New York City-based bands Kiss and Blondie motivated hundreds of fellow New Yorkers to return to outdoor summer concerts this week. The two rock groups performed live at Battery Park in conjunction with their film premieres in the Tribeca Film Festival. Kiss performed on June 11 and Blondie performed on June 16.
Kiss performed a five song set, complete with costumes and fireworks, after the premiere of the documentary Biography: Kisstory. The band performed "Detroit Rock City", "Shout It Out Loud", "War Machine", "Heaven's on Fire" and "Rock and Roll All Nite."
Blondie participated in a Storytellers session, in which Debbie Harry, Chris Stein and Clem Burke spoke in a panel discussion. After a screening of the film Blondie: Vivir En La Habana, which documents the band's concert in Cuba in 2019, the band performed live. Blondie performed "Rapture" during the sound check earlier in the day and "Call Me" after the film screening.
A bit further uptown, Mayor Bill De Blasio last week committed Clive Davis to book multiple marquee artists for a free music festival in the Great Lawn in Central Park on August 21. The mayor said the concert will be part of a "Homecoming Week" to celebrate the city's revitalization. No artists have been announced yet.
"We decided to do something classic, iconic, a massive concert in Central Park," De Blasio announced at a press briefing on June 7. "I turned to Clive, I said, 'I need the biggest, most extraordinary all-star lineup you can put together, heavy on New York artists.' He said, 'I'm on it,'" de Blasio added. "Get ready for an unforgettable week, a once-in-a-lifetime concert and a moment that really says New York City's back."
The Global Citizen Festival will return to Central Park's Great Lawn this year, although neither the date nor the program has been announced. According to Global Citizen's website, "the annual concert to help fight hunger around the world is returning to the Great Lawn at Central Park, and while we don't have information about the date or line-up just yet, we will post all the details here as soon as they are officially released. The festival has been bringing people together annually since 2012 with incredible music to help fight extreme poverty. Previous years have brought artists like Beyonce, Coldplay, Ed Sheeran, Queen + Adam Lambert, Rihanna, Carrie Underwood, Green Day, Stevie Wonder, Metallica, The Weeknd, Foo Fighters and Janet Jackson, and we can't wait to see who is taking the stage next!"
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| Bryant Park's Picnic Performances (photograph courtesy of Bryant Park) |
Concert Series in the Parks
SummerStage is hosting concerts throughout the city this summer. The series opened on June 17 with the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis at Central Park's Rumsey Playfield. It continues with headline performances by Chris Botti, George Clinton and Parliament-Funkadelic, Galactic, the Sun Ra Arkestra, the Originals, Tito Nieves, Marc Rebillet, Antibalas, Lake Street Dive, Machine Gun Kelly, Dawes, Patti Smith and Her Band, and Indigo Girls. SummerStage's annual Charlie Parker Festival will happen in Marcus Garvey Park on August 28 and 29. A brochure can be downloaded on the website.
Little Island opened a month ago without music programming and will begin its concert series at the Amph on June 19 and 20 with Michael McElroy and the Broadway Inspirational Voices. The series continues on June 26 with Tina Landau and more than 20 of her Broadway friends. Concerts in July and August at the Amph are listed on the venue's website. Unannounced artists also will perform in other parts of the park throughout the summer.
More a plaza than a park. Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts is hosting concerts with its Restart Stages program in the Damrosch Park Bandshell and Hearst Plaza. Eddie Palmieri performed last week, and Treya Lam, Taylor Mac, Brian Stokes Mitchell, and others will perform in June and July. Free tickets are available by lottery.
Bryant Park launched its Picnic Performances on June 9 with the New York Philharmonic. Upcoming performances include the New York City Opera, Mykal Gilmore, Toshi Reagon and BIGLovely, the Spanish Harlem Orchestra, Terence Blanchard and The E-Collective, and Chris Thile and Friends. The full schedule is on the website.
The Washington Square Music Festival brings free concerts to Washington Square Park in June. The series started on June 8 with the Harlem Chamber Players and a week later with 12 Cellos. The Pedro Giraudo Tango Septet will perform on June 22 and the New York Jazzharmonic Trad-Jazz Sextet on June 29. Details are available on the website.
In collaboration with Carnegie Hall, Music on the Green is a free concert series inspired by Maya Lin’s Ghost Forest that brings artists from the Hall’s Ensemble Connect to reflect on the themes of the exhibition. Concerts will happen every Wednesday from July 7 through August 11 on the Oval Lawn of Madison Square Park. The schedule is posted on the park's website.
Now in its 15th year, Make Music New York will celebrate the first day of summer by hosting free concerts in public spaces, including many parks, on June 21 from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. Make Music New York is open to any musician, professional or amateur, who wants to participate. The 2021 schedule is available here.
Make Music New York also is sponsoring Porch Stomp 2021, and all-acoustic music festival happening on many stages across Governors Island on June 26. The performance schedule is available here.
Other Live Music Performances in the Parks Are Sketchy
Musicians using amplification require permits from both the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation and the local police precinct. The 15-piece Eyal Vilner Big Band, brass bands, percussion groups and some jazz bands have been able to play undisturbed without permits because they do not use amplified sound. Nonetheless, numerous busking musicians with small sound units continue to play impromptu performances in the parks, at the risk of police or parks personnel making them stop or even fining them.
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| Jane Cohen at Tompkins Square Park on June 9 |
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| Mark Capon at Tompkins Square Park on June 9 |
Parks and police have intensified these efforts at Tompkins Square Park since a permitted event on April 24 attracted more than 2,000 music fans, many of whom did not wear masks or maintain social distance. Performances with permits instantly became few and far between. InCircles, Hennessey, Monte, Data Pool and other bands performed legally on June 12. The next day, the authorities did not permit the Voluptuous Horror of Karen Black, Spike Polite & Sewage NYC, Sea Monster, Hello Mary and other bands to perform.
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| Parks employees at Washington Square Park told Philip Murphy to turn off his amplifiers on June 13 |
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| The Sled Quartet at Washington Square Park on June 13; the musicians use no amplification so they can perform without a permit |
Parks officials at Washington Square Park halted former American Idol contestant Philip Murphy after a few songs on June 13. Ongoing community complaints about noise, drug dealing, vendors, skateboarders and recurring unrest in the park led the local precinct to call a community meeting on June 16. The community outcry has prompted the authorities to promise increase enforcement of park regulations, including the curtailing of amplification without a permit. The Village Sun published a thorough report from the meeting on June 18. The park has been a magnet for musicians for decades, so the public likely will continue to enjoy music there -- until the authorities make their rounds, at least.
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| Gina Healy at the 11th Street Community Garden on June 5; she will be among the musicians participating in Porch Stomp 2021 |
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The Manhattan Beat covers New York City's live music developments as they happen. All photographs are by Everynight Charley Crespo, except when noted otherwise. For a list of Manhattan venues that are presenting live music regularly, swing the desktop cursor to the right and click on the pop-up tab "Where to Find Live Music." For a listing of upcoming concerts for live audiences, visit The Manhattan Beat's June 2021 calendar.
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