Summer Fun Calendar 2007 (pre-release)

Friday May 25 Single-Speed Bike Showdown. 7pm at East End of 102nd Street Transverse of Central Park. This will include the famous fixed-gear bikes you’ve been hearing about. Lanky hotties are sure to abound! But I draw a parallel with what Neilson says about the FMU Record Fair: “The one thing the guys there care about more than getting laid is records (bikes)…no one will notice you.”

Saturday May 26 Bicycle Fetish Day, 2 pm. Havemeyer Street at Grand Street, Williamsburg. Rally/contest for souped-up bikes.

June 1 Animal Collective 7 pm at South Street Seaport

Saturday June 2 Roky Erickson at Castle Clinton

Monday June 4 The Fucking Champs with Red Fang (Aaron Beam’s band) at 8pm at the Mercury Lounge ($12). Bring earplugs. The evil of this music will make you die, then the joy of this music will make you rise again.

Tuesday June 5 Champs and Fangs again ($10), 8pm at Studio B, Brooklyn. After seeing them on Monday, you’ll be hooked!

June 5 through July 8 Romeo and Juliet 8pm at the Delacorte Theater

Sat. June 9 Kathy’s annual birthday-related mixer. 7 pm Village Yokocho, 8 Stuyvesant Street, 2nd flr. (the restaurant outside Angel’s Share)

Wed. June 13 7pm Booker T. and the MG’s at Rockefeller Park (Memphis soul stuff)

Sat. June 16 Television & Apples in Stereo at Central Park Summerstage (reunion of an old band, with what I feel is a much poppier band)

Sat/Sun June 16 & 17 Renegade Craft Fair in McCarren Park (punk/indie/diy crafters come from around the US to sell stuff to others of their ilk. It’s quite a big deal.

Thurs June 21 Richard Thompson at Prospect Park Bandshell

Fri June 22 Ralph Stanley at Prospect Park (bluegrass)

Tues June 26 7 pm Martha Wainwright et al at WFC Plaza

Friday June 29 Bob Dylan at Jones Beach ($35 and up…Dylan is back on the guitar, and I’m looking for people to go with)

June 30 The Stills at Prospect Park

July 4 New Pornographers 3:30 pm at Battery Park

July 6 Fujiya & Miyagi at 7pm at South Street Seaport (sounds interesting: post-Can prog/noodle rock)

Saturday July 7 The BOREDOMS! With 77 drummers! 5 pm at Brooklyn Bridge Park. Where will the audience sit?
OR…Cat Power and Built to Spill at McCarren Park Pool ($35?)

Tues July 10 New York Philharmonic (Berlioz, Mendelssohn, and Tchaikovsky at 8 pm at the Prospect Park Bandshell

Wed July 11 New York Phil (same program) 8 pm at the Central Park Great Lawn
OR…Spoon at 7 pm at Rockefeller Park. With opening acts Fork and Knife.
OR…North by Northwest at 8:30 on pier I. (w. end of 70th St.)

July 12 Ron Sexsmith 7 pm at Castle Clinton

Mon July 16 The Decemberists at Summerstage

Tues July 17 Marc Ribot 7pm at WFC Plaza
OR… NY Philharmonic (Strauss, the same Tchaikovsky as the prev. week, and misc. operatic arias) at 8pm at Central Park Great Lawn

Wed July 18 Toumani Diabate (West African orchestra) 7pm at Rockefeller Park. Sure to feature some hippie dancing!
OR… Ani Difranco at Prospect Park
OR… The Searchers 8:30 pm on pier I.

Thurs July 19 Blackmail, a silent film by Hitchcock, accompanied live by the Alloy Orchestra (original score. These shows are schweet(!) except when it pours rain or the film or the projector break; bring a friend you enjoy talking to)

July 20 Neko Case at Summerstage

July 21 Richie Havens on Governor’s Island. I saw him open for Billy Bragg when I was in high school. What a pinko I was. He has amazing presence.

July 22 Dan Zanes at Prospect Park (kidnap someone…must be accompanied by child! Just kidding.)

Wed July 25 Sideways at 8:30, Pier I
OR… Carolina Chocolate Drops at Rockefeller Park (if you’re a sucker for “old-timey,” as I am, you’ll like this band who have lots of buzz in the old-timey scene.)

Wed August 1 The Treasure of the Sierra Madre, 8:30, Pier I.

August 6 thru Sept. 9 A Midsummer Night’s Dream at the Delacorte Theater

August 7 The Fountainhead at 8 or 9(?) at the Elevated Acre

August 10 Au Revoir Simone at South Street Seaport

August 14 Breakfast at Tiffany’s at the Elevated Acre

Wed August 8 Caddyshack at 8:30, Pier I.

Wed August 15 Days of Heaven at 8:30, Pier I.

August 17 The National at South Street Seaport

August 21 On the Waterfront at the Elevated Acre

August 28 The Apartment at the Elevated Acre


Venue notes:

Castle Clinton: Down by the Statue of Liberty ferry. You have to show up early to get free tickets. I've never succeeded at it.
Delacorte Theater: Oh you know, it’s at like 76th street in Central Park? Lots of people have good luck showing up at 7pm for standby tickets. (1 per person)

The Elevated Acre: A new corporate/public park at 55 Water Street, way downtown. Go up escalator to access. The lawn is astroturf, the screen is small, and it’s on video. Last year the movie I saw was out of sync between sound and picture; hopefully that was a one-time thing. It’s a pretty nice space anyway.

Mercury Lounge: 217 E. Houston St.

Pier I: At the far west end of 70th Street. Would be Pier 100 if someone had thought to make it not sound like a store. I’ve never seen a movie here so I don’t know yet what it’s like.

Prospect Park Amphitheater: Take the F train to 7th Ave/9th Street, then walk uphill on 9th to the Park. They look in your bags, and prefer that you give $3, but you don’t have to. Some people sit outside the fence so they can drink their own wine or beer (cups are sold for $5 inside.) This doesn’t mean it’s legal.

Rockefeller Park: At the western end of Chambers Street, just past Stuy High. (In case of rain or threat of it, concerts are in the H.S. Aud, which is very fancy. There are some folding chairs and lots of lawn, and sea breezes. The only drawback is loud helicopters passing by.

South Street Seaport: At the tail end of Coenties Slip. I just like saying that. It’s actually at the eastern end of Fulton Street, near the mall. It’s sort of a small venue. There are folding chairs.

Studio B: 259 Banker Street, Greenpoint. If you’re walking north on Berry, Banker St. would be N. 15th. Make a left (toward the water). I’ve never been there.

Summerstage: In Central Park near the E. 69th Street entrance. I think they still do a bag search. Be aware that some of the major acts are benefit concerts and cost $40.

World Financial Center Plaza: By the water, outside the Winter Garden, which is west of the former WTC. Reach it via a convoluted system of passageways from the south, which makes me think of how things will be once the earth is no longer really habitable, or go via the north, by that movie theater. Some of the best acts play here, which means too many people in too small a space. Go early to get a seat. It can be very cold from the wind or hot from the pavement. I guess the acoustics are better than at more pleasant venues.