It’s a new year, which can mean only one thing: time to listen to better music so you can impress your friends with your next Spotify Wrapped! Do you really want people to see you listened to that much Taylor Swift?
To help you out, we’ve included a number of great live music shows this week—and some dance nights as well. They run the gamut from hardcore to psychedelic rock to a mashup of Renaissance music and klezmer. Yes, really.
We’re here to help with your other New Year’s resolutions also, whether they involve spending more time outdoors, watching better movies, or simply laughing. Happy New Year to all!
Friday, January 3
Raving for Accessible Healthcare @ Market Hotel
11 p.m.
Some of the proceeds from this dance night are going to a good cause: the Fund for Public Health NYC. The evening is Italian-themed, for reasons I probably don’t have to enumerate: They promise “Italian club vibes all night long,” and there will be Luigi-themed drinks at the bar.
Body Bag Presents: Witch Project w/ F1lthy, DJ Smokey, & more @ Elsewhere
10 p.m.
This is “the first ever festival installment of the Body Bag Witch Project party series.” The headliner is F1lthy, the producer best known for his work with Playboi Carti and Lil Yachty. When he gets onstage, it’s often at big events like Rolling Loud Miami, so this will be a great chance to see him in a much more intimate environment.
Brooklyn Music Lab Winterfest Night 1 @ Trans-Pecos
7 p.m.
OK, you got me: Trans-Pecos is technically in Queens, not Brooklyn. However, this concert benefits Brooklyn Music Lab, a nonprofit in our beloved borough that helps young musicians. To that end, a number of exciting young bands will be on the bill, including Ian Su & the Polynomials and psychedelic rockers Rahn Prospect.
Devitalized & Voluntary Victim @ Bushwick Public House
6 p.m.
Get all your aggression out in the new year by going to see some hardcore. Devitalized and Voluntary Victim are on their appropriately named New Year, New Violence Tour, and they’ll be bringing the trek in all its slam-dancing glory to Bushwick Public House.
Saturday, January 4
The Substance @ Syndicated
9 p.m.
The Substance was one of 2024’s best movies, with Demi Moore giving a career-revitalizing (and somewhat meta) performance as an aging star who will do anything to turn back the clock. Now you have a rare chance to see the movie’s rather extensive gore on the big screen.
Hot Gossip with Jonathan van Halem @ Union Hall
10 p.m.
Jonathan van Halem starts the year off right with a new edition of his ongoing Hot Gossip standup show at Union Hall. Most notably, the world’s best tweeter, Jaboukie Young-White (who’s responsible for this timeless gem), is also on the bill, which makes this show a must-see.
Med-Ren-Klez Jam/Concert @ Jalopy Theatre
8 p.m.
What happens when you combine an expert in medieval and Renaissance music with top-notch klezmer players? To be honest, I’m not exactly sure—but this show is the place to find out! The evening begins with a concert where Avery Gosfield (recorder, percussion) gets together with four expert interpreters of Yiddish, klezmer, and Eastern European music. Following the show, there’s a jam session.
Birding at Green-Wood
10 a.m.
Green-Wood Cemetery is one of the borough’s true gems. This event will allow you to see it in a whole new way: through the lens of its birds. The event is open to newbies and experienced birders alike.
Sunday, January 5
Roof Show! Outer Shapes, Sotto Voce, Gunderbus, Jupiter Boys @ Our Wicked Lady
7 p.m.
Outer Shapes are a fantastic duo who will be headlining this stacked bill at Bushwick’s Our Wicked Lady. Make sure to listen to their latest project, Toothache, which came out in November, before showing up.
Jon Benjamin, Jazz Daredevil @ Bell House
7:30 p.m.
Jon Benjamin, best known for his voice work as the titular characters in Archer and Bob’s Burgers, is combining music and comedy in his “Jazz Daredevil” venture. The basic conceit is that he surrounds himself with top-notch jazz musicians and then plays piano—badly—alongside them.
Blind Runner @ St. Ann’s Warehouse
5 p.m.
The 20th edition of the Under the Radar Fest begins today, and we have two shows from it to recommend. The first is Blind Runner, which is about a husband, a wife who is a political prisoner in Tehran, and a blind woman who the man, at his wife’s insistence, coaches through a race. The show is directed by Amir Reza Koohestani and features stripped-down staging and extensive use of video, to create a unique and poetic experience.
TECHNE: The Vivid Unknown @ BAM
2 p.m., 3:30 p.m., 7 p.m., 8:30 p.m.
The second of our Under the Radar Fest recommendations, The Vivid Unknown, is Godfrey Reggio and John Fitzgerald’s reimagining of Reggio’s classic 1982 movie, Koyaanisqatsi. The description promises that visitors will “explore the primal nexus of humans, nature, and technology, dynamically participating in shaping the unfolding narrative,” which sounds pretty fascinating.
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