey and my grandparents had a house down the shore. I've seen plenty of hurricanes roll through and make a mess but I've never seen anything like this.

Somehow my friends place, which is very close to the water, is still standing - they even have power back. However, the ground floor was flooded with upwards of 5 ft of water. They had to take refuge on the second floor and pray that the house didn't collapse. When the water level came down enough that they could come down from the second floor and assess the damage they were greeted by sea life - in their living room. As they waded through the house bio-luminescent algae lit up wherever they stepped.

As the water level dropped the house started groaning and settling. As a visitor I was a bit weary upon hearing this bit of information. Things looked okay but who knows what condition the foundation of any of these cottages are in, given that several have already collapsed.

The residents of this community have had a few brief interactions with FEMA, mostly paperwork, but nothing has actually been done to help. They've relied on friends and more fortunate community members to help them out. They have also been dealing with looters, who have ransacked all of the abandoned and partially collapsed buildings. I didn't see a single cop within in a mile on the drive over. There's nothing being done to protect these people or help them in their time of need. Obviously, many people are in need throughout the area but the nearby affluent neighborhoods are being helped while the working class folks are left to fend for themselves.

I wanted to share this experience with everyone because there is very little media attention being paid to Sheepshead Bay, and for that matter any of the working class areas along the coast. Here are the pictures I snapped. If you want to help I suggest going down there and bringing supplies. Sheepshead Bites can probably give you some more ideas.

Video: Bloodshot Bill at Union Pool

On Saturday we went to Daddy Long Legs release party at Union Pool. The always mind blowing Bloodshot Bill was opening. I saw Bloodshot Bill for the first time back at the Norton Records party that The Sonics played. He totally stole the show then and he did the same on Saturday.

 Here's a terrible looking video I shot of Bill stompin', gruntin', spittin' and kicking Brooklyn's ass.

&

Wild Yaks Played Grand St. Bakery (Video)

The Yaks are back after taking a short hiatus to record their new album. On Friday they played the backyard of the Grand Street Bakery, which is a killer space. They should have more shows back there. Despite being completely shit-faced the set was pretty killer. I took a bunch of pics and shot some video of it. I still need to upload the pics but check out the sweet HD (make sure to toggle it to 1080p before viewing).

Hull Has A New Album Streaming On AOL

Brooklyn's finest metal band, Hull, has a new album entitled Beyond The Lightless Sky and it's streaming for free on AOL.

Link:

Hull Beyond The Lightless Sky

Spanish Prisoners Have A New Album (Free Stream)

Spanish Prisoners have a new album called Gold Fools. You can stream the whole thing on the band's Bandcamp page.

Link:

Spanish Prisoners Gold Fools

GWAR's Crack-A-Thon 2011 Goes Down On September 2nd & 3rd

GWAR is bringing the Crack-A-Thon back to Brooklyn this year! The "spoken turd" event goes down on September 2nd & 3rd at the MF Gallery. There will be two shows each day and tickets are $15-$20. The space is really fucking small so just be aware of that ahead of time. Read the press release after the jump for more details.

Cerebral Ballzy "Junky For Her" (Video) + Played Rock Yard Yesterday

Cerebral Ballzy have a new(ish) video for "Junky For Her" which you've probably seen on Adult Swim. Yesterday the boys were back in Brooklyn at the Jelly NYC Rock Yard. The sound was shitty but everyone managed to have fun, how can you not have fun at a Ballzy show? 

Rock Yard in Brooklyn

Today: Rock Yard w/ Cerebral Ballzy, Death Set, So So Glos & More

Jelly NYC brings the party back to North Brooklyn with a free show this afternoon at The Morgan. The Death Set, So So Glos, Cerebral Ballzy, Japanther, The Growlers and CSC Funk Band are playing. That, my friends, is awesome!

Corrosion Of Conformity Played Brooklyn Bowl

On Wednesday the great COC played Brooklyn Bowl. But this ain't your Southern metal COC from the 90's. Nope. This is the version of COC that fused metal, punk and hardcore back in the late 90's. When I was a teenager I thought Mike Dean had some of the sickest bass lines I'd ever heard within the realm of heavy music.

By the time I was old enough to go to shows though Pepper Keenan had come into the fold and COC turned into the MTV friendly Southern metal that made them famous. I love most of what they did with Pepper but the early stuff was special and I never thought I'd get to see it live. To say I was excited for the show would be an understatement.

As we walked in COC was just getting started. We headed towards the front; pushing our way through a sea of fat, old and ugly bastards. Now a COC show in general won't exactly get the pretty people to show up but the fact that Clutch was headlining made for an exceptionally gnarly cluster of apes. Fucking Clutch, man. What a shitty band. Nascar metal for retards...but I digress. COC is why I was there, the only reason I was there.

We got right up front with ease and there they were Woody Weatherman, Reed Mullin and Mike fucking Dean! Mike Dean, as I mentioned, was a bit of a role model for me when I was learning to play bass. It was all very awesome.

They played some of my favorites like "Holier", which was amazing to hear live. They were all smiles and laughing as they messed up a couple tunes. They were having a great time and so were all of the fans down on the floor. They even started to play some Deliverance era tunes to whip the crowd into a frenzy and then switch it up to an old jam right before the verse. Good fun.

