Michael Janairo

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Author: Michael Janairo

  • Mirk in the running for Ernie Ball Battle Of The Bands grand prize

    The 2012 Rockstar Energy Drink UPROAR Festival tour hit SPAC this summer, and the Albany band Mirk won a spot as an opener at the concert. Now Mirk is in the running against 27 other local market finalists for the Grand Prize package which includes a coveted spot on the 2013 Rockstar Energy Drink UPROAR Festival, the opportunity to record an EP with legendary producer Jay Baumgardner at NRG Recording Studios in Hollywood, CA, $10,000 worth of music gear and other prizes. For details, visit www.RockstarUPROAR.com/battleofthebands.

    Mirk and the other winners are being evaluated through Oct. 30 by a panel of music industry professionals and artists including: Jose Mangin from Sirius XM, Avenged Sevenfold guitarist Zacky Vengeance, legendary producer/mixer Jay Baumgardner, and music industry veteran Bill McGathy.

    The winner will be chosen soon after, so stay tuned.

    Good luck, Mirk!

  • Photos: How to Train Your Dragon behind the scenes

    Check out these great shots behind the scenes, publicity images and production shots of “How to Train Your Dragon.” Are you going to go?

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    “How to Train Your Dragon”
    When: 7 p.m. Thursday, Friday; 11 a.m. 3 and 7 p.m. Saturday; 1 and 5 p.m. Sunday
    Where: Times Union Center, 51 S. Pearl St., Albany
    Tickets: Prices vary by day and time, range from $19.50-$69.50
    Info: 800-745-3000; http://timesunion.com

    Be sure to pick up Thursday’s Times Union to read about the show in Preview, the weekly entertainment section.

  • Tedeschi Trucks Band to play Palace on Dec. 2

    The Palace Theatre announced this morning that the Tedeschi Trucks Band will return to Albany for a Dec. 2 show.

    Tickets — which range from $39 to $79 — go onsale at 10 a.m. Friday, Oct. 5, though members of the  Palace can purchase tickets beginning Thursday.

    The Tedeschi Trucks Band made its Capital Region debut last year, in an October show at The Egg, in which the 11-member band is fronted by the blues powerhouse couple of guitarslinger Derek Trucks and vocalist Susan Tedeschi.

    For more information, visit http://www.albanypalace.com or call 465-3334.

    Read the review of TTB’s Oct. 19, 2011, show.

  • Mixed feelings about MoHu 2012

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    The MoHu Arts Festival is back.

    The 10-day event begins Friday, Oct. 5, as a way to draw attention to the diversity of arts offerings in the region. And once again I have mixed feelings.

    Yes, it’s great the event supports the arts in all its diversity. That includes big-name guests to our region: Nobel Prize-winning novelist J.M. Coetzee at the New York State Writers Institute on Oct. 12 or Warren Haynes on Oct. 13 at The Egg come to mind.

    It also includes plenty of homegrown talent, from small-scale classes such as Beginning Crochet with Barbara Neu-Berti on Oct. 7 at the Sand Lake Center for the Arts (limited to 12 students) to a big collaboration by Albany Pro Musica and Albany Symphony Orchestra, who will perform Bach’s Magnificat on Oct. 13 and 14 at Troy Savings Bank Music Hall. You can find more information about these events at http://www.mohufest.com. (more…)

  • MoHu returns! Will you be there?

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    Earlier this month, the people behind MoHu — a 10-day celebration of the arts in the Capital Region — gathered to announced that the second annual MoHu festival will take place beginning Friday, Oct. 5, with more than 100 venues, artists, and arts organizations from all over Albany, Schenectady, Rensselaer, and Saratoga counties banding together to display the strength and diversity of the cultural programming that makes this area so special.

    One of the main goals of the MoHu festival is to raise awareness of the diversity and quality of the arts in the region — to let readers like you know more about what’s going on in the area around you — in the areas bordering the Mohawk and Hudson Rivers. (Get it? That’s where “MoHu” comes from, Mohawk and Hudson.)

    Last year, the MoHu organizers hoped to have 50,000 attend various MoHu-labeled events, and they say an estimated 52,272 people turned out for music, dance, theater, comedy, poetry and visual arts. The figure is an estimate, because not all events were ticketed.

