Crowd chillin’ at Governors Ball 2017. All photos by Dylan Lappin.
Another year passes and another Governors Ball flies by. This year was marked with legendary bands, fantastic emerging artists and others that I hadn’t heard of before, but now know well. With Chance the Rapper, Phoenix, Air, Lorde, Wiz Khalifa and the all-powerful and militant Tool, the 2017 Ball was set to be an amazing weekend. The lines were surprisingly quick and easy, probably the easiest and fastest festival check-in experience I’ve ever had. The wristband technology was also pretty efficient—a bonus was being able to attach your credit card to the wristband, and use it to not only pay for food and drinks, but also access different areas of the festival.
People packed in early each day to max out on sunshine. The weekend held up, bringing ideal weather and positive vibes. I noticed younger (teens, early 20s) crowds at most of the EDM and Hip Hop acts. As a 31-year-old elder, I was asked one too many times to buy drinks for the underage crowd. I gladly declined and went on my way. I have to admit, I was amused watching their faces quickly turn from eager to disappointed, but I knew deep down inside that they’d find a way somehow, just not from me.Continue reading →
Last Tuesday night, a bit of the tropics came to NYC as Bahamas—the recording name of Canadian musician Afie Jurvanen—played to a sold out crowd at Good Room (98 Meserole Ave). The Greenpoint show preceded a show at Forest Hills Stadium the next night opening for Jack Johnson, whose Brushfire Records released Jurvanen’s second and third albums, Barchords (2012) and Bahamas is Afie (2014). Continue reading →
On Saturday June 10th and Sunday 11th from 1-6pmWilliamsburg’s main drag will transform into a public park (Saturday Metropolitan Avenue to N 7th Street and Sunday N7th street to N12th Street). There will be temporary wall units for live painting, interactive installations and workshops, and engaging sculptures will be staggered throughout the blocks for the community to enjoy. RSVP on Facebook
We’re once again joining in on all the Northside Festival fun with our own official showcase happening tomorrow, June 8th at Bar Matchless (557 Manhattan Ave) starting at 8PM. RSVP here!
Franz Ferdinand played to a sold-out house last night at Warsaw (261 Driggs Ave) on their first tour since 2014 supporting Right Thoughts, Right Words, Right Action. The band’s new lineup is comprised of Alex Kapranos (lead vocals and guitar), Bob Hardy (bass guitar), Paul Thomson (drums, percussion and backing vocals) and Dino Bardot (guitar) and Julian Corrie (synth, guitar) replaced founding member Nick McCarthy, who left the band last summer.
After playing Governor’s Ball over the weekend, the band extended their stay in New York City playing the show as part of Governor’s Ball After Dark.The crowd was as electrified as the band, especially when they played dance-beat heavy songs such as “No You Girls”, “The Dark of the Matinee” and “Take Me Out”, dancing, jumping and waving their arms to the music. Franz Ferdinand returned to the stage for an encore performance and ended their show with energy surging, “This Fire” and hand-in-hand the band took a bow.Continue reading →
This weekend Bedford Avenue from Metropolitan to North 12th Street will be closed off for a summer music jam, art fest and neighborhood block party! If you are down to volunteer for Northside Art at Williamsburg Walks this Saturday June 10th or Sunday June 11th, you’ll get hooked up with a Northside Festival Badge! And you will be doing good for the community by helping reclaim Bedford Ave as a pedestrian-friendly art space!
Dance music DJ, Roosevelt beings his four-piece band to Brooklyn Bazaar for a totally new live experience. (Photo credit: Brian Vu)
Catch the German-based dance music producer, multi-instrumentalist, and dreamy vocalist, Roosevelt, for a late night party at the Brooklyn Bazaar (150 Greenpoint Ave) this Friday, June 2nd following his performance at Governors Ball on Randall’s Island.
