10.27 A wknd w/ Kira Metcalf
The artist on bitchin' foliage, existential dread-curing coffee and covering Heart at the BdBK Halloween show SUNDAY NIGHT at Arlene's Grocery
ARRRE YOUUUU READYYYY TO GET SPOOOOOOOOOOOKY?!
There’s only one week when we can throw “Monster Mash” up in this intro, so you better believe we’re going to take advantage of the opportunity…
Or maybe we’ll use it as a tone-setter every Friday from here on out. ‘Tis quite the bop, no? MOVING ON!
Happy Halloweekend to all who celebrate! This is the most glorious few days of the year when all our favorite local musicians transform into all of our favorite iconic bands (think karaoke, but with instruments) (and, uh, talent) and we have the collective opportunity to sing/scream/dance/freakout to the sound of bands we prob wouldn’t have the opp to ~actually~ see live. (In some cases, because they’re no longer, uh, alive. In others, because they’d already retired and/or broken up before we were born.)
All to say: It’s a goddamn glorious time, and this Sunday we are once again stoked to be throwing the BANDS DO BK HALLOWEEN BASH at Arlene’s Grocery! And we’re extra excited to welcome back the one and only Kira Metcalf, who will be going CRAAAAAAAZY ON YOUUUUUU as HEART!
Grab your tickets here!
Before we veer into full-blown festive mode, allow us to take a moment to praise Kira, who has already proven her chameleon-esque abilities with a series of v v cool covers. At our party last year, the artist pulled off an extra-epic Björk (plz see vids here), last summer she released a cover of Kate Bush’s “Wuthering Heights”…
… which, btw, premiered on Bands do BK… and around Halloween 2020, she dropped her own take on “Sally’s Song” from Nightmare Before Christmas (bonus spooky points there).
Of course, that’s not to discount her talents as a true original, as evidenced in her latest single “contact” or, say, the song/video that came before that, “Hoax”…
… which also happens to feature the artist with a mask for… dun dun dun… EXTRA HALLOWEEN BONUS POINTS. (Redeemable for absolutely nothing, for the record.)
This is all to say that if Halloween is a celebration based on transformation, Kira’s got it—and us—totally covered. Sunday is set to be one hell of a performance, and based on the itinerary below, this is also going to be one hell of a weekend.
READ ON for a festive-af itinerary, courtesy of Kira Metcalf, that is far more full of treats than tricks and is sure to get you in the ~*~*~spookiest~*~*~ of spirits.
It’s going to be a fun (and frightening?!) one…
We’ll see you out there 👻
[BUT FIRST: PRESS PLAY]
FRIDAY
Twas the Friday of Halloween weekend and all through Kira Metcalf’s apartment, all but one creature was stirring because her partner and dog were up at a normal hour while her insomnia kept her up until very late so now it’s 11am and whoops she should get up and carpe this diem shouldn’t she.
First and foremost I will walk my beautiful dog Margaret around the gorgeous mansions of Ditmas park. If you’re looking to impress a date or scar your small children, it is imperative to take them by the Halloween house on Argyle and Albermarle where you can picnic on the grassy flats and admire the state-of-the-art literal house of horrors the Broadway producer inhabitants of the corner estate put on every year. There are scenes from almost every major horror franchise, skeletons crawling up the roof, and more clowns than I am personally comfortable with. Seriously, it is majestic in its grotesquery and splendor and I walk by it every chance I get.
Since I’m still locking down my outfit for Band’s do Bk’s Halloween spectacular on Sunday at Arlene’s Grocery, I head to my most tried and true thrift spot - the Beacon’s Closet in Greenpoint. If you’re thinking “Kira, I’ve been to a Beacon’s Closet and you know nothing about the art of thrifting” I urge you to go to this specific location at 74 Guernsey St. There’s some supernatural magic to that place I’m not even kidding. Some of the best pieces of clothing I own were plucked from the racks of this gorgeous hall of chaos, including a black patent pleather fringed raincoat that is my pride and joy. Since I’m embodying Ann Wilson this Sunday, I’m still debating if I want to go ‘70s Heart or ‘80s Heart, and I may just have to let the Beacon’s closet gods be my guide.
Since it’s Friday night and I’m looking to get into something terrifyingly exciting, I’m heading to Purgatory where my friend and comrade in debauchery Black Jeans has promised a night of erotic nightmares beyond any measure and sensual daydreams to treasure forever. Can’t you just see it? Don’t dream it. Be it. And by it I mean present at Purgatory for what I’m sure is going to be a raucous good time.
SATURDAY
No true Kira Metcalf weekend would be complete without a morning of spooky-season existential dread that can only be cured by leaving the apartment in search of coffee that could raise the dead. Luckily I live very close to Der Pioneer, Bjorn Bottcher’s pastry shop and cafe. I don’t know what they're putting in their coffee but it is WORKING unlike whatever I attempt to make at home. My order is typically an iced oat cortado and whatever fresh pastry looks the most enticing because life is truly not worth living without treats.
