Another week, another exciting excuse to spend your money on a fleeting, aural experience! But hey, at least tickets are cheaper than drugs. Unless you also buy drugs to take before the show…

This week’s post introduces a new feature: WORTH SCALPING, which is a run-down of this week’s sold out shows that are worth arranging to meet a stranger at a specific time, which is convenient to neither party, at a vaguely described landmark in a part of the city you  never go to just to get some pretty crappy seats.

ON SALE
5/6 @ 12 noon: Cold Cave play the Bowery Ballroom on August 6th. Tickets are $18.

5/6 @ 12 noon: Everyone’s favorite innocuous Brooklyn duo, Matt & Kim are at Music Hall of WillyB on May 25th. Tickets are $26.50.

5/6 @ 12 noon: Party like its 2003 with The Kills at Terminal 5 on August 8th. Tickets are $30.

5/6 @ 12 noon: The Northside Fest just added another venue and four shows to this year’s lineup, and the hits just keep on coming. Atlas Sound, Woods, Fiery Furnaces, Mount Eerie and more bring it to Greenpoint’s St. Cecilia’s Church that fateful weekend. Tickets will be available here for the below shows:

June 16: Kranky Records presents Atlas Sound with special guests
June 17: Woods (album release show) with special guests
June 18: Eleanor Friedberger (of The Fiery Furnaces), Ida, Rebecca Gates (of The Spinanes), Spectre Folk (Pete Nolan of Magik Markers)
June 19: Mount Eerie, Nicholas Krgovich (of No Kids), Wyrd Visions

WORTH SCALPING
5/6: The Pains of Being Pure At Heart’s new album is pretty dang enjoyable. Squeeze in with the rest at Webster Hall.

5/7: Yuck are so not. Get it?! They play Bowery Ballroom.

5/10: The IAMDONALD Tour, with Donald Glover (great one-liners on Community or the greatest one-liners on Community?) and something/someone called Childish Gambino, stops at Bowery Ballroom.

5/11-5/15: CSS and Sleighbells are playing a handful of shows around the boroughs, and all of ‘em are sold out.

5/11 & 5/12: James Blake is at Bowery Ballroom and Le Poisson Rouge next week. So much blog fodder shall be generated from these shows. So much!

SHOWS THIS WEEK
5/6: In celebration of their new album, Burst Apart (which is hopefully more of an upper than their last album — which was based on cancer), The Antlers play a FREE show at Knitting Factory Brooklyn at midnight. If you don’t get in, tickets are still avail for their May 19th show at Music Hall of Williamsburg.

5/6: “The annual Strawberry Festival gathers students, staff and faculty in celebration of … strawberries” and Brooklyn indie pop! Lightning Bolt, Ducktails, Pterodactyl and The So So Glos (another show? Are they the new Drums?) play the free, Washington Square Park fest. Come for indie cred, stay for NYC’s longest strawberry shortcake!

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I have a perfectly acceptable explanation for why this post is late (and only half-finished for the moment): yesterday I got an excellent deal on a butcher block-top table through CraigsList that I just couldn’t pass up. To celebrate my new furniture addition I drank too much wine, and forgot to finish this post. You understand, right? Now get out your wallets and buy some concert tickets.

ON SALE

On Sale Now: Everyone’s favorite Dubstep singer/songwriter (which is a thing now) James Blake is playing Webster Hall on July 13. To cut down on scalpers or to make your life more difficult, you can only buy 2 tickets at a time which can only be picked up at the Will Call window before the show. Tickets are $30 and, surprisingly, still available.

On Sale Now: Gloomy synth pop composer and friend of Ariel Pink, John Maus, plays Glasslands on May 9 with Holy Shit!, Gary War and a couple DJs.  Tickets are $12.

4/29 @ 12 noon: Indie rapper and NYC resident Theophilus London has just been added to the expanding  Northside Fest as headliner for the opening night (June 16) party at Music Hall of Williamsburg. Tickets are $18.

4/29 @ 12 noon: Bon Iver, the coolest dude for a guest spot on your album, celebrates a bon été at Prospect Park on August 10 with a full band and a “Special Guest”. Tickets are $43.

4/29 @ 12 noon: I got a feeling NJ-native, singer-songwriter Nicole Atkins is finally gonna break soon, so catch her on the cheap while you can. She plays with the Black Sea at Music Hall on July 8^th. Tickets are $19.

