Something for every generation at festival
By Mary Romano
- BLOOMBERG NEWS
Updated: 06/23/08 6:55 AM
From Bob Dylan and Isaac Hayes to the gospel-belting Dixie Hummingbirds and the Carolina Chocolate Drops string band, the 30th “Celebrate Brooklyn!” festival has something for every musical taste and generation.
The Chocolate Drops, three musicians in their early 20s, will play a double bill on Thursday with the Hummingbirds, whose lead singer is in his 80s. Hayes opened the Prospect Park festival on June 12 with a benefit concert that raised $300,000 for “Celebrate Brooklyn!” and Dylan will close the New York event on Aug. 12 with another fundraiser.
“These are artists who speak to a cross-generational audience,” said Jack Walsh, the festival’s executive producer.
The festival was started in 1979 to boost Brooklyn’s cultural arts scene and encourage people to visit the park, which had been neglected for years. More than 250,000 people are expected to attend this summer.
“We have found ourselves in a crowded field of festivals over the years, so we need to differentiate ourselves,” Walsh said of his concert series, produced by the nonprofit group BRIC Arts/Media/Bklyn.
“We like to think our programming is nuanced and has a depth that others may not have.”
Walsh said the something-for- everyone strategy is working.
For years, most festival-goers lived near the park; now the audience is a melting pot of Park Slope families, Williamsburg hipsters, Manhattanites and tourists.
“We don’t get the double-deck bus types,” Walsh said of the out-of-towners. “We get the adventurous ones — a lot of Germans, French, Portuguese.”
The 25 concerts at the park’s band shell cover a lot of musical ground — from hip-hop to bossa nova to indie rock. The venue has 2,000 seats and a large sloping lawn with wide sightlines. The concerts are free, but memberships ranging from $50 to $1,000 offer seating closer to the stage and other perks like a tent with refreshments.
Salif Keita, a pop singer from the African nation of Mali, is paired on Sunday with Haale, a Bronx-born rock singer of Iranian descent who has played with David Byrne.
The festival commissioned Karsh Kale, an Indian electronic musician and Bruce Lee fan, to create a score that will be performed live during a July 19 screening of Lee’s 1973 film “Enter the Dragon.” Brooklynbased Mark Morris Dance Group performs “Love Song Waltzes” on July 31.
Three remaining concerts — Dylan, Leslie Feist on July 9 and Spoon on July 15 — are fundraisers for the festival that require advanced ticket purchases. (The Dylan show is already sold out.)
Feist is a Canadian singer-songwriter who gained fame with her catchy “1234” song that was featured on iPod commercials, while Spoon is a Texas rock band.
The festival, which has a $1.7 million budget, features some intriguing pairings.
Rock trio Deerhoof will team with chamber orchestra Metropolis Ensemble on July 18 to rework Stravinsky’s “The Rite of Spring” using electronic keyboards and computer technology.
On June 27, indie rock band Cold War Kids will share the bill with folk group Elvis Perkins in Dearland and Sam Champion, a rock band named after the permanently tanned New York weatherman.
“Celebrate Brooklyn!” concerts take place at the Prospect Park band shell, Prospect Park West and Ninth Street in Park Slope. Information: www.briconline.org .
