“Give me a sign,” Marnie Stern sings on “Proof of Life” from her latest album, the awesomely titled The Chronicles of Marnia (Kill Rock Stars, March 2013), continuing, “I am something / I am someone.” The New York based guitarist with the uniquely high-pitched voice should find plenty of proof that she is indeed someone on Saturday, when she plays the free 4Knots Music Festival at the South Street Seaport along with Kurt Vile & the Violators, the Men, Parquet Courts, White Lung, Hunters, Reigning Sound, the Babies, Fat Tony, Heliotropes, and Steve Gunn. The new record, the follow-up to 2010’s eponymous disc and 2008’s This Is It and I Am It and You Are It and So Is That and He Is It and She Is It and It Is It and That Is That, includes such other tracks as “Year of the Glad,” “Hell Yes,” “Nothing Is Easy,” and “East Side Glory,” featuring hyperactive instrumentation highlighted by Stern’s virtuoso guitar work and philosophical, poetic lyrics. Expect lots of east side glory on Saturday when Stern gets revved up at Piers 16 & 17 for the fest, which takes place on two stages and runs from 1:00 to 8:00.
this week in music
RIVER TO RIVER FESTIVAL: JAMES MADDOCK
James Maddock will be playing a pair of free hometown shows this week as part of River to River Festival (photo by Seth Neuffer)
Tuesday, June 25, Brookfield Place Plaza, 220 Vesey St., free, 5:30
Thursday, June 27, One New York Plaza, free, 12:30 pm
www.rivertorivernyc.com
www.jamesmaddock.net
British-born, New York City-based singer-songwriter James Maddock will be playing a pair of free shows this week as part of the River to River Festival, June 25 at Brookfield Place Plaza at 5:30 and June 27 at One New York Plaza at 12:30. The fifty-year-old Maddock, who made a name for himself with his band Wood and their 1999 album Songs from Stamford Hill, will be featuring songs from his upcoming record, Another Life (Jullian, July 23), which was completely funded through donations via PledgeMusic. The follow-up to 2010’s Sunrise on Avenue C and 2011’s Wake Up & Dream, the new disc is an intimate collection of acoustic-based rootsy Americana songs dealing with love and loss and facing the second half of one’s life. “My future’s uncertain / My back starts hurting / as soon as I get out of bed / I listen to the news station / Trouble in the whole nation / Airplane passes by / Gotta be a mile high / Reminds me that I’m not a bird,” Maddock sings on the title track. Accompanied by Larry Campbell on guitar, violin, and mandolin, Tony Scherr on bass, Oli Rockberger and Raymond Angry on keyboards, Bashir Johnson on percussion, and Kenny Wolleson on drums, Maddock’s raspy voice evokes the likes of Rod Stewart and Tom Waits, his melodies reminiscent of Paul Simon, Cat Stevens, and even a touch of Bob Marley. On “Better on My Own,” Maddock tries to convince himself that he can survive a breakup. “Better on my own / Better on my own / I tell myself as I’m walking home,” he sings. “Better on my own / better on my own / I don’t know how to stop or how to carry on.” Most of the songs are of a personal nature, but Maddock takes on the controversial topic of PTSD on “That’s Heavy,” which features an Irish flourish. And album closer “Making Memories” goes even further, liberally borrowing from the Waterboys classic “And a Bang on the Ear” as Maddock confidently declares that “a better world is possible.” In fact, Maddock is friends with Waterboys leader Mike Scott; the two cowrote “Beautiful Now” on Wake Up and Dream, and Scott and Waterboys violinist Steve Wickham joined Maddock onstage this past November to sing Scott’s “Fisherman’s Blues” at Rockwood Music Hall. Maddock will also be at Swing the Teapot in Floral Park on June 28 before heading off on a brief Italian stint and returning for the Great South Bay Festival on July 20 and a gig at the Cutting Room on August 1.
THE VIEW UPSTAIRS
Max Vernon’s new musical theater piece recounts story of 1973 LGBT tragedy in New Orleans
