Don't let a little rain scare you from heading out tonight--why stay home when there are so many new places to drink the pain away? This week we review Public Assembly the new (but mostly unchanged) incarnation of the old Galapagos in Williamsburg.

Hits: If you liked Galapagos, you'll love Public Assembly's full slate of weird and wonderful acts, as well as the affordable beers.

Misses: Arrive early in the eve or on an off night, and Public Assembly can feel oppressively huge and intimidating. It's a venue best patronized on packed nights.

Check out our full editorial review of Public Assembly, then peruse other new and notable bar reviews, nightlife news, recent closings and our list of spots that are too new to review (but not too new to get you bombed).

Next week, we'll take you inside Sasha Petraske's new absinthe den, White Star.

$10 used to pay for a prix fixe brunch, a movie ticket or a fancy cocktail; these days, a 10-spot won't even cover a cab across town. But once in a while you can actually get something worthwhile for your hard-earned money. Case in point: Live Nation is offering a "back to school special," with a limited number of tickets to assorted NYC concerts available at the special discounted rate of just $10. Anyone can take advantage of the deal (not just students), which starts tomorrow at 10am and runs through Friday, September 12th at 10pm. Participating venues include Roseland Ballroom, Hammerstein Ballroom, The Fillmore, The Blender Theater and Warsaw in Brooklyn. Visit Live Nation's website to purchase tickets--and move fast, before your Hamiltons become virtually worthless again.

For more upcoming events to keep you busy, check out our Weekly Go List of local events.

Photo borrowed from blog.

It's hard to justify having the blues on a Friday. But listening to the blues is another story listening--especially when it's free of charge. Tonight, August 22nd, Danny Kalb, renowned guitarist and former member of the 1960s band, The Blues Project, performs with Bob Jones on bass and Mark Ambrosino on drums. The trio will do two sets, starting at 9:30pm at Two Boots Brooklyn. There's no drink minimum or cover charge, but reservations at the restaurant are recommended, and since the entertainment's complimentary, you might as well drop some dough to eat, drink and be blue.

For more stuff to do this weekend, check out our Weekly Go List (*formerly the Weekly Hot List).

Photo from the SFOTE organization.

You may be close to saving up for the vacation you deserve, but it's time to use some of your dough toward a cause even more worthy than achieving the perfect sun-kissed glow. For $30 you can purchase a ticket to the Laventille Bus benefit concert organized by the SFOTE organization, taking place tonight, August 18th, at 9pm at Santos' Party House in Soho. You'll see performances by Dragons of Zynth, Kaneng Lolang, the Brooklyn Jumbies performance troupe and more. Following the concert, you're welcome to stick around for the late night dance party beginning around 12am.

Go--if not so you can feel good about yourself for staving off skin cancer at least a while longer--because 100% of the door proceeds will be donated to SFOTE's 2008 Educational Initiative, providing free transportation to and from school for children in Laventille, Trinidad. In Laventille, where there's a free public school system, the lack of free public transportation forces kids whose families can't afford the daily round trip to drop out of school. Why not join the effort to educate children and enjoy some live music on a Monday along the way?

Lookin' for more places to booze? Check out Now in New York: New Nightlife.

Photo borrowed from Impose Magazine

There are so many concerts you wish you could attend, but so many factors always getting in the way. For instance, how will you afford the Wayfarers your hipster self must have after dropping a couple g's on a Miley Cyrus ticket? How will you shake that feeling of self-loathing following your patronage of a Madonna show? And, how will you teleport yourself to LA to crash the party for the launch of The Street Kings DVD to see Brooklyn native and Wu-Tang Clan member, Raekwon the Chef, perform tomorrow, Wednesday, August 6th?

Alas, the former two predicaments are unsolvable--at least by me--but the latter problem is easily remedied. If you don't catch the first live Webcast by Complex Video of the show tomorrow at 11pm, PST (yes, that's 2am EST), you can catch it on their website following the event.

For ideas on events you can actually physically attend in New York, check out our Weekly Go List.

Photo borrowed from "The Sun"

You have at least one thing in common with P. Diddy: You're a fan of Chris Brown. In fact, it's been a year and you still can't shake the image of Brown performing at the 2007 MTV Video Music Awards. So you won't want to miss him performing live with Julianne Hough and Ne-Yo today (Tuesday, July 29) at 3:30pm, at a free show to take place at an undisclosed location. The event is sponsored by the gum giant Wrigley, and celebrates the three artists' new jingles for Doublemint, Juicy Fruit and Big Red. Buses will depart from three different locales around the city (Rockefeller Center, Macy's and Union Square West) at 2pm carrying the first 164 concert hopefuls to arrive. Better start lining up now...

It was quite the scene at the grand opening party for Country Club (formerly Dirty Disco) on Saturday night, which doubled as a birthday party for Gym Class Heroes' musician Travis McCoy. The event drew the likes of Katy Perry (who also happens to be McCoy's girlfriend), up-and-coming rapper Shwayze and his musical collaborator, Cisco Adler, and Simon Rex (aka Dirt Nasty), of MTV / Dyslexic Speedreaders fame--who, it should be noted, is also a co-owner of The Plumm right next door. Country Club's owner, actor Will DeMeo, was also there, and I could have sworn I was on line for the bathroom next to his "Sopranos" co-star Joe Gannascoli (the guy who played Vito Spatafore). The only person who was missing was in fact Travis himself, who was supposedly under the weather.

But the crowd didn't seem to care whose birthday party it was, especially when Shwayze and Adler--best known for his band Whitestarr (which he left earlier this year), his now-defunct relationship with actress Mischa Barton, and his infamous naked photo debacle of 2007)--each grabbed a mic and treated the crowd to an impromptu live performance,  eventually joined by Dirt Nasty. While the rest of the VIPs held down the fort in the elevated stage area, Katy Perry, decked out in one of her signature two-piece jumpers, slipped in quietly and chilled by the DJ booth for most of the evening.

The media was out in full effect, with editors from the "New York Post," "In Style" magazine and other major publications all in attendance (and more than happy to sip on the complimentary bottle of vodka supplied by our hosts). As club launches go, this one was a success. There was no unbearable crowding, no wait for drinks, no skeevy B&T patrons ... no problems of any kind, really. Or at least none while I was there, until around 2am, at which point I realized I was dangerously close to blacking out and headed home.

Will Country Club manage to stay alive though its predecessor failed? We'll have to wait and see. But so far, it seems to be off to a good start.

Jarvis Cocker performing at the Music Hall of Williamsburg

If you plan to pretend you were at all cool in the mid-'90s, you have to at least know something about the British band Pulp and its frontman, Jarvis Cocker.

These days, in addition to contributing to the "Harry Potter" soundtracks, Cocker channels his talent into a burgeoning solo career. Last night at the Music Hall of Williamsburg Cocker was in top form, wearing large, dark-rimmed glasses and a skinny tie, providing the perfect excuse to abandon couch for concert on a Monday night. Between songs he used the spotlight to share pithy anecdotes, allowing long-time devotees to swoon over his still-thriving wit and making for a unique performance overall. For the encore he was especially animated, breaking into a jumping jack-type spastic dance that had the crowd jumping too.

For more event coverage and ideas on what to do this week, from concerts to booze cruises, check out our Weekly Hot List.