Ok. I’m caffeinated, and as it’s the first Saturday in a century that isn’t raining, I’m going to have to venture to Prospect Park to catch what is sure to be some positively bitchin foliage. I am a leaf peeper to the core. Nothing brings me more joy than watching decaying leaf litter brighten up the rolling, grassy hills of the ever-magical PP. The sights! The smells! Am I in When Harry Met Sally or The Blair Witch Project? Classic case of who knows not me! I am a Southern Park kinda gal so catch me around that big field near the self-composting bathroom sitting by the water admiring swans or wandering the winding trails that have those little pyramid-like tree formations that look like if I touch them a goat will pop out and ask me if I want to live deliciously (for the record I do). If I’m going to die on Halloween Weekend in a park, please let it be Prospect. Or let me live forever and have all my dreams come true. Either one.
Saturday night is upon us and I’ve run my Heart songs to my little HEART’s content with the band. Ugh I’m so excited. Looking to really let loose this year and be possessed by the spirit of Ann Wilson who is very much alive but still. I have to believe possession is possible. Since I’m a firm believer in resting up before showtime, I’m going to stay home tonight and hate watch my favorite least-favorite adaptation of a horror novel of all time starring Kenneth Branagh, the man I love to hate, in his campy-but-not-in-a-good-way 3 million hour slog, Frankenstein. This movie has everything: Robert Deniro as Frankenstein’s monster. Kenneth Branagh oiled up and shirtless for whose enjoyment? I will tell you. Helena Bonham Carter who, throughout the filming of this non-classic, becomes KB’s real life mistress ultimately ending in heartbreak for international treasure Emma Thompson. This big-budget travesty and BTS tragedy is so bad it’s bad and I love hate-watching every glorious minute of it.
SUNDAY
The only thing scary about this Sunday is how terrifyingly exciting this show will be. That’s a stretch I know but just let me live. Sunday is a day of reflection, for centering oneself in preparation for a big crazy show at Arlene’s. Shall I clear my head and walk through Greenwood cemetery, getting more foliage jollies, paying respect for the dead, and hugging some of the most majestic trees I’ve ever seen? That seems fitting for this weekend.
This is not a weekend for being lost in my phone, hoping my consciousness will upload to the cloud so I can delete it. This is a weekend to contemplate the spectrum of horror and joy that comes with understanding the nature of our fleeting existence, to be the Final Girl of my own internalized haunted mansion, to get out into the world and do what I hope I do best. So let me hit up the Ditmas Park farmer’s market (yes, this hermit loves her neighborhood and stays in it whoops) to buy a giant ginger cookie, some kale I will definitely NOT let wilt in the fridge, and the knobbliest gourd I can get my hands on because this is HALLOWEEN WEEKEND GODDAMMIT. And I will be NOTHING if not festive.
Well, it’s about that time. I should be getting into hair and makeup now, warming up the ol pipes for some serious belting, and find whatever train is running that will get me to Arlene’s by 6:30. See you soon 🖤
Itinerary above written + submitted by Kira Metcalf. Follow the artist at @kirametcalf, buy music on Bandcamp and add songs to your Spotify playlists!
Feature image provided by the artist.
MORNING ANNOUNCEMENTS
One note that O.Wake (aka Pink Floyd) will no longer be performing at the Halloween show this Sunday BUT stay tuned for a TBA rad replacement, and in the meantime, get hyped for the rest of the very sick bill (as noted below).
NEW COLOSSUS 🌊 FIRST WAVE 👋 JUST DROPPED !
View that sweet, sweet fine-print above (or perhaps just check out the post) and get properly pumped via the 2024 New Colossus Playlist! YEEHAW!
RELEASE RADAR
New(ish) stuff from local (+ occasionally, once-local) artists we love, listed in no order whatsoever:
Cameron Field (1) // Cameron Field
“Torn Hubris” // Sallies
NIGHT AT THE ARCADE // DD Walker
“You Think It’s Funny” // Blanket Approval
“In the Mood” // monarch.
“Pour You In” // Brain Club
“The Fire” // Superswell
“L Train” // snailosaur
IT’S HAPPENIN’
10.29 BdBK. presents Halloween at Arlene’s ft. Mary Shelley as Fleetwood Mac, Two-Man Giant Squid as Talking Heads, Charmainia and friends as It’s Britney Bitch, Kira Metcalf as Heart - Tix here
11.11 BdBK presents TURKEY SLAMDOWN w/ Bodega, My Son The Doctor, Work Wife, Mary Shelley, SQORE benefitting Make the Road NY @ Rubulad - Tix here
THE SETLIST by Bands do BK is a reader-supported publication that’s freeeee. BUT! If you want to become a paid subscriber to show some love and support the work BdBK is doing… well, hey. That’d be pretty rad of you. <3
Thx 4 reading! Find more fun stuff at bandsdobk.com and @bandsdobk. <3
Order the Bands do BK BOOK (!) (out now via Lit Riot Press) here.