Valentine’s Day is over, President’s Day is in the rearview mirror, and there’s not another national holiday until spring (that is, if there is either a nation or anything resembling spring by the time Memorial Day rolls around). But if you can find time to stop doom-scrolling, the Weekend Guide can help you get through this long between-holidays period with some amazing activities.
We’ve got high-concept parties, classic silent films, influential fusion bassists, classical music, protest songs, and whatever it is that legendary producer and musician Daniel Lanois is up to.
Read on for more.
Friday, February 21
Courtesy of Signal
LA Wildfire Relief Benefit Show @ Baby’s All Right
6 p.m.
This show, featuring Sabrina Song, Miette Hope, Loose Buttons, B.Miles, and Slow Bird, is sending all of its proceeds to Mutual Aid LA to support those affected by the recent LA fires. If you go, make sure to request that Loose Buttons play “I Saw Jon Hamm At The Beach”—which is, if the band’s singer is to be believed, based on a true story.
Resounding Silents: The Passion of Joan of Arc @ Brooklyn Art Haus
7:30 p.m.
Carl Theodore Dryer’s 1928 silent film The Passion of Joan of Arc is widely acknowledged as a masterpiece, with Renée Jeanne Falconetti’s unforgettable performance at the center. The only thing that could make it better? A great soundtrack. That’s what you’ll get at this screening: a new original score composed and performed live by violinist-composer Glenna Cureton. This event kicks off the 2025 season for the Resounding Silents series, which presents live scores to great silent movies.
Percy Jones & MJ12 @ Barbès
8 p.m.
Jones is a bassist who first grabbed the world’s attention in the killer British jazz fusion band Brand X back in the ‘70s. You might have heard of their drummer, Phil Collins—you can see him and Jones rocking out with the rest of the band circa 1979 here. MJ12 is Jones’s current group. It “combines prog-rock, free jazz and sly humor,” and they even promise a Brand X tune at some point in the evening.
Brooklyn Boogaloo Blowout @ LunÀtico
9 p.m.
Brooklyn Boogaloo Blowout is a soul band founded by another bass player, the late Tim Lüntzel. Lüntzel was a quintessential NYC musician: likely to play with Bright Eyes or Norah Jones one night and an up-and-coming singer-songwriter the next, and to bring the same top-tier musicianship and winning personality to all of it. Lüntzel died in 2017, but the band, led by singers Leah Siegel and Moses Patrou, continues on. On bass, appropriately, will be Andy Hess, a true giant of the instrument.
La Apuesta @ Tulum
9 p.m.
La Apuesta (“The Bet”) is a veteran group from Oaxaca. They specialize in duranguense music, and we can say with confidence that it is going to be an absolute blast to hear their uptempo songs like “Por Ti” and “Cada Dia Mas” while in the middle of a rowdy crowd.
Import/Export + Brooklyn Sway Present: Jade Seatle, J. Richards, and Asha & Jay @ Signal
9 p.m.
As the first pre-launch party (of many) for the new club on the block, Signal is welcoming DJs local and abroad to spin for hours untold on their corner of Morgan Avenue and Scholes Street in Bushwick. The space has plenty more programming planned as gradual warm-ups for their grand opening next month. Head over to their Resident Advisor page for a full schedule.
Saturday, February 22
Courtesy of The Lot
The Blues Society Film Screening & Director Talk with Augusta Palmer @ Clinton Hill Library
2 p.m.
Augusta Palmer, daughter of the music critic and blues aficionado Robert Palmer, directed this documentary about the Memphis Country Blues Festival. The festival’s life corresponded with the mid-to-late 1960s “rediscovery” of older blues music by what might delicately be called a crossover (i.e. largely white) audience. The film examines the history of the festival from its origins in 1966 to its explosion in 1969. Palmer, a Brooklyn resident, will be in the house this weekend.
Safe House @ St. Ann’s Warehouse
2 p.m. & 7:30 p.m.