4/29 @ 12 noon: Mysterious UK pop-ers Wu Lyf must have impressed at their US debut a few weeks ago, because they’ll be back in the city in July for two shows: July 22 at Mercury Lounge with Bass Drum of Death and July 23 at Knitting Factory Brooklyn.  Tickets are around $15.

THIS WEEK
4/29: Surfer Blood is now selling out every show they play. I know I should have caught that little show at Market Hotel a year and a half ago. Ah well. That’s why there’s CraigsList. They play with …Trail of Dead (still going for it, huh, guys?) at Bowery Ballroom tonight. They also play Music Hall on May 13 with tickets still available, in case CL flakes on you.

4/29: Folks seem to like Free Energy’s garage dance pop (I’m not even sure what that means and I made it up), but I think they’re annoying. To each his own. If you dig on the James Murphy-approved (and produced) band check them at Glasslands with Bronze and Motive. Tickets are $14.

4/29: “The Kills make music that sounds like the stripped-to-the-bone nub of the crux of the sex and death and madness at the heart of the very best rock ‘n’ roll.” Oh good! I’m not the only one completely fabricating musical descriptions. If you’re into death by sexy rockin’, talk to a scalper to get tickets to their show at Terminal 5 with Cold Cave (stripped the wire of the transistor bleep-bloop gloom pop, or whatever).

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Another edition of shows worthy of your time, tickets worthy of your hard-earned cash and completely made-up words used to describe them. At least there are some things you can count on in this life.

ON SALE:
4/22 @ 12:00p: The words we’ve all been waiting to hear since the band popped up on summer fest bills across the globe have finally been uttered: Animal Collective is playing NYC. See ‘em July 12 at Prospect Park. Tickets are $40. Hits of Molly extra.  

4/22 @ 12:00p: The first show announced in this summer’s recently salvaged, OSA-benefiting Williamsburg Waterfront concert series is Kid Cudi on July 6. Tickets are an exorbitant $60. All I gotta say is OSA better figure out the McCarren Park/Waterfront situation before we resort to appropriately-priced cultural activities in Red Hook or some other savage neighborhood.

 4/22 @ 12:00p: Cut Copy returns (they played Terminal 5 on 4/2) to get you all dancey-sweaty in Prospect Park on August 11. Tickets are $40.  

THIS WEEK:
4/22: Garage rockers Bass Drum of Death headline at Glasslands the night before their Crocodiles/Fresh & Onlys show (see below). So So Glos, Xray Eyeballs and Night Manager also play. I believe the correct term for the evening is “shambling”. Tickets are $10.  

4/23: Cali noise-poppers Crocodiles and Fresh & Onlys play Music Hall on Saturday with Young Prisms and Bass Drum of Death. Tickets are under $15. Killer. 

4/23:  Zola Jesus brings her glazed, dark pop, think Florence + the Machine with balls or Siouxsie without the hair and the sneer, to Bowery Ballroom with openers Naked on the Vague. Tickets are $16.  

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Saturday is the 4^th Annual Record Store Day! Give thanks to that fragile black disc and the (dwindling amount of) shops that champion it by getting up extra early and waiting in line to look through stacks of music before leaving without buying anything. I kid, I kid! Seriously, you should buy at least one 7”, you lousy bum.

Stores throughout the city will be hosting bands to complement all the give-aways, promos and special releases from bands like Deerhoof, Kate Bush, Big Star, Caribou, Nirvana, The Decemberists, Bad Brains, Panda Bear, Wavves, OFF!, Built to Spill, Ryan Adams, The Boss, Sonic Youth and Grinderman.

Below are the bold-line performances at your fave area shops. Visit the official Record Store Day site for more participating stores.

Kim’s Video opens @ 9:00a: Folky folks Angel Olsen and Bow Ribbons play the East Vill institution at 5:00p.  

Sound Fix opens @ 10:30a: Sound Fix opens early with undisclosed deals. Dream-pop duo Damon & Naomi play at 7:00p

Other Music opens @ 11:00a: Be one of the first 100 folks to buy Regina Spektor‘s new Four From Far record and get a pass for her intimate show (where she’ll be recording next year’s RSD release) later that day.

Generation Records opens @ 11:00a: Obits, The Jay Vons, I Hate Our Freedom and Spa Castles play and Yo La Tengo (all three!) and WFMU’s Tom Scharpling DJ.

