The rapper GZA, one of the founders of the Wu-Tang Clan, will perform all the songs from his landmark 1995 album “Liquid Swords” as part of this year’s Northside Festival in Brooklyn, organizers announced Monday. He will be backed up by Grupo Fantasma, a Latin funk outfit from Texas.
All told, there will be more than 350 bands playing at 25 bars and music halls around Williamsburg and Greenpoint during the four-day music festival, which starts on June 14, the organizers said. Some of the concerts will also be held this year in Williamburg Park, a new indoor performance space on Kent Avenue that can hold 7,000 people.
The list of headliners released Monday during a press conference at Brooklyn Borough Hall was eclectic, to put it mildly, covering multiple genres and styles. They include Of Montreal, the oddball indie rock band from Athens, Georgia; Ceremony, a hardcore punk band from California; Tinariwen, the Tuareg desert-blues group from Mali; the Felice Brothers, a folk-rock trio from upstate New York, Dam-Funk, a California musician who specializes in funk music; and Screaming Females, the hard rock trio from New Brunswick, NJ.
At the announcement for this year’s Northside Festival, Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz decided it was important to rap the first lines from GZA’s “Liquid Swords.” Pretty cool, Marty.
The Northside festival is June 14-21 and will feature GZA as well as Of Montreal, Starfucker, and a million other bands.
Enjoying the warm weather this week? Well friends, don’t be fooled by global warming- it’s not summer quite yet. Here, in no particular order, are 10 summertime activities to mark in your calendar and start getting pumped for:
10. Kickball- Hardcore kickball fanatics already know that May 6th is opening day, but here’s a head’s up for all of you newbies out there. Sign up now if you’re interested in joining a team and prepare for a summer full of glory, camaraderie, and frequent Turkey’s Nest runs.
9. Brooklyn Flea- The eclectic shopping mecca will grace the East River Waterfront with its presence once again when it reopens on Sunday, April 8. That weekend also marks the return of Smorgasburg on Saturdays at the waterfront, which promises to be as mouthwatering as ever with favorite vendors including Porchetta and People’s Pops making a comeback.
8. Baseball-The Mets kick off their season on April 5th, which means those sweaty summer baseball games are just around the corner. It’s only a matter of time before you’ll be dodging stray baseballs in McCarren park.
7. Waterfront Concert Series- The new location is confirmed, and the season kickoff is June 1st. Now all we need is a band line up! (more…)
Watch this video of Dom cover arguably the best (Prince) song ever, “Little Red Corvette”. We saw them perform it at Brooklyn Bowl Friday and while this video is not from that specific performance its still pretty great.
Everyone doing ok from the weekend? A little hungover? A little sunburnt? Yeah, us too. Here is a list of our favorites from the festival. Some you might know and some you might not but hopefully you will a find a place in your heart to let them all in a little… or a lot.
Grunge heavy hitters, Quilty, have been playing their way through Brooklyn for a while now and its about time you take notice. With a sound that plays like Best Coast meets Nirvana (with a dash of Fugazi for good measure) how could you go wrong? Front woman Sarah Dupuis’ guitar shreds and sweetly sinister vocals hold her in the same esteem as the 90′s alt punk queens of yesteryear and it cannot not go unmentioned that this three piece foregoes use of a bass guitar and instead rocks out with a distorted trombone. They play this upcoming Tuesday the 21st at the Make Music NY festival.
This was certainly the most entertaining act that we saw at Northside. A couple of months ago the Fader posited that Wise Blood might be the most improved live act of the year (when they first started playing it was a complete shit show, as in they couldn’t finish a show) so there was a lot to look out for. Its still a shit show but at least they sound great–Pittsburgh bred singer/ producer Chris Laufman has an almost rock/ rap quality to him backed by impeccable beats and samples that pack a hell of a lot of soul. Also, he is quite the character,writhing around on stage, throwing trash cans (or anything he could find really) and declaring in between songs that “he will no longer be gay” and will “stop making out with skinheads.” According to their facebook they will be taking a break to record but see them again live July 21st at Bowery Ballroom with Theophilus London…trust us, you won’t want to miss it.