Kings County Cookout w/ Spirit Family Reunion and Sean Kershaw

We've got another edition of Kings County Cookout on Sunday. One of my favorite Brooklyn bands, Spirit Family Reunion, will be playing out back at Lady Jay's. We've also got the king of Brooklyn country music, Sean Kershaw, performing with his 2-piece The Terrible Two. We start dishing up barbecue at 3pm and the music starts around 4pm. As always a plate of delicious grub is only going to cost you $5 and we've got several drink specials in the $3-$5 range.

Now, the fact is this is my party and I'm telling you it's awesome and you should go. Well, of course I'd say that and while you should take my word I understand if you need a little more convincing. Turns out the NY Times, NY Magazine, Time Out NY, Eater, Serious Eats, Brokelyn, Zagat, Brooklyn Based and a bunch more have written it up too!

Details & RSVP:

Kings County Cookout

Here's a little video of what you missed last time

Eddie Clendening & The Blue Ribbon Boys w/ special guest Daddy Long Legs

Pictures from the last KCC

Vivian Girls Playing 285 Kent Tonight!

Todd P just sent out invites for a Vivian Girls welcome home show at 285 Kent tonight. Widowspeak and Colleen Green are also playing. This venue is one of my favorite DIY spots right now. This should be awesome.

Link:

Vivian Girls @ 285 Kent

Tonight: FORlokals, Grand St. Happy Hour @ Lady Jay's (Free BBQ & Cheap Booze); Lightning Bolt @ 285 Kent

Half of Brooklyn is going to see Lightning Bolt tonight. I'm hosting, DJing and grilling at Lady Jay's for the happy hour party I throw with Nickels & Dimes and I Rock I Roll. While it sucks I can't go to the show it will be an awesome place to have a few drinks before you go. Happy hour specials go from 6-10pm and I'll be grilling up free burgers and dogs out back in the yard. The weather is fucking perfecto today so make sure you swing by. 

Link:

FORlokals Grand Street Happy Hour

The Death Set Have A New Video, "We Are Going Anywhere Man"

The Death Set have a new video and it's pretty rad. Here's the story about the making of the video.

We wanted to throw a party on our roof so we invited our friends and a bunch of party ingredients. It all worked until we made too much ruckas and apparently knocked “art” off the wall of the douche bag downstairs. Now this guy’s “art” was his “Transformers the Movie” poster and of course threatened to sue and asked if I had “music video insurance”. And of course I have insurance right? Health insurance, dental insurance, music video insurance, insurance on deez nuts and but, all of the above pffff. Just like one of the causes of the economic crisis, hell I got insurance for my insurance… Anyways so we just took the party to our tiny ass apartment and had a time. Reminds me of that game we played as kids where you spin around till you blackout.

Tonight: FORlokals, Grand St. Happy Hour @ Lady Jay's (Free BBQ & Cheap Booze)

Tonight is another installment of our happy hour party at Lady Jay's. As always we've got cheap booze but this time around we're adding FREE burgers and dogs! It's 50 degrees out, that's BBQ weather ain't it? We'll be spinning rock n' roll, garage, indie, punk, outlaw country and soul. You'll be getting drunk, playing shuffle bowling and stuffing charred beef down your gullet. The free food and booze deals are from 6-10pm so come straight from work. Seriously, if you go home first you'll end up taking a nap and miss the whole damn thing. I know you, dude. See you punks tonight!

Link:

FORlokals, Grand St. Happy Hour

Tonight: BSC Presents FORlokals Grand St. Happy Hour @ Lady Jay's

Tonight is the third installment of our bi-weekly happy hour at our favorite Brooklyn bar Lady Jay's. The drinks are super cheap (awesome). And how many happy hours run until 10pm? Not many but ours does. Again, I do this with my pals Carlos (Nickels & Dimes) and Nora (I Rock I Roll). We do this because we want to hang with all you guys so come out and have some drinks with us!

RSVP & Details:

FORlokals: A Grand St. Happy Hour

Monotonix Played 285 Kent, Playing Last US Show Tonight In Philly

Monotonix are one of the greatest live bands I have ever had the privilege of seeing perform. Saturday night the Israeli madmen played the DIY venue known simply as 285 Kent.

I got to the show early because I was convinced it would sell out. We caught some of The Stalkers set and then headed to The Levee for some drinks. We got back right around when Pujols went on. I never really listened to them but they were pretty good. They have a very Jersey sound and had their Titus Andronicus/Springsteen moments.

Frankly though all I cared about was seeing Monotonix. Once Pujols cleared out we grabbed a few more drinks and waited for Monotonix. Honestly, the show was a blur but had everything you would expect. There was crowd surfing, wall scaling, stage diving, sweat, dancing, beer spraying and so on. At one point Monotonix was standing on the bar using it as a stage. Apparently the actual stage was on the wrong side of the venue.

At the end of the craziness they asked everyone to sit down on the floor. Once everyone shut the fuck up they announced that they're getting old (the singer is 46) and have families and that this would be their last time in Brooklyn. I expected them to bust into a song after the announcement but they didn't. That was the show, not quite the ending I had hoped for but the show itself was amazing.

Tonight they play their last ever US show in Philly at some DIY joint called The Ox. I was planning on attending but it doesn't look like it's going to work out. If you're in Philly and you miss this show you are an asshole. 

Link:
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