FESTIVALS
The weather is getting warmer and you know what that means... festival season is here! Here's a list of upcoming rock, alternative, hip-hop, and jazz festivals for your Spring and Summer. (If you're looking for our list of strictly EDM festivals, go here.)
Rock on!
Join America’s top craft beer brewers Saturday March 3rd at the Lexington Avenue Armory for the inaugural NYC American Craft Beer Festival hosted by The Hand Crafted Tasting Company. For those who enjoy day drinking there will be a session held from 12:30 p.m. until 4 p.m. and a second session later in the evening for those of us who want a killer Saturday night pregame, starting at 6 p.m. and ending at 9:30 p.m.
During either session festival goers will experience a “true celebration of American craft beer[s]” from local breweries such as Blue Point Brewing Company, Brooklyn Brewery, and Sixpoint Craft Ales being among the 75 featured brewers. While attempting to sample all 150 high-quality seasonal brews sample the specially prepared food designed to be paired with each tasting. The food court will include menu items such as a grilled cheddarwusrt topped with green apple on a pretzel roll, vegetarian soft tacos, and a little something called the Frito Pie made with fresh chili, sour cream, chives, and sharp cheddar cheese, all served on a bed of Frito Lays chips.
The New York food truck business is absolutely booming nowadays. This is not your great-great grandmother’s Civil War-era chuckwagon or Central Park dirty water hot dog vendor (we love them too, but there's a time and a place).
With the warm weather still upon us, you won't mind waiting in the occasional outdoor line for your next meal. It's a good thing too, because, beyond the trucks that appear outside your office daily, September is the go-to month for food truck events.
The Staten Island Foodie Truck-athon is being held at the St. George Esplanade this Saturday, September 17th, from 11am-5pm in celebration of the borough’s 350th birthday. Here fourteen of New York’s finest vendors will converge, offering a plethora of snacks and meals from lobster to cupcakes to souvlaki. Entrance to the festival is free of charge.
If you can’t make it on Saturday, Prospect Park is holding its second-to-last, every-third-Sunday Food Truck Rally from 11am to 5pm on September 18th, and again on Sunday, October 16th. Here you’ll be able to sample fresh, excellent food from sixteen trucks (many of the same from the Truck-athon). Event organizers will also be raffling off an iPad.
Been really looking forward to seeing a festival line up all year? The last one was amazing, its competitors were amazing, now you just really need to see the line-up. You hear the hype, you hear it until you can’t take it any longer, “Who’s it gunna be, who’s it gunna be” and then… oh the disappointment! It’s the same headliners you ALWAYS see and like bad smells, there is just no getting rid of them. Now, it’s nice to catch one of the good ol’ rock legends that have been going ever since you were residing in your mother’s womb, but let’s face it -when all they play are festivals, release no new music, play no private gigs and generally hog a slot that could showcase another worthy legend, contemporary or not, that’s where the problem lies.
That's right, Electric Zoo has added a whopping thirty additional bands to the schedule -as if Chromeo wasn't incentive enough! The event is set to be bigger than ever before. The festival has expanded to three days and will now feature four stages. The mainstage will include an expanded dancefloor so you'll have plenty of room to dance/perform musical tourettes. The festival will be held on Randall's Island in New York City on Friday, September 2 to Sunday, September 4. 3-Day intro priced passes are already sold out but tickets are still available.
It was the final show in the Home and Home concert series by way of Yankee Stadium last night. With 40,000+ people packing the home of the Bronx Bombers, Jay-Z and Eminem hosted a who's who of the top names in the music industry. The sold out stadium saw Kanye West and Nicki Minaj, 50 Cent, Lloyd Banks, B.o.B., J.Cole, Drake, Swizz Beatz, Beyonce, Dr. Dre, D12, Memphis Bleek and Mary J. Blige on stage. Tweeting live from the show, we heard some fans who shared their personal experience at one of New York's largest concerts in memory.
Six_Of_Us Jay-Z & Eminem Concert At Yankee Stadium Is A Home Run! - Jay-Z & Eminem’s first show at Yankee...http://tumblr.com/xbbioa80c
Electro fans from around the world gathered on Randall's Island Park this past weekend to get their dance on at New York City's own Electric Zoo. Despite the "dustboogers", the lineup was unbelievable, the weather was perfect, and the crowd came ready to move their feet.
THUMBS DOWN
The Chemical Brothers
Dubbleyou.Tee.Eff! What happened to you guys? Although this set was highly anticipated by Electric Zoo goers, it was quite the disappointment. The performance lacked emotion and “umph”. It was kind of, well, boring. But hey, at least the visuals were cool!
