Weekend Music: Heavy Drama Zone (5/6 – 5/8)

According to the New York tabloids, this week Anna Wintour had her celebrity-filled Met Gala. This year’s theme was technology.

Of course, as befitting Wintour, the show had a more formal title, Manus x Machina. For spins and giggles say that three times stoned.

I have no problem with Ms. Wintour, a classically trained journalist, or decadence in general. Even better than no problem, I love them both.

Which is why I’m piss stinking mad that every single celebrity down to the number showed up in something that had nothing to do with the theme. Except Claire Danes, who was radiant in her fiber-optic getup.

This weekend’s music picks highlights musicians who actually know how to do costume drama right. There’s a Prince music video dance memoriam at Rough Trade, trucker country and rockabilly at Skinny Dennis, and a rapping female version of Michael Quattlebaum Jr. at Good Room.

If you’ve been wondering why there have been so few Prince tributes in Greenpoint so far, I think a lot of venues didn’t want to look like they were trading in on the tragedy by just quickly hosting something that would pop on social media.

They wanted to do it right, out of admiration and respect. Rough Trade planned well and this Saturday (5/7) at 9 pm they will have his best music videos up on the big screen along with a dance floor.

To rev up your funk for the Prince tribute, try catching Mykki Blanco the night before (5/6) at The Good Room at 10 pm. He’s a gender-bending rapper and beatmaker known at the DMV as Michael Quattlebaum Jr.. Yes, his stage name is a big improvement. Here’s a preview.

Level on the rap, I’m also a big fan of Del the Funky Homosapien, playing at Brooklyn Bowl on Saturday at 9 pm. He’s lyric forward but doesn’t allow it to drag the flow, reminds me of old-school masters like Brooklynite Chubb Rock. As always with Bowl shows, advance ticket purchase is wise.

Shifting from hip-hop to country, Skinny Dennis has two fine shows this weekend, first rockabilly band Lara Hope and the Ark-Tones on Saturday night at 10, then country & western’s Jack Grace Band on Sunday at 9.

It’s nice to see the JGB finally get off their duff and show up in North Brooklyn, after years playing various venues near downtown Brooklyn. Yeah, there’s a reason we don’t live next to four-lane Flatbush Avenue with flatbed trucks barreling by our building entrance.

OK friends I hope you have a great weekend out there without me. By this time tomorrow I’ll be in Martha’s Vineyard, sprinting through a salt marsh wearing just my tighty-whities and sneakers, shouting, “You can’t catch the wind!” And dreaming of other Flirting with Disaster references.

Take care, – P