Coney Island's Seaside Concerts Return for 2012 (Schedule)

It took a while for the schedule to appear, but the free Seaside Concert Series in Coney Island is back for 2012. Shows will be held next to the Brooklyn Cyclones' ballpark once again, and as always the series features a blend of classic rock, soul, and disco.

Squeeze and Joan Jett are two of the acts at the Seaside Concerts.

The concerts are held on Thursday nights (with a couple of exceptions as noted below), and begin at 7:30 p.m. The concert site is at West 21st Street and Surf Avenue (see directions here). See the Seaside Concert Series website for more details, and call the concert hotline at 718-222-0600. There are seven shows in this year's schedule, which is as follows:

Thurs., July 12th: Disco Night/Last Dance: A Tribute to Donna Summer. With Gloria Gaynor, The Village People, The Trammps, and Rose Royce

Fri., July 20th: Squeeze and The Romantics [UPDATE, July 20th: Tonight's show seems to still be a go, despite the wet weather. There's been no cancellation notice on the Seaside website or on the site of Coney Island Fun.]

Thurs., July 26th: Annual Latino Music by the Sea show: Oscar de Leon, Luis Enrique, and N'Klabe [UPDATE, July 26th: I haven't yet seen word that this show is cancelled, but I'm assuming that it will be due to the severe weather forecast for the NYC area. Many other outdoor concerts, films, etc. scheduled for the night have also been cancelled.]

Thurs., Aug. 2nd: Dennis DeYoung: The Music of Styx; Lou Gramm: The Voice of Foreigner; and Bobby Kimball: Original Lead Singer of Toto

Thurs., Aug. 9th: Joan Jett and the Blackhearts

Sat., Aug. 11th: The Jacksons

Thurs., Aug. 16th: Gladys Knight and The Commodores

Note: Although the concerts are free, those free seats are in the back section of the seating area. Paying $5 will get you a seat in the large front section. Also, I don't remember there being any concessions within the concert grounds. So if you're hungry, get something to eat before the show (Nathan's and other food options are just down the street).

Concert Notes: Cheap Trick in Brooklyn Tonight, Black Eyed Peas Reschedule Central Park Show, & More

Tickets for Wild Flag at Bowery Ballroom on Oct. 18th are on sale now. Above, the band plays "Future Crimes" at South by Southwest 2011.

There's still plenty of punch left in the free summer concert season, and a slate of good shows for September and beyond is already shaping up. Here's what's happening with some selected shows:

* Cheap Trick in Coney Island at the Seaside Summer Concert series, tonight, 7:30 p.m. The Seaside site lists the opening act as Mickey Leigh's New Yorkestra, but I've seen another opening act mentioned elsewhere. West 21st Street and Surf Avenue, next to the Brooklyn Cyclones' baseball stadium.

* The Black Eyed Peas Central Park concert has been rescheduled for Sept. 30th. As you'll remember, their June show was cancelled before it started by heavy rain, high winds, and lightning. As before, the "Concert 4 NYC" will benefit the Robin Hood Fund. The site has info on how to attend if you won or bought tickets for the June show. You can also buy tickets for the Sept. 30th show (expensive, but it benefits the charity). 7 p.m., the Great Lawn, Central Park.

* Wild Flag tickets for Bowery Ballroom on Oct. 18th went on sale yesterday. If you're a fan of female-powered indie rock, you'll want to see the all-woman "supergroup" in October (especially if, like me, you missed their recent show at the Williamsburg Waterfront with Sonic Youth).

Wild Flag is also playing Maxwell's in Hoboken on Oct. 16th; get tickets here.The Oct. 15th show at Bell House is sold out.

The band consists of two-thirds of Sleater-Kinney (Carrie Brownstein and Janet Weiss), Mary Timony (Helium and her solo work), and Rebecca Cole (The Minders). Tickets will sell fast for Wild Flag, which drops its self-titled debut album Sept. 13th. (Pre-order "Wild Flag"at Amazon.com.)

* The Union County Music Festival in Clark, NJ will be held the weekend of Sept. 16th through 18th. I was impressed with the lineup at this free festival last year, and this year's has a fun roster of artists, too, including Blondie, Neon Trees, Nicole Atkins and the