If you haven’t seen Keyboard Cat in the last 20 years or so he’s been around, you probably were not connected to the internet. Millions of views on YouTube, and loads of variations of this classic funny video. But today, I came across one that I hadn’t seen before, yes, I nearly pissed my pants laughing. Keyboard Cat is funny, but Keyboard Cat on Acid……very funny. Check it out for yourself. If you have seen any great YouTube videos recently, post them in the comments below. I like a giggle. As always, If you like what you see, blast it on the social media links below. Enjoy. BTW, just found another great video. Ever wanted to see Angelina Jolie naked, with 2 babies sucking on her saggy boobs, or how about Britany Spears naked, on all fours, giving birth on a bear skin rug. You do!! Well then check out the video below.. T.B.S….Very Funny.
I’m now off to the 7th Annual Brewtopia Beer Fest in Manhattan…
Celebrate Brooklyn is one of New York City’s longest running, free, outdoor performing arts festivals. The free events start June 8th and are set to run for 2 months in Brooklyn’s, Prospect Park. Celebrate Brooklyn have presented over 1,700 artists and ensembles reflective of the borough’s diversity, ranging from internationally acclaimed performers to emerging, cutting-edge artists.
Kicking off this years line up of events is New York artist, David Byrne, with more great acts to follow from such artists as Dr. Dog, Escort, David Rudder, Blonde Redhead to name a few.
Below is a list of all the events taking place at Prospect Parks Bandshell. Celebrate Brooklyn does an amazing job of organizing these events, make sure you visit their website. You can also help support the cause by signing up for one of their membership programs.
Monday June 8
5:30pm Opening Night Green Gala
David Byrne: Songs of David Byrne & Brian Eno
Gala tickets with reserved seats, cocktails, dinner & dancing: $325 and up. Call (718) 855-7882 x33
6:30pm Gates Open for Free Performance
8:00pm Performance: David Byrne, Songs of David Byrne & Brian Eno
Concert is Free
9:45pm Dance Party
Gala guests and Friends of Celebrate Brooklyn
Among iconic New York artists, DAVID BYRNE has few peers. In this concert he plays songs from his collaborations with Brian Eno, which began in the late 70s and span three Talking Heads albums, 1981’s groundbreaking My Life in the Bush of Ghosts, and last year’s Everything that Happens will Happen Today. An ensemble cast including dancers, background vocalists, and a killer band amplify the spectacle—a legendary Brooklyn night in the making, sure to pass instantly into NYC folklore.
Thursday June 11
Doors: 6:30pm | Show: 7:30pm
Goran Bregović & His Weddings & Funerals Orchestra
Sarajevo-born GORAN BREGOVIC is a seminal figure in the Yugoslav rock world, a film composer who has been likened to Enio Moriconi and Nino Rota, and a co-conspirator with artists as varied as Iggy Pop and Cesaria Evora. With his own massive band, featuring brass, a classical string ensemble, an all-male choir, and traditional Bulgarian and Roma singers, he marries the dance music of a raucous gypsy wedding with Eastern European choral arrangements in “a mind-blowing return trip with no destination or port of arrival…a magnificent concert, one of the greatest marvels to be heard on stage today.” (La Vanguardia, Spain)
Friday June 19
Doors: 6:30pm | Show: 7:30pm
David Rudder | Samantha Thornhill
A performer of such innovation and vitality that Jamaican newspaper The Gleaner called him “the Bob Marley of soca,” DAVID RUDDER changed the face of Caribbean music with his heart pounding mix of classic calypso and soulful pop. Trinidadian born Brooklynite SAMANTHA THORNHILL, an author, educator, and slam poetess of the first order, will prime the crowd with some spoken word derring-do.
Saturday June 20
Doors: 6:30pm | Show: 7:30pm
Mexico Tourism Series
Music & Movies
La Nave De Los Monstruos With Live Score by Ethel and Gutbucket
“I wish there were more rock bands who played like ETHEL.” (Guardian UK) In a special Celebrate Brooklyn commission, the nation’s premier rock-infused, postclassical string quartet teams up with the artrock wild men of GUTBUCKET to perform a new original score to the vintage Mexican science fiction classic La Nave De Los Monstruos (The Monsters’ Ship, 1959). In the film, the last male on Venus has died and two Venusian hotties embark on a quest to find men on other planets. The two bands dig into this fertile ground after developing the project at a BRIClab residency this spring. GUTBUCKET performs an opening set. Friends of CB pre-performance reception sponsored by Aguayo & Hubner Fifth. See Friends panel for details.