Fat Beats opens @ noon: What I don’t know about hip hop would surprise and disgust you. That being said, even I can sense this is a pretty rad RSD setup: pop-up shop in a warehouse with 9 hours of performances, contests, discounts and food.

Cake Shop @ 5:00p: Not officially an RSD entrant, Cake Shop is still offering goods and a show. Eternal Summers, McDonalds, Natural Child, Widowspeak, Hands & Knees, Overlord, Night Collectors and Twitchers play. Entry is $8

It’s quality over quantity this week, my friends, which is much easier on my agoraphobia. Phew.

THIS WEEK:

4/15: Soak up the feeble Spring sun and pretend you’re all smarty pants at Barnard College’s day-long “WBAR-B-Q” with free food and free tunes from Real Estate, Beige and DFA’s The Crystal Ark. More info here. 

4/15: Brooklyn hipster dance pop duo MNDR kicks off Brooklyn Museum & L Magazine’s monthly Audiophile series at the museum with New Villager. Entry is free, but ya gotta RSVP. Hit up audiophile@thelmagazine.com.

 4/15 & 4/16: Alternately combustible and slow-burning, I’m digging on Eternal Summers’ sound. Give ‘em a listen, and check them out at Glasslands with Dream Diary on Friday for $10, and at Cake Shop on Record Store Day for free.

 4/15: The shambling So So Glos shake up Shea Stadium with Balkans, Grand Rapids, Night Collectors and Flesh Lights. Pay whatever they tell you when you stumble up to the door.

 4/15: Brooklyn still <3 Japan. This second fundraising installment at the Bell House has performances by Wyatt Cenac, Kristen Schaal, Tim Harrington from Les Savvy Fav, Mike Doughty and more. Tickets are $15.  

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It’s that time of year again. Can you smell it in the air? That’s right: outdoor concert season is on the horizon, and tickets are going on sale! So count your pennies and keep an eye on FreeWilly for upcoming show deets. Otherwise you run the risk of sitting like a pasty loser in the middle of an empty McCarren, sipping disconsolately on your to-go cup while everyone else is having fun. Jussayin’.

ON SALE

Sufjan Steven’s show at Beacon Theater last year was one of the best live shows I’ve ever seen, no jive, so I’m interested to see what he brings to Prospect Park on August 2nd.  Get yer tickets here.

Brooklyn’s own TV on the Radio are in their tenth year as a band and are still considered cool. Total hipster anomaly.  They play the grand Radio City on April 13 (tickets already on sale here), with an “intimate” run through the night before at Music Hall of Williamsburg. But I’m thinking you should probably just go here instead.

Thurston Moore is at Music Hall of Williasmburg on May 20 with a poet because art. Tickets are $20.

Against Me! celebrate the release of their new album, White Crosses, and their cover of the One Tree Hill theme song (Oi?) on June 7 at Webster Hall. Tickets are $17.50.

J Mascis is back with the Jr. to play the entirety of Bug, plus be interviewed live by Henry Rollins, at Terminal 5 on June 23. OFF! and Fucked Up also play. Tickets are $30.

Bill Callahan has a new album and a new(ish) epistolary novella out. If you’re all like, “Who?”, check those out and then catch him at Music Hall of Williamsburg on July 11 and Bowery Ballroom on July 12. Tickets are $20.

Bust a mad ill move, or whatever, on Governor’s Island at this year’s The Governor’s Ball on June 18. Dancing white people favorites Girl Talk, Big Boi, Neon Indian, Passion Pit and more play, with no overlapping sets. Tickets are a steep $85.

Snap up passes to the Northside Fest (June 16-19), yet? You should. On the poor end of the spectrum? Go a la carte and get tickets for headliners Beirut or Guided By Voices (with Wavves). Tickets are $30.

THIS WEEK:

4/8: The Hold Steady are from Brooklyn but play indie-Springsteen songs about Minneapolis. Yet it all somehow works. They play with Murder by Death at Terminal 5 tonight. Tickets are $30.

4/8: Brooklyn’s Beach Fossils is one of the few nautical bands I’m not burnt out on yet. They play Music Hall of Williamsburg with Craft Spells, Crinkles and an Unannounced Special Guest (Ducktails? Real Estate? THE DRUMS?). Tickets are $12.

4/8: Gobble Gobble’s MySpace is awash in neon, tweaking Furbies. Which I think adequately describes the band in the best way possible. They play Glasslands with Headless Horseman and Raindeer. Tickets are $10.