For those of you familiar with Roosevelt, it might come to you as a surprise to see the DJ with a four-piece band this time around. He’s amping up his live shows, and just added a new keyboardist to complete their summer tour (Brooklyn is just one of the three stops in the US—Governors Ball NYC, Philly and DC—are also on the list, before trekking back to Europe).
“This is the first time for people to see it as a four piece. A lot of things came from the laptop before, but now everything is live… So that’s exciting for me right now because so many things can go wrong because there’s actually a band. That’s quite a special thing because it’s the first time we’re playing together.”
We sat down with Roosevelt before he dipped into a 5-hour-long rehearsal session in Brooklyn to discuss his new Remixed EP, touring with a girl, and what he means by “the European way.” Continue reading →
It’s hard getting to the beginning of anything, but with Troost (1011 Manhattan Ave) in Greenpoint, it might help to keep in mind a street sign in Kansas City: Troost Ave. “I just liked the way it looked,” the owner, John Ortiz says, one evening during a sit down at Goldie’s, on what we both agree is the “other side” of Greenpoint. Troost opened its doors in 2011. It started as a café, beer and wine bar. But it’s grown since then to include a full bar and live music. But John is specific. It is “not a music venue. It’s a bar that has music.” It having music occupies a lot of the conversation.
“It’s interesting,” he says, “to see artists respond when you put limitations on them.” The limitations are familiar to anyone who attends shows or is a musician in New York. They come down to two things: noise and space. “It’s almost always worked out. One or two cases, maybe.” One aspect that keeps things going is a good relationship with the neighbors. “They all have my number. They’re great. Sometimes I get a text saying, ‘hey, last night was a little loud,’ but for the most part, the relationship is really good.” Another is just figuring out who could and should play. Who does the approaching? “It’s pretty much word of mouth, musicians putting me in touch with other musicians,” he says. Continue reading →
It’s summer, y’all (temps almost broke 90 today so we can officially say that now), which means it’s time to get your butts out there and see some live music and DJs. North Brooklyn is awash with options this year, some of them free and some of them not so free, but all of them are awesome. We’ve got rooftop parties, music festival afterparties, soul and rap legends, indie bands, pizza and tacos galore. Also, booze. Check out our roundup of this season’s seriously massive music lineup.
GOVERNORS BALL AFTER DARK | Various venues around North Brooklyn & Manhattan Governors Ball is back again this year on June 2-4, and the epic music fest is also serving up some awesome night shows too, and most of them happen to be right here in North Brooklyn. Some shows are already sold out, so either jump on some Craigslist tickets or try to snag some for the shows with tix still left!
Here’s the lineup of shows in our ‘hood:
Thursday June 1: CHARLES BRADLEY @ BROOKLYN BOWL (61 Wythe Ave) // 8pm // Sold Out
Friday June 2: RÜFÜS DU SOL (DJ SET) @ SCHIMANSKI (54 N 11th St) //10pm // Sold Out MUNA @ BROOKLYN BOWL (61 Wythe Ave) // 1130pm // $20 tickets ROOSEVELT @ BROOKLYN BAZAAR (150 Greenpoint Ave) // 11:59pm // $16 tickets WELLES @ KNITTING FACTORY (361 Metropolitan Ave) // 1130pm // $12 tickets MARK RONSON X KEVIN PARKER @ OUTPUT (74 Wythe Ave) // 10pm // $15-25 tickets
Saturday June 3: THE AVALANCHES @ BROOKLYN BOWL (61 Wythe Ave) // 1130pm // Sold Out PARQUET COURTS @ VILLAIN (307 Kent Ave) // 11pm // $20 tickets ROYAL BLOOD @ WARSAW (261 Driggs Ave) // 11:59pm // Sold Out YG, CHARLI XCX & ANIK KHAN @ SCHIMANSKI (54 N 11th St) // 10pm // $25-30 tickets THE ORWELLS @ KNITTING FACTORY (361 Metropolitan Ave) // 11:59PM // $15 tickets
Monday June 5: FRANZ FERDINAND @ WARSAW (261 Driggs Ave) // 8pm // Sold Out
