Whassup: Seven-Eleven Edition

 via flickr.com

Hey, everyone -- it's the unofficial new mascot of New York day: 7/11! Celebrate by drinking the biggest soda gulps you can stomach before immediately dying of massive diabetes and obesity. FREEDOM! Welcome to Whassup: Seven-Eleven Edition:

* Through Saturday, July 13: BK Hip-Hop Festival, Various Sites: The Brooklyn Hip-Hop Festival enters its ninth year with headliners Pusha T, EPMD and Redman. Brooklyn, as you may be aware, had a decent history as a source of amazing hip-hop artists, long before it developed a reputation for kick-ass artisanal cronuts or whatever. This fest celebrates that heritage with musical performances, alongside panel discussions, an award show and a block party. Maybe Northwest will even show up. 7pm-11pm, $20+.

* Thursday, July 11: Belle and Sebastian and Yo La Tengo, Bandshell: When I tried to purchase a ticket, it appeared to be sold out. But the BRIC site doesn't officially say that, so maybe you'll have better luck. In any event, why would you buy a ticket, anyway? BRIC benefit shows should be viewed from outside the gates, as God intended. And this is a good one, particularly if you are an indie-music nerd who came of age in the '90's. Any such folks in Brooklyn? I guess we shall see. 7pm, $42.50.

* Friday, July 12: Fun Bar Bands, Bar 4: A good, fun showcase of good, fun bar bands, including Nevada, Nevada, boasting members of the sadly defunct La Strada. 8pm, FREE.  

* Saturday, July 13: Roots Family Reunion, Littlefield: A whopping nine bands orbiting the musical brotherhood centered around Roots Cafe in South Slope will hit the stage. There'll be a lot of the Americana/roots fare popular with those guys, but you'll also see Rabbi Darkside, a stupidly talented local MC. 6pm, $10.

* Saturday, July 13: 'Dracula' w/Philip Glass Ensemble: And now, folks, an event that's sure to suck! I confess, I basically listed this event just to make that lame pun. And I regret nothing. But, anyway, "Dracula" set to music played by the Philip Glass Ensemble. In actuality, it probably will not suck at all, but will instead rule. It will rule…your blood. 7:30pm, FREE ($3 suggested donation).

* Saturday, July 13: Cicada Farewell, Bell House: So, the cicadas didn't exactly kill everyone in Brooklyn like they were supposed to do. So, good for that. But, underwhelming as their appearance in our fair borough may have been, they are now set to leave. Shed an insectly tear for the departing swarm, and come learn about bugginess at Bell House. It'll be half popular-infotainment, of the sort that Bell House is well known for now thanks to "Secret Science Club," alongside comedy about bugs. Like, you ever notice how grasshoppers walk like this, but APHIDS, they walk like THIS? Cray. 7:30pm, $10.

* Saturday, July 13: 90's One-Hit Wonders Sing-Along, Union Hall: For the non-indie snobs who also came of age in the '90s, there's this: sing along to all the great, shitty, and shittily great one-hit-wonders from the decade that produced Chumbawumba, Semisonic, Right Said Fred and so much more. Here's how it works: the video plays on a projection, with the lyrics on a karaoke-esque crawl. Then, you sing with everyone. Then, you leave, smiling. Simple. 10pm, $8.

* Sunday, July 14: Friends of Single People, Littlefield: Jo Firestone, one half of the team behind Punderdome 3000, is a quirky gameshow-making wonder. Herein, she has created a dating show in which your friends represent you, and answer questions based on their (hopefully hilariously incomplete) knowledge of you. Then, dates happen based on that. Then, sex and babies and beautiful, beautiful mini-vans. Life is amazing, people. 8pm, $5.