7/10/15: Today’s Top Tips: Friday

MUSIC: Alejandro Escovedo & the Sensitive Boys @ Club Helsinki, Hudson. No Depression magazine, the bible of alt-country, named him Artist of the Decade in the 1990s, and he’s rockin’ harder than ever these days. 9pm.

MUSIC: Richard Thompson @ Bearsville Theater, Woodstock. He just released his new Jeff Tweedy-produced album, Still, and he tore it up in electric trio format at Solid Sound last month. Tonight he goes solo and acoustic. 8pm. $35-$99.

MUSIC: The Figgs @ the Low Beat, Albany. The boys are back in town, this time celebrating the release of their new album, Other Planes of Here. 9pm. $10.

OPERA: “The Long Walk” @ SPAC’s Spa Little Theater, Saratoga Springs. Opera Saratoga presents the world premiere of a new opera by composer Jeremy Howard Beck, a deeply personal exploration of a soldier’s return from Iraq. 7:30pm.

MUSIC: Bryan Thomas @ Skidmore College’s Tang Museum, Saratoga Springs. Simply Nippertown’s finest singer-songwriter. 7pm. FREE. GO HERE for more info and a complete schedule…

FESTIVAL/MUSIC: Schenectady County SummerNight @ State Street, Schenectady. Bernie Williams – longtime New York Yankees center fielder and Grammy-nominated jazz guitarist – takes the stage at 8:30pm to headline the evening’s entertainment. With the Refrigerators, Stockade Kids, #2 Band, Moriah Formica, Crush, the Charlie Smith Blues Band. 5pm. FREE. GO HERE for more info and a complete schedule of bands…

MUSIC: Elizabeth Woodbury Kasius & Heard @ Caffe Lena, Saratoga Springs. The Local 518 jazz-meets-world music ensemble expands with the addition of violinist Michael Emery and Dan Vidali for a special performance that will include selections from Heard: Found Sound of Saratoga County. 8pm.

DANCE: New York City Ballet @ Saratoga Performing Arts Center, Saratoga Springs. Performing Square Dance (Vivaldi & Corelli/Balanchine); ‘Rōdē,ō: Four Dance Episodes (Copland/Peck); and Symphony in C (Bizet/Balanchine). 8pm.

FESTIVAL/MUSIC: Beat Shot Music Festival @ the Hollow Bar + Kitchen, Albany. If you’re a hip-hop fan, this is the only place to be this weekend. Hosted by Masai and Phee with DJs DJ Nate Da Great, Neal W. Steele Cunningham and DJ Trumastr. 6pm.

MUSIC: The Lone Bellow @ The Egg, Albany. The Brooklyn-based indie-country ensemble‘s subtle songcraft and haunting harmonies have combined to make them one of roots music’s fastest rising stars as evidenced on their latest album Then Came the Morning. 8pm. $28.

DANCE: Move Live On Tour 2015 @ the Palace Theatre, Albany. Featuring the “Dancing with the Stars” stars – Julianne and Derek Hough. 8pm. $49.50, $59.50 & $79.50.

THEATER: “The unCivil War” @ Wood Theater, Glens Falls. It’s opening night. Yes, it’s a bluegrass musical comedy at the Adirondack Theatre Festival. 150 years after the final gunshot, the Civil War’s six lone survivors grab their banjos, washboards and what’s left of their sanity to retell the story of the infamous conflict. Starring J. Robert Spencer (Tony Award and original cast member of “Jersey Boys” and “Next to Normal”) as Abraham Lincoln. 7:30pm. $32-$45. Through July 18.

MUSIC: Marty McDermott @ the Valatie Bar & Grill, Valatie. A solo, acoustic performance from the Reverberators’ frontman. 8pm.

MUSIC/FUNDRAISER: The North & South Dakotas @ Putnam Den, Saratoga. The band heads up a concert to raise funds and awareness for Cornelia de Lang Syndrome. With Pat Decker. 9:30pm. $10; $15 if under age 21.

THEATER: “Helen of Troy, New York” @ Fellowship Hall, Troy. The 1923 comedy classic by George S. Kaufman debuts in the city that inspired it. Directed by Don Rittner and Justyna Kostek. 7pm. $20; $10 students and seniors. Through July 19.

MUSIC: Funk Evolution @ Shepard Park, Lake George. With John Eisenhart. 4pm. FREE. GO HERE for more info and a complete schedule…

MUSIC: Shlomo Franklin @ Parish Public House, Albany. With Olivia Quillio. 9pm. $10.

THEATER: “The Rejection Project (518)” @ the Albany Barn, Albany. A new multi-media play made from hundreds of Albany community stories and voices; directed by Allison Lerman-Gluck and Alex Hovet. 8pm. $8. Through Saturday.

THEATER: “Deathtrap” @ BTG’s Fitzpatrick Main Stage, Stockbridge. Ira Levin’s Tony-nominated comedy-thriller stars Gregg Edelman, Alison Fraser, Eric Hill, Tom Pecinka and Debra Jo Rupp. 8pm. $62. Through July 25.

MUSIC: The Rob Lindquist Quartet @ 9 Maple Avenue, Saratoga Springs. 9pm.

MUSIC: Rusty Old Guys @ Canal Square, Cohoes. 6:30pm. FREE. GO HERE for more info and a complete schedule…

MUSIC: Donny “Elvis” Romines @ Arvin Hart Fire Station 4, Stillwater. 6:30pm. FREE.

THEATER: “Man of La Mancha” @ Barrington Stage Company, Pittsfield. Director Julianne Boyd puts a fresh spin of the musical tale about tilting at windmills and dreaming the impossible dream, starring Jeff McCarthy. 2 & 8pm. Through Saturday, July 11. GO HERE to read review…

MUSIC: Flip n Mickeys @ King Neptune’s Pub, Lake George. 10pm.

THEATER: “Shining City” @ Barrington Stage Company’s Blatt Center, Pittsfield. Actor Mark H. Dold (stunning in last year’s production of “Breaking the Code”) returns in Conor McPherson’s drama about a Dubliner who seeks help from a counselor after claiming to have seen the ghost of his recently deceased wife. As their sessions unfold, secrets are exposed in this thriller where a simple tale turns out to be anything but. 7:30pm. Through July 11. GO HERE to read review…

MUSIC: Olde News @ Greenport Town Park, Hudson. 7pm. FREE. GO HERE for more info and a complete schedule…

THEATER: “Thoreau or, Return to Walden” @ the Unicorn Theatre, Stockbridge. In the world premiere, playwright-actor David Adkins takes the stage as New England Transcendentalist, poet and philosopher as he battles with himself, with his own thirst for blood and for the soul of our American conscience. 8pm. $50. Through July 11. GO HERE for more info…

THEATER: “Five Years Later” @ Fort Salem Theater, Salem. Returning to Salem after two sold-out shows in the Fort’s cabaret last fall, Aja Nisenson performs the world premiere of her new one-woman show. 8pm. Through Sunday.

MUSIC: Pat Andreoli @ the Stockade Inn, Schenectady. 7pm. FREE.

MUSIC: The Jeanine Ouderkirk Trio @ the Holiday Inn Express, Latham. 5:30pm. FREE.