Thursday June 25
Doors: 6:00pm | Show: 7:00pm
Femi Kuti and the Positive Force | Melvin Gibbs’ Elevated Entity
Having long established himself as the heir apparent to his famous father Fela’s superfunky Afrobeat throne, the unstoppable FEMI KUTI returns to the Bandshell to make all of Prospect Park into one giant Nigerian dance party. Brooklyn born MELVIN GIBBS, “the best bassist in the world,” (Time Out NY) starts the night off with his ELEVATED ENTITY project, something of a downtown NYC supergroup, which continues Gibbs’ exploration of African diaspora music with a fusion of Afro-Brazilian rhythms, funk and rap.
Friday June 26
Doors: 6:30pm | Show: 7:30pm
Mexico Tourism Series
Blonde Redhead
Vaunted NYC underground sensualists BLONDE REDHEAD have shape-shifted from dissonant noise explorations to ethereal, dreamy pop over the course of their career, always inspiring intense devotion from their fans. “It is as if they are pressing on piano keys and each key is a trigger that tugs a wire within the listener. There are keys for longing, possession, despair, and ecstasy—and Blonde Redhead travel fast and skillfully over the whole keyboard.” (PopMatters)
Saturday June 27
Doors: 6:00pm | Show: 7:00pm
Celebrate Brooklyn and LimeWire present
Dr. Dog | Phosphorescent | These United States
DR. DOG’s foot stomping, back porch blend of “a little folk, blues, indie rock, soul, bluegrass–and a whole lot of down-home harmonizing” (Philadelphia Weekly) channels The Band one moment, the Beach Boys another, and Pavement the next. In the music played by Brooklyn’s Matthew Houck, a.k.a. PHOSPHORESCENT, “you can hear Bob Dylan, Neil Young and Will Oldham—but the modern day folkie has a sound all his own.” (Gothamist) THESE UNITED STATES’ “distinct electro-folk sound” (NPR) rounds out the bill.
Thursday July 2
Doors: 6:00pm | Show: 7:00pm
Bud Light Latin Music Series
Obie Juan BermudÉZ | Cucu Diamantes | Rebel Diaz
The Latin Grammy-winning Puerto Rican pop star OBIE JUAN BERMUDÉZ, “a talent on par with Juanes or Alejandro Sanz,” (Houston Chronicle) pits his mojo against Yerba Buena singer CUCU DIAMANTES’ fiery mix of “salsa, funk, cumbia, hip-hop, pop-punk, mariachi, tango, disco and flamenco…just for starters,” (NY Times) and the political activist hip-hop of REBEL DIAZ, whose mesmerizing frontwoman Lah Tere unleashes rhymes with hurricane force.
Thursday July 9
Doors: 7:00pm | Show: 8:00pm
Dance
STREB: Invisible Forces
The breathtakingly acrobatic Williamsburg-based company celebrates 30 high flying years with Invisible Forces, which combines the thrills of the circus and the velocity of the Indy 500 in one crowd pleasing Action Event. STREB’s new Action Platform, a 20 ft. amped-up rotating floor, the Espana Whizzing Gizmo, and the 2 dimensional vertical pipe grid Airlines will dazzle and amaze. Beautiful bodies engaging sexy hardware in show stopping pieces will keep you on the edge of your seat, heart in throat. “Streb’s unique movement art—kin to sport, circus, physics experiment, and hard labor—has reached a peak of theatricality and dare-all virtuosity.” (Village Voice)
Friday July 10
Doors: 6:30pm | Show: 7:30pm
Bud Light Latin Music Series
Celebrate Brooklyn & LAMC present
Los Amigos Invisibles | Aterciopelados
A double shot of unfiltered South American pleasure in which the great Venezuelan party band LOS AMIGOS INVISIBLES, a lusty outfit that combines a “love of disco and funk with their reverence for oldfashioned Latin dances like the mambo and bossa-nova,” (NY Post) locks horns with Columbian national heroes ATERCIOPELADOS. Proficient in everything from punk to electro-lounge to jangly Latin folk rock, the velvety ones (English translation, for all you gringos) have an uncanny ability “to take north-of-theborder musical styles…and breathe new life into them.” (Time)
Saturday July 11
Doors: 3:00pm | Show: 4:00pm
Ezra Jack Keats Family Concert
A Very Special Family Show With They Might Be Giants
Reader: Claudia Marshall of WFUV
Brooklyn’s own legendary alternative rockers THEY MIGHT BE GIANTS have made some astonishingly good kids’ albums, most recently the 2009 Best Children’s Album Grammy Winner Here Come the 123s, becoming in the process “the ultimate fan- and now family-friendly rock act.” (Billboard) They return to the Bandshell to headline our annual Ezra Jack Keats Family Concert, which also features readings of Keats’ classic stories by WFUV’s Claudia Marshall. Special appearance by Livable Streets Education’s big purple friend ZoZo!
