Great Googa Mooga (May 17-19, 2013)

Photo: D. Caplan

The second annual Great Googa Mooga starts tonight in Prospect Park with a paid concert by The Darkness, The Flaming Lips and the Yeah Yeah Yeahs. Sharon Jones and The Dap Kings, who were supposed to headline Sunday’s show, are being replaced by Kool and the Gang due to “an urgent family matter.” I’m sure that will be a disappointment for both concertgoers and Sharon Jones alike, who last played to a rapturous crowd of 20,000 strong at the Prospect Park Bandshell. Free tickets for both Saturday and Sunday are sold out, but if you hang out at the gate or keep checking in with the folks at myfreeconcert, you can probably score yourself a pair.

Full Googa Mooga Saturday and Sunday music lineup after the jump.

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Amadou & Mariam at Central Park Summerstage (08/04/12)

Photo: Geoff Green

Malian musical duo Amadou & Mariam, tend to make their annual journey to the US during the summer to play a number of festival dates and some club gigs. Having played Summerstage in year, this year A&M are crossing the river to play a show on June 21 at Celebrate Brooklyn!. They are still touring in support their 2012 full length, Folila, but they also just released a new EP in April entitled Mali meets Latin America Remix EP.

Video for “Africa mon Afrique,” more “lost” photos of last year’s Central Park Summerstage gig and 2013 Amadou & Mariam tour dates after the jump.

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Superchunk at XX Merge (07/24/09)

Photo: PJ Sykes

Music Geeks Presales (Password: MusicGeeks)
07/27 – Texas Hippie Coalition plus Eve to Adam @ Gramercy Theatre *Presale runs from 10am to 10pm on 5/16*
09/13 – Pinback plus Deathfix @ Irving Plaza*Presale runs from 10am to 10pm on 5/16*
09/19 – FLAG @ Irving Plaza *Presale runs from 10am on 5/15 to 10pm on 5/16*

Michael Kiwanuka at Celebrate Brooklyn! (06/14/12)

Photo: D. Caplan

It’s official! See the full Celebrate Brooklyn! 2013 lineup after the jump.

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MTV VMA Awards @ Barclays Center (08/25/13)

In case you hadn’t heard, MTV is holding the 2013 Video Music Awards (VMAs) at Barclays Center in Brooklyn on August 25. While tickets aren’t available to the general public yet, follow 1iota on Twitter and Facebook for more info on how to score a free seats. (I’ll probably post about it too, when I find out.)

Beck at Sasquatch 2012

Photo: Shawn Anderson (more)

Beck is playing a full band electric show at Celebrate Brooklyn! on Aug 4, 2013. Tickets for that show go on sale on Fri, May 10. Beck will also be appearing at Bob Dylan’s Americanarama Festival on Jul 27 at Jones Beach with Wilco and Ryan Bingham.

According to their Facebook and Twitter feeds, Celebrate Brooklyn! will announce their 2013 full season schedule some time on Wed, May 8.

Like they did last year, Celebrate Brooklyn! is also planning a series of Dance Parties at Pier 1 at the Brooklyn Bridge Park starting this Thursday (May 9). (If I recall correctly, they announced the lineup at the first dance party last year, but it looks like they are doing it a day early this year.)

Thursday, May 9 the dance party brings on New Orleans funk band, Big Sam’s Funky Nation, led by the electronic trombone-wielding Big Sam Williams. The Freedom Party NYC DJs Cosi, Herbert Holler, and Marc Smooth–whose Friday night dance party, now at Le Poisson Rouge, is the longest-running weekly dance party in New York–will warm things up with a mix of classic hip-hop, R&B, reggae, 80s, rock, house, soul and funk hits.

The Afro-Cuban dance party on May 16, pairs Havana-born, congas master Pedrito Martinez and DJ Nickodemus of Turntables on the Hudson fame. If you want to master the moves of Cuban and African dance, get there early for lessons from Yesenia Selier of Cumbe: Center for African and Diaspora Dance.

The last party on May 23 will be a blow-out old-school night of funk and hip-hop with Zapp and D-Nice. Zapp goes way back—Parliament-Funkadelic discovered them in 1979 and their hits, like “More Bounce to the Ounce” and “Computer Love” have been sampled by everyone from 2Pac to Jay-Z. D-Nice is a familiar face at Santos Party House and the White House—he DJed at Obama’s second inaugural ball. Ephrat “Bounce” Asherie (of Broadway Dance Center, Peridance, and Joffrey Ballet School) will be on hand early for hip-hop dance lessons.

