by Andrew Frisicano

Freddy's last night... (pexy)

"Today is a sad day for a lot of people who live close to Flatbush Ave. Fort Greene, Park Slope and further. In fact for a lot of Brooklyn. It is sad because Freddy's is closing. It's closing because greedy, glutinous rich people think they know what's best for this neighborhood & are erecting some god awful monstrosity that is going to turn this Neighborhood in to a Manhattan-esque commercial nightmare.

The Barclay's Arena.

Freddy's is the bar where so many people have partied in Brooklyn. Some have had too much to drink, have danced way too long and accidentally torn muscles. Some even made out with people because their beer goggles were on super tight. But that's what happens when you're with friends creating memories that last a lifetime. To be honest, the fight to keep Freddy's isn't all about these memories. It's about the rights of the people to live in their homes, drink in their bars, and love their neighborhood.

Unfortunately, we lost the fight to big business and millions of dollars. The organizers say a giant arena is supposed to give back to the city. Some people say that Ratner is a huge philanthropist and that the arena is intended to revitalize the community. I'm going to put my money on the memories to revitalize rather than basketball scores.

We're going to miss you Freddy's. You always knew how to make us feel like old friends." [pexy]

The above letter and picture were posted to Flickr by David Pexton, along with the tags "Freddy's Bar", "Bar", "Ratner", "Jay Z", "Fuck You Jay Z", "Eminent Domain Abuse", and others.

Freddy's Bar & Backroom, the Prospect Heights bar forced out by the Atlantic Yards project, had its final nights on Friday and Saturday. Friday was supposed to be the last hurrah, but the bar was open for business on Saturday too...

Freddy's packed Bar - Saturday, May 1, 2010 (by Tracy Collins)

The decidedly upbeat crowd, crammed into Freddy's to celebrate, commiserate, and pay their respects. They treated to ridiculousness that only happens at Freddy's. Speeches by bartenders professing love for each other and fake marriage proposals, a constant stream of women dancing on the bar, a fire dancer that twirled flaming torches and the frequent "DON-ALD! DON-ALD!" chants, cheering Manager Donald O'Finn, that interrupted its dance friendly music selection were just a few of the highlights.

The patrons, who poured in from all parts of Brooklyn and the rest of the City, spanned every age, neighborhood, and ethnicity danced the night away and purposefully ignored the smoking ban, lighting up cigarettes all night long. The ridiculously hot backroom was somehow even hotter as the sweaty band and patrons rocked. [NY Drinker]

That description is from the bar's Saturday night party. Friday's scene was very much the same (though Friday the fire dancer was outside), with the bar already starting to run out of some of its booze. A band in the back played originals and covers (Dylan, etc.) until around 3:30am when the tired staff cleared everyone out. Saturday had a more varied entertainment lineup.

More pictures from Saturday, like the one above, can be seen at Tracy Collins' Flickr. One more, with the full entertainer list from Saturday night (including Alex Battles and a skimpily dressed Anna Copa Cabana), is below.

Freddy's had planned to move to a new location on Union St and 4th Avenue (about 10 blocks into Park Slope), but NYDrinker (the site quoted above) says that playn has fallen through. Admittedly I did get nervous when I read the bar owner's recent (and still posted), and apparently premature, letter that said, "Currently we are negotiating a new location near Union Street and 4th Avenue. We'll be open as soon as time and paperwork allows, hopefully in about 2 or 3 months."

Some videos of the bar's last night (music, dancing, open flames) are also below...

Continue reading "Freddy's Bar & Backroom stayed open one extra night (RIP)"

The Sixth Annual Brooklyn Country Music Festival will be hosting local country acts for three days (September 17-19) at Brooklyn's Southpaw. Headliners include The Defibulators on Thursday, The Woes on Friday and Alex Battles & the Whisky Rebellion on Saturday. Three-day passes as well as tickets for the Thursday, Friday and Saturday shows are on sale.

the day-by-day lineup, with a pair of videos from returning acts Alex Battles (the Fest's founder who earlier this year put out a live record that's free online) and the Defibulators, below...