Thursday July 16
Doors: 6:30pm | Show: 7:30pm
Mexico Tourism Series
Kronos Quartet | Luminescent Orchestrii
For more than 35 years KRONOS QUARTET has pushed, made fun of, made irrelevant, and pretty much pulverized the standard notion of the string quartet, assembling in the process “a body of work unparalleled in its range and scope of expression.” (NPR) Their repertoire runs the gamut from Bartók to Charles Mingus to Jimi Hendrix, and their collaborators have been as diverse as Philip Glass, Asha Bhosle, and Nine Inch Nails. They share the Bandshell stage with the frenzied and slightly diabolical LUMINESCENT ORCHESTRII, a Gypsy punk string ensemble that “plays renditions of Appalachian and Gypsy tunes that run from lively and infectious to deeply melancholy.” (Time Out NY)
Friday July 17
Doors: 6:30pm | Show: 7:30pm
American Express Roots Music Series
The Robert Cray Band | the Sweet Divines
The five time Grammy-winning Stratocaster titan ROBERT CRAY’s “soul-infused blues has become the bridge between traditional and contemporary blues;” (Rolling Stone) he remains a strong persuader, as potent as ever after three decades of recording and touring. THE SWEET DIVINES, four young ladies with a smoking band behind them, pay homage to the traveling soul revues of the 60s with an authentic sound that evokes Stax, Aretha, James Brown, and funky New Orleans. “Sign them up, and let them bring the funk to the masses!” (BBC) Friends of CB pre-performance reception sponsored by Betancourt Realty & Associates. See Friends panel for details.
Saturday July 18
Doors: 1:00pm | Show: 2:00pm – 9:00pm
American Express Roots Music Series
African Festival With King Sunny Adé | Freshly Ground | The Mandingo Ambassadors | Cheikh M’Baye & Sing Sing | Abena Koomson | Yasser Darwish
Our annual day-long festival of music, food and crafts features a lineup of bands that will keep the dancers moving from day till night, with the great KING SUNNY ADÉ of Nigeria leading the charge. The bill includes South Africa’s FRESHLY GROUND, making a rare US appearance to whip the revelers into a frenzy with its mix of indigenous African sounds and contemporary urban styles; THE MANDINGO AMBASSADORS, from NYC by way of Guinea, whose music “has been structured to make you feel good” (NY Times); wild Senegalese drum troupe CHEIKH M’BAYE & SING SING; powerful Brooklyn born Ghanaian vocalist ABENA KOOMSON; and whirling traditional Egyptian dancer YASSER DARWISH.
Thursday July 23
Doors: 7:00pm | Show: 8:00pm
Dance
Stephen Petronio Company
“One of the few contemporary dancer makers who have created an instantly recognizable style,” (NY Times) STEPHEN PETRONIO celebrates his company’s 25th Anniversary Season with the dynamic and elemental I Drink the Air Before Me, an evening length work inspired by the power of extreme weather and storms both atmospheric and internal. Petronio’s predeliction for forward thinking popular music (his dancers have moved to Rufus Wainwright and Antony in the past) is satisfied here by a score from new classical composer and crossover sensation Nico Muhly.
Friday July 24
Doors: 6:30pm | Show: 7:30pm
American Express Roots Music Series
Buckwheat Zydeco | the Holmes Brothers
Swamp boogie accordion master BUCKWHEAT ZYDECO and his band “spit out the kind of crackling music that’s been missing since the heyday of Stax Records…on stage the attack is relentless.” (Wall Street Journal) THE HOLMES BROTHERS harmony-filled blend of American roots jumps from church to the juke joint and “recalls the era when soul seceded from gospel music,” (Mother Jones) with a healthy dose of blues, funk and country thrown in. Friends of CB pre-performance reception sponsored by Warren Lewis Realty Associates. See Friends panel for details.
Saturday July 25
Doors: 6:30pm | Show: 7:30pm
Kailash Kher | Electro Morocco
The South Asian superstar, Bollywood icon, and judge of Indian Idol KAILASH KHER moves “among styles without hesitation, adding elements of folk, reggae and rock to Indian pop…(he) has a voice as appealing as it is thrilling.” (Wall Street Journal) Comprised of five NYC-based Israelis, ELECTRO MOROCCO combines buzzing guitars with synths and beats to concoct a dance floor friendly mix of retro rock, Middle Eastern folk, and warped electro.
