Stranger, smaller-room, and in-the-know Scope NYC picks for Friday, October 30, 2026.
Vibraphonist Simon Moullier joins pianist Davis Whitfield for an early 6 p.m. set at Mezzrow, a compact two-player jazz booking.
Hillai Govreen leads a quartet at Ornithology at 6:30 p.m., a neighborhood-club set for a quieter start to the night.
Nuyorican’s Final Friday Slam moves to Loisaida Center during the cafe’s renovation, with eight competitors facing off in a tournament-style poetry bracket.
The Femmes bring queer pop and Halloween staples to Groove for Boo B*tch, a live set by women and nonbinary musicians.
Neurosis bring their heavy, atmospheric metal to Warsaw; doors open at 7 p.m. for the 8 p.m. show.
Improv duo Mike Jest and John Randall bring an hour of grounded, viscerally silly long-form comedy to the BCC Pig Pen at 8:30 p.m.
Drom’s late-night Nevermore Goth Rave turns the room over to darkwave, post-punk and industrial, with doors at 11 p.m.
Ken Fowser’s quintet takes the late 11:55 p.m. set at Smalls, keeping a small-room jazz session going into Halloween.
E. Elias Merhige’s 72-minute, 1989 nightmare screens at 11:55 p.m.; Nitehawk seats Friday night, then starts Begotten after midnight.
Nitehawk’s 11:55 p.m. Friday seating for John Carpenter’s original Halloween rolls into the film’s after-midnight start.