(Photo: David Andrako)
With Summerstage, Northside, Governors Ball, Electric Zoo, and Basilica Soundscape having recently announced their lineups, it’s time for another fixture of the outdoor concert scene, BRIC Celebrate Brooklyn, to show us what it has in store. As usual, the programmers are offering a dizzyingly diverse gamut of free concerts at the Prospect Park Bandshell, from The Breeders to Antibalas to Kronos Quartet. There will also be ticketed shows from The Decembrists (June 13), Grizzly Bear (June 20), and Courtney Barnett (July 25).
Yep, if you missed The Breeders’ sold out show at Brooklyn Steel last month, the ’90s indie darlings will once again play numbers off their new one, All Nerve, on Aug. 11. Openers Speedy Ortiz will also play off their new album, recorded at Silent Barn (RIP). A decidedly more experimental ’90s act, Godspeed You! Black Emperor, will be grinding out noise on Aug. 10. This year’s dance-friendly jazz comes courtesy of Brooklyn afrobeat outfit Antibalas on July 12 and eclectic instrumentalists BADBADNOTGOOD on Aug. 2. Jazz traditionalists, meanwhile, will have an evening with Branford Marsalis on June 29. On June 23, Williamsburg electroclash veterans Fischerspooner will pump out their campy electronica anthems, with “it” artist/poet/DJ Juliana Huxtable warming things up. There’s plenty of R&B and soul in the mix, as well, with Common opening up the series on June 5 and Rhye jamming out the neo-soul on July 7. On July 14, the modernist orchestrators of Kronos Quartet, who launch their new album at Joe’s Pub in a couple of days, will once again team up with Malian group Trio Da Kali for a performance of their lauded griot-influenced piece, Ladilikan.
Yet another one of the city’s hard-working, eclectic classical music outfits, Wordless Music Orchestra, will be live-soundtracking Brimstone and Glory, a haunting documentary revealing the beauty and peril of a fireworks festival in the dusty Mexican town of Tultepec. This one, on July 21, is not to be missed, as the film’s Philip Glass-esque soundtrack is as arresting as its impressionistic visuals.
As usual, there will also be food and drink vendors this year, starting with sorbets from Sorbabes. For more info and tickets, head over here.