3. SummerStage
May 18 – September 24
Rumsey Playfield

Musically, Central Park is usually just buskers and that one guy playing music obnoxiously loud from his phone. Except in the summer. During the warm months, the Park hosts SummerStage, an outdoor festival of almost entirely free shows. Like Celebrate Brooklyn, the series includes the odd benefit concert, for which admission is charged, but the majority of the line up is free. Everyone loves free concerts. Plus, even when admission is charged the money made helps fund SummerStage, so the proceeds still go to a good cause.

Each year the SummerStage concerts are held at Rumsey Playfield in Central Park, which can be best accessed by entering the park at 69th Street and 5th Avenue. Seating (e.g. bleachers) isn’t always available and space is limited, so come prepared and probably early. On weekdays, doors are an hour before the show and on weekends are an hour and a half. If you don’t get a good spot or arrive after capacity is reached, there always plenty of green space around the venue to sit on and listen.

Alcohol is not permitted, but food/drink will be available from Pizza Moto, Asia Dog, Blue Marble, Lonestar Empire, and many more vendors. Professional cameras (SLRs) are also not allowed, but there’s always your phone? So settle in with an Ommegang and snapchat your friends from #Summerstage.

Of all this season’s shows some of the stand-outs are:
6/6: Blue Note Jazz Festival (2:00 PM)
6/17: Lindsey Stirling (7:00 PM)
6/29: Ingrid Michaelson with Jukebox the Ghost and Secret Someones (5:00 PM)
7/15: NPR and WNYC’s Ask Me Another: Celebrating 30 Years of SummerStage (6:00 PM)
7/20: Guster with Kishi Bashi (6:00 PM)
7/28: Rise Against with Killswitch Engage and Letlive (5:00 PM)
7/31: Smorgasburg (5:00 PM) [ok…not a concert, but still a stand-out]
8/5: Father John Misty with Angel Olsen and Summer Moon (5:00 PM)
9/24: Walk the Moon (6:00 PM)

4. Northside Festival
June 11 – June 14
Multiple Locations

Many shows and concert series have gone the way of SXSW in that they’re no longer about JUST the music. Apart from live shows, many now include things like documentary screenings, panels, art exhibitions and other elements. Brooklyn’s Northside Festival is no exception. Billed as a stage for “artists and thought-leaders”, the festival has three sections: Film (June 8-10), Innovation (June 11-12) and Music (June 11-14).

Adopting the CMJ format of spreading the shows out all over the city (or rather the borough), Northside is scattering a weekends worth of shows over two dozen venues during the Music segment. Northside will bring a slew of bands to every stage you have and haven’t heard of in north Brooklyn. From the Music Hall of Williamsburg to The Knitting Factory to Union Pool to Baby’s All Right to McCarren Park, the festival will populate Brooklyn’s music scene in mid-June. The line-up includes showcases by Pancakes & Whiskey, Pitchfork, Audiofemme and Exploding in Sound as well as several others.

Admission for the shows range from free to ~$10-$30 depending on the act. Badges are available for Music, Innovation, Film, and the entirety of Northside for up to $315. Whether you spring for the Premium badge or only stop by a few shows make sure the following make your list:

Thursday: Teen, Guerilla Toss
Friday: Vomitface, Whiskey Bitches
Saturday: Against Me!, Blonde Redhead, City Walls Autumn Falls, Xui Xiu
Sunday: Sleigh Bells, Animal Years

-Zoe Marquedant