The sixth annual Make Music festival celebrated the first day of summer with free concerts around the city yesterday. Here in the East Village, Joe’s Pub took its programming out to Astor Place. Watch our video to see the harmonicas, banjos, and gospel choirs in action, and hear more about the festival from the director of Joe’s Pub, Shanta Thake.

Daniel Maurer

Just a block or two from where his Kiss mural may soon disappear, Antonio “Chico” Garcia added what he called “a brush of color” to the back wall of Arena Eco-Friendly Salon last night.

Rena Anastasi, the owner of the salon at 189 Orchard Street, said the hot pink touches came out “even brighter than I thought,” but she’s feeling it. “It’s definitely fun, LES fun.”

Chico said he’s headed back to his new home in Tampa, Florida in a couple of weeks. Until then, he’ll be repairing his work in the area, including the murals outside the Nuyorican Poets Cafe, which got a touch-up yesterday afternoon. “I’m just doing something for the community before I leave,” he said.

Courtesy of Underworld Productions. A dance performance in the garden last year.

You’ll have your pick of outdoor concerts tomorrow.

At 3 p.m., a group of opera performers will take the stage at La Plaza Cultural Armando Perez to delight local kids with songs about cats, dogs and rhinos, as the Underworld Productions Opera Ensemble presents “Animals in the Plaza,” a collection of operas performed in their original Spanish, French, English or Italian languages. “We believe children respond to opera in its true form, not watered down,” director Gina Crusco said. Songs include “The Gingham Dog and the Calico Cat,” “Wynken, Blynken and Nod” and “El Rinoceronte/The Rhinoceros.”

Also tomorrow, the Cooper Square Committee presents its annual Third Avenue Festival: from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. 150 vendors and non-profits will dot the avenue from Sixth Street to 14th Street. Performances will take place at East Ninth Street from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. by singer-songwriter Michelle Fury, The St. Marks Ensemble, Kate Vargas, Filthy Rotten System, Marcel Van Dam et Paul, The Dan Piccoli Trio, and The JewelTones.

If our look back at the Jewish Rialto made you long for the days of Yiddish music on Second Avenue, rest assured that on Thursday at 12:30 p.m. Metropolitan Klezmer will play a free concert at Abe Lebewohl Park, in front of St. Mark’s Church (right across from the Yiddish Walk of Fame at East 10th Street and Second Avenue). Consider the hour-long rain-or-shine event, co-sponsored by Third Street Music School Settlement, a tribute to the city’s booming Jewish population: The Times reported Monday that it has grown to nearly 1.1 million after decades of decline.

If you thought the lost episode of “Fear Factor” that Gawker recently excerpted was Too Much Donkey Information, you may want to steer clear of this week’s installment of the New Filmmakers’ Fest at Anthology Film Archives. At 6 p.m., the program kicks off with “Donkey Love,” about men in northern Colombia who have sex with donkeys. (Seems those secret service agents didn’t see the half of it.) The film’s premise (and trailer, above) left us with more than a few questions. So we spoke with the film’s director, Daryl Stoneage, to find out – among other things – if he wasn’t just making it all up.

Is this real?

This is 100 percent real. Some days when I Google search my name or talk to my girlfriend’s parents, I wish it wasn’t, but it truly is. Read more…

Suzanne Rozdeba Billy Leroy with Jim Jarmusch at his goodbye bash.

“Baggage Battles” has been renewed for 14 episodes, Billy Leroy told The Local. The second season will start filming July 11 at a customs auction in Newark.

The eccentric antiques dealer, who buried his tent on the Bowery in March, said he was looking forward to working on the Travel Channel’s reality show again. “The director Yon Motskin really has a great sense of humor and I love when he puts me in humorous situations,” he wrote in an e-mail. “Nothing is more rewarding than people coming up to me on the street and saying they laughed at some of the comic stunts we pulled.” Read more…

Chris Caporlingua The characters quaffed beer in “Claire Went to
France.” Now you can, too.

