Tag Archives: madison square park

MAD. SQ. MUSIC: DAVID BROMBERG QUARTET

Bluesman David Bromberg will point the way with his quartet at Madison Square Park on July 14

Oval Lawn Series
Madison Square Park
23rd to 25th Sts. between Madison & Fifth Aves.
Wednesday, July 14, free, 7:00
Admission: free
www.madisonsquarepark.org
www.davidbromberg.net

The incomparable David Bromberg, who recently played a pair of shows at City Winery, returns to Manhattan for his last scheduled New York City gig this year, a free concert Wednesday night in Madison Square Park. On a bit of a resurgence since the release of his outstanding 2007 disc, TRY ME ONE MORE TIME, his first in seventeen years, Bromberg will be joined by Nate Grower on fiddle, Butch Amiot on bass, and Mitch Corbin on various stringed instruments. The guitar virtuoso and fine violin maker mixes folk, blues, ragtime, and bluegrass like nobody’s business, whether he’s playing solo, with the David Bromberg Quartet, the Bromberg Big Band, or the Angel Band. Bromberg, who will go solo September 4 at Stephen Talkhouse in Amagansett, is also staging a summer workshop this weekend at Ashokan Center in the Catskills, which includes a Friday-night concert and hands-on instructions from the master himself. We’ve caught Bromberg in several incarnations over the last few years, and he never fails to put on an entertaining show, so don’t miss this great chance to see him at a beautiful venue, and for free.

ANTONY GORMLEY: EVENT HORIZON

Antony Gormley has filled the Flatiron District with nude sculptures of himself, both in Madison Square Park and atop neighboring buildings (photo by twi-ny/mdr)

Madison Square Park & surrounding area
23rd to 25th Sts. between Madison & Fifth Aves.
Through August 15
Admission: free
www.eventhorizonnewyork.org
event horizon slideshow

In fall 2007, British installation artist Antony Gormley made visitors seemingly disappear in his Chelsea exhibit “Blind Light” at the Sean Kelly Gallery. Now he has made himself appear all around the Flatiron District in his exciting, controversial “Event Horizon.” In a city where art can be found nearly everywhere one looks, now life-size sculptures of a nude Gormley can be seen nearly everywhere one looks in and around Madison Square Park. The Turner Prize winner has cast thirty-one “indexical copies” of himself, placing four (cast in iron and weighing fourteen hundred pounds each) at ground level and the other twenty-seven (cast in fiberglass and weighing a mere seventy pounds apiece) on buildings overlooking Madison Square Park, the farthest away standing on a lower level of the Empire State Building. Gormley refers to viewers as “silent witnesses” as they observe and seek out the sculptures, many walking around the park counting to see if they can spot each one. Although the project has resulted in some emergency 911 calls regarding potential suicide jumpers, it is primarily an engaging installation that encourages people to actually lift their heads out of their iPhones and BlackBerries and instead pay attention to the world they live in, noticing things that they usually just walk past without a second thought.

MAD. SQ. MUSIC

Bluesman David Bromberg brings his quartet to Madison Square Park on July 14

OVAL LAWN SERIES
Madison Square Park
23rd to 25th Sts. between Madison & Fifth Aves.
Wednesday nights at 6:00 or 7:00 from June 16 to August 4
Admission: free
www.madisonsquarepark.org

Every year the free music lineup at Madison Square Park gets better and better. This year, the Mad. Sq. Music series, held on the beautiful Oval Lawn, gets under way June 16 with Grammy nominee Ruthie Foster. Unlike other summer festivals, this one tends to not get overcrowded, so there’s usually room to spread out with a group of friends and have a great time. However, please remember that people are primarily there to listen to the music; if we see that large party again that comes to the park, sits in the middle of the crowd, and allows their kids to run wild while the men loudly discuss business and refuse to quiet down whether asked nicely or, eventually, not so nicely, we’re going to give them a piece of our mind. They were so loud that Ollabelle nearly said something from the stage last year. Enough of our rant; we love coming to Madison Square Park for any reason, and the music series is a damn good one. And if you feel like you’re being watched, you are; the park is surrounded by dozens of Antony Gormley’s “Event Horizon” statues, both on the ground and on rooftops. The series continues with Solas on June 23, the legendary Mose Allison on June 30, Alecia Nugent and the Farewell Drifters on July 7, the amazing David Bromberg Quartet on July 14, Somi and John Ellis & Double Wide on July 21, the Wailin’ Jennys on July 28, and the too-cool James Carter Trio on August 4.