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Better late than never, right? Besides whatever bands were playing on Friday probably sucked anyway. That’s my story and I’m sticking to it. Now, without further ado, a completely biased calendar of this week’s concerts.

4/2: JEFF The Brotherhood want to shred all over you (ew) tonight at Death By Audio. Just let ‘em. With Heavy Cream (ew), Hell Beach and others. Tickets are $10 at the door.

4/2: From your busy friends at Pop Gun booking, Gold Panda (who many people seem to like for some reason) with Bikini “and more” at Glasslands tonight. Tickets are $15 and (may be) available at the door.

4/2: If you’re from the Tri-State, like me, you went through a hardcore phase. Go relive that, with half the fun, tonight at Santos when dudes from BTBAM (Thomas Giles) and Cave In (Stephen Brodsky) play. Tickets are only $12 and still avail online.

4/2: Wu Lyf, mysterious but intriguing UK band, make their US debut at Shea Stadium with Total Slacker and Wise Blood. You can RSVP here and then pay $10 at the door.

4/2 & 4/6: Cut Copy sold out Terminal 5 (Worst venue? Thoughts?). But this should help.
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After a long absence, in which I amassed both a busy day job and a broken wrist, your weekly run-down of concerts that are worth a damn has returned to FreeWilly. Now you can be generally clued into the Brooklyn music scene and of interest to talk to at parties. You’re welcome.

Upcoming Shows:

3/25 – After appearing as second banana at a lot of big area shows, most recently The Pogues at Terminal 5, The So So Glos get a headlining spot at 285 Kent Avenue. Sundelles, Snakes Say Hiss and Teen Witch also play. Tickets are only $7 and all ages are welcome (cool?).

3/25 – J Mascis from Dinosaur Jr. is bringing his epic hair and rock ‘n roll skills to Music Hall of Williamsburg to promote the release of his solo, “Several Shades of Why”.  Kurt Vile (who has a pretty killer set of locks himself) & the Violators, who just played around at SXSW, are opening. Head to CraigsList for tickets.

3/25 – Thurston Moore plays The Stone, a non-profit venue dedicated “to the experimental and avant-garde”, at 8:00p. Tickets are only $10 and available at the door prior to the show.

3/25 – The Drums continue to play every show they can get their grubby mits on tonight at Tribeca Grand Hotel. Go party down trust fund hipster-style for free with RSVP to events@grandlifenyc.com. With openers Big Troubles and a DJ set from Patrick Cleandenim.

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The next ATP is moving from Monticello to the decidedly less esoteric shores of Asbury Park. Beyond a shorter commute and cheaper accommodations (read: free — I’m from the area and my parents still live there. Score!), this year’s fest, running September 30-October 2, also affords the rare chance to see Jeff Mangum. The reclusive head of Neutral Milk Hotel has only played a handful of shows since leaving the band in 1998, so I am rather stoked he is headlining the fest on Friday.

But even better is his stand-alone concert on September 3 at the nearby Paramount Theater. Tickets are only $35 for the solo show, saving you $215 on ATP passes and having to sit through Portishead two nights in a row. Tickets go on sale here tomorrow at 9:00am.

Due to overwhelming, popular demand (shout outs to Amanda and Anonymous Poster!) here’s another completely biased rundown of concerts worth going to in the next seven days. Pick up my slack and add any I’ve missed in the comments or shoot me an email at katrin@freewilliamsburg.com.

This Week:

12/17: Bear Hands, Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr. and The Tony Castles  up your indie cred tonight at Bowery Ballroom.

12/17: Twin Shadow and his epic hair plays the Terrible Records  Holiday Party at (the terrible to get to) Don Hill’s for only 8 bucks!

12/17:  Citizens Arrest, an NYHC band from the early days of ABC No Rio, reunites at Knitting Factory with Ted Leo and Mind Eraser. Pro-tip: get drunk and rowdy.

12/17:  Or chill out with Twin Sister, Blair and others at Live With Animals Gallery. $2 off admission with a canned good. Love that karma.

12/17: A benefit for Showpaper at Monster Island populated by bands you’ll be hearing a lot about six months from now, I’m sure: Dinowalrus, Tickle Machine, Sweet Bulbs, Parquet Courts (members of Fergus & Geronimo, Woods, The Keepsies) and Fables.

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