2/18/12: Today’s Tips: Saturday

MUSIC: Catherine Russell @ MASS MoCA’s Hunter Center, North Adams. The sublimely soulful singer has sung with everyone from David Bowie and Paul Simon to Levon Helm and Rosanne Cash, but this time around she’s celebrating the release of her own fourth solo album, “Strictly Romancin’.” $18 in advance; $22 at the door; $students $10.

MUSIC: Brooklyn Qawwali Party @ Proctors, Schenectady. The Party Horns NYC concert series continues as percussionist Brook Martinez leads the 11-piece, horn-fueled band in tribute to the legendary Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan. 7:30pm. $15.

FESTIVAL/MUSIC/DANCE: Dance Flurry Festival @ various locations, Saratoga Springs. More than 300 performers, 250 events and five venues over the course of three days. Dances, workshops, concerts, jam sessions and lots more. 9am. Through Sunday.

MUSIC: Carlton Records Rock & Roll Party @ the Ale House, Troy. An all-star free-for-all rave-up featuring the Knyghts of Fuzz, Bourbon Scum, Tommy Love, Charmboy, the Lustre Kings, Plastic Jesus, Big Frank & the Bargain Bingers, the Tichy Boys and more… 8pm.

THEATER: “Hello Hi There” @ EMPAC at RPI, Troy. A performance created by Obie Award-winning director and writer Annie Dorsen featuring two chatbots digging into all manners of philosophy by way of a televised debate from 1971 between philosopher Michel Foucault and linguist Noam Chomsky. 8pm. $18; students and seniors $13.

SCREENING: “The Foucault and Chompsky Debate” @ EMPAC at RPI, Troy. The original hour-long debate from 1971, which forms the foundation for Annie Dorsen’s “Hello Hi There.” (See above) 6pm. FREE.

MUSIC: The Albany Symphony Orchestra @ the Troy Savings Bank Music Hall, Troy. 7:30pm. $19, $32, $42, $54.

MUSIC: The Dance Flurry’s Folk Oasis @ Caffe Lena, Saratoga Springs. Featuring the Bernstein Bard Quartet, the Windborne Trio, Low and Lonesome, Bare Necessities, Pete Sutherland & Baby States, Notorious Folk, Taina Asili & Gaetano Vaccaro, the Yiddishkeit Klezmer Ensemble, Girl Howdy. 10am-11pm. FREE with Dance Flurry wristband; $10 per show without.

MUSIC/THEATER: “Blast!” @ Proctors, Schenectady. The show takes the marching band off the football field and into the theater with an extravaganza that features 34 brass, percussion and visual performers together in a unique explosion of music and theater. 2 & 8pm. $20, $30, $35, $40 & $50; 2 free tix for students 17 and under with every adult ticket purchased.

OPERA ON FILM: Met Opera HD Encore Presentation: Gotterdammerung @ Time and Space, Hudson. With its cataclysmic climax, the Met’s new Ring cycle, directed by Robert Lepage, comes to its resolution. Deborah Voigt stars as Brünnhilde and Gary Lehman is Siegfried. James Levine conducts. 12noon. $25 & $15.

FILM: “Crazy Horse” @ Time and Space, Hudson. Celebrated documentary director Frederick Wiseman spent ten weeks with his camera exploring one of the most mythic places dedicated to women: the Crazy Horse, a legendary Parisian cabaret. 7:30pm. $7 & $5.

MUSIC: Willie Nile @ The Linda, Albany. The seriously rocking singer-songwriter returns to town, this time in support of his new album, “The Innocent Ones.” 8pm. $23.

BURLESQUE: Scooter Pie at Midnight @ Valentine’s Music Hall, Albany. The kind of SPAM we like – Scooter Pie leads her monthly rock & roll burlesque show. 12midnight. $5.

THEATER: “Seasons Change” @ the Arts Center of the Capital Region, Troy. A staged reading of a bittersweet play about four couples over 60 and how they deal with loss, love and loneliness. 7:30pm. FREE.

MUSIC: Tarbox Ramblers @ Berkshire Theatre Festival’s Unicorn Theatre, Stockbridge. 8pm. $20.

MUSIC: SWV @ ESP Convention Center, Albany. With Kindred the Family Soul and comedian Arnesto. 7:30pm.

THEATER: “Sight Unseen” @ Steamer No. 10 Theater, Albany. Theater Voices presents a staged reading of Donald Margulies’ play directed by John Romeo. 3 & 8pm. FREE. Through Sunday.

MUSIC: The City Never Sleeps @ McGeary’s Pub, Albany. 8pm. $5.

COMEDY: Quips On Quail @ Hudson River Coffee House, Albany. Comedy open mic night. 8pm.

THEATER/MUSIC: “Stomp” @ the Palace Theatre, Albany. The international eight-member percussion ensemble utilizes a dizzying array of everyday objects – matchboxes, wooden poles, brooms, garbage cans, Zippo lighters, hubcaps – to create a complex and mesmerizing assortment of rhythms. 2 & 7:30pm. $29.50, $39.50, $49.50.

MUSIC: The Phantoms @ the Bearsville Theater, Woodstock. An a cappella extravaganza. 9pm. $15.

MUSIC: C.B. Smith & the Lucky Devils @ the Liberty Public House, Rhinebeck. Wear your Saturday night best because this show is going to be filmed for a concert DVD release. 8pm. $5.

TALK/VIDEO: Latin Jazz Salon @ 783 Lancaster St., Albany. Who is Candido Camero and why is he an NEA Jazz Master? Ever heard of the technique known as co-ordinated independence? Learn all about the Latin jazz percussion great. 7:30pm. $5.

THEATER: “Running Into Me” @ Skidmore College’s Janet Kinghorn Bernhard Theater, Saratoga Springs. In celebration of Black History Month Skidmore presents the one-woman theater piece by writer/actor Vickie Tanner about success despite a misguided upbringing in the poor urban neighborhood of Compton, California. 8pm. FREE.

MUSIC: The Stray Dogs @ Brown’s Brewing Co., Troy. 9pm. FREE.

MUSIC: Richard Glazier @ the Wood Theater, Glens Falls. The pianist and PBS-TV favorite performs a salute to the American popular songbook and arranger Maurice Whitney. 8pm. $32.

MUSIC: Funk Evolution @ Jillian’s, Albany. 10pm.