Saturday 05/03

[MUSIC]

RITES OF SPRING

Emo takes flight in the Meadowlands

While Mexican teenagers bold enough to venture outside in a Fall Out Boy T-shirt and eyeliner face the possibility of being beaten to death—on camera—by the country’s so-called anti-emos, American teenagers get Bamboozle, the Meadowlands music festival now in its fourth year. What was once the province of Northeastern city folk getting over hardcore punk and bad relationships in damp basements has become, in this country, big business—an assimilation signaled by the incongruous presence of Snoop Dogg atop the first day of this two-day festival. Otherwise, expect emo stalwarts Jimmy Eat World, Paramore, Coheed and Cambria, Panic at the Disco, et al., plus literally hundreds of their junior peers. What these kids risk is a sunburn and odious rap rock from Gym Class Heroes, but the genre remains some of the best music for and by adolescents ever produced—valued here to the tune of $50 per day, and in Mexico City or elsewhere outside of New Jersey, considerably higher. At 11:30 today and Sunday, Meadowlands Sport Complex, Route 3 and Route 120, New Jersey, 201-935-3900, $50

ZACH BARON

[PARTY]

MISERY LOVES COMPANY

Rejects: Come one, come all

Sure, it hurts to be turned down—but every successful person will tell you that it was learning from the rejections that girded them for the real breakthrough. Until yours happens, take some solace in numbers: The Ontological-Hysteric Incubator is throwing a Rejection Letter Party to support the people who get the boot the most: artists in New York. Bring your “No thanks” letters (e-mails are cool, too) for all to read and get $5 off your ticket. While you’re commiserating with others, chow down on barbecue and make light of it all while gulping down a brewski (or five). Since it’s only natural that rejects love to dance their sadness away, a DJ will be provided to hit up a few jams and help you keep those endorphins pumping. At 9, Ontological Theater at St. Mark’s Church, 131 East 10th Street, ontological.com, $15, cash only

EUDIE PAK

[READING]

QUIRK-A-RAMA

The Believer hosts a night of oddballs

Remember the View-Master? Those little toy binoculars that let you see stereoscopic photos of things like cute puppies and Disney characters? Well, tonight at the Believer Nighttime Event (presented by the McSweeney’s-affiliated Believer magazine, and—let’s face it—the best part of the PEN World Voice Festival), the first 500 people in the door will be given one to view the latest film by the award-winning experimental artist Vladimir, who creates “picture stories” with action figures, abstract photos, and dioramas based on the works of authors such as Kafka and Calvino. Hosted by the actor and comedian Todd Barry (Flight of the Conchords), the full-on quirkfest also includes a musical performance by gangsta-folk dude John Wesley Harding and a panel discussion with Scandinavian authors Halfdan Freihow, Christian Jungersen, Jo Nesbø, and Kristín Ómarsdóttir. At 6, Tishman Auditorium, the New School, 66 West 12th Street, pen.org, free (no reservations)

ANGELA ASHMAN