Northside Fest begins: key shows, panels & other info
Multi-venue NYC fest Northside Festival begins today (6/7) and continues through Sunday (6/11), with tons of shows, panels and more across various Brooklyn venues. Check out the full schedule HERE, and get tickets to individual shows HERE. You can also buy a Northside badge, which gets you into any Northside show or panel, based on capacity. Here are some of the interesting panels and key shows you may want to check out:
PANELS
The three days of panels, known as Northside Innovation, features “150 speakers who are leading the future of innovation, tech, entertainment, VR, and media.”
NYC mayor Bill de Blasio (nice get!) will be in conversation with Buzzfeed News editor in chief Ben Smith on Friday (6/9) at 2:45 PM at The William Vale Stage. Not long after is a 4:30 PM performance by Heems (formerly of Das Racist, currently of Swet Shop Boys) on the same stage.
Fast-rising rapper Young M.A will be in conversation with The FADER president Andy Cohen on Thursday (6/8) at 3 PM on the TNT Content Stage at the Williamsburg Hotel.
Main Passion Pit member Michael Angelakos will be speaking with Deep Focus founder Ian Schafer about brands on Friday (6/9) at 1:30 PM on the Fortune Venture Stage at the Wythe Main Room.
More panel highlights: Vice in conversation with U.S. senator Kirsten Gillibrand, The Business and Art of Covering Trump: The Power of Time to Ignite Social and Digital Engagement, The Culture and Curator in the Streaming Era, Transforming the Content Supply, with Sasheer Zamata, Raeshem Nijhon, Grace Edwards, and more, Paris Is Burning: Creatives Covering Catastrophe, The Future of Festivals and Experience, and Combating Fake News: A New Market for Truth?. All panels HERE.
MUSIC
As for the music showcases, we of course hope you make it to the BrooklynVegan x AdHoc showcase on Thursday (6/8) at the Park Church Co-Op (the church in Greenpoint that hosts concerts) with Aldous Harding (whose first album for 4AD is out now), Tiny Hazard, and M Lamar (tickets).
Some of the main attractions are the big McCarren Park shows. This year’s look like this:
* Thursday, June 8 at 5:30 PM: Dirty Projectors, Kamasi Washington, Jay Som (tickets)
* Friday, June 9 at 6 PM: DJ Kool Herc, Sammus, Olukara (free but $10 suggested donation to benefit ACLU)
* Saturday, June 10 at 5 PM: Miguel, BJ the Chicago Kid, Saro (tickets)
* Sunday, June 11 at 2 PM: Thursday, PUP, The Hotelier, Jeff Rosenstock, Tony Molina (free but RSVP is closed)
Even if you RSVPed or have tickets for the McCarren Park shows, you probably want to show up on the early side. The lines to get in tend to get pretty long.
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MORE KEY SHOWS:
Mary Timony playing Helium songs at Rough Trade on Thursday (6/8) with Noveller. That’s sold out but you can try to get in with a badge. Mary Timony also has two other Helium shows in NYC (not part of Northside).
The Sacred Bones 10th anniversary showcase with Destruction Unit, Pharmakon, Institute, Pop 1280, The Hunt, Gary War and guests on Saturday (6/10) at Brooklyn Bazaar at 6 PM (tickets).
“Downtown Trip” brings together a bunch of names from NYC’s legendary Downtown scene for a one-of-a-kind evening at The Hall @ MP on Friday: Craig Leon (who made avant garde postpunk when not producing the likes of Blondie and Ramones) who will play with Suicide’s Martin Rev, and Bush Tetras who are paired with DNA’s Ikue Mori, and the night is hosted by Lydia Lunch (tickets).
The Creative Independent‘s showcase on Saturday (6/10) at National Sawdust with a Julia Holter solo set, Georgia, and a conversation between Tunisian protest singer Emel Mathlouthi and Downtown Boys singer Victoria Ruiz with writer Amy Rose Spiegel (tickets).
The Pitchfork showcase with Downtown Boys, Kelsey Lu, Flesh World and Field Agent on Friday (6/9) at Saint Vitus (tickets).
Two Big Thief shows: one on Friday at Rough Trade (tickets) and one on Saturday at the Park Church Co-Op (tickets).
Girlpool at Warsaw on Friday (6/9) with Ian Sweet and Lexie (tickets).
The Pains of Being Pure at Heart on Friday (6/9) at Music Hall of Williamsburg with Ablebody and Beverly (tickets).
Parquet Courts’ Andrew Savage plays solo as part of his label Dull Tool’s showcase at Alphaville on Friday night, that also features Future Punx, Eaters, Heaven’s Gate, and more.
Italy’s glammy punks Giuda bring their insanely fun live show to Brooklyn Bazaar on Friday (tickets) followed by a late show with Japan’s Foodman, Container and more (tickets).
A rare show by emo/punk vets Samiam at Saint Vitus on Saturday (6/10) with Manalive and Suicide Pact (tickets).
Onetime Stereolab member Laetitia Sadier plays National Sawdust on Thursday with Tunisian singer Emel Mathlouthi and Montreal’s Un Blonde (tickets).
Rough Trade on Saturday is once again hosting a night of interesting cover sets, presented by the 33 1/3 Series. Lower Dens are doing ABBA Gold; Tony Molina is doing Dinosaur Jr’s You’re Living All Over Me; and Tredici Bacci will perform selections from the Super Mario Brothers movie (tickets).
Check out the FULL NORTHSIDE SCHEDULE for way more shows.
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Northside also has the Block Party on Bedford Ave (from Metropolitan Avenue to N 12th Street) on Saturday and Sunday with “temporary wall units, interactive installations, and eye-popping sculptures.”
And the Playground at Brooklyn Brewery from 10 AM to 3 PM on Thursday and Friday with “the latest ideas and experiments in mixed-media reality, tech, products, and creative agencies.”
What Northside shows are you most looking forward to?
