The Ridge is hotter than the La Brea Tar Pits circa 9000 B.C., because the rock gods are reviving the mammoths and dodos of music-dom for your entertainment. Ska, rockabilly, rhythm and blues (not to be confused with R&B), and Brit pop have all crept out of history book footnotes and onto stage in Bay Ridge this weekend.
On Friday, break out the fedora, checkered suspenders, and that old pair of Vans — and get ready to party likes it’s 1995 — because Monster Brew is cooking up some serious ska at the Leif Bar (6725 Fifth Ave. between 67th and Senator streets). The skanking kicks off at 8 pm.
Then Gretsch ready to rock at Indigo Murphy’s (7102 Fort Hamilton Pkwy. at 71st Street), where Rockabilly revivalists the Lustre Kings will be greasing ear drums from 8 pm. Ducktails and bouffants are optional, but you better wear your dancing shoes, because these guys really know how to rock and roll.
If proto-reggae and early rock aren’t your bags, roll over to Greenhouse Cafe (7717 Third Ave. between 77th and 78th streets) for rhythm and blues outfit Lynne Watson and Positive N-ergy at 10 pm. This ain’t the canned tracks and strained crooners you hear on the radio today — Lynne and crew do kick it old school with the likes of Chuck Berry, James Brown, and Motown maestros the Temptations.
And on Saturday, British Invasion resurrectionists London Fogg will march into Red, White, and Brew (8910 Fifth Ave. between 89th and 90th streets). Given the bar’s patriotic name, giving these limey-lovers quarter is tantamount to turncoat-ery, but we’ll look the other way as long as that fat cat King George III doesn’t show up. The invasion is set for 4 pm.
