Karl Denson | photo by whitperson
Although Hurricane Irene ended up being rather wimpy — considering all of the preparations and dire warnings — it certainly screwed up a lot of NYC concerts and festivals this past weekend. Brooklyn Bowl had to postpone BP’s Saturday show, so I was denied what would have certainly been a raging, late-night throwdown (including a fist-pumping “Inside the Tinman” according to the band). Here’s hoping that the weather clears up nicely this week and lets the show(s) go on.
Speaking of which, there are two standout shows this week at outdoor venues…Bright Eyes and Dr. Dog are teaming up for a show at the Williamsburg Waterfront, which should be pretty stellar. For something a bit more keyboard-centric, the Beekman Beer Garden has Bruce Hornsby & the Noisemakers with Marco Benevento opening, a show I’m definitely eyeing as a nice outdoor option to break up the week.
For something a little funkier, Karl Denson’s locking down Brooklyn Bowl for a two-night party on Thursday and Friday. That sounds groovy, but I’m also eyeing some of the unique collaborations that are happening over the weekend. First, we’ve got Joe Russo — on break from drum duties for the Dead — pulling together a bit of a NYC super-group with Erik Deutsch, Scott Metzger, & Andy Hess at Cameo Gallery in Brooklyn. The show is now billed as Rumble Dogs, and even though I have no clue what music they’ll be playing, it’s bound to be pretty amazing with that core group of players on the bill. Another interesting night of collaborative groups goes down at Brooklyn Bowl on Sunday. Stanton Moore, Will Bernard, and Robert Walter are playing the Bowl’s early show, while Steve Molitz, DJ Logic, & Freekbass are handling late-night freakout duties with what’s being billed as “Headtronics.” Assuming that’s short for some form of “heady, electronic” music, then I’m guessing it’ll be an interesting dance party with a bit of a jammy bent. If you want to dance to something a little more in the indie-electro vein, then I definitely recommend checking out Small Black at the Palms in LIC on Saturday (and, according to Songkick, also on Monday night). Of course, for the bigger fans of straight-laced electronic dance music, Randall’s Island (venue for the Electric Zoo Festival) is probably the place to the be this weekend.
As always, there’s quite a lot more happening this week in NYC than I’ve got time to dig into above. So, have at it…