Continue reading "Brooklyn Country Music Festival @ Southpaw (Sept. 17-19)"

Down Home Radio is proud to announce the 1st annual Brooklyn Folk Festival, Friday, May 15th - Sunday, May 17th, 2009 at the Jalopy Theater. This festival will feature the best in old-time music, blues, pre-blues, jug band music, New Orleans jazz, folk style songwriting, African folk music and Mexican folk music and dance. Come down and check it out, its gonna be fun!

There are no advance tickets for the Red Hook festival. "$10 Per Day or $25 for 3 days - Afternoon Workshop Included!" In addition to shows and workshops at the Jalopy, there are also official festival jam sessions taking place at Moonshine. Full schedule and poster below...

Continue reading "1st annual Brooklyn Folk Festival - lineup & schedule"

by Andrew Frisicano

Free show series Roosevelt Live will happen this summer on Roosevelt Island's Riverwalk Commons. The shows, scheduled for Saturdays at 4pm, will feature mostly local acts. Scheduled performers include piano-fronted band Wakey Wakey, indie-rockers Frances, Brooklyn country dude Alex Battles (of The Whiskey Rebellion) and local comedy/stunt troupe Improv Everywhere.

Improv Everywhere is the group responsible for the No Pants! subway rides. It most recently pulled off an April Fool's Day stunt where the group showed up en masse to a random, underattended funeral to make it "The Best Funeral Ever." It turns out the whole thing was staged, a fact the CW11 piece on the stunt failed to note (videos below).

Another recent-news tidbit from the Roosevelt Live performers, Frances frontman Paul Hogan scored indie-doc Must Read After My Death, which played at Manhattan's Quad Cinema in February and is now available for download at Gigantic Digital. Frances also plays the 92YTribeca on Saturday, April 4th with The Subjects and Glass Ghost. (Tickets for that show are on sale.)

Frances' Roosevelt Live performance takes place on June 20th, the same day that music blogger collective "After The Jump" is planning a festival on the same island. No more details on that one yet.

Full schedule (and flyer) with videos from the above-mentioned acts (plus a Coldplay tracked video of Roosevelt Island) below...

Continue reading "concerts on Roosevelt Island in 2009 - Improv Everywhere, Alex Battles, After the Jump, Frances & more "

words & photos by Chris La Putt

Alex Battles and the Whiskey Rebellion, Eli "Paperboy" Reed & the True Loves, and The Sadies were the free entertainment at the second day of the Big Apple BBQ in Madison Square Park on Sunday (June 8, 2008). Yes, the main focus at the "block party" was food, but we were there for the music.

Alex Battles and the Whiskey Rebellion (pictured above) played first, and they showed Manhattan some impressive Brooklyn country music with a tinge of humor. They were clever enough to write a song about bbq and tea in just a day, and ballsy enough to pull it off on stage. Sadly, this was my first time seeing this band, but it will definitely be not the last. Check them out on Friday as they record a live show at Hill Country.

Continue reading "The Sadies, Eli Paperboy Reed & Alex Battles in a park - pics"

Although I can't endorse the BBQ aspect of this thing, there's no denying that this looks like a great lineup of free music at Madison Square Park in NYC this weekend...

Saturday, June 7
1:00PM - 2:15PM THE DEFIBULATORS
2:45PM - 4:00PM THE SWEET DIVINES
4:30PM - 5:45PM THE WILD MAGNOLIAS

Sunday, June 8
1:00PM - 2:15PM ALEX BATTLES & THE WHISKEY REBELLION
2:45PM - 4:00PM ELI "PAPER BOY" REED & THE TRUE LOVES
4:30PM - 5:45PM THE SADIES

Check out the rest of the free shows happening in Madison Square Park this summer (and even more NYC free shows listed HERE).

Video of Eli Reed below....

Continue reading "free music @ the Big Apple BBQ in NYC this weekend "

September 6 - 8, 2007 @ Buttermilk (Day 1) & Southpaw (Day 2-3)....

Continue reading "4th Annual Brooklyn Country Music Festival"