Having trouble getting the boyf to take in some local theater? This might convince him. “The Vitology,” a new three-act comedy from Ben Clawson, Artome Yatsunov, and Scott Cagney – playwright, director, and actor from “Claire Went to France” – involves a drinking game: audience members pick a character and every time the character drinks, they drink, too. The play, which runs July 5 to 14 at Under St. Marks, spans “a decade in the lives of the world’s worst best friends,” per a press release, so expect to take many a sip from the free beer you get with the $18 cost of admission.

And the Strange Dog Theatre Company isn’t the only one plying theatergoers with drinks. Bowery Boogie attended “Speakeasy Dollhouse,” Cynthia von Buhler’s new play about the murder of her saloonkeeper grandfather and found that upon arriving at the former Lower East Side speakeasy where the play takes place, audience members are offered cannolis and “special coffee.”

Kevin McLaughlin

This past weekend, the Lower East Side Preservation Initiative hosted a walking tour of the long-gone Jewish Rialto, formerly one of the preeminent theater districts outside of Broadway. The marquees touting lively music, comedy, and burlesque acts are no longer aglow, but during the three-hour stroll, theater historian Cezar Del Valle noted architectural remnants of the Yiddish theater era’s early-1900s heyday.

The district was ample, stretching from Second Avenue to Avenue B, and from Houston Street to 14th Street. Smaller stages nestled on side streets also hosted Jewish, Shakespearean, and original plays, as well as vaudeville, burlesque and musical shows.

Beginning at 143 Houston Street, Del Valle opened the tour with the story of the Houston Hippodrome, which was “a wooden ‘worm eaten building'” and a German evangelical church in the late 1800s until the General Slocum steamboat disaster in 1904. The Minksy family of real estate investors funded a reconstruction and in 1909 the space reopened, “presenting movies and vaudeville. Short plays were added circa 1912,” said Mr. Del Valle. It’s now the home of the Landmark Sunshine Cinema. Read more…

Lauren Carol Smith

First the “Legends of the Lower East Side” were immortalized in coloring-book form, and now the “Saints of the Lower East Side” have been painted onto scaffolding on Fourth Street, between Bowery and Second Avenue.

Tom Sanford, known for his portraits of cultural and historical figures, painted some local heroes on scaffolding above 70 East Fourth Street Cultural Center, where the future home of the Downtown Art and Alpha Omega Theatrical Dance Company is under construction. The portraits, from left to right, are of Martin Wong, Joey Ramone, Miguel Piñero, Ellen Stewart, Charlie Parker, Arthur “Weegee” Fellig and Allen Ginsberg.

Lauren Carol Smith 107-113 Second Avenue.

The artist got some help from Graham Preston, who will present his own works, depicting cultural heroines of the area, on June 26 at 6 p.m. at FAB Café. Both exhibits, which are presented by FABnyc and are part of the ArtUp program that recently brought a new mural to the La MaMa building, will be up till Sept. 5.

And speaking of scaffolding, The Local spotted the scaffolding that was expected to obscure the new Metropolitan Citymarket (formerly Met Foods) going up earlier today. As previously reported, N.Y.U. is renovating its classrooms in the former Saul Birns Building at 107-113 Second Avenue, and the scaffolding is expected to come down in the fall.

Erica Min “Cho H Cho” featuring Daniel Irizarry.

With arts funding getting slashed and donors pinching pennies, 11 downtown theater companies have joined forces for an avant garde festival next month. What space will serve as host? The Living Theatre, of course, which narrowly avoided shutting down weeks ago.

The month-long undergroundzero festival will open June 29 with a sit-down interview with Judith Malina, the revered founder of The Living Theatre. Ms. Malina will also fill the role of Mary in a production of “The Gospel of St Matthew” — a victory lap of sorts for the 85-year-old woman who nearly saw her life’s work come to an end due to debt.

“This is part of preserving one of the city’s treasures: Judith,” said Brad Burgess, who cares for Ms. Malina and helps run the theater. “If she’s not supported — the founder of the movement — what do the rest of us have? If she’s taken care of then there’s hope.”