MAX VERNON: THE VIEW UPSTAIRS
The Living Room
154 Ludlow St. between Stanton & Rivington Sts.
Monday, June 24, 7:00
212-533-7237
www.livingroomny.com
www.maxvernon.com
On June 24, 1973, during Pride Weekend, popular New Orleans gay bar the UpStairs Lounge was set on fire, leaving thirty-two people dead. Although it was believed to have been arson and many claimed to know who did it, no charges were ever brought against the supposed suspect, a hustler who later killed himself. On the fortieth anniversary of the tragedy, New York-based multidisciplinary artist Max Vernon will tell the little-known story in a staged concert performance of his new musical theater piece, The View UpStairs. Taking place on June 24 at 7:00 at the Living Room, it features Tony nominee Michael McElroy, Nathan Lee Graham, Katie Thompson, Blake Daniel, Doreen Montalvo, and MJ Rodriguez, with narration by Rania Salem Manganaro; the show is directed by Eric Hoff (Hit the Wall), with musical director Rona Siddiqui on piano, Hiroyuki Matsuura on drums, and Mike Rosengarten on guitar. “Oh, ain’t it great how far we’ve come since 1973 / The future is great there you are but you own / If I could take you back with me your mind will be blown / Being fabulous all the time can get a little pricey / The future is great . . . trust me,” Vernon sings in “The Future Is Great!” The production also includes such songs as “Waltz,” “Sex on Legs,” and “When Your Body Breaks.” “It’s shocking to me that most people have never heard of the UpStairs Lounge fire, given its significance,” Vernon (Wired, State Debate) said in a statement. “Even as a queer studies major, the fire was never mentioned in any of my classes. Now, with the recent violence and hate crimes occurring around NYC, it feels more important than ever to tell this story and reclaim this event.”
MERMAID PARADE 2013
There almost wasn’t a Mermaid Parade this year, but the community responded and it’s all set for June 22 at 1:00
Coney Island
Saturday, June 22, free, 1:00
Parade starts at West 21st St. & Surf Ave.
Mermaid Riverboat Ball: Queen of Hearts, $75, 8:00 – 11:00 pm
www.coneyisland.com
Back in early May, there was a chance that one of Coney Island’s signature events would not take place. A dispatch from Coney Island USA founder Dick Zigun announced, “We do not know whether there will be a Mermaid Parade this year. Don’t panic — we have a plan. But first I want you to understand were we are and what we’re up against.” Zigun described the growing size of the parade, new city regulations and restrictions, and the devastation wrought by Hurricane Sandy, but New Yorkers responded via a “Save the Mermaid Parade” Kickstarter campaign and a Red Hook Winery benefit, so the thirtieth anniversary celebration is a go. Whether you’re marching in it or just playing spectator, there is nothing quite like the Mermaid Parade. An annual tradition since 1983, harkening back to the Coney Island Mardi Gras, which was held from 1903 to 1954, the parade begins with classic antique cars before giving itself over to scantily clad sea creatures and very strange floats, making their way from West Twenty-First St. & Surf Ave. at 1:00 and winding east to West Tenth St., turning south to the boardwalk, and heading to Steeplechase Plaza, after which King Neptune and Queen Mermaid will lead their minions into the sea. This year’s regal pair, following in the footsteps of such famed New Yorkers as David Byrne, Roz Chast, Harvey Keitel, Queen Latifah, David Johansen, and Lou Reed and Laurie Anderson, are comedian Judah Friedlander and author Carole Radziwill. The Mermaid Riverboat Ball after-party ($75) will take place on board the Queen of Hearts, featuring members of the Coney Island Sideshow, burlesque performers (Little Brooklyn, Kita St Cyr, Sincerely Yours, Wae Messed, Heather Whatever), DJs (Fresh Prince of Darkness, Lemar Soulflower, Frank Clemente & Stereomike), live music (the Moto-Wrays, Amour Obscur, Labretta Suede and the Motel 6), and other bizarre participants and activities hosted by Adam Realman, with a cash bar along with free Two Boots Pizza, Dub Pies, and nonalcoholic drinks.
SUMMER SOLSTICE CELEBRATION
Annual Summer Solstice Celebration in Socrates Sculpture Park features live music, art workshops, paddling, wrestling, and more
Socrates Sculpture Park
32-01 Vernon Blvd.