Safe House is a show by playwright and director Enda Walsh and composer Anna Mullarkey. It stars Kate Gillmore as a young woman who is living in a handball alley. She gives the audience what Walsh has described as a “fractured, sort of scrapbook version of her life,” including memories that may or may not be actually real, but are certainly real to her. The show got a five-star rave review from The Guardian last year, so you’d better catch it at St. Ann’s during its short run over the weekend.
LORE Presents: “Little Red Riding Hood” @ Hex House
7 p.m.
This show-slash-party is billed as a “cutting-edge performance rave.” You, the audience, dance while a narrator tells the story of Little Red Riding Hood. But you’re not just listening: there’s a whole immersive experience. Pop-up performances of dance, drag, burlesque, and performance art join with the narration in telling the story — and you’re right in the middle of it the whole time.
Opening Reception for Avram Finkelstein’s “Something Terrible Has Happened (Corpus Fluxus)” @ Smack Mellon
6 p.m.-8 p.m.
“Something Terrible Has Happened (Corpus Fluxus)” is artist Avram Finkelstein’s first major NYC exhibition of personal artworks. Finkelstein is a legendary figure: a founding member of the Silence=Death and Gran Fury collectives and the author of the book ‘After Silence: A History of AIDS Through its Images.’ As you might imagine from the title, Finkelstein’s artwork shown here focuses on the body. But it also draws on the mythology of the golem, the character from Jewish folklore who is brought to life from clay. The exhibition runs until April 27.
The Lot Radio’s 9-Year Anniversary Party @ The Good Room
Hosted by DC multi-hyphenate dreamcastmoe, the venerable and beloved online radio programmers are celebrating the last of their single-digit anniversaries with a stroll down the street and an all-star roster of selectors and performers, including DJ Swisha, H31R, Zephyr Ann, and more.
Sunday, February 23
Courtesy of Baby’s Alright
Brooklyn Symphony Orchestra: Chevalier de Saint-Georges, Fauré, Sankey, and Dvořák @ Brooklyn Museum
2 p.m.
This performance of our borough’s symphony orchestra will be guest-conducted by Nico Olarte-Hayes. It features music by Chevalier de Saint-Georges, a pathbreaking French composer of African descent who is sometimes (if controversially) called the “Black Mozart”; a more modern composer (and, keeping with today’s theme, bassist) Stuart Sankey; Gabriel Fauré; and Antonín Dvořák. Sankey’s piece “Carmen Fantasy” will be performed by virtuoso double bassist Nina Bernat.
A Celebration of Spirituals with Cheryl Willis Hudson and London Ladd @ Lafayette Avenue Presbyterian Church
4 p.m.
Wilson and Ladd are the authors of ‘When I Hear Spirituals,’ a new children’s book about a young Black girl who connects with heritage and history via the lyrics of spirituals. So to celebrate the book, in addition to a reading and a discussion, there will also be a performance by the Lafayette Inspirational Ensemble, led by Janis Russell.
Class Struggle in Concert: An Anti-Fascist Song Convergence with Sing in Solidarity and Friends @ Jalopy Theatre
5 p.m.
For no particular reason we can think of, a night of anti-fascist songs seems particularly relevant right now. This concert, by the choir of the Democratic Socialists of America, promises both new music and classic movement songs, and may be just the thing to inspire you to fight another day.
Daniel Lanois: An Evening of Instrumentals and Sonics @ Baby’s All Right
7 p.m.
Your favorite rocker’s favorite producer Daniel Lanois has helmed classic albums by U2, Peter Gabriel, and Bob Dylan. He’s also had a significant career as a solo artist and film composer. He’s bringing it all to Brooklyn for three separate events this week: a talk with Justin Richmond on Friday about his producing career as part of the On Air Festival; a solo ambient performance at St. Ann & The Holy Trinity on Saturday; and this weekend-capping show at Baby’s All Right, billed as “an evening of instrumentals and sonics.”
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