First Friday Albany: Dr. Jah & The Love Prophets @ Lark Hall

ALBANY — Lark Hall will feature a free show with Dr. Jah & The Love Prophets as part of Albany’s First Friday festivities on June 2 at 6 p.m.

Dr. Jah and the Love Prophets have been bringing the reggae heat for over 25 years. Their original blend of conscious reggae and jam-band sensibilities have entertained audiences around the globe. Dr. Jah features heavy reggae grooves with inspirational lyrics, a blend that pays homage to Bob Marley, Grateful Dead, Sublime, and other influences.

First Friday Albany aims to introduce a broader audience to the unique vitality of the artists and venues of Albany. First Friday promotes interest in the arts by making it accessible to everyone, strengthening the local creative community.

The show starts at 7 pm. Drink specials and ticket giveaways will also be available. Lark Hall is located at 351 Hudson Avenue in Albany.

The Albany Gay Men’s Chorus

First Presbyterian Church of Albany will host a First Friday concert featuring the Albany Gay Men’s Chorus to help kick off pride month on Friday, June 2, at 6 p.m.

The show, “Pure Imagination,” will preview the chorus’s upcoming June 17 concert.

The church is at the corner of State and Willet Streets in Albany.

Exquisite Corpse

The Albany Public Library’s Centennial Year celebration continues with its latest installment of Art at APL exhibition with “Tag, You’re It,” at the Pine Hills Branch on Friday, June 2, from 6 to 7:30 pm.

Helped inspire this exhibition, bringing the 1920s back with a return of the Exquisite Corpse. The parlor game was first popular in the 1920s. It allowed creators to collaborate by piecing their work, written or visual, into a larger body of work. 

A challenge was issued to Capital Region artists, and 72 of them responded. They were all tasked with completing one of three sections of the body — head, torso, or legs — in an orchestrated, “blind” mail exchange. The exhibition, curated by the Opalka Gallery of Sage College of Albany, will feature 24 unique drawings to be showcased as part of First Friday.

The evening will be accompanied by music from The Michael Lamkin Jazz Trio, co-funded by the Albany Musicians Association. 

It’s a Wrap: 200 Years of Outerwear

The Albany Institute of History and Art continues with its “It’s a Wrap: 200 Years of Outerwear” exhibit, highlighting the fashionable garments that help keep us clean, dry, and warm. 

Witness exquisitely tailored jackets juxtaposed with Gilded Age evening wraps encrusted with jet bead trim and dripping with fringe made by the famed Parisian House of Worth. Or Victorian capes, cloaks, and coats made from luxurious and colorful fabrics are displayed next to outfits worn in Albany during the 1880s tobogganing craze. 

The exhibit weaves together stories that include the simple yet colorful Shaker cloaks made in Mount Lebanon, New York, to Albany International’s trademarked down-like insulation used by L.L. Bean. 

What else is happening on Friday?