Of course, The Living Theatre’s financial woes are far from unique. According to a recent article in The Wall Street Journal, 50 of New York City’s 200 performance venues with 99 seats or fewer closed between 2003 and 2010. Read more…

The CBGB Festival just added a few big names. Superchunk, Wyclef Jean and Fishbone will play shows during the frenzy of rock music, conferences, and movies on the weekend of July 4. The former bass player of Nirvana, Krist Novoselic, will also deliver the keynote address on “association and how it can transform politics,” according to a press release.

The new names join other bands like Guided By Voices, War On Drugs, MxPx, the Pains Of Being Pure At Heart that will play the festival taking place at around 30 venues around Lower Manhattan and Brooklyn. Local joints like Lit Lounge, Webster Hall, Bowery Electric and Otto’s Shrunken Head are slated to host.

Chris O. Cook Mara Mayhem, Ashley Bad, Maya Sinstress, DJ Xris Smack, DJ Jeffo!

The Howl! Festival wasn’t the only extravaganza of eccentricity to take the neighborhood this past weekend, and even with Low Life in full effect, maybe not even the most outlandish one. That honor, as you might have guessed from Thursday’s “Beat and Greet,” may have gone to the New York Fetish Marathon. But on Friday night, the festivities were hampered just a bit, as frisky fetishists were spanked by rain and disciplined by bouncers at Webster Hall.

Despite a posted start time of 9 p.m. and showers that began at 10 p.m., ticketholders weren’t admitted until nearly 11:30 p.m., meaning that waiting fetishists were sitting ducks for the occasional snide remark from spiky-haired gawkers hitting the neighborhood from Jersey and elsewhere. Still, the rubber-clad types kept their chins up as event workers repeatedly materialized in the doorway to announce that they would be ready “any minute now.”

Once fetishists were finally admitted, though only intermittently in groups of five, they made their way up to the venue’s top floor where pumping music, a stage set for performances, and plentiful “prayer benches” for spanking play implied that the evening would be worth the wet wait. Read more…

The self-described climax of the Howl! Festival this weekend was the sixth annual Low Life event, led by East Village husband-and-wife team Johnny Dynell and Chi Chi Valenti of legendary 1990s clubs Jackie 60 and Mother. This year, the spectacle paid tribute to the neighborhood as it was during The East Village Other’s glorious run from 1965 to 1972. (Between this and The Local’s retrospective of The Other, the underground paper might just be making a comeback.)

On stage, performers and personalities like Heather Litteer, Zoe Hansen, and Tabboo! of nearby Pyramid Club paid tribute to counterculture icons like Ed Sanders and the Fugs, the Slum Goddesses, the Yippies, Jackie Curtis, filmmaker Jack Smith, and others. Watch The Local’s video and you’ll see it was anything but a drag.

Daniel Maurer

Not one but apparently two indie dramas about a restaurant owner and his wife are set to be filmed in the East Village – maybe even in your apartment.

Flyers posted in the doorway of 277 Tenth Street over the weekend indicate that “The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby,” starring James McAvoy and Jessica Chastain, will be filming in the neighborhood for approximately one week between July 9 and August 31.

According to Variety, the film, written by Ned Benson, will actually be two stand-alone movies: one written from the perspective of the husband, and the other from the perspective of the wife.

The casting flyer informs locals that “we are currently seeking locations in your area for the film” without saying much more. If you think your bar looks like the type of place where a man would skulk into his beer while his wife goes back to college, you may be in business.

Photos: Chris O. Cook.

The finale of Howl! Festival today was marred by intermittent bouts of rain, but the party never quite ground to a halt.

Rap and rock acts were the order of the day, with performances from Hip Hop Howl, Bear 54, and others. Male members of Deans of Discipline sported kilts for the occasion, perhaps as a means of acclimating the crowd to the drag queens who would be taking the stage at 5 p.m. Read more…

Photos: Chris O. Cook.

It’s Allen Ginsberg’s birthday weekend and today Tompkins Square Park was buzzing with art, dance, music, and, um, bouncy castles and face-painting. Yes: it’s Howl! Festival.

Chris O. Cook Bob Holman, a festival organizer.

Bob Perl, an organizer of the annual happening, told The Local it was created as a nod to the neighborhood’s abounding influence. “The idea was that the East Village mindset is not just tied to here,” he said. “It’s had effects in places like Kyoto. There are creatives who come out of here and they become part of the diaspora and there are some that remain here, but this is a great place for us to all gather, and an opportunity for everyone to come out at least for a few days a year to create the scene that was so potent and vital down here.”