Friday, June 21, free, 5:00 – 9:30
718-956-1819
www.socratessculpturepark.org
It’s time to celebrate the longest day of the year, midsummer, on June 21, as festivals take place all over the Northern Hemisphere. In Long Island City, the annual Summer Solstice Celebration in Socrates Sculpture Park consists of a bevy of free activities from 5:00 to 9:30, offering the opportunity for the mind, body, and soul to restore their connection to the natural and spiritual worlds, specifically in relation Mayan tradition. There will be face painting by Agostino Arts, art workshops sponsored by Free Style Arts Association, Materials for the Arts, the Noguchi Museum, and the Queens Museum of Art, a costume workshop, walk-up paddling courtesy of Astoria Boaters and the LIC Community Boathouse, a Mexican wrestling demonstration by Lucha Libre, yoga with Monique Schubert, Mexican cuisine, and a solstice ritual with Urban Shaman Mama Donna before concluding with a community drum circle led by Toca & Alé Alé Drummers. While at Socrates, be sure to check out the current main exhibition, the twentieth anniversary of “do it (outside),” in which dozens of artists interpret instructions by the likes of Ai Weiwei, John Baldessari, Tacita Dean, Tracey Emin, Felix Gonzalez-Torres, Douglas Gordon, Joan Jonas, Sol LeWitt, Yoko Ono, Bruce Nauman, Ernesto Neto, Martha Rosler, Paul McCarthy, and many others. In addition, there’s also Heather Rowe’s “Beyond the Hedges (Slivered Gazebo),” Chitra Ganesh’s “Broadway Billboard: Her Nuclear Waters,” and Toshihiro Oki architect pc’s “FOLLY: tree wood.”
MAKE MUSIC NEW YORK 2013
Mungo Thomson will celebrate the summer solstice by performing his chamber ensemble piece “Crickets” on the High Line as part of Make Music New York (video still courtesy of the artist)
Every June 21, Make Music New York celebrates the longest day of the year with a full slate of free concerts in limitless genres throughout the five boroughs, in parks, libraries, restaurants, stores, plazas, and out on the street and aboard party buses. Not only can you check out some great shows but you can also participate; Mass Appeal once again features nearly two dozen performances in which everyone is invited to bring their own instrument and join in, with accordions in Central Park, circuit benders at CultureFix, gongs in Herald Square, cellos in Flatiron Building Plaza, clarinets in Carroll Park, flutes on Wollman Rink Terrace, French horns at the South Street Seaport, toy pianos in Sakura Park, harps at the Cathedral Church of St. John the Divine, mandolins in Theodore Roosevelt Park, saxophones in Little Red Square, and ukuleles in Sheridan Playground, among other gatherings. And you don’t need an instrument at all to take part in humming in the DUMBO ConEd Farragut Substation and singing at St. John the Divine. Some of the more unusual presentations include Eli Keszler’s piano-wire sound installation in the DUMBO Archway of the Manhattan Bridge, R. Murray Schafer’s “Credo” performed by 144 singers on rowboats on the lake in Central Park, Nate Buccieri’s traveling Privia Piano Bar, an all-day performance of Beck’s Song Reader at Joe’s Pub, “Brass Ascension” in Tompkins Square Park, and Mungo Thomson’s “Crickets” on the High Line. The musical celebration of the summer solstice continues into Saturday, when more than one hundred hardcore bands descend on the Staten Island Coast Guard Pier for the sixth annual Punk Island.
FILMS IN TOMPKINS: RUSHMORE
Jason Schwartzman is a different kind of teenager caught up in an adult world in Wes Anderson’s RUSHMORE
RUSHMORE (Wes Anderson, 1998)
Tompkins Square Park
Ave. A between Seventh & Tenth Sts.
Thursday, June 20, free, 6:00
718-777-6800
www.filmsintompkins.com
rushmoreacademy.com
Wes Anderson’s Rushmore is a dazzlingly dark, sublime masterpiece. Anderson (The Royal Tenenbaums, Moonrise Kingdom) created one of the all-time-great quirky indie antiheroes in Max Fischer, played with relish by Jason Schwartzman. Max is a troubled genius at the private Rushmore Academy, where his eccentricities make him somewhat of an outcast. His best friend is wealthy iconoclast Herman Blume (Bill Murray in a career-redefining role), but their relationship turns sour when it becomes apparent that they both have their hearts set on beautiful teacher Rosemary Cross (Olivia Williams). A unique take on disaffected youth, Rushmore, which also features such Anderson regulars as Luke Wilson and Seymour Cassel and was cowritten by Owen Wilson, helped launch a new wave of American independent cinema with its offbeat narrative and eclectic soundtrack, which includes songs by Donovan, the Rolling Stones, Django Reinhardt, Cat Stevens, Yves Montand, and the Faces, along with original material by Devo’s Mark Mothersbaugh. Rushmore is screening June 20 as part of the free Films in Tompkins programming in Tompkins Square Park and will be preceded by a live performance by the all-women’s AfroBrazilian Samba Reggae drumming band BatalaNYC. The summer series continues into August with such other fab films as Reservoir Dogs (with Amour Obscur), Easy Rider (with Main Street Quintet), The Big Lebowski (with Jade Pinto and the Yeahtones), and O Brother, Where Art Thou?, which was rescheduled for August 22 after getting rained out on June 13.