What's going on Saturday? (Mermaid Parade, Dum Dum Girls, Cliff Richard, Ex-Cult, Merchandise, Coathangers, more)
Dum Dum Girls at Mercury Lounge in January (more by PSquared)
Mermaid Parade 2013 (more by Amanda Hatfield)
You can browse our full NYC show calendar for all of tonight’s shows, but here are some highlights…
Dum Dum Girls, Hospitality, TEEN @ Prospect Park Bandshell
A trio of quality female-led bands outdoors on a nice day in Prospect Park is pretty hard to turn down, especially when it’s free.
Mermaid Parade
Coney Island may slowly be getting a makeover but its annual freak flag extravaganza remains one of the last vestiges for Weird NYC. Expect minimal body coverage and the de Blasio kids as King & Queen of the parade.
Make Music NY
The annual Make Music New York switches to a Saturday for 2014 (a smart move) with fun free events all over the city. Are you a ukulele player who’s always wanted to jam with a couple hundred other players? You can do that today. Also be on the lookout for a mobile piano bar playing exclusively Billy Joel songs.
Punk Island
As part of Make Music NY, over 90 punk bands will head to Staten Island today for this free festival which includes Cop Problem, Raw Nerves, Reagan Youth, Two Fisted Law, Darkside NYC, and many more.
Ex-Cult, Liquor Store, Call Of The Wild @ Union Pool
Union Pool’s “Summer Thunder” series brings free music to their backyard every Saturday afternoon and this is an especially good one, with Memphis punks Ex-Cult headlining. LIquor Store and Call of the Wild make it hard to pass up. Bands usually start around 4 PM.
Turnip King, Treatment, Dabbler, Video Daughters, Happy Lives, Hippy, Graffiti Sunshine, The Yin Yangs, Dumb Talk, Mini Dresses, Palm, Noise New York, The Meaning of Life, Painted Zeros @ 94 Evergreen (Slackfest)
The Slackgaze ‘zine is throwing this three-day festival in Bushwick featuring 45 bands with music running from 3 PM – 2 AM. Tonight’s headlined by the terrific Turnip King.
Meshuggah, Between the Buried and Me @ Best Buy Theater
We may not be happy with Meshuggah for inspiring most of the djent genre, but credit where it’s due: these guys are legends and have over two decades’ worth of albums to prove it.
The Coathangers, DAMEHT, Honduras, XNY @ Brooklyn Night Bazaar
Mastodon collaborators The Coathangers offer more of their raging garage rock on this year’s Suck My Shirt. See them live for free tonight.
Oblivionation, Raw Nerves, Demon Brother, Concrete Cross @ Death by Audio
Raw Nerves are one of the many bands playing Punk Island today, but later on at night you can catch them in an environment more suitable for their sound, Death by Audio.
Merchandise, Symbol, Francis Heinzfeller @ Glasslands
Merchandise have a new record coming out on 4AD (a much bigger label than their previous releases), and from the sound of its new single, it looks like we’ll be getting more of their romantic ’80s-inspired post-punk. This is the first of three nights in NYC for this band.
Champagne Jerry @ Joe’s Pub
Ad-Rock collaborator Champagne Jerry continues his monthly album rollout at Joe’s Pub.
Dave Chappelle @ Radio City Music Hall
Comedian Dave Chappelle is back in a big way, doing a whopping nine 10 nights at Radio City Music Hall. This is the fourth.
Little Dragon, Lawrence Rothman @ Terminal 5
Little Dragon gave us more of the Swedish synth pop we know and love on this year’s Nabuma Rubberband and tonight they wrap up a sold-out 2-night run at NYC’s Terminal 5. Theatrical LA musician Lawrence Rothman should get things off to an interesting start.
Cliff Richard @ Gramercy Theatre
Morrissey may have canceled but opener and UK pop legend Cliff Richard is still playing, albiet now at Gramercy Theatre, not Barclays. A rock n’ roll survivor and maker of smooth ’70s hits like “We Don’t Talk Anymore,” Cliff is a bit of a cheeseball but the hits speak for themselves. The show is free and open to the public but if you’ve got a Moz Barclays ticket stub (or online printout/email), you get in early.
The Sons & Heirs @ Union Hall
If you really want to recreate the Barclays show, after Cliff, head to Union Hall where NYC’s premier Smiths/Morrissey cover band will play. It’s just like a Morrissey show except Sons & Heirs only play the songs you really want to hear.
Diana Ross @ The Theater at MSG
R&B/soul/disco legend and former Supremes singer Diana Ross has decades upon decades of excellent hits. Tonight’s show will surely be packed with those.
Hot Tuna, Leon Russell @ Bergen PAC
Unlike the main members’ other band, Jefferson Airplane, Hot Tuna have continued consistently for decades since their start as a band, and like fellow jam pioneers Phil Lesh or Allman Brothers, they’ve still got it.
‘The Past is a Grotesque Animal’ (of Montreal movie) @ IFC Center
Jason Miller’s of Montreal documentary, The Past is a Grotesque Animal, is a very up-close, very personal look at the band and main man Kevin Barnes in particular.
For all of tonight’s shows, and tomorrow’s, check out our NYC concert calendar.
For laughs, check out the NYC Comedy calendar too.
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