Everything is kinda secondary to the news that science has given us the first ever image of a black hole, but there are still excellent concerts to see over the next few days. Enjoy!
5) Aphex Twin at Avant Gardner
I’m putting this one in at number 5 because it sold out immediately and presumably there’s very little chance of attending if you weren’t one of the lucky people to get a ticket at the time (I try to keep this column relatively clean otherwise I’d write what I thought of the people looking for hundreds of dollars on the secondary market). Aphex Twin shows are rare, this is his first NYC show in since the 90s. Thursday 8pm
4) Chris Gethard at Union Hall
Comedian Chris Gethard has been playing shows regularly at Union Hall for a few months now, and these are the final two shows of this run. They have all sold out so far (at the time of writing there are only tickets available for the late show), and these are billed as “60-90 MINUTES OF COMEDY WITH CHRIS GETHARD AND A FRIEND”, so one’s value for money is guaranteed. Thursday 7pm & 10pm
3) Record Store day at Rough Trade
I’m not much of an advocate for Record Store Day, I don’t particularly care for exclusivity and the lark and I can’t think of a record I would camp overnight to get my mitts on… but, this isn’t for the records (I’m sure there are some great ones coming out, I just think everyone should have a chance of getting one if they want one), it’s for the free performances going on all day at Rough Trade. The likes of Steve Gunn and TEEN will be performing as well as numerous others. Go check out the itinerary for more info. Saturday 9am
2) Chris Cohen at National Sawdust
Chris Cohen is a bit of a treasure really, and has just released his third solo album (self-titled) on Captured Tracks, and it’s quite an enchanting hat-trick of releases to date. A beautiful record as this calls for a beautiful setting and perhaps National Sawdust is about as perfect a match as possible. Saturday 10pm
1) Uada, Sinmara, Wormwitch, Suffering Hour at Saint Vitus Bar
Black-metal quartet Uada seemingly came out of nowhere with their 2016 debut album Devoid of Light, and 2018’s Cult of a Dying Sun is even better on every level. Also on the bill is Iceland’s Sinmara, Wormwitch from Vancouver and Suffering Hour from Forest Lake, Minnesota. The riffs will be plenty, the drums relentless, the vocals… guttural, basically a perfect night at Saint Vitus. If you slept on tickets for this one, it sold out an hour ago. Friday 7pm
