4/4/14: Today’s Tips: Friday

MUSIC: “Turn! Turn! Turn!: Remembering Peter Seeger” @ the Eighth Step at Proctors, Schenectady. Wanda Fischer and Margie Rosenkranz co-host a tribute to the great American music icon and friend of the Step. Featuring Betty & the Baby Boomers, Dan Einbender, Ruth Pelham and others. 7pm. $15. GO HERE for more info…

MUSIC: The Figgs @ the Low Beat, Albany. Yes, the doors have been open for almost two months now, but the Low Beat is finally getting around to its official grand opening. And who better to grab the spotlight than the fab Figgs? With Chalaque. 8pm.

MUSIC: Peter Mulvey @ Caffe Lena, Saratoga Springs. Singer-songwriter Peter Mulvey celebrates the releas of his new album, Silver Lining, produced by the mighty Chuck Prophet. With the Suitcase Junket. 8pm. $18.

TALK: “In Conversation” @ Bard College’s Fisher Center, Annandale-On-Hudson. A conversation between acclaimed author Neil Gaiman and celebrated Pulitzer Prize-winning cartoonist Art Spiegelman, about cartooning and writing, working across artistic mediums, friendship, identity and more. 7:30pm. $25.

FESTIVAL/MUSIC: Hudson Valley Guitar Festival @ Hudson Valley Community College’s Siek Campus Center, Troy. Day One of the two-day fest features concerts by Mirk (12noon) and Chris Gotzen-Berg (1pm), as well as a wide variety of workshops and clinics. 10am. $20 (good for both days). GO HERE for more info and a complete schedule…

MUSIC: Enter the Haggis @ The Egg, Albany. From Toronto, Enter the Haggis performs their super-charged indie-Celtic-folk-rock-world-fusion music.. 8pm. $26.

MUSIC: Ciaran Sheehan & Friends @ the Troy Savings Bank Music Hall, Troy. The acclaimed Irish singer and Broadway star offers, “From Galway to Broadway,” as a fundraiser for Albany’s Irish American Heritage Museum. 7:30pm. $25 & $30.

MUSIC: Life in Color @ the Times Union Center, Albany. It’s one giant paint party. 8pm. $39, $49, $54, $59, $75 & $85.

THEATER: “Gypsy: A Musical Fable” @ Capital Repertory Theatre, Albany.”Everything’s Coming Up Roses…” Maggie Mancinelli-Cahill directs the classic musical based on the memoirs of famed stripper Gypsy Rose Lee, featuring a cast of 23 from Broadway star Mary Callanan to local TV personality Benita Zahn. 8pm. $20-$65. Through April 13. GO HERE to read review…

MUSIC: We Are the In Crowd @ the Upstate Concert Hall, Clifton Park. No, not a Ramsey Lewis Trio tribute band. This is the Poughkeepsie quintet – consisting of the captivating lead vocalist Tay Jardine, vocalist/guitarist Jordan Eckes, guitarist Cameron Hurley, bassist Mike Ferri and drummer Rob Chianelli – in support of their new album, Weird Kids. With William Beckett, Set It Off, State Champs and Candy Hearts. 7pm. $15.

ARTS WALK: First Friday @ various locations, Albany. Visual art exhibitions, live music, food, fun and more… 5-9pm. FREE.

MUSIC: Jeff Nania Trio @ NaNola, Malta. 7pm.

THEATER: “Rent Hair” @ Spencertown Academy Arts Center, Spencertown. Written by Local 518 veteran singer-songwriter Sandy McKnight, this comic play is directed by Liv Cummins and stars Andrew Joffe, along with a cast of other regional actors. 7:30pm. $10. Also at 2pm on Sunday.

MUSIC: Cyro Baptista’s Banquet of the Spirits @ the Falcon, Marlboro. Known as the mad scientist of Brazilian percussion, Baptista formed a new band to expand stylistic boundaries while working within a more nimble, small group setting. Thus was born Banquet of the Spirits, a project immortalized on the wildly acclaimed self-titled release on Tzadik, the label run by jazz iconoclast and saxophone genius John Zorn. With Jason Miles, performing segments of his project, “One Man Show: Behind the Scene,” marking his 40th year in the music business. 7pm. Donations encouraged.

MUSIC: Twiddle @ Putnam Den, Saratoga Springs. The Vermont-based quartet conjures up jazz, classical and bluegrass, but above all, masterfully blends reggae and funk. Obliterating laws of improvisation, their complex arrangements never fail to leave crowds lusting for more. With electro-funksters Fikus. 9:30pm. $10

MUSIC: Tom Healey & Matt Mirabile @ the Lark Tavern, Albany. 6pm.

PARTICIPATORY DANCE: First Friday Capital Swing Dance @ the Albany Elks Lodge, Albany. Doc Scanlon’s Rhythm Boys return to fire up the dance floor – featuring bassist Don Dworkin, guitarist Graham Tichy, drummer Pete Vumbaco, saxman Cliff Lyons and trombonist Tommy Shields. 7:30pm dance lesson; 8:30pm music & dance. $15; $10 students & seniors.

MUSIC: Big Medicine @ the Parting Glass, Saratoga Springs. 9pm. $5.

MUSIC: The Long Bow Trio @ Pauly’s Hotel, Albany. With the Co-Pilots. 9pm.

MUSIC: Heather Maloney @ Club Helsinki, Hudson. The singer-songwriter Heather Maloney will bring her unique blend of folk, rock, jazz and pop to town in support of her brand new self titled disc on Signature Sounds. With Last Good Tooth. 9pm. $15.

MUSIC: Wartime Manner @ River Street Pub, Troy. With Death Threat, Built For Battle and Breathe the Skyline. 6pm. $12.

THEATER: “A Piece of My Heart” @ Confetti Stage at the Albany Masonic Hall’s Fourth Floor Theater, Albany. Written by Shirley Lauro and directed by Linda Shirey, the play is based on the actual accounts of the diverse women who served our country in the Vietnam War. 7:30pm. $15. Through April 6.

MUSIC: Off the Record @ the University Club, Albany. ’60s Futurist trio. 8pm.

MUSIC: Rusty Edge @ Carney’s Tavern, Ballston Lake. 6pm.

FILM: “The Docks of New York” @ UAlbany’s Page Hall, Albany. In this 1928 silent masterpiece directed by Josef von Sternberg, a steamboat stoker working on the New York City waterfront saves a suicidal woman who has jumped off a pier into the briny water below. The selfless act changes his life forever. With live musical accompaniment by pianist Mike Schiffer. 7:30pm. FREE.