Each party is free and takes place on the massive lawn of Pier 1, starting at 7pm, rain or shine. The bike valet is also free, though arriving by East River Ferry is a pretty sweet way to go, too. [BrooklynBased.net]

More Beck tour dates after the jump.

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She & Him at Sasquatch 2010

Photo: Shawn Anderson (more)

Music Geeks Presales (Password: MusicGeeks)
06/07 – Official Governors Ball After Party with Dinosaur Jr. @ Irving Plaza *Presale runs from 10am to 10pm on 5/9*
08/03 – The Psychedelic Furs @ Irving Plaza *Presale runs from 10am on 5/8 to 10pm on 5/9*
08/15 – The All Stars Tour w/ Every Time I Die, Chelsea Grin & More @ Irving Plaza *Presale runs from 10am to 10pm on 5/9*

Brooklyn Youth Chorus Gala (May 7, 2013)

Heads up folks, the Brooklyn Youth Chorus is putting on its annual gala tonight (Tuesday, May 7) at Roulette. The BYC will be performing with the renowned Kronos Quartet and presenting commissioned works by such indie darlings as: Richard Reed Parry (Arcade Fire), Bryce Dessner (The National) and Shara Worden (My Brightest Diamond), just to name a few. Read the full press release below.

BROOKLYN YOUTH CHORUS (BYC) JOINED BY THE KRONOS QUARTET IN CONCERT FEATURING BYC-COMMISSIONED WORKS, MAY 7 AT ROULETTE

Including a Composition for BYC and Kronos by Julia Wolfe (World Premiere), and BYC Commissions by Aleksandra Vrebalov (New York Premiere), Richard Reed Parry (New York Premiere), Bryce Dessner and Shara Worden

Two pioneering, GRAMMY-winning new music organizations will unite when the Kronos Quartet performs with the Brooklyn Youth Chorus’ (BYC) Concert Chorus and Young Men’s Ensemble, May 7 at Roulette in Brooklyn. The program will feature music the Chorus commissioned from a range of celebrated composers: the world premiere of a piece Julia Wolfe wrote for BYC and Kronos; the New York premieres of BYC / BAM co-commissions by Aleksandra Vrebalov, Richard Reed Parry (Arcade Fire) and Bryce Dessner (The National, Clogs); and music for the Chorus by Shara Worden (My Brightest Diamond). The concert illustrates the Chorus’ growing role as a collaborative commissioner, producer and presenter of music showcasing its singers’ range, versatility and unique sound.

The concert at Roulette (509 Atlantic Avenue, Brooklyn) begins at 8:00 P.M. Tickets for the concert only are $45 and can be purchased at www.brooklynyouthchorus.org. Tickets for the gala, which includes cocktails and dinner at the Green Building (452 Union Street, Brooklyn) at 5:30 P.M., begin at $375. All tickets can be purchased at www.brooklynyouthchorus.org or call 718-243-9447 x226. All proceeds will benefit the Chorus’ programming.

Press release continued after the jump.

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Vampire Weekend at Barclays Center

Intrepid readers of this week’s presales column might have noticed that Vampire Weekend are playing a big show at the Barclays Center on September 20. Tickets for that show go on Amex presale on Wednesday, May 1 at 10AM.

Vampire Weekend’s new album, Modern Vampires of The City, will be released on May 14 via XL. Due to unforeseen circumstances, the album is being released a week late.

VAMPIRE WEEKEND’S UPCOMING ALBUM MODERN VAMPIRES OF THE CITY WILL BE RELEASED ON MAY 13, ONE WEEK LATER THAN ORIGINALLY ANNOUNCED DUE TO UNANTICIPATED DELAYS IN THE PRODUCTION OF PHYSICAL COPIES OF THE RECORD. THE NEW DATE ENSURES THAT CD’S AND VINYL WILL BE IN STORES ON RELEASE DAY.

WE ALL WORKED VERY HARD ON THIS RECORD AND PROMISE IT WILL BE WORTH THE WAIT. [VampireWeekend.com]

Videos for the new singles “Diane Young” and “Step” and more Vampire Weekend tour dates after the jump.

Last but not least, you can now relive Vampire Weekend’s live Amex Unstaged show from the Roseland Ballroom on YouTube.

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Summerstage 2013

I know I’m a day late and a dollar short on this, but I can’t not post about this year’s Summerstage lineup. Check out the widget below for the full 2013 CPF Summerstage schedule.

You can also click here to see the acts that are just playing at The Rumsey Playfield in Central Park (including rental shows).

You can download a PDF version of the full 2013 Summerstage schedule over here. View a plain text version of the 2013 Summerstage schedule after the jump.

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