Five cheap ways to spend your Christmas Eve Eve

So it’s the day before Christmas Eve, or as it’s popularly known, Christmas Eve Eve. If you’re still in town and at work, you’re not doing anything besides reading Brokelyn dot com and telling people how wrong their year-end lists are, and when you leave, you’re facing the bummer of a situation that all your friends have gone to see family for Christmas.

Well, don’t just stay home and drink and leave angry comments on more year-end lists. While your friends are stuck with their terrible, loving families, it’s time for you to go out tonight and make some new friends, on the cheap, because Brooklyn is still full of awesome things to do when half the city empties out.

The Ugly Club, Backwords, Economy Punk, Shilpa Ray
Glasslands
7pm, $10

As we keep saying, go to Glasslands one more time before it’s gone forever, if only because then you can tell your terrible children you were there and they never will be. Also go because they’re booking GREAT acts, like at tonight’s show. Tonight, Shilpa Ray is playing. Shilpa Ray! We love Shilpa Ray, almost more than words can convey, which is bad because we’re writers. Anyway, if you’ve yet to fall in love with her throaty vocals, drug and sex-infused lyrics and harmonium jamming, there’s no time like Christmas Eve Eve to do that, since your heart is probably more open than most times of the year.

MoCADA Winter DIY Fest
MoCADA (80 Hanson Pl, Fort Greene)
Until 6pm

Have you put off your Christmas shopping until what is basically the very last second? We get it, we shop best when pressure is being applied too. In that case, run don’t walk, to MoCADA (the Museum of Contemporary African Diasporan Art), where they’re having their biggest DIY vendor festival ever. Who cares if you waited until the last second to buy your girlfriend something if the thing you buy winds up being a beautiful handmade earring set. Or whatever, there’s so much there to choose from, things like clothing and housewares and natural beauty products. Plus, there’s plenty of food and music to keep your energy up. Just sneak out of work, who cares, they won’t even notice if anyone is even there still.

Guts Club and Cricket Joe
Trash Bar (256 Grand Street)
$7, 8pm – 1am

On the one hand, maybe your friends are eating a nice dinner with their family tonight, and you barely remember what that is. On the other hand, they might also be suffering through some shitty bar band in their hometown that some friend took them to. You win this round, because instead of that, you get to hang out at everyone’s favorite hovel, The Trash Bar, and enjoy tunes from weirdo folk pop singer Guts Club, who as you can see, has an odd taste in music videos. Or great taste, we’re not sure. Plus, as with every Trash Bar show, there’s an open bar from 8pm to 9pm. Who cares if you overindulge tonight, your job expects nothing of you tomorrow, it’s Christmas Eve for Christ’s sake.

Your Fantastic Life
Union Hall (702 Union Street)
$6, 8pm

OK, so maybe no matter what we say, the holidays make you feel kind of miserable and alone. If you don’t feel so miserable you can’t get yourself over to Union Hall though, queen of weirdo comedy Jo Firestone has gathered some of her comedian friends to try to cheer you up. It’s probably the cheapest therapy you can find around here, but we imagine that 8 to 10 minutes of comedians trying to cheer you up and dramtically improving your life isn’t something that’s been cleared by the American Psychological Association. What do those brainiacs know though?

Liquid Sky
Spectacle Theater (124 South 3rd Street)
$5, 10pm

Do you miss “the old New York?” Of course you do, it’s a popular bumper sticker slogan, so it must be a popular sentiment. Hide from the really ugly parts of the old New York like murder and police unions openly defying and challenging their civilian command structure, and instead watch Liquid Sky at Spectacle. It’s chock full of 80s-era NYC grit, fashion, drugs and blank stares and at just five bucks, the ticket price is pretty throwback too.

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