this week in music

BROADWAY IN BRYANT PARK FINAL PERFORMANCE

The cast of PRISCILLA QUEEN OF THE DESERT will pull into Bryant Park for free performance on August 11 at 12:30

Bryant Park Lawn
40th to 42nd Sts. at Sixth Ave.
Thursday, August 11, free, 12:30
www.bryantpark.org

The curtain closes on the annual Broadway in Bryan Park summer season this afternoon at 12:30 with live performances from the casts of Mamma Mia!, Mary Poppins, Avenue Q, and Priscilla Queen of the Desert, giving theater lovers a taste of some of the most popular musicals on the Great White Way. The show takes place on the lawn and runs about an hour, so don’t get there late.

RIVERROCKS: DEER TICK WITH DOM AND TRANSLATIONS

Deer Tick will join Dom and Translations for final RiverRocks show at Piier 54 on August 11

Hudson River Park, Pier 54
West 14th St. & the Hudson River
Thursday, August 11, free, doors at 6:00, concert at 6:30
212-627-2121
www.riverrocksnyc.com

RiverRocks concludes its too-brief summer season on August 11 with another excellent trio of indie bands at Pier 54 in Hudson River Park. Kicking things off is Brooklyn new wave rockers Translations, who play fresh originals like “Pigeon Suit,” “Tarantella,” and “The Wanderer” and a sweet cover of Dylan’s “I’ll Keep It with Mine.” Next up is five-piece glam band Dom, who has earned quite a local name for themselves via groovy shows at the Siren Festival and CMJ, among other appearances. Dom is touring behind their new EP, Family of Love, which features such fun and fanciful tracks as “Telephone,” “Damn,” and “Some Boys,” the last an awesome collaboration with Emma. Headlining is psychedelic folk rock quintet Deer Tick, highlighted by the scratchy vocals of songwriter and guitarist John McCauley. Citing such diverse influences as Dr. Dre, Tom Petty, and Sammy Davis Jr. and keeping a wide range of cover tunes in their arsenal (ranging from the Beatles and Hank Williams to Nirvana and Warren Zevon), the Providence band, which got its name when McCauley found a tick on his scalp, prides itself on its live shows, so expect the unexpected. For a free sampler of bands playing RiverRocks, Beach Party, and Sound Bites, click here.

CONEY ISLAND BREWING COMPANY OPENING DAY

Coney Island Brewing Company
3008 West 12th St. at Surf Ave.
Wednesday, August 10, free with RSVP, 5:30 – 8:30
www.coneyisland.com

While some are trying to turn Coney Island into a kind of hipster Disneyland, there are still those out there fighting to preserve its low-budget charm and uniqueness as one of the last bastions of good old-fashioned fun, albeit with many a strange twist. So on Wednesday, August 10, Coney Island Sideshow founder Dick Zigun, Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce president Carl Hum, Ripley’s Believe It or Not! head Michael Hirsch, and ubiquitous Brooklyn borough president Marty Markowitz will be on hand for what is being billed as “the World’s Smallest Ribbon Cutting Ceremony” for “the World’s Smallest Brewery,” the brand-new Coney Island Brewing Company. The opening celebration, which is free and open to the public with advance RSVP, will include live performance by Justin Mullins and the Neptunes, appearances by various sideshow freaks, samplings of food and drink courtesy of the brewery (cheesecake ale!), specially priced commemorative T-shirts, a small gift bag, and more.

BOY & BEAR

Boy & Bear will celebrate release of debut album with two area shows

Tuesday, August 9, Mercury Lounge, 217 East Houston St., $12, 6:30
Wednesday, August 10, Knitting Factory Brooklyn, 361 Metropolitan Ave., $10-$12, 8:30
www.myspace.com/boyandbearmusic

Let’s face it: A lot of the indie folk roots rock movement is overrated and boring. There, we said it. Both on record and onstage, many of these acts are about as thrilling as watching paint dry, only less colorful. So hyping Sydney five-piece Boy & Bear by linking them with the Fleet Foxes, Bon Iver, Laura Marling, and even CSNY didn’t exactly sell us on them, nor did their overpraised cover of Crowded House’s “Fall at Your Feet.” (However, the Mumford & Sons comparison helped.) What sold us on them was listening to their stellar debut album, Moonfire. Produced with Joe Chiccarelli (My Morning Jacket, the Strokes) at Blackbird Studios in Nashville, the eleven-track disc has a big, epic feel and a sharp, pristine sound. From the opening drums of “Lord May” through the propulsive “Feeding Line,” the rollicking “Golden Jubilee,” and the downright Springsteen-esque “Big Man” (no, it’s not a tribute to the late Clarence Clemons), Moonfire blasts out of the speakers, occasionally getting caught up in twee harmonies but primarily thriving on high-quality songwriting by lead vocalist Dave Hosking and inventive instrumentation courtesy of Jon Hart on keyboards and mandolin. (The band also features Tim Hart on drums, Jake Tarasenko on bass, and Killian Gavin on guitar.) Formed in 2009, Boy & Bear quickly gained a following in Australia based on their exciting live shows, which brought them to SXSW earlier this year and now to New York City, where they’ll be celebrating the release of Moonfire on August 9 with Country Mice at Mercury Lounge and on August 10 with Yellowbirds and Dear Lions at Knitting Factory Brooklyn.

