Summer in the City: More Outdoor Concerts Announced

Bruce Springsteen, Paul Simon and Jennifer Hudson will be among the performers at a free concert in Central Park's Great Lawn on August 21, Mayor Bill de Blasio announced yesterday. Additional acts will be booked for the event, which is expected to last several hours, the mayor said during a news briefing on June 30. Most tickets will be free, with some VIP seats for sale.

The original announcement last month suggested that the attractions would be home grown. De Blasio noted that Simon is from Queens and performed in two iconic Great Lawn concerts. Springsteen, who returned to Broadway in June with his one-person show, "he happens to be from New Jersey, but no one's perfect." Hudson, a Grammy and Oscar winner who was discovered on American Idol and starred in Dreamgirls, is from Illinois. The New York Post reported that Patti Smith will sing with Springsteen; Smith was born in Illinois, grew up in New Jersey, and has lived in New York City much of her adult life.

The open-air concert will be part of a "Homecoming Week" intended to celebrate New York City's comeback from the Covid-19 pandemic lockdown. The concert and other festivities during that week also will market the city to tourists in an effort to boost a live entertainment industry that once welcomed more than 60 million visitors a year.

"Get ready for a concert for the ages and a big part of the rebirth of New York City and the summer of New York City," the mayor said. "It's going to be a great moment for the city, marking our rebirth, marking our comeback."

The Great Lawn has a capacity of about 60,000 people. The layout of the concert will be similar to past events, such as the Global Citizen Festival. When asked how the city would control the crowd, especially if its size exceeds capacity, de Blasio's response was unspecific.

"We intend to do this in a safe manner," de Blasio said. "The event is meant to be for a large crowd. It's going to be a historic event, to say the least."

An outdoor concert at the Amph on Little Island on June 26

Outdoor Concert Series

SummerStage Central Park already launched its summer concert series in the Rumsey Playfield. Galactic, the Sun Ra Arkcestra, Tito Nieves, Marc Rebillet, Antibalas, Lake Street Dive, Yo la Tengo, Valerie June, and Dawes are among the upcoming headliners, and several of these concerts are free.

Forest Hills Stadium will launch its summer concert series a bit later than usual with Brandi Carlile on July 23. Bright Eyes, Wilco and Sleater-Kinney, Dropkick Murphys and Rancid, King Crimson, My Morning Jacket and Brittany Howard, the Neighbourhood will be the subsequent headliners.

BRIC Celebrate Brooklyn! Festival also will start later than usual with its concert series at the Prospect Park band shell. Ari Lennox will headline the first concert on July 31, and the Roots, Buffy Sainte-Marie, Skip Marley, Junglepussy, Lido Pimienta, San Fermin, Son Little, Trombone Shorty & Orleans Avenue and WhizKid are among the headliners of later shows. Many concerts are free.

Richard Thompson at Woodridge High School on June 23

Restart Stages at Lincoln Center is featuring performances on at least two outdoor stages in the Lincoln Center complex. Spanglish Fly and the Mighty Sparrow are among the upcoming headliners. All performances are free, but attendees must enter a ticket lottery two weeks before each performance.

Little Island is a new $260 million park built on pylons over the Hudson River on Pier 55. Programming has begun in the Amph, a 687-seat amphitheater overlooking the river. Upcoming headliners include Arturo O'Farrill & the Afro Latin Jazz Orchestra and Sister Nancy. So far. all concerts have been free but require advance ticketing.

In nearby New Jersey, across the river from Staten Island, Woodbridge Arts presents free outdoor concerts almost nightly in the field beside Woodbridge High School. Neither tickets nor reservations are needed. Bring chairs, coolers, pets, etc., but stay inside your socially-distanced pod. Upcoming headliners include Raul Malo, Crystal Bowersox, Savoy Brown, and Willie Nile.

Three three-day music festivals will come to New York in the late summer and early fall. Electric Zoo at Randalls Island on September 3-5 will feature electronic dance music artists including Adventure Club, Carnage, Destructo, Ekali, Kaskade, KSHMR, Rezz, Seven Lions. Tiesto, and Zed's Dead. Governors Ball moves to Citi Field on September 24-26, and will headline 21 Savage, A$AP Rocky, Billie Eilish, Bleachers, Ellie Goulding, Future Islands, J. Balvin, Megan Thee Stallion, Portugal. the Man, Post Malone, Princess Nokia, Rufus Du Sol, Young Thug, and many others. Rolling Loud also will be at Citi Field on October 28-30 and will headline 50 Cent, A$AP Ferg, Action Bronson, Fetty Wap, Gucci Mane, J. Cole, Lil Baby, Lil Durk, Lil Uzi Vert, Megan Thee Stallion, Playboi Carti, Roddy Ricch, and Travis Scott, among others.

Outdoor Music at Bars, Restaurants, Parks and Sidewalks

Diana Gitesha Hernandez (center) performed outside Nomad on June 30

This summer, New Yorkers can hear music for free coming from the numerous  bars and restaurants that have their musicians perform outside. The Corner Bistro has Chris Campion perform on the sidewalk on Sunday afternoons and Tuesday evenings. Café Wha? and Joey Bats Café have musicians perform in roadside kiosks. Cuba, Groove and Marshall Stack have musicians perform inside by an open window to audiences seated both inside and outside. Baby Brasa has Chino Pons play vintage Latin music in its large roadside cabana on Friday and Saturday nights. Nomad recently resumed hosting jazz and world music artists who perform to outdoor audiences on Wednesdays through Saturdays. The Ear Inn has the EarRegulars perform outside every Sunday afternoon.

Gene Taylor performed in the roadside shed outside Café Wha? on June 9

Xaxa performed inside Groove to an audience both inside and outside on June 22

Live music in the parks is more precarious, however. For the past few months, the authorities have increased patrols in the parks, asking musicians without permits to shut their amplifiers. Many musicians perform anyway, since the patrols come and go. Other musicians are performing on sidewalks. These performances are not scheduled, however, but certain areas, like Tompkins, Union and Washington Square Parks, offer a higher guarantee of buskers.

Escalation Horns roved through Greenwich Village playing for tips on June 30

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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  July 2021 calendar.