Zachary Cale played “Go Folk Yourself Summer Fest” yesterday at Cooper Park in Brooklyn. Below is a video edit of his set’s second to last song titled “Day for Night”.

image c/o Levy's Unique New York

On the Bike Brooklyn Beer Blitz scheduled for August 27, Matt Levy will take you on a 4-hr bike tour through the former brewery glory of Williamsburg, East Williamsburg and Bushwick. Your education also includes ridin’ by German churches, banks and social halls. The tour ends at Evergreen Cemetery, where allegedly a surprise awaits. Don’t know what that means considering that you’re at a graveyard (creepy), but…let’s hope it involves alcohol.

For a brief preview into the tour and Matt Levy’s excitement, check out Edible Manhattan’s NY1 coverage.

The Bike Brooklyn Beer Blitz!
Saturday, August 27, 2011
12noon-4pm
Meet at The City Reliquary Museum: 370 Metropolitan Ave, Williamsburg
$30, includes a mid-tour beer at Matt Torrey’s Bar
RSVP with Matt@levysuniqueny.com

Also…watch Drunk History:

image c/o j. rachel reyes

Sigh. Outdoor hangs are starting to get chillier. Locals are fervently taking what brief escapes from the city they can attempt. And new transplants are moving in and friends are moving on (as they do in this transient New York life). So it’s only natural that the summer calendar is starting to look a little sparse. Despite the winding down of free concerts and festivals, the boroughs are always thriving.

Here are picks for some events you can hit up as summer slowly fades:

———————————–
THURSDAY, AUGUST 18
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Brooklyn

• Tokyo Police Club / Against Me! / Big Freedia / Japanther / Team Robespierre
7:00PM
House of Vans, 25 Franklin St.
FREE with RSVP

Manhattan

• Comedy Festival: Morrison Motel with Janeane Garofalo and More
8:30PM
Cornelia Street Cafe
$10

• Kreayshawn with Smoke DZA / Phony Ppl / Roach Gigz / Moe Green
8:00PM Doors / 9:00PM Show
Highline Ballroom
$15 SOLD OUT

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tokyo police club

If you are reading this, you have no excuse for missing our top two shows this week.  On Saturday, PS1 Warm Up offers another excellent lineup with The Juan Maclean, Blood Orange, Solange, Pictureplane, Grimes and a Ford & Lopatin DJ Set.  House of Vans has its best lineup of the season with Tokyo Police Club, Against Me!, Big Freedia, Japanther and Team Robespierre.

In the mood to dance?  Aside from PS1, we’ve got three solid options for you: A Handsome Furs DJ set at Tammany Hall on Thursday, The Rapture at the Music Hall of Williamsburg on Saturday and the Identity Festival at Jones Beach on Sunday — with a huge lineup including Kaskade, Booka Shade, DJ Shadow and many more.  Join us in prayer that there is no rain this weekend so we can all dance our pants off on the beach.

TOP 10 SHOWS FOR THE NEXT SEVEN DAYS

10. Suckers @ Cameo Art Gallery w/ Rewards and Matthew Holtzclaw
Thursday, August 18th at 8pm – 21+, $12 -> tickets

9. Toxic Holocaust @ Europa w/ Holy Grails and Krum Bums
Friday, August 19th at 6pm – 18+, $10 -> tickets

8. The Rapture @ Music Hall of Williamsburg w/ Total Slacker
Saturday, August 20th at 8pm – 18+, SOLD OUT

7. Yellow Ostrich @ Glasslands Gallery w/ Parlovr, Exitmusic and Caged Animals
Friday, August 19th at 8pm – 18+, $10 -> tickets

6. The War On Drugs @ Cameo Art Gallery w/ Caveman and Porcelain Raft
Friday, August 19th at 7pm – 21+, $12 -> tickets

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At a certain point you just get to do whatever you want. “I got a Grammy, I’m walking on stage with Mavis Staples.” But when it continues to be artistically pleasing, and he continues to perform with such sincerity and such a big smile on his face, Win Butler can do whatever he wants.

Mavis Staples has performed “The Weight” with a bunch of people (including Decemberist Colin Meloy). And this weekend at Outside Lands Music Festival in San Francisco, Win got the opportunity to join her and the band. Message to all big music festivals: keep great team-ups like this happening.

For a site called FreeWilliamsburg, there sure isn’t a lot of actual free shit. Come to think of it, Williamsburg in general is lacking in the free shit. Ever since the pool parties ended, Willy has gotten stingy. Last time I got something decent for free in Williamsburg was the time they had a free crawlfish boil at Charleston and that was like over a year ago. At least they still do free pizza with a drink (not trying to pay for a drink though). Remember when you were a kid, and you could have fun for free? When you were bored, and all you had to do was corral a couple cats together for hide and seek, and BAM! – instant free activity that would entertain you for mad hours. Nowadays it seems like nothing is fun anymore without alcohol, which is almost always NOT free. Miss the good old days when I could just play manhunt and just be content with that.

Leave it to BAL to get the scoop on the free action. Like the time we published a convenient and easy-to-use guide on free boozing during CMJ, leveraging innovative Google Calendar technology in the process. Or when we gave you the good word on the Grandfather record release party. We are all about the free shit, and do not fuck around when it comes to scheming on the freeness. Which is why we are once again bringing it with that gratis shit.

Tomorrow (Saturday), Brooklyn’s own Madam Trashy is playing a free show at your spot Spike Hill. You have no excuse not to go really. Spike Hill is possibly the most convenient bar to get to in Williamsburg. Having used the Spike Hill bathroom without purchasing dick after many a long L train subway ride, I know this from experience. Ok ok…I’m getting off topic. Madam Trashy played at BAL’s Northside showcase in June and absolutely killed it. Peep the video above for visual evidence of this. Also peep: unreal quality of said video. Like honestly, does anyone film better live music than us? You gotta give props when props are due.

That said, we give Madam Trashy mad props and hope you’ll all go see them slay shit tomorrow night. Tell them BAL sent you and get a FREE fistpump in exchange.

Last night Deer Tick closed out the free summer concert series at Pier 54. McCauley’s 90min set was charged with a lot of personal banter, not typically the kind of thing you’d expect to hear from an up and coming artist. Though, in the end it’s these authentic moments of unfiltered honesty that made this band’s performance such a stand out experience. A video edit of the songs “Choir of Angels”, “Baltimore Blues No.1″, “Ashamed”, “Twenty Miles” and “Little White Lies” is below, along with clips of DOM and Translations.

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Here’s your regular new openings round-up.

Brooklyn Cupcake

Brooklyn Cupcake: Brooklyn Cupcake’s owner Carmen Rodriguez comes from Puerto Rican and Italian Roots which she has successfully infused into the offerings at Brooklyn Cupcake. Our favorite flavors include tres leches, dulce de leche, guava con queso, rainbow cookie, and tiramisu. The cute bakery also serves coffee and tea. Check out the full listing here.
335 Union Ave. Brooklyn, NY 11211

Williams & Bailey

Williams & Bailey: Replacing the old location of 507 Bar and Grill, Williams & Bailey offers top shelf whiskey, cheap beers, and pretty good American food under $10. The atmosphere is warm and inviting, with plenty of tables and dark corners. Check out the full listing here.
507 Grand St. Brooklyn, NY 11211

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Too bad this didn’t have the same impact as Howard Beale’s rant:

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