10.29 A wknd w/ Hot Knives
The band on cemetery strolls, Ninja Turtles-approved pizza, and our Saturday-night Halloween show at Windjammer (+ a spooky 'n' seasonal YouTube playlist!)
!TGIF! DO THE DAMN THING WITH HOT KNIVES
Last night, while brainstorming this intro in between sets at the Bowery Electric after a glass of rosé, a gin and soda and approximately two free tequila shots (FEELING GR8 THIS MORNING), we came to the realization that Hot Knives sounds like what a group of musically inclined Benihana chefs who trade the skillet for the stage to moonlight as musicians might name their band… AND MAYBE IT IS! However, the Hot Knives that we’re referring to here are not artists of the hibachi-slingin’ variety. Instead we’re talking about the BK/Ridgewood trio servin’ up “sensory overload for the soul” in the form of sweet, sweet—and just as tasty!—psych-soaked rock. (Available for your consumption as an entree + a la carte here.)
Back in May, when live music had yet to make its full return, the delightful dudes of Hot Knives generously treated us to a magical mind- (and eardrum-) blowing concert for one at their Savaria Studios practice space, where we also chatted with them about their rad album Making Love To Make Music To Make Love To, plus quarantine band bonding, connection and catharsis—an interview you can read here.
Fast-forward ~5 months (to NOW!) and what we’re super pumped about on this particular Friday morning is Hot Knives’ extremely imminent, sure-to-be sp00ky transformation into The Stooges—a one-night-only musical metamorphosis that’s going down TOMORROW as part of our action-packed Halloween show at The Windjammer (more details below).
With four acts, standup comedy, FREE tarot readings and sideshow acts, the event—a major labor of love by the dudes of Hot Knives themselves— is destined to be the most excellent of evenings, and we truly couldn’t be more stoked to be involved. As for the rest of the weekend, it is Halloween (!) and whether you opt for fun or for fright, there’s no shortage of sick events happening around the city. To help you narrow it down, we enlisted Hot Knives to share their plans, and you’ll find the weekend picks kindly provided by our pals below.
Don your scariest or sexiest fill-in-the-blank costume, pour up some punch and prepare 2 hit the town. Your weekend starts now—and god knows it’s gonna be a weird one.
[BUT FIRST: PRESS PLAY]
Halloween is the best time to be a New Yorker. It’s New Year’s Eve, St. Patrick’s Day, and fuck it, a little bit of a spooky side of Christmas rolled into one, but the city is mostly free of tourists. There’s this unique feeling that the City belongs to “us”.
The three of us in Hot Knives have always treated Halloween as a sacred time - both as wandering creatures of this wonderful, grimy city, and as musicians enjoying and playing our share of Halloween shows over the last few years. From DIY shows to Napalm Death and Roky Erickson concerts, Brooklyn always delivers and we couldn’t be more psyched to be part of the festivities this year, realizing a years-old vision of playing a Halloween cover show as The Stooges with Abhay Singh (of Teenage Afterglow).
FRIDAY
Even if you’re on the clock the Friday before Halloween weekend, you’re not really working. There’s even less motivation on Friday 10/29 than there is the Wednesday before Thanksgiving, and for good reason - in just a few hours, you get to set the primordial beast inside loose on the City, and after a year off, we are all ready to get out and raise some hell on the Devil’s weekend.
We imagine by 2 or 3 PM the spooky sleaze will really have started to settle in and everything else we’re doing can wait until November. For now, throw on a Cramps record, shake off the work day, and head on over to Mano’s Pizza in Ridgewood for some hot slices. New to the neighborhood, Mano’s is the “real deal” slice joint and is the ultimate slice to get our weekend started. We’ll take those slices to go, grab some Presidentes from the deli, and start the weekend off right with some quality Halloween YouTube-surfing. We’re partial to classics like Halloween or the Evil Dead, but we also make sure to watch some good concerts from our Halloween heroes, like The Cramps’ bizarre 1978 performance at the Napa State Mental Hospital or the Misfits’ absolutely wild 1982 Halloween show.
The pizza coma has worn off and we’re ready to head down to Crown Heights to a party hosted by Bands do BK’s Sam! We’ll bring the tequila - costumes...maybe. After the freak out, we’ll probably grab some halal (the blue gyro truck at Myrtle-Wyckoff is THE late night truck) as we head home to fall asleep to pleasant Halloween dreams of rock & roll, pizza, and slasher flicks.
If you don’t have a dope party to go to like ours, there is no shortage of good live music - definitely check out Shred Flintstone’s Halloween Gala with Razor Braids and Teen Mortgage at The Sultan Room (bonus points: you can grab a doner kebab after the show) and the freaking NUDE PARTY at TV Eye.
[EDITOR’S NOTE: AS OF FRIDAY MORNING, THE SHRED FLINTSTONE SHOW HAS BEEN MOVED TO THE BROADWAY!]
Hot Knives’ Halloween YouTube List:
-Night of the Living Dead (1968)
SATURDAY
Saturday morning is pleasantly uneventful, gorging on coffee and bagels like zombies on Duane Jones’ corpse. We’ll spin our favorite spooky tunes (Cramps, Misfits, and maybe some Death), and meet up. We need to fuel ourselves for the night to come, so we’re going over to Williamsburg to eat the “Official Slice of Hot Knives” - L’Industrie.
