Beth Orton played a free show on Saturday night at Celebrate Brooklyn! and I think it turned out to be a very pleasant evening for everyone involved. I really enjoy Beth’s music, and her acoustic set accompanied by multinstrumentalist Rob Moose was enthusiastically received by the respectful and appreciative Park Slope crowd. The only quibble I have with Beth is her tendency to be overly self-deprecating (she has been known to suffer stage fright and I suspect this is a way of dealing with it), what starts off as cute and charming quickly becomes distracting when it’s used as a crutch.

On a side note, it was my first time “officially” shooting a Celebrate Brooklyn show, and while the results didn’t turn out as well as I had hoped, I did manage to come away with a couple passable shots. You can view the full flickr set over here.

It’s official now folks…

Celebrate Brooklyn! 2008 Official Schedule
Thursday, June 12
ISAAC HAYES

Saturday, June 14
MIRIAM MAKEBA / SIBONGILE KHUMALO /BAKITHI KUMALO & FRIENDS

Thursday, June 19
MEDESKI MARTIN & WOOD / MARC RIBOT’S CERAMIC DOG / TAYLOR MCFERRIN & THE CELL THEORY

Sunday, June 22
SALIF KEITA / HAALE

Thursday, June 26
CAROLINA CHOCOLATE DROPS / DIXIE HUMMINGBIRDS

Friday, June 27
COLD WAR KIDS / ELVIS PERKINS IN DEARLAND / SAM CHAMPION

Saturday, June 28
CROOKLYN DODGERS REUNION with O.C. / JERU THE DAMAJA / CHUBB ROCK / EMC featuring MASTA ACE / DJ PREMIER / ALI SHAHEED MOHAAMAD / hosted by BUCKSHOT of BLACK MOON and SPECIAL ED

Saturday, July 5
MICHAEL STUART / WILLIAM CEPEDA’S GRUPO ESSENCIA / ZEMOG EL GALLO BUENO

Wednesday, July 9
FEIST (Buy Tickets $35)

Thursday, July 10
FREDDIE McGREGOR / SOUL STEPS

Friday, July 11
BRAZILIAN GIRLS / MIRANDA! / TICKLAH

Saturday, July 12
BETH ORTON / MATT MUNISTERI

Tuesday, July 15
SPOON (Buy Tickets $32.50, $35 DOS)

Thursday, July 17
JERRY DOUGLAS / THE HOLMES BROTHERS

Friday, July 18
DEERHOOF / METROPOLIS ENSEMBLE: STRAVINSKY’S RITE OF SPRING

Saturday, July 19
ENTER THE DRAGON with KARSH KALE / SOH DAIKO

Sunday, July 20
GOLEM / SWAY MACHINERY / MICHAEL SHOWALTER / DELEON / SOULICO / & Special Guests

Thursday, July 24
BRAVE NEW WORLD REPERTORY THEATRE: FAHRENHEIT 451

Friday, July 25
THE PHILIP GLASS ENSEMBLE: POWAQQATSI: LIFE IN TRANSFORMATION with THE BROOKLYN YOUTH CHORUS / MARTA TOPFEROVA

Saturday, July 26
GHOSTLAND OBSERVATORY / JEALOUS GIRLFRIENDS / BEAR HANDS

Thursday, July 31
MARK MORRIS DANCE GROUP

Friday, August 1
CARL DAVIS: THE CHARLIE CHAPLIN MUTUALS with THE KNIGHTS / CHRISTINA COURTIN

Saturday, August 2
FATHER GOOSE / THE SIPPY CUPS / SONIA MANZANO / JAMES McDANIEL

Sunday, August 3
AFRICAN GUITAR FESTIVAL with OLIVER MTUKUDZI & BLACK SPIRITS, HABIB KOITÉ & BAMADA / DABY TOURÉ / YOSSI FINE & AFRIKAN BASS / EXTRA GOLDEN

Thursday, August 7
AILEY II - ALVIN AILEY AMERICAN DANCE THEATER

Friday, August 8
LILA DOWNS / THE VILLA - LOBOS BROTHERS/ GRUPO NORTENO

Saturday, August 9
HAL WILLNER’S BILL WITHERS PROJECT

Tuesday, August 12
BOB DYLAN (Buy Tickets)

For more information go to www.briconline.org/cb.

Some shows started trickling in today (02/26), keep this page bookmarked for more updates. Here’s what the schedule looks like so far:

Celebrate Brooklyn! 2008 Unofficial Schedule
06/12/08 Opening Night Gala
06/26/08 Carolina Chocolate Drops
06/26/08 Dixie Hummingbirds
07/17/08 Jerry Douglas

Things started trickling in today (02/26), keep this page bookmarked for more updates!

UPDATE: Official schedule is posted here now.

Celebrate Brooklyn! 2008 Unofficial Schedule
06/12/08 Isaac Hayes (Opening Night Gala)
06/14/08 Miriam Makeba
06/19/08 Medeski Martin and Wood, Marc Ribot’s Ceramic Dog
06/22/08 Salif Keita
06/24/08 Gilberto Gil (Buy Tickets $35.00 - $60.00) * SHOW HAS BEEN MOVED TO NOKIA THEATER
06/26/08 Carolina Chocolate Drops, Dixie Hummingbirds
06/27/08 Cold War Kids
06/28/08 Lyricist Lounge: Crooklyn Dodgers Reunion featuring MASTA ACE, O.C., JERU THE DAMAJA, CHUBB ROCK, BUCKSHOT of BLACK MOON
07/09/08 Feist (Buy Tickets $35)
07/11/08 Brazilian Girls
07/12/08 Beth Orton, Matt Munisteri & Brock Mumford
07/15/08 Spoon (Buy Tickets $32.50, $35 DOS)
07/17/08 Jerry Douglas, The Holmes Brothers
07/18/08 Deerhoof, Metropolis Ensemble: Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring
07/19/08 Enter The Dragon with Karsh Kale, Soh Daiko
07/25/08 Philip Glass, Marta Topferova
08/01/08 The Knights, Christina Courtin
08/02/08 Father Goose, The Sippy Cups, Ariane Bass Bass Bass
08/03/08 Daby Toure
08/09/08 Hal Willner’s Bill Withers Project
08/12/08 Bob Dylan (Buy Tickets)

Dates cobbled together from Pollstar.com, Ticketmaster, Briconline.org, Press Releases and BrooklynVegan.com.