And…summer rolls along. New Yorkers can usually count on a full slate of great shows (many free! many outdoors!) every summer, and this weekend is no exception. Comin’ at ya:
Friday
Tyshawn Sorey—the extraordinary jazz drummer and composer—plays with Brandon Ross at the Stone. Read our feature on him here.
A rare show from Birdsongs of the Mesozoic (which Mission of Burma frontman Roger Miller recently rejoined) pops off at the Mercury Lounge. Read our show preview here.
A free triple bill of trippy electronics—led by Black Moth Super Rainbow—lands at South Street Seaport. Read our show preview here.
Los Lobos hop on a Rockin’ the River boat.
And Beyoncé happens at the Izod Center.
Saturday
Starting at 4pm, members of Dirty Projectors, Zs and Aa play a 12-hour benefit show at Death by Audio.
Bowery Poetry Club hosts a 25th-anniversary celebration of the Minutemen’s Double Nickels on the Dime. Former Minuteman Mike Watt appears.
A master of morose folk, Michael Gira, shares a bill with the prolific Wand at Issue Project Room.
The rough-edged Tyvek headlines a show at Cake Shop.
Sunday
The Pool Parties at East River State Park continue with a stellar lineup of noise and dance: …And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead, Black Lips, HEALTH and Grupo Fantasma.
The righteous metal of Torche and Harvey Milk hits the Music Hall of Williamsburg.
And if you’re looking for a nice wind-down to the weekend: Ginuwine headlines a free, ultrasmooth R&B bill at Central Park SummerStage.
It’s been a long wait to find out who/what was going to replace the free McCarren Pool shows, but we’ve finally got a lineup and, boy, is it a doozy! The shows will be taking place starting at 2pm at the Williamsburg Waterfront (East River State Park, 90 Kent Ave at North 9th St, Williamsburg, Brooklyn) every Sunday for eight weeks. That’s right; these concerts are not actually in a pool anymore. And if you don’t like music that much and are just going to pick up chicks or out-hipster the rest, there will be dodgeball and three-on-three basketball.
This sure is a tough weekend to make choices on the concert front; there’s so much good stuff going down. You’re in luck, though, as we’ve got you covered on what to do.