Dustboogers
Dancing leads to dust on Randall’s Park Island – a lot of it. Dust leads to dustboogers. Gross.
Less Is Not More
The crowd was bigger, the lineup was better, but the venue needs to step it up. There needs to be more signage regarding parking and where to walk, more water stands, more porta-pottys, more everything! It’s also time to start “enhancing” the grounds a bit, please refer to Ultrafest or Rothbury for ideas.
One Place At A Time
Because choosing between artists is so difficult sometimes, we wanted to see them all!
THUMBS UP
Diplo
When Diplo got on the 1's and 2's at E.Zoo, he didn't forget his A-game. The Red Bull Tent was bursting with energy both from the DJ and the crowd, who fed off of one another for the entire set. Diplo's unconventional integration of hip-hop favorites like "Beamer, Benz, & Bentley" with hard-hitting beats kept the crowd on their toes, literally - consistently amped and begging for more.
Kaskade
Kaskade’s sound is unfailingly emotional and heartfelt. His set this year at E.Zoo was no different. The music clearly connected the mass as they sang “Move for Me” and “Angel on My Shoulder” in perfect unison. Kaskade is a DJ who performs music that you not only hear, but feel, time and time again.
Above & Beyond
A&B’s set was packed with high-energy tunes like “On a Good Day”, "Road to Nowhere", and "Love Comes Again". They kept up crowd interaction by writing messages out on their laptop and holding it up for all to read – a gesture that was both unique and appreciated. At one point they wrote “Can you sing?” which was happily, and loudly, obliged. Towards the end of their set, they even hugged one another, and who doesn’t love that?
Fedde Le Grande
It was Fedde's first time at Electric Zoo, but it certainly will not be his last. Bringing energy from start to finish with intense visuals and lively mixes of "We Are Your Friends", “Walking On a Dream” and "Zombie Nation" amongst others, Fedde proved to be one of the best performances of the weekend.
Steve Aoki
If you came to party, you know to go to Aoki’s stage. Steve knows how to get you absolutely out of your skull, with both his music and his antics. His set included his own anthems “Turbulence”, “Pursuit of Happiness”, and his newest “BRRRAT!” (with Armin Van Helden). Amazing music, mind-blowing visuals, his signature champagne showers, and a dive into the crowd made Steve Aoki the perfect finale to a perfect weekend.
You!
This year’s festival was considerably more sizeable than last year’s, a testament to electronica music and to festival culture. We like this at Joonbug. With the music pumping and the crowd jumping, we can’t wait till next year! Wahoo!
Slideshow photos by Electric Zoo
If you aren't utterly exhausted after the Electric Zoo extravaganza taking place this coming weekend at Randall's Island, head to NYC nightlife staple Pacha for the festival's official after parties. September 4th, guests will include Sharam, Robbie Rivera, Dresden & Johnston, Italoboyz, Heartthrob (live), Taimur & Fahad and more. The tickets will cost you $35 in advance while supplies last, but thrifty partiers can get in at $25 if purchased at the same time as your festival ticket. And guess what folks you can do it all over again September 5th and rock out with DJ Guy Gerber and see surprise guest from the festival’s main stage. Opening set by Alex Kofman & Simon Heyliger. $25 in advance while supplies last. Parties are from 11pm to 5am!
Come one, come all to the first ever Wine on the Water festival hosted at the Hyatt Regency Lake Tahoe Resort, Spa and Casino. Not only is this event full of food, wine and live music (provided by Jeff Jones & Friends) but 100% of the proceeds go to the Boys & Girls Club of North Lake Tahoe.
The festivities run from 1 pm to 5 pm on Sunday August 29 with a silent auction somewhere in between. Event attendees have the whole day to sample the delectable wine and food from renowned local and regional chefs. All the wine from the event will come from the many acclaimed Northern California wineries and later there is even a chance to take a bottle home in the silent auction (other gifts include dinners and gift certificates).
On August 14th the TRUE Downtown Arts District will open the doors of cafés, galleries, performance venues, and 40 studios (and counting) in the second happening of a new Open Studio Tour series. This series will coincide with the annual street fair known as Bloomfest which will feature 15 live bands including Red Cortez . Killsonic . Ruby Friedman Orchestra, My Pet Saddle . Robotanists . Vanaprasta . Restavrant, Health Club . Tawny Ellis . RaheemCohen, Lightnin’ Woodcock . Bullet & Snowfox . Venus Rising in addition to vendor booths and food trucks. Artists, designers, architects, writers, and performers new and old have continued to make extensive and impressive work in the area. The summer event in part acts as a cultural reminder that the post-industrial downtown never stopped producing.
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