One of the highlights of The Northside Festival, Eleanor Friedberger played a great set at Europa on Saturday night. Bradford Cox was up front enjoying the show. Ted Leo was the surprise opener. (No sign of Courtney Love who was spotted roaming the ‘burg Saturday afternoon.) We’re all looking forward to Friedberger’s solo record out on Merge July 12.
What’s good people? Oh yeah – a killer show tomorrow put on by the Big Ass Lens crew. After years of scheming, conning, begging and pleading our way into shows, filming the shit out of them and coming through with great videos for our favorite artists, BAL is finally flipping the script. We’re going to produce and shoot our own show!
Saturday night at Bar Matchless we have an outstanding line-up featuring four original, crushing and damn satisfying bands. On tap are the Spin Magazine touted “must-see” Grandfather, whose potent blend of heavy psych-tinged rock is ringing serious bells these days. In addition, we have Converse Tent SXSW spot rushers Dirty Dishes, whose energetic rush we liken to a mash of our favorite 90′s stylings with a gorgeous female voice over top. Propulsive and lush, dexterous and dizzyingly dancy this band hits all the right spots for us.
On the grimier side of life we have Grass Is Green, who’s heartfelt, knotty and spastic songs touch on the sounds of some our perennial 90′s favorites – the Dischord roster, Unwound, Jawbox. Rounding it all out are the bombastic, in-the-trenches monsters Madam Trashy who hit hard as hell.
Overall, it’s going to be a great night of music (especially these four amazing drummers!) and a start of a new era for us at Big Ass Lens. Come through, get drunk stay drunk at the club.
Goddamn Cobras’ literature project BOOMSLANG is hosting The 3rd Annual Rooftop Bikini Reading Party to Promote Literaryness and Sun on Saturday, June 18 from 6-9pm on the roof of The End at 13 Greenpoint Avenue in Brooklyn. The party is part of Northside Open Studios. Poets, novelists and playwrights will read their work while folks party in swimwear, drinkin in sunshine (we hope) and beers.
It’s been a long, hot wait, but the Vegan Summer Shop-Up(Part 1!) is FINALLY HERE! The all vegan all local pop-up market brings you raw ice cream, Brooklyn-made hummus, artisan tempeh, gluten-free truffles, fresh-pressed juices, farm-fresh herbs, bug repellent, soy wax candles, lip balms, and oh yes, WAY MORE.
Come on out Sunday June 19, 1- 5pm to the Pine Box Rock Shop (our favorite vegan bar!). You’ll see new vendors and old with tons of rad products to satisfy any and all summer cravings. The Shop-Up also coincides with Sunday WAFFLE BRUNCH at Pine Box!! Indulge in waffle heaven while hitting up the best Bloody Mary menu in town(because it’s also happy hour!).
Eagle Street Rooftop is slinging veggies all over town on Sunday, buy some for a local foodie dad for father’s day?
Let’s hope that Zach Condon doesn’t take on this Debbie Harry reggae-drenched version of his “A Sunday Smile” when playing McCarren Park tonight. It was announced a while ago that Blondie would be covering this song, but we can’t turn out eyes from a car crash, even if we’ve seen the crash coming for miles. Go back and listen to Plastic Letters and remember why Blondie are still revered, but leave the indie gypsy crooning of Beirut to Condon and company.
The best and worst part of the 2011 Northside Festival is the 250+ amazing musicians contemporaneously pitted against each other throughout the various stages of Williamsburg, Greenpoint and Bushwick. While all these bands deserve your love, the capacity to attend every show and nurse the previous night’s hangover with another [several rounds of] PBR and musical enthusiasm is severely limited. Thus, while we encourage checking out as many bands as you can (especially the new and unsigned), we might as well throw in our two cents.
So - drumroll, please – here are some picks for the best Northside sounds:
Kool Keith will be there! Also:
