* Fight the Feed @ Legion Bar (790 Metropolitan Ave) 8pm, $10, How do you really affect change? Does marching in the street actually reach the offices of power, or do you need to get a meeting in those offices before they’ll really listen. We break down the protest memes, and get to what really makes a difference, Buy tix ♫ Bad History Month, Dust from 1000 Yrs, Yazan @ Park Church Co-Op (129 Russell St) 8pm, An intimate show of solo performances, More info ♫ Deep Space Brooklyn @ Output (74 Wythe Ave) 10pm, $10, Known as an adventure into future dub, spacey vibes, and abstract grooves, Deep Space features dj’s, musicians, dancers and poets who represent a breathtaking range of styles celebrating dub’s impact on so many forms of art, Buy tixContinue reading →
PJ Harvey performing at Primavera Sound 2016. You can this goddess tonight at Brooklyn Steel.
Crank. It. Up. With just a toe dipped into Spring, blossoms bursting in McCarren, and a taste of 80+ degree weather last weekend we’re already steam rock-n-rolling into Summer. Here’s our favorite North Brooklyn music picks for this weekend (and it also happens to be Record Store Day on Saturday!).
THURSDAY, APRIL 20
PJ Harvey In case you haven’t listened to PJ Harvey since the first time it was cool to wear Doc Martens, a choker and a flannel, the woman has still got it. With her witchy ways, this small lady with a big presence will rock your 2000-teen world. Brooklyn Steel | 319 Frost St. | 8pm
$59.50 tickets
Quantic (DJ set), Chrome Sparks (DJ set), Ondatropica (Celebrating Baile Bucanero LP), Adi Toohey
Soul, funk, creamy goodness—whatever you want to call Quantic, he’s sure to throw down some good grooves. Brooklyn’s own Chrome Sparks will provide the chill wavvey vibes, and Ondatropica will be keeping things tropical. Sounds like a classic pre-summer Thursday night. Good Room | 98 Meserole Ave.| 10pm
$15 ticketsContinue reading →
We’re so close to Spring (or at least have had our fair share of trickster spring weather), and people are starting to come out of hibernation and onto the streets, amped up to see live music. This month brings us some fantastic options every single night. Here are our top music picks for every day we have left in March! Get your tickets now, before this stuff sells out.
Reverend Vince Anderson & His Love Choir, photo via Facebook
Tuesday, March 7th Buke & Gase Improv Residency
Don’t miss out on this experimental indie rock series from Brooklyn duo Buke & Gase. This particular show will feature Yuka Honda of Cibo Matto as their special guest! Union Pool, 484 Union Ave. | 8pm, $10-12 ticketsContinue reading →
If you want to erase all memories of 2016 via booze, hardcore dancing and from anywhere but your couch, here’s our list of where to party in North Brooklyn this New Years Eve. From prix fixe dinners to house music legends to open bars, to champagne toasts to confetti explosions and confessionals, we’ve got you covered. Some of these events are sold out already with waiting lists, but most of them aren’t… Yet. Assemble your crew!
Good Room | 98 Meserole Ave. NYE Love Bombs, with dj’s Soul Clap, No Regular Play & Love Tempo; champagne toast at midnight and an open bar from 12-1am, balloon drop, confetti cannons and a breakfast buffet! 9pm-6am.
Tickets $65 available here, more info on Facebook.
St. Vitus | 1120 Manhattan Ave. Slowly sway to post-punk emo rockers Rainer Maria, with openers Snail Mail, 8pm.
$25 tickets here.
Black Flamingo | 168 Borniquen Place A Good Flocking Time: DJs and dancing from 9pm-4am, Jacques Renault, Midnight Magic, Beto Cravioto, Higgins.
Tickets $15-20 here, info here.
Brooklyn Winery | 213 N 8th Street Brooklyn Winery presents an Alice In Wonderland themed party titled World of Wonder. From 9pm-1:30am, ring in 2017 in the forest of whimsy! Don your most fantastical cocktail attire and raise a glass to the end of another great year with a four and a half hour open bar, lavish antipasti spreads, and passed hors d’oeuvres. The space will be transformed into a fantastical world where reality is altered and nothing is quite as it seems. Dance the night away in a mystical forest, find surprises in every room, and capture it all in a one-of-a-kind custom photo booth!
