Pencil This In

MUSIC: Word was spreading that the Red Hot Chili Peppers would be playing a free downtown show today as part of...Tartan Week. Clearly, the Red Hot Chili PIPERS would be a better fit for the event -- and so, the lesser known Pipers will actually be the ones entertaining the tartan-clad today.

Friday // 5:30 p.m. // Hanover Square (directions) // Free

THEATER: A dream team of hip theatrical innovators have joined forces, hopefully for ironic good, not sentimental evil, to present an “indie rock musical” called Hostage Song. With music and lyrics by Kyle Jarrow (A Very Merry Unauthorized Children's Scientology Pageant), stories by Clay McLeod Chapman (The Pumpkin Pie Show), and featuring the smart kids from The Debate Society, the show seems genetically engineered for downtown success. Set in a war-torn country, two bound and blindfolded in hostages take refuge in music and their memories. Hostage Song opens tonight; TONY’s Helen Shaw has written a juicy profile on the creative team. – John Del Signore

Friday // 8 p.m. // Kraine Theater [85 E 4th St] // Tickets cost $18

EVENT: Alina Simone presents the music of Russian cult favorite Yanka Dyagileva tonight at Joe's Pub, with special guest violist Lev ‘Lhova’ Zhurbin. Dyagileva was "a Siberian punk-folk singer who drowned under mysterious circumstances in 1991." Alina Simone was born in the Ukraine and "came to the US as the daughter of political refugees after her father refused recruitment by the KGB and was blacklisted for ‘refusal to cooperate.’" The evening will be hosted by Eugene Mirman (pictured).

Friday // 9:30 p.m. // Joe's Pub [] // $

FOOD: If you’ve noticed an increasing number of burly guys in skirts this week, don’t worry – it’s not the new look for the Meatpacking District, it’s just Tartan Week. Today the 10th annual Tartan Day Parade kicks off at 2 p.m. at 6th Avenue and 45th Street, continuing north to 58th Street. For thirty bucks you can follow up the parade with a rowdy after-party at Stout, where the Red Hot Chilli Pipers will blast away on the bagpipes. Or you can just focus on the free haggis being handed out from the “haggis cart” at the corner of 52nd Street & Broadway, from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. – John Del Signore

Saturday // 11 a.m. // Haggis Cart [Corner of 52nd Street & Broadway] // Free

MUSIC: The Spanish Prisoners release their cd upon the world this Saturday at Union Hall. Join them with lineup-mates The Lisps, Creaky Boards and Drink Up Buttercup for a full night of music and celebration.

Saturday // 8 p.m. // Union Hall [702 Union St, Park Slope] // $8

DANCE: Do people dance anymore? Apparently they are at the People Don't Dance No More party. Come witness New Yorkers who know how to move, and maybe move a little yourself to the tunes spun by Jacques Renault, My Cousin Roy, and Nick Chacona. We are told there will also be "a fog machine and half disco ball in a bat cave," whatever that means.

Saturday // 10 p.m. // Love [MacDougal and 8th St] // Free with RSVP

WALK: "To kick-off its month-long event series related to Mahatma Gandhi and his message of change through nonviolence, The Satya Graha Forum presents the 'Be the Change' Walk...a conscious collective community action, to commemorate the lives and teachings of both Gandhi and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Gandhi's truest heir. The walk concludes in Union Square Park with remarks from composer Philip Glass, author Mark Kurlansky and Rev. Osagyefo Uhuru Sekou, followed by a traditional Flower Petal Ceremony at the Gandhi statue."

The starting points are as follows: New York Public Library 5th Avenue & 42nd St., Sara D. Roosevelt Park E. Houston St. & Chrystie St., City Hall Park (South end) Broadway & Park Row and Chelsea Park 9th Ave. & 27th St.

Sunday // 1 p.m. // Various start points // Free

The listed events were chosen by Gothamist and brought to you by the 2009 Toyota Corolla.