The first full week of March in the Hudson Valley brings a bounty of events ranging from an avante-garde documentary screening to a punk photo exhibit and multiple live music shows. Here’s what to do this week in the region.
The Night Visitors
March 7 at Starr Cinema/Upstate Films
How much do you know about moths? Take a closer look through the macro lens of director Michael Gitlin, who will be there in person presenting his latest avant-garde documentary on these mysterious little winged poets. Gitlin’s work dives deep into the borderlands of nature and mysticism, revealing the colors, textures, and intimate details of these creatures as you’ve never seen them before. Gitlin’s The Birdpeople is in the collection of the Museum of Modern Art and his nature films have a David Attenborough-on-acid quality. 7:30pm. $11 (students and seniors $9). Rhinebeck.
Oneida/Sky Furrows
March 8 at the Avalon Lounge
Powered by drummer Kid Millions’s mighty, motorik grooves, Brooklyn experimental rock outfit Oneida has been blasting out its singular style of unrelenting, white-light, psychedelic, postpunk trance music since 1997. Success, the group’s 16th studio album, came out in 2022, and has been lauded as one of its best. Albany’s Sky Furrows, whose Reflect and Oppose was reviewed in the February issue of Chronogram, feature the spoken poetics of writer Karen Schoemer backed by members of the band Burnt Hills. Spreaders open. (Nicole Yun sings and rocks March 9; Raven Chacon, Kite, and Robbie Wing fly March 31.) 8pm. $12. Catskill.
“Red Silk”
March 8-10 at the Howland Cultural Center
What would it have been like in the room with iconic, chaotic poet Anne Sexton and one of her two male psychiatrists? “Red Silk,” written by psychiatrist Lois Achimovich, goes deep into the complexities and hypocrisies surrounding women’s rights, mental wellness, and the struggles of the marginalized in our corrupt, biased society. The cast features Shane Killoran in the title role, as well as John Hatzell and John Blesso. Directed by the award-winning Bronwen Carson, this production will be the first multi-night theatrical production ever to appear on the Howland Cultural Center’s stage. $30. Beacon.
“The Ninth Hour: A Beowulf for the Modern Age”
March 9 at Spencertown Academy
The more things change, the more they remain the same. What could be more on point in our current situation than an ancient examination of human nature, power, and violence reinvented as rock noir? Heroics, villainy, exultation, tragedy—Beowulf has always had it all, but the Old English epic takes new form here, told through triumphant pop anthems and tender lullabies in a duo performance of select excerpts from the show by co-creators Shayfer James and Kate Douglas. $10-$15. Spencertown.
“Low Fidelity”
March 9-31
Photographer Bobby Grossman captured the birth of punk in Downtown New York City in the 1970s. The New Gallery has curated a show of his work, “Low Fidelity,” which will be exhibited at Time and Space Limited March 9-31. There will be an opening reception on March 9, from 5 to 9pm. The event will feature a vinyl and digital deep cut set by DJ Climax and a performance by New York City-based musician Ben Seretan. There will be live music in the gallery by Lulu Lewis on March 16 at 7pm, with a closing party on March 30.
Woodstock Film Fest Oscar Party
March 10 at the Bearsville Theater
The Woodstock Film Festival has seven of its showcase films in the running for Academy gold this year, which should make for a riotously celebratory evening among proud and happy friends of the artists and production companies involved, including American Fiction, Past Lives, The Eternal Memory, American Symphony, The ABCs of Book Banning, The Barber of Little Rock, Ninety-Five Senses, and War Is Over! Inspired by The Music of John & Yoko. There will be libations, hors d’oeuvres, sparkling with insider anecdotes and a silent auction. 7pm. $50. Woodstock.
Samantha Fish and Jesse Dayton
March 10 at the Egg
Perhaps you caught Samantha Fish and Jesse Dayton when they toured last year with Buddy Guy. It was hard to not be blown away by their distinct brand of badass blues rock, with its fiery punk/garage rock spirit and gut-grabbing soul. Dayton has worked with Johnny Cash, Waylon Jennings, X, Rob Zombie, while Fish is an award-winning festival headliner in her own right. Burning up the road in support of their newest disc, 2023’s Jon Spencer-produced Death Wish Blues, the duo is back in the area for this torrid appearance. (Taj Mahal and Sona Jobarteh jam March 7; Silversun Pickups pop by March 11.) 8pm. $34.50-$59.50. Albany.
This article appears in March 2024.