THE KILLS / THE PAINS OF BEING PURE AT HEART / A PLACE TO BURY STRANGERS

The Kills lead excellent indie triple bill at Terminal 5

Terminal 5
610 West 56th St. between 11th & 12th Aves.
Monday, August 8, and Tuesday, August 9, $36.20, 7:00
www.terminal5nyc.com

There aren’t many shows that can lure us into the cavernous Terminal 5, but this week’s triple play is sure doing a good job of it. Today and tomorrow, the Kills duo of Alison Mosshart and Mr. Kate Moss — er, Jamie Hince, who recently got hitched to the British supermodel — will be highlighting tunes from their latest, Blood Pressures (Domino, April 2011), which features such diverse tracks as “Satellite,” “Baby Says,” and “The Last Goodbye.” The Pains of Being Pure at Heart have proved themselves one of the most consistent indie bands of the last handful of years in their live shows and on their first two discs, 2009’s eponymously titled debut and March’s follow-up, Belong (Slumberland), which continues their dreamy, well-crafted indie pop. Kicking things off is the loud, feedback-crazed a Place to Bury Strangers, who have been making an impact on such records as 2009’s Exploding Head and their sizzling live performances. Like we said, great lineup, less-than-ideal club, but this one promises a whole lot of heart.

ROCK YARD / BEACH PARTY

The Death Set will be part of JellyNYC show on Sunday afternoon at the Morgan in Brooklyn (photo by twi-ny/mdr)

Rockbeach / Rock Yard
The Morgan, 25 Bogart St. between Rock & Varet Sts., free, 2:00
www.rockbeach.us
Beach Party
Beekman Beer Garden Beach Club, South Street Seaport, Pier 17, 89 South St., free, 3:00
www.beekmanbeergarden.com

Not very surprisingly, JellyNYC’s move to the Aviator Complex in the-middle-of-nowhere Brooklyn for their free summer concert series, after several blowout years at the McCarren Park pool and then the Williamsburg Waterfront in East River State Park, proved disastrous, as no one showed up. (Well, the exact numbers are in debate.) So after two Sundays, they’re now a lot closer to home, holding their next event on Sunday, August 7, at the Morgan in East Williamsburg, and they’ve changed the name from Rockbeach to Rock Yard. The lineup includes the Growlers, Japanther, the Death Set, Cerebral Ballzy, the So So Glos, and CSC Funk Band, running from 2:00 to 8:00. Meanwhile, Jelly veterans Mission of Burma, who played the Williamsburg Waterfront back in 2009, will be at the Beekman Beer Garden on the north side of Pier 17 on Sunday afternoon. The Labor Pool opens up at 3:00, with MoB scheduled to go on at 5:00, but doors open at 11:30, so you’re gonna have to get their early to snag a good spot.

FIRST SATURDAYS: CARIBBEAN COUNTDOWN

The Cool and Deadly will play at Brooklyn Museum First Saturday program on August 6

Brooklyn Museum
200 Eastern Parkway
Saturday, August 6, free, 5:00 – 11:00 (some events require free tickets distributed in advance at the Visitor Center)
212-864-5400
www.brooklynmuseum.org

The Brooklyn Museum is getting its annual Caribbean celebration under way early this year with a full slate of activities as part of its free August First Saturdays program. Things get going at 5:00 with Tribal Legacy leading a funky reggae get-down. At 6:00, visitors have their choice of curator Rich Aste giving a talk on the new acquisition “Free Women of Color With Their Children and Servants in a Landscape” and a screening of Frances-Anne Solomon’s 1995 Trinidad drama What My Mother Told Me. At 6:30, Trinidad native Hazelle Goodman will perform her one-woman show, Don’t Get Me Started, and the Hands-on Art workshop will offer participants the chance to decorate fabrics with Afro-Caribbean designs. At 7:00, NYU associate professor of anthropology Aisha Khan will discuss South Asian and Islamic cultural influences on the museum’s holdings. At 8:00, DJ Spice will get the monthly dance party going, with the Cool and Deadly and DJ Jillionaire highlighting the Afro-Punk Festival at 8:30. As always, the galleries are open until 11:00, giving everyone the chance to see such exhibitions as “Vishnu: Hinduism’s Blue-Skinned Savior,” “reOrder: An Architectural Environment by Situ Studio,” “Lorna Simpson: Gathered,” “Skylar Fein: Black Lincoln for Dooky Chase,” “Split Second: Indian Paintings,” “Four Bathers by Degas and Bonnard,” and “Sam Taylor-Wood: Ghosts.”