Thursday July 30
Doors: 6:30pm | Show: 7:30pm
Burning Spear | Naomi Shelton & the Gospel Queens
Roots reggae legend BURNING SPEAR brings his Rastafarian message of positivity back to the Bandshell for another epic performance. Last year’s vital Jah Is Real featured contributions from Bootsy Collins and Bernie Worrel; Spear has never sounded better. “Four decades and still dropping knowledge: no other artist, with the possible exception of Toots Hibbert, can lay claim to being reggae’s true elder statesman.” (PopMatters) The evening begins with the righteous harmonies and church-inflected soul of NAOMI SHELTON & THE GOSPEL QUEENS.
Friday July 31
Doors: 6:00pm | Show: 7:00pm
The Royal Family: Soulive’S 10Th Anniversary Celebration With Special Guests John Scofield and Christian Scott | Ivan Neville & Dumpstaphunk
The exceptional jazz-funk trio SOULIVE celebrates 10 years of “simmering instrumental funk” (Entertainment Weekly) by busting out THE ROYAL FAMILY, a hard hitting conglomeration of various side projects and special guests that will come together for the jam of the summer. Ivan Neville’s DUMPSTAPHUNK, “musically hard-nosed and rooted in 1970s inner city funk,” (Offbeat)” kicks off the show with a set of New Orleans’ nastiest grooves.
Saturday August 1
Doors: 6:30pm | Show: 7:30pm
Music & Movies
Mexico Tourism Series
Dean & Britta: 13 Most Beautiful…Songs for Andy Warhol’s Screen Tests | Crystal Stilts
Luna alumni DEAN & BRITTA perform original scores to Warhol’s rarely seen short silent film portraits, which captured Factory superstars, celebrities, and anonymous teenagers in mesmerizing 4-minute shots. “The music unabashedly translates the ominous drone of early Velvet Underground songs like I’m Waiting for the Man and Venus in Furs into a more modern electronic mode reminiscent of Giorgio Moroder’s chic torture-chamber disco.” (NY Times) Commissioned by the Andy Warhol Museum, the project is like an archeological dig unearthing NYC’s 1960s art scene, complete with soundtrack. Brooklyn’s CRYSTAL STILTS, “moody-sounding f***ers who make fabulous stripped-down garage-pop,” (Pitchfork) will set the tone for the night.
Thursday August 6
Doors: 6:30pm | Show: 7:30pm
Music & Movies
Purple Rain Sing-A-Long With Escort
To celebrate the 25th anniversary of one of history’s greatest pop albums, and the extravagantly, hilariously whacky and over the top film it inspired (the apotheosis of both the purple one’s genius and self caricature), we invite you to don something lacey and ruffled and come get your Prince on. We’ll have lyric subtitles, but you know the words already. Brooklyn’s own live disco orchestra ESCORT plays an opening set, and will lead the sing-along festivities. Rated R. Under 17 requires accompanying parent or guardian.
Friday August 7
Doors: 6:00pm | Show: 7:00pm
Grace Potter & the Nocturnals | Deer Tick | The London Souls
Fronted by the Joplin-like vocals and driving Hammond B-3 of their fearless frontwoman, GRACE POTTER & THE NOCTURNALS play “blues-based rock with glorious passion.” Hard to categorize—folk? indie rock? alt-country? Americana?—but easy to love, DEER TICK “write and play some of the most soulful, inspired music around, littered with lyrics as sharp as a shot of whiskey and rapid-fire guitar solos strong enough to blow the dust off your boots.” (Brooklyn Vegan)
Saturday August 8
Doors: 6:00pm | Show: 7:00pm
Celebrate Brooklyn & Lyricist Lounge present
Big Daddy Kane | Plus Screening of BDK: the Big Daddy Kane Story | Others TBA
The Lyricist Lounge returns with a once in a lifetime night of positive hip-hop featuring Brooklyn legend BIG DADDY KANE performing with his live band, preceded by a screening of the short documentary BDK: THE BIG DADDY KANE STORY, directed by Lyricist Lounge’s own Anthony Marshall. Other special guest performers TBA!
Benefit Concerts
Proceeds help support free shows at Celebrate Brooklyn!
July 1: MGMT (Sold out)
July 21: Jackson Browne
Aug 11: TV on the Radio
Aug 12: Bonnie Raitt & Taj Mahal
Aug 14 (Sold out) & 15: Animal Collective
Public Assembly is located at 70 North 6th Street in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. Built out of an old industrial factory, the nearly 4000 square foot venue has been a space for art, music, and performance for over a decade.
OPEN NIGHTLY 7pm – 2am, 4am on weekends
2 for 1 Happy Hour 7pm – 9pm
