THE 2014 HONK NYC! FESTIVAL
Multiple locations
October 13-18, free – $12
www.honknyc.com
We hate honking. No, we don’t just hate it, we loathe it, watching idiot drivers pounding away on their horns in the midst of heavy traffic that won’t be going anywhere for a while. But we love the HONK NYC! Festival, six days of global brass and street bands playing in Manhattan and Brooklyn, indoors and outdoors. The Eighth Annual Convergence of Brass & Percussion Ensemble Musicians from the U.S. and Europe begins on October 13 at 5:30 pm with the Hungry March Band having a blast for free in One Penn Plaza; on Tuesday, Radio Kaizman will do the same, followed by the Chaotic Noise Marching Corps on Wednesday. Also on Wednesday, the Frank London Klezmer Brass All-Stars, PitchBlak Brass Band, Raya Brass Band, Les Muses Tanguent, and Pakava It’ will be at Littlefield ($10-$12, 8:00) for the festival’s opening night dance party. On Thursday, WFMU’s Monty Hall in Jersey City will host Radio Kaizman, Chaotic Noise, Environmental Encroachment, Pakava It’, and Himalayas featuring Kenny Wollesen in an evening of music, activism, and spectacle ($10, 8:00). The Friday-night gala brings together Spanglish Fly, the Hungry March Band, the Underground Horns, Batala NYC, Chaotic Noise, Kenny Wollesen’s Wollesonic Lab’s Sonic Massage, and Radio Kaizman at the Gowanus Ballroom ($10-$15, 9:00), combining with Gowanus Open Studios with art installations as well. On Saturday, the East Village Cavalcade of Pomp takes over Tompkins Square Park with the Human Jukebox Brass Band, Chaotic Noise, Les Muses Tanguent, Environmental Encroachment, and Pakava It’ (free, 3:00), followed by Les Muses Tanguent at Barbes (free, 8:00) and the grand finale, “A Brasstastic Blowout!,” at a secret location Saturday night at 9:00, with many of the aforementioned groups as well as the Lucky Chops Brass Band and Bombrasstico. The organizers are currently just short of their Kickstarter goal, so check out the above video and help out with a few bucks if you can.