BIG APPLE BBQ

Be prepared for ridiculously long lines at annual Big Apple BBQ in Madison Square Park (photo by twi-ny/mdr)

Madison Square Park
23rd to 26th Sts. between Fifth & Madison Aves.
Saturday, June 12, and Sunday, June 13
Admission: free; $8 per plate
www.bigapplebbq.org

If you think the lines for the Shake Shack are long, just wait till you see how many people queue up for barbecue at the eighth annual Big Apple Barbecue Block Party in Madison Square Park this weekend. On Saturday and Sunday, more than one hundred thousand BBQ lovers are expected to sample Joe Duncan’s St. Louis-style ribs from Dallas, Garry Roark’s pulled pork shoulder from Ubon’s Barbecue of Yazoo, Mike Mills’s baby backs from the 17th St. Bar & Grill in Murphysboro, Ed Mitchell’s whole hog from the Pit in Raleigh, Drew Robinson’s homemade smoked sausage from Jim ’N Nick’s Bar-B-Q in Birmingham, Ken Bosley’s BBQ mutton and burgoo from the Moonlite Bar-B-Q Inn in Owensboro, Myron Mixon’s beef brisket and baked beans from Jack’s Old South in Udadilla, and other slow-cooked delicacies from pitmasters from Charleston, St. Louis, Martinsville, Decatur, and right here in New York. (We’re still trying to figure out why people line up for something they can get any day of the year at Blue Smoke, Hill Country, Wildwood, and other city joints.) Each plate is eight bucks (proceeds go to the Madison Square Park Conservancy), and the portions tend to be on the small size. The only way to do it, if you’re determined to go despite the chaos, is to gather a bunch of friends and have each one wait on a different line at the same time and then meet up by the stage to eat while checking out some hot live music from Secret Country, the Derailers, Charles Bradley & the Menahan Street Band, and other groups. (There are also book signings, cooking demonstrations, panel discussions, and even a short film screening.) The $125 FastPass, which gives access to express lines that keep getting longer every year, are already sold out, but we don’t like their existence anyway; Danny Meyer and his Union Square Hospitality Group always speak of egalitarianism and fairness, but the FastPass reaks of exclusivity and can kiss our grits.

MAD. SQ. MARK’T

Roasting pig goes round and round at Mad. Sq. Food (photo by twi-ny/mdr)

Madison Square Park
Fifth Ave. & Broadway between 23rd & 25th Sts.
Through November 1, 11:00 am – 8:00 pm
Admission: free
www.madisonsquarepark.org
Sunday, November 1, is your last chance to stop by Food Square at Madison Square Park, which does not offer the usual kind of food stands found at street festivals across the city. Instead, you’ll find booths from Hill Country Barbecue, Suzette, Viking Danish Cuisine, Wafels & Dinges, Breezy Hill Orchard, and Fatty Crab and its sister, Cabrito. We particularly recommend a savory crepe and thin, crispy frites served up by Troy and Peter at Suzette; their gourmet food might not be cheap (our chicken truffle sausage and fontina cheese crepe with a side of fries ran $15), but it’s mighty good. And BBQ lovers can get hungry by watching a whole pig being roasted on a spit, being prepared for pork buns, sliders, and fatty dogs. While some of the stands will show up at various holiday fairs in Bryant Park, Union Square Park, and Columbus Circle opening in a few weeks, others won’t, so check them out while you can.