It’s always controversial to claim the “best” pizza in New York, let alone the world, but on a good day, it’s hard to argue that L’Industrie isn’t “the” slice (the sandwiches are nothing to scoff at, either). If there’s time to kill after filling up on slices, we may roll over to Jackbar to play some pinball, otherwise we’ll head back out to Ridgewood for the show...
Devil’s night has arrived, and it’s time for the main event - we’re so excited to play the Halloween covers show at Footlight Underground @ The Windjammer. This is a Halloween tradition that we love, and we’ve wanted to do a Stooges set for awhile...Abhay has proven to be the perfect Iggy Pop cherry on top.
We’re in good company, putting on the show with Bands do BK, with sets by freaking Nihiloceros (as Alkaline Trio), Mary Shelley (as Nirvana), and the Grand Army Reapers (as Gramercy Creepers). Also in the mix are Brooklyn comedy nerds Geek Sauce contributing standup; Kaitlin Campbell aka Tarot for Skeptical Seekers doing free tarot readings (don’t forget to tip!); and performance artist ATTIS lurking around the venue to keep everyone on their toes. Windjammer is a favorite spot for Hot Knives. We hosted a psychedelic freakout at Windjammer back in 2018, complete with electric visuals and go-go dancers - and it’s really the perfect place to unleash our inner Stooges and steep in our favorite holiday.
Far from calling it a night, after the show we’re heading over to Milo’s Yard for some pinball and bar food...Milo’s hosts great DJs on weekend nights, and they’ll almost definitely be playing some old Halloween flicks. Let’s groove to some soul music and let Jason Vorhees do his thing. If you get a high score on pinball, maybe we’ll buy you a shot.
SUNDAY
“Bonfires burning bright, pumpkin faces in the night…” Happy Halloween!
Throw on some Misfits, grab a coffee and an egg sandwich from the deli, and head to Machpelah Cemetery to visit the final resting place of none other than Harry “Handcuff” Houdini, who died on Halloween in 1926.
Machpelah is in a network of cemeteries just east of Ridgewood and makes for a beautiful, but fitting way to walk off last night and soak in the holiday. It’s not Halloween weekend without an unholy trinity of slices, so right after we’re heading to a Ridgewood favorite, Joe & John’s, to fill up on more slices…
Joe & John’s is the perfect “Ninja Turtle” cartoon New York pizza slice. These slices are greasy, cheesy, saucy, and hit just right every time. Special shoutout to the mushroom and vodka grandma slices - truly magical.
As far as our Halloween night goes, the Knife boys are going to go their separate ways, some will go and watch more slasher flicks, some will be heading into Manhattan to see GWAR, Napalm Death, and Eyehategod at Irving Plaza for some intense, gory, heavy metal theatrics.
If you can’t snag tickets to that, look no further than Weirfield Street, where TV Eye and Trans Pecos are hosting the Haunted Hop - 26 cover sets, including Miranda & the Beat as the Talking Heads and Max Pain & the Groovies as Steppenwolf, DJs, and a costume contest. Not to be missed.
Itinerary above written and submitted by Hot Knives. Follow the band at @hotknivesworld, grab their music on Bandcamp and add their songs to your Spotify playlists!
Feature image provided by the band.
MORNING ANNOUNCEMENTS
Shoutout to our new friends The Backfires and GigFinesse for putting on a FREE Battle of the Bands, the finals of which went down this Thursday. Congrats to Rock n’ Riley for taking first, Mackenzie Shrieve for pulling second and our BFFs My Son The Doctor and The Aberdeen for bringing their tunes and antics to the Bowery Electric stage.
CONGRATS to Blonde Records and team for a successful inaugural Wavy Awards last weekend! Read all about the event and its winners (including us! 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭) in Variety (!!!!) here.
RELEASE RADAR
New(ish) stuff from local artists we love:
“Hambjrgers” video // The Rizzos
Lily We Need to Talk Now // Lily Konigsberg
I’d Like to Tell You Something Important // Moon Kissed
“Container” video // The Wants
“Bodega in the Rain” video // Pleasure Island
Cover Girl // Zoos
IT’S HAPPENIN’
Here’s a look at the shows we’ve got coming up this month. Mark your calendars and come hang!
TONIGHT: As noted above, we’re having a Halloween party at Sam’s apartment in Crown Heights! ~DM 4 address ~
10.30 BDBK AND HOT KNIVES PRESENT: Halloween at the Footlight Underground w/ Hot Knives, Grand Army Reapers, Nihiloceros and Mary Shelley + tarot readings + sideshow acts + stand-up c/o Geek Sauce Comedy @ The Windjammer (tix here)
11.3 BDBK + FAVORITE FRIEND RECORDS PRESENT: Forever Honey, Atlas Engine, Glom @ Baby’s All Right (tix here)
11.13 BDBK PRESENTS: Reclining Nude, WhiteCliffs, Moonglow, Noverb @ Pet Rescue
11.16 BDBK PRESENTS: Mary Shelley (single release), Gardenia, Punchlove, LEONE @ The Nest
11.19 BDBK PRESENTS: Sharkswimmer, Marathoner, Joyce, The Plebs @ Pet Rescue
11.20 BDBK PRESENTS: Glassio, Ryan Egan, small dogs, Boy Jr. @ TV Eye (tix here)
+ ICYMI
Around the blog + on the radio + from the archives:
Experienced Drummer Seeking Band
LISTEN: Our Radio Interview w/ Brian Hemmert of My Son The Doctor
WATCH: Moon Kissed LIVE at Zoos Studio
Thx 4 reading! Find more fun stuff at bandsdobk.com and @bandsdobk. <3