Indeed, the festival drew many former East Villagers, including Susan Martin, who came back from her current home in New Mexico to serve as Howl!’s publicist. She was keen to emphasize that the festival raises money for Howl! H.E.L.P., created to provide emergency assistance to local artists. “Up until the time of Howl!, if you were a drag queen and you got sick, and you didn’t have health insurance, good luck,” she said. Read more…

Chris O. Cook The Baroness and entourage.

The annual NYC Fetish Marathon kicked off last night in the basement lounge of One and One with a “Beat & Greet” thrown by fIXE Magazine. “We are the new mainstream,” said Cary Monotreme, the impresario of the fetish-pinup photo mag. “There’s a nut commercial with a dominatrix in it. I don’t know how much more mainstream you can get.”

Indeed, the atmosphere was one of a convivial dinner party thrown by old friends – that is, if one could mentally adjust to the revealing PVC gear sported by nearly all attendees and the occasional bound-up transvestite getting worked over on a giant X-cross. Once in a while, a band of vanillas inadvertently stumbled downstairs and got scared off, but their squeamishness was unwarranted, according to top-hatted longtime scenester Dale Whysper. “If you talk to the bouncers,” he boasted, “they’ll say, ‘We have fewer problems at your parties.’” Read more…

Clayton Patterson Jessie Mac

At 23, Jessie Mac is one of New York’s youngest curators. Tonight at 9 p.m., her third show at Gathering of the Tribes, “’93 Til Infinity,” closes with a party featuring a screening of “Captured,” the 2008 documentary about photographer, curator, and local historian Clayton Patterson. The exhibition features Mr. Patterson’s early-90s photos of the Lower East Side amid floor-to-ceiling graffiti work by Mint&Serf of the Peter Pan Posse art collective. Ms. Mac spoke with The Local about working with Steve Cannon, the founder of Tribes who is fighting to hold onto the space.

How did you wind up as curator of Tribes?

I started working at Tribes a year ago as an intern when I met Steve Cannon. We cut a deal: if he taught me to curate I would dedicate my time to Tribes. It’s a non-profit so Steve is always in need of an extra hand. I never thought a blind man would be my artistic mentor, but I honestly would not be a curator without him. He taught me everything I know in the New York art scene. When people ask how he feels about not knowing what’s on the walls in his own space he says I’m his eyes. But I would have no direction without him. Read more…

The Local’s occasional round-up of what’s new and interesting on the art scene.

Guild of the Black Eagle 5 (June 6 to July 5) David Hochbaum started holding Guild of the Black Eagle salons, featuring some of his art-world associates, in his studio in 2006. Now twelve female members of The Guild (Kristen Ferrell, Danielle de Piccotto, Annie Kyle, Samantha Levin, Philly-Kondor8, Evelyn Tiernan, Gabriela Vainsencher, Alison Silva, Sara Gage, Zoë Williams, Allison Berkoy and Elka Amorim) will be featured in the group’s first New York gallery show. Opening reception June 6, 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. Fuse Gallery, 93 Second Avenue (between Fifth and Sixth Streets), (212) 777-7988.

Jim Joe, Yes 1 2 (June 1 to June 3) You’ve seen Jim Joe’s name scrawled all over the city. Now see seventeen of his new works (paintings, drawings, and sculptures) in a proper gallery setting. Opening reception June 1, 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. The Hole, 312 Bowery (near Bleecker Street), (212) 466-1100.

1962/1972 Candy Darling, Drawings & Musings. Candy Darling, a Warhol superstar who inspired the Velvet Underground song “Candy Says,” was photographed by everyone from Mapplethorpe to Avedon. This exhibit focuses on Candy (born James Lawrence Slattery) as a creator, and displays some of her musings and drawings. Clayton Gallery & Outlaw Art Museum, 161 Essex Street (between Houston and Stanton Streets). By appointment only, (212) 477-1363.

And for more Lower East Side gallery recommendations, check out The Lo-Down’s “Gallery Goer” column.