- Also happening this weekend is another CD release party for East Brunswick's Bobby Mahoney;
- Poetrypalooza at New Brunswick's Scarlet Pub; NJ Bacon Fest at Tuckerton Seaport;
- Saint Appreciation with The Black Clouds, Tango Machina and more; South Plainfield rapper Pif Jones;
- And performances by Williams Honor's Reagan Richards in "Always, Patsy Cline" at Monmouth University.
New Brunswick is one of best spots in the state formusic and food. For two weeks, those delights will join forces during New Brunswick Restaurant Week. See more below, plus a whole lot of other stuff going on:
New Brunswick Restaurant Week, various times July 9 to 23 throughout New Brunswick. 25 percent off most locations, plus other discounts and offers. www.newbrunswick.com
Restaurant Week is always a great time to check out some of Hub City’s more expensive restaurants, such as Clydz, Due Mari, Delta’s, and The Frog and the Peach, because they offer major discounts during the two-week gastro celebration. This year, the event will feature strolling musicians throughout the downtown on select dates. Send pics with the hash tag #NBrestweek, and you'll be entered for a chance to receive gift cards. Suggested places to send are citymarket@newbrunswick.com, www.facebook.com/nbcitymarketand www.twitter.com/nbcitymarket. Visit the website above for than two dozen other participating eateries.
READ: Makin Waves local independent arts and entertainment report
Free summer movies, 10:30 a.m. and 7 p.m. Tuesdays through Aug. 16, State Theatre, 15 Livingston Ave., New Brunswick. www.statetheatrenj.org
A dinner and a movie make a great date or family fun, but how much better is a discounted dinner and a free movie? Nearly one-third of the free summer movies at The State Theatre coincidewith New Brunswick’s Restaurant Week. The movie schedule features “Frozen,” July 12; “E.T. the Extra Terrestrial,” July 19; “Despicable Me 2,” July 26; “Babe,” Aug. 2; “Monsters University,” Aug. 9;and “Aladdin,” Aug. 16.
Jazzmeia Horn,7:30 p.m. July 8, Pelzman Park, 45 Madson Ave., Avenel section of Woodbridge. Free. http://www.woodbridgeartsnj.org
Jazz diva Dianne Reeves called her “phenomenal and wonderfully talented.” Seven-time Grammy-winner Al Jarreau says she is “not only a vocalist, but a musicianwith a big ear, and wisdom beyond her years.” Plus, Mayor John McCormac likes her. Well, that’s plenty good enough for me. Don’t miss a free concert by Jazzmeia Horn, the New School for Jazz-trained winner of the 2015 Thelonious Monk International Vocal Jazz Competition.Learn more at http://theartistryofjazzhorn.com/.
Slammin’ Weekend at PNC Bank Arts, Garden State Parkway Exit 116, Holmdel. http://www.livenation.com
Tickets surprisingly remain for two great shows this weekend at PNC Bank Arts Center: the irresistible dub-tinged ska-punk of Sublime (one of my all-time favorite bands), featuring Rome, with the similar-sounding fun of The Dirty Heads, plus Tribal Seeds and Bleeker, on July 8, and the heavy metal madness of Slipknot, Marilyn Mason, and Of Mice & Men on July 9. Gates to both shows open at 6:30 p.m. Tickets are $12 to $89 for Sublime and $22.50 to $70 for Slipknot.
Bobby Mahoney andthe Seventh Son CD release party, 6 p.m. July 10, The Stone Pony, 913 Ocean Ave., Asbury Park. $10 in advance, $12 at the door. www.thestoneponyonline.com, http://bobbymahoneymusic.com
The popular East Brunswick band Bobby Mahoney andthe Seventh Son will celebrate the release of their fifth record in only four years. The prolific outfit’s latest is titled “A Shot in the Dark,” the title track to which features a video by fellow East Brunswick talent Zack Morrison, an emerging filmmaker studying at Columbia University. Sharing the bill in the celebration will be Backyard Superheroes, Goodbye Tiger, and Will Wood and the Tapeworms.
Poetrypalooza, 8 p.m. July 10, Scarlet Pub, 131 Easton Ave., New Brunswick. Free. http://mycj.co/29jAZtH
I remember when poets and musicians used to perform together in New Brunswick frequently. Eliot Katz, Christine Kelly, Mark Bradley, All God’s Children, and many more often would share stages and sets. Poetrypalooza seems to be a return to those days with four poets and four music acts coming together at Scarlet Pub. The poets are Indigent Press Editor Damian Rucci, Rebecca Weber, Lindsey Strangland Justin Alexander Williams. Music will include power folkie Joe Galuppo, the Latin fusion of The Rollbacks, the folk-adelic Sunflower and the post-apocalyptical jazz-poetry of GHyp:See & the Wichts.
NJ Bacon Fest, 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. July 9 and 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. July 10,Tuckerton Seaport & Bayman’s Museum, 120 W. Main St., Tuckerton. $8 admission to benefit museum, additional cost for food and drink.njbaconfest.com
Five Sisters Food Co., in collaboration with the historic Tuckerton Seaport, has created an opportunity for themasses to gatherin celebration of all things bacon. The mightiest of meats will be center stage on some of the best food trucks and restaurants from New Jersey and Philadelphia. And to wash it all down, plenty of regional craft beer will be on tap, plus a Margarita bar will be available. Highlights also will include pig races, a bacon-eating contest, a mechanical bull, live bandsand a dozen battling Luchador wrestlers.
Saint Appreciation Night with The Black Clouds, Smashing Blumpkins, Bodyface and Tango Machina, 8 p.m. July 9, The Saint, 601 Main St., Asbury Park. $10, all proceeds from doorplus raffles go to support The Saint’s upcoming renovations. www.thesaintnj.com
A few bands, local artists and friends are getting together to support the venue that have supported them for years. The 18+ show will feature The Black Clouds, who’ll be releasing their latest record soon, a Smashing Pumpkins tribute band, New York City’s Bodyface, and Tango Machina, a cross between Cream and Metallica that harkens back to a day when rock had guts instead of emotions, wasn't politically correct, and didn't care if it offended anybody.
DAA Hip-Hop Night withPif Jones, The 8th Vision, Flame & Millz, Dru Paris, Count Up Jay, Indecent, Zig Zag, CWMN Entertainment, and Rellington Bill, 7:30 p.m. July 9. The Blue Room, 201 Secaucus Road, Secaucus. $10 in advance, $15 at the door. http://mycj.co/29zpIHb
DAA Entertainment will present a slew of up-and-coming rap and hip-hop acts, including South Plainfield talent Pif Jones, a Newark native whose trippy style is reminiscent of PM Dawn and De La Soul. Kearny’s 8th Vision also has a tasty flow with an intelligence and social conscience that would make my favorite rapper KRS-One proud.
“Always, Patsy Cline” with Reagan Richards of Williams Honor, various times through July 16, Monmouth University’sLauren K. Woods Theatre, 400 Cedar Ave., West Long Branch. $30, $20 for seniors, employees and alumni, $10 for students, $5 for Monmouth University students. www.monmouth.edu/arts
Emerging country star Reagan Richard of the Jersey Shore-originated duo Williams Honor is enjoying playing her idol in Joe Rapallo’s production of “Always, Patsy Cline.” A Monmouth University music industry professor, Rapallo has worked with Bon Jovi, U2, Green Day, Madonna and Sting.
A Jersey Shore ‘Patsy Cline’ starring on stage
Staff Writer Bob Makin: 732-565-7319; bmakin@gannettnj.com
