photos by Kurt Christensen

"[Friday] night, The Walkmen headlined It Came from Brooklyn, [The Guggenheim's first] concert series [which highlights artists from Brooklyn and happens to coincide with the museum's] 50th Anniversary. The band were sleek in dress and voracious in music. As they rattled off numerous tracks off their 2008 release, "You & Me", they also were accompanied by a section of trumpets and trombones. The Walkmen's songs, some straightforward and mellow and some more palpitating and post-punk, filled the rotunda beautifully without so much as a word or a chord being lost. In fact the venue of the night seemed to enhance the whole performance; the grandiosity of the Guggenheim could pose an air of overwhelmingness, but instead the performance felt wholly intimate..." [Gothamist]

High Places, the Brooklyn Steppers Marching Band, novelist Colson Whitehead, and comedian Leo Allen were also on the museum bill. For the Walkmen it was the first of two NYC shows this weekend; the second was on Sunday in Central Park (pics coming soon). For the Guggenheim it was the first of this new series. The next will feature a performance by Interpol front-man Paul Banks aka Julian Plenti. More pictures from Friday below...

Continue reading "The Walkmen, High Places, Leo Allen, Colson Whitehead & a marching band @ The Guggenheim Museum in NYC - pics "

Tickets for the first show of the Guggenheim's It Came From Brooklyn series on Friday, August 14th are on sale now. They cost a whopping $45 for non-members, and museum members don't do much better with a reduced cost of $40. The night will feature sets from The Walkmen and High Places, and an opening performance by Brooklyn Steppers Marching Band. Hosting will be comedian Leo Allen; novelist Colson Whitehead "reads selections from Walt Whitman between performances." The next edition of the series is scheduled for September 25th. None of the acts have been confirmed.

Two days after on Sunday, August 16th, the Walkmen will playing a free Central Park Summerstage show with Dinosaur Jr.

More info on the It Came From Brooklyn series, below...

Continue reading "It Came From Brooklyn w/ The Walkmen, High Places, Brooklyn Steppers Marching Band - tickets on sale"