    One of the events of note is a free event called “Drums Along the MoHu Festival Finale” at 3 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 14, at The Egg in Albany. The event features four percussionists – Brian Melick, Devesh Chandra, Robot Aston Ellis and Zorkie Nelson – will perform musical works that celebrate the diversity of the Capital Region.

    Another new thing this year is a pre-MoHu fundraiser, called MoHu Takes Flight and labeled as a “an interactive arts cocktail party to kick off and help support the second annual MOHU Festival.” The benefit includes opportunities for art-making and watching. It takes place from 6 to 8 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 4, at the Eclipse Hangar at the Albany International Airport. Tickets are $50 for the public and $30 for MoHu artists. For more information about the benefit, contact Leesa Perazzo 518•382•3884 x187 or lperazzo@proctors.org

    For more information about MoHu, visit http://mohufest.com/

  • ‘Rat Pack Show’ at Palace rescheduled to May 9, 2013

    The Palace Theatre has announced another rescheduling of “Sandy Hackett’s Rat Pack Show,” which had been scheduled for Saturday, Sept. 15. (The Saturday date had been the rescheduled date for the event which was originally slated to be Friday, March 23.

    Tickets for the show will be honored on the new date. For those unable to attend, refunds are available at the original point of purchase.

    Tickets for the 7:30 p.m. Thursday, May 9, performance are on sale at the Palace box office, Ticketmaster.com and by phone at 800-745-3000.

    Call the Palace Theatre box office at 465-4663 for more information.

    (more…)

  • Lark Fest seeks volunteers

    Want to make yourself useful while enjoying a day of great local and national music acts?

    Well, Lark Fest still needs volunteers for Saturday’s 31st annual event taking place on Lark Street in Albany from 10:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.

    A variety of positions are available with shifts from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. There is a particular need for “Lark Patrol” volunteers, who will assist the Albany Police Department with the closure of side streets throughout the day.

    To volunteer, contact volunteer coordinator Aimee Gould-Pryba at 434-5411 or goulda@ci.albany.ny.us.

    For more information about the festival, call the Lark Street Business Improvement District at 434-3861 or visit http://www.larkstreet.org.

    For an interview with headliner Karl Wallinger, click here.

    — CJ Lais

  • Foundry exhibit celebrates Oberlander Group

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    The newest exhibition at the Foundry for Art and Design, “Designing for the Arts: A 25 Year Retrospective of Oberlander Group,” opens Saturday and will have a reception from 6 to 9 p.m.

    The exhibition marks the 25th anniversary of the graphic design firm, which has offices in Cohoes, and has had clients such as the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, Miami City Ballet and New York City Ballet.

    “Oberlander Group’s design services have contributed to the success of Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater by amplifying the excitement that audiences feel when attending our performances,” said Sharon Gersten Luckman, Ailey’s executive director. “As evidenced in the striking materials for our upcoming New York season, the posters, brochures and ads they’ve created beautifully capture the power and passion of our world-renowned dancers.”

    The free exhibit features designs that include photography by Rodney Smith, Ray Meeks, Richard Corman, Andrew Eccles and Gio Alma.


    On exhibit
    “Designing for the Arts: A 25 Year Retrospective of Oberlander Group”
    When: Opening reception: 6-9 p.m. Saturday; hours: 1-4 p.m. Sundays Sept. 9, 16, 23
    Where: The Foundry for Art, Design + Culture, 119 Remsen St., Cohoes
    Info: 878-2612; http://www.oberlandergroup.com; http://www.thefoundrysite.com

  • Are fine art museums fine places for cat video contests?

    Museums are places that contain things, most often objects of historical or cultural value and significance. Museums are also places in which events can take place, such as galas or concerts. So it shouldn’t be surprising that the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis, one of the most prominent U.S. institutions of contemporary art, held an Internet Cat Video Festival last week.

    One of the ironies of the event is that the videos being shown were from the Internet, which allows people to experience the same cultural artifacts (whether significant or not) even if they are separated by place and time; however, on the grounds of the Walker, the videos were watched by people gathered together in one location to watch the same thing at the same time.

    Another irony is that even though some may think a bricks and mortar museum as a repository as culture has been overwhelmed by the World Wide Wide as a repository of culture, people remain social animals, willing to gather at a museum to share a cultural experience.

    The broader question, though, can be stated two ways:
    1. If the Walker is spending time with cat videos, then does that mean it is spending less time with serious artists?
    2. Are cat videos art?