Central Park Summerstage: 2008 Line-Up

Our faves include:

July 20
Diplo
A-Trak

August 3
Jamie Lidell

August 16
Battles
Black Dice

August 17
Sharon Jones

View all gigs here.

MP3: Battles - Dance

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The Decemberists & Grizzly Bear @ Summerstage: Fill Our Mouths With Cinnamon

July, July. Last night Grizzly Bear and The Decemberists put on one of the best outdoor gigs in recent memory (sorry Land of Talk fans, I arrived at the tail end of their set). In spite of a strict curfew, an impending thunderstorm and a sea of litterers (so upsetting), both acts unquestionably soared to great heights.

Grizzly Bear's 45-minute set focused almost exclusively on last year's much-loved record, Yellow House. I must admit, at first it was rather perplexing to see Grizzly Bear in pure daylight as their recorded material tends to skew towards the dark side. However, once the band performed fan-favorite 'Knife', all my doubts disappeared. Kudos, boys. Keep up on all things Grizzly Bear here on the band's official MySpace page.

MP3: Grizzly Bear - Knife

Ahh, The Decemberists. Somehow, no matter how much critical acclaim the Portland-based act receives, they still manage to pour their hearts and souls into their live gigs without an ounce of arrogance. Last night's set, geared towards summer songs (well, at least the first few numbers), was remarkable. Colin & the gang did a superb job interweaving tracks from their latest effort, The Crane Wife, with older songs from their expansive catalog (setlist below). Highlights of the show include a beautiful main set-closing 'Sons & Daughters', complete with crowd participation, as well as an actual - yet slightly bizarre - venue sit-down session leading up to the final crescendo to 'The Chimbley Sweep'. The show's final tune, 'The Mariner's Revenge Song', left nearly everybody in attendance with massive smiles upon their departure from Central Park. Phenomenal!

Setlist: July, July!/Billy Liar/Summersong/Perfect Crime 2/The Sporting Life/From My Own True Love/The Engine Driver/Crane Wife 3/The Island/O Valencia/Sons And Daughters//Red Right Ankle/Oceanside/The Chimbley Sweep/The Mariner's Revenge Song

MP3: The Decemberists - Sons And Daughters

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Full Central Park Summerstage Line-Up Announced

Since Summerstage's official site keeps crashing, and since many of you have been inquiring, here's the full list of FREE shows going on this summer. To view all the costly shows (including Rufus Wainwright & The Decemberists, separately) check Ticketbastard.

06.15.07 - Cassandra Wilson, Olu Dara 7pm Free
06.16.07 - Television, Apples In Stereo, Dragons Of Zynth 3pm Free
06.17.07 - Tiken Jah Fakoly, Idan Raichel Project, DJ Kadafi 3pm Free
06.22.07 - Dave Attell, John Mulaney, Joe DeRose, Amy Shumer, Kurt Metzger 7:30pm Free
06.24.07 - Sloan, Apostle Of Hustle, Duhks 3pm Free
06.30.07 - Ozomatli, Babylon Circus, DJ Joro Boro 3pm Free
07.01.07 - Rodrigo y Gabriela, Vietnam, JDH and Dave P 3pm Free
07.06.07 - Ronald K Brown/Evidence, Full Circle Soul Productions 8pm Free
07.07.07 - Cinematic Orchestra, RAMP, El Michels Affair, Kevin Michael 3pm Free
07.08.07 - Junior Reid, Djakout Mizik, Diams, Black Alex & Mecca 3pm Free
07.10.07 - Nortec Collective, Federico Aubele, So What's Your Price? 7pm Free
07.11.07 - Femi Kuti & The Positive Force, DJ Rich Medina 7pm Free
07.14.07 - Pacha Massive, La Sista 3pm Free
07.15.07 - Hip Hop Harry, Sippy Cups, BREAK! The Urban Funk Spectacular 3pm Free
07.19.07 - Human Giant, Rebecca Drysdale, The Defibrillators 7:30pm Free
07.20.07 - Neko Case, Eric Bachmann 7pm Free
07.21.07 - Sharhabeel Ahmed, Abu Araki al-Bakheit, Yousif El Mosili, Hadia "Al Balabil", Ali Al Segid, Rasha Sheikh Aldein, Al Wareef Sheikh Aldein, Brides of the Nile Dance Group, Emmanuel, , Omer Ehsas, The Nile Music Orchestra 3pm Free
07.22.07 - Brazilian Girls, Cat Empire, HIMALAYAS 3pm Free
07.26.07 - Marisha Pessl, Jennifer Egan 7:30pm Free
07.27.07 - Parsons Dance, Cedar Lake Contemporary Ballet 8pm Free
07.28.07 - Liz McComb, Sister Gertrude Morgan, Ben Jaffe of the Preservation Hall Jazz Band 7pm Free
07.29.07 - Wild Style 25th Anniversary, Grand Wizzard Theodore 7pm Free
08.02.07 - Amiri Baraka, Sonia Sanchez 7:30pm Free
08.03.07 - Philadelphia Dance Company, Camille A. Brown & Dancers 8pm Free
08.04.07 - Spanish Harlem Orchestra, Spam Allstars, Tato Torres y Yerbabuena, Bobbito Garcia 3pm Free
08.05.07 - Cine Fest Brazil, AfroReggae, Zuzu Angel 7pm Free
08.10.07 - Complexions Contemporary Ballet, Take Dance Company 8pm Free
08.11.07 - Soul To Soul III, Galactic, Monk Boudreaux & The Golden Eagles Mardi Gras Indians, Soul Rebel Brass Band 3pm Free
08.12.07 - Zap Mama, Angelique Kidjo, K'Naan 3pm Free

Posted on 6:35 AM / 0 comments / Read More