Tickets $150, here.
Brooklyn Bazaar | 150 Greenpoint Avenue From 9pm-4am Brooklyn Bazaar is hosting The Greatest New Year’s Party Ever 2017, aka F#CK 2016! As quite possibly the worst year on record, let’s destroy it like a teenage house party! Titus Andronicus, High Waisted, & Toys in Trouble will be performing live, with DJs Michael T, Dirtyfinger, Cousin Cole and more to fill out the rest of the night. Complimentary Midnight Champagne Toast with their own Ballpit Drop! Bring your worst moment of 2016 on a piece of paper, shred it in the shredder and watch your worst moment become a confetti explosion at Midnight. See-saw your troubles away, scream out your 2016 angst in our screaming high striker and play Pin the Blame on the Politician! Lose yourself in our ball pit and come dance in 3 floors of possibility and installations so you can forget 2016 and start 2017 off right.
Tickets $40-$80, info hereContinue reading →
Róisín Murphy at Music Hall of Williamsburg on Friday night. Photo: Zachary Filkoff
The Brooklyn Electronic Music Festival (BEMF) kicked off on Friday, and over at Music Hall of Williamsburg (66 N. 6th St.), Róisín Murphy got things started off right with the debut show in her first American tour since 2007, when the Irish singer-songwriter’s second album, Overpowered, was released. From the moment she stepped foot on stage, bedecked in one of the night’s myriad, fantastic costumes, Murphy and her band dazzled and delighted the adoring audience.
I would call the show a nonstop spectacle, but that would seem to diminish the integrity of the music—the pure quality of that infectious beat and Murphy’s vocals, impressively both lyric and percussive. Certainly, the intimate venue and the fact that Murphy changed costumes right on stage during a song or while transitioning from one to the next kept that feeling of authenticity at the forefront. The theatrical production added to, and never took away from, the musical performance. Continue reading →
Semi-secret show alert! Our favorite creepy-looking Aussie Alex Cameron is playing Aviv tonight (9/23) at 9:30. It just got announced yesterday by the club. In case you are not familiar with his work, he lays lounge singer sleaze over retro synth sounds.
And the ugliness is actually a makeup job, to help him get in character.
Elsewhere this weekend, there’s SNL’s Maya Rudolph performing with her Prince tribute band, The Levellers and John the Martyr in town, and filthy soul 45’s to sing along to at Our Wicked Lady. Continue reading →
BKCF Founders (Julian Kiani, Chris Nester and Ashleigh Walker) headliner, Reggie Watts. Photo by: Rafe Baron
Last week the Brooklyn Comedy Festival filled Greenpoint and Williamsburg’s bars and music venues with top names in both local and big-time comedy. It was the festival’s third year to take over our hilarious borough, and we caught up with one of the founders, Chris Nester, to see how things went and what goes into making the fest a success.
Greenpointers: So, the festival is over! How’d it go?
Chris Nester: Oh my god it’s over? Really?! How did it go? JUST KIDDING…We’re really happy with how this year’s festival went. We were trying to pull off a lot, and I think we did it without letting anyone know how tired we were.
GP: I don’t know about that. You look pretty awful.
CN: They sent a comic to do the interview. Perfect.
GP: (Sorry). What made you decide to start the Brooklyn Comedy Festival in the first place?
CN: Julian [Kiani] and I were performing and going to shows in Brooklyn every night. We saw that something special was happening in NYC comedy, and that it was happening in Brooklyn. One night after a show, we had a candid conversation that basically went, “Is there a Brooklyn comedy festival?” “No, I don’t think there is…” “That’s crazy. We should start that.” Then we pitched it to Ashleigh [Walker], our producer, and less than a year later we had the first Brooklyn Comedy Festival.
GP: How long have you been in Brooklyn?
CN: I’ve lived in Brooklyn for six years. Moved here Sept. 10, 2010.
GP: Have you seen a change in the Brooklyn comedy scene since you moved here?
CN: Mostly, I’ve just seen it grow – not only in the amount of performers getting up every night in BK, but also in the number of shows happening and the number of people coming to watch those shows. In many ways, the festival has grown with the scene and the borough, and I think that has helped us a lot.
GP: Your team works out of the Pencil Factory in Greenpoint. What made you choose that space as a home base?
CN: Free coffee.
GP: Sounds about right. What’s your favorite place to watch comedy in Greenpoint?
CN: I am a huge fan of the show Broken Comedy that happens at Bar Matchless every Monday night. They’ve tapped into something there – there’s always a good crowd and a full room, and the line-ups are always killer. It’s FREE. It’s become a great Monday night spot for comics to hit before they run off to Whiplash or wherever, and also for comics to hang if they’re done for the night.
GP: What’s Whiplash?
CN: It’s a great showcase at UCB’s mainstage every Monday night. Also free.
GP: Back to the festival: What venues were added this year that weren’t a part last year?
Crowd at Music Hall of Williamsburg on the last night of the fest. Photo by: Rafe Baron
CN: We had a few this year… Bell House, Threes Brewing, Dizzy’s Backroom, Music Hall of Williamsburg… As the scene continues evolving, with certain weekly [and] monthly shows ending and new shows always popping up, I think we’ll have new venues every year. A lot of our new venues are for shows that already exist and we attach to the festival.
GP: Did you notice a difference in the turnout this year?
CN: Every year we add more shows and bigger venues…it’s amazing that every year people continue to pack out almost every single show. It blows my mind, every single year.
GP: There were some big names on the roster like Reggie Watts and Vanessa Bayer, to name a couple. How do you get the larger acts on the lineup?
CN: I’ll just say that we have a lot of friends doing amazing things in comedy, and sometimes the stars align and we get to work together.
GP: Can we be friends?
CN: I sent you a friend request like five min before this interview even started, soooooo ball’s in your court.
GP: Score. What would you say is the biggest factor in the success of the festival?
CN: One huge factor in our festival’s success is the growth of its namesake borough. There are so many more people in Brooklyn now, and that mixed with the comedy boom we’re currently living in… I think people wanted this type of festival and they’re responding to it. We also work our asses off year-in and year-out to put on a good festival.
GP: Reggie is magic. So, what are your plans for the future of the festival?
CN: 1.) To make sure Trump doesn’t get elected….not sure how but we’re really working hard on that.
2.) That’s a tough question, and we try to make changes every year based on what we’ve seen and learned from the year before so we’re kind of just starting to look at next year. Our main goal has always been to lift up our scene, its fans and performers however we can, so we’re going to try and continue to do that as best we can.
Check out the Brooklyn Comedy Festival on places like Facebook, Twitter and Instagram for highlights from this year and info on the next!
WEDNESDAY 5/04 # A Beer-y Good Meal @ Brooklyn Brewery (79 North 11th St) 6pm, $45, A three-course, family-style meal presented by Edible Brooklyn, Buy tix # Sugar & Suffering: The North Brooklyn Chapter @ Gallery AWA (61 Greenpoint Ave) 7pm, FREE, A talk on the impact of sugar refining in Brooklyn and the legacy it has left behind, RSVP
THURSDAY 5/05 # Pipeworks Cinco de Meow-o Ninja Festival @ Brouwerij Lane (78 Greenpoint Ave) 7pm, FREE, A themed fiesta showcasing taps and bottles of Pipeworks beer, RSVP ♫ NYC Soundpainting Festival @ The Firehouse Space (246 Frost St) 8pm, $12, A three-day fest presenting this multi-disciplinary live-composing sign language for musicians, actors, dancers, and visual artists, RSVP
I had a whole theme planned for this week’s concert update.
It had something to do with music in people’s personal vs. professional lives.
But I just took the dog for a walk and it is, simply, Amazing Summer outside right now. All the local employees and freelancers are basking in the sun and socializing.
No sense in me slowing you down with themes. We’ll get right to the concert update instead, and please please please spend some time outside in Greenpoint or Williamsburg today. Continue reading →
First, to celebrate today’s tropical temps, a calypso gift from The Kinks.
That’s the song playing behind a trailer to the ’80s flop Club Paradise.
This weekend brings some fine ’80s-style new wave pop to our neighborhood, along with the chance to dance at the Wburg Music Hall, or rock out at Aviv. Or just bleed from the head at Grand Vic, but for more on that, you have to peek behind the click to your right. Continue reading →
On June 3 & 4th, 400 local artists will open their doors to the public and showcase works and works in progress during this year’s Greenpoint Open Studios! Check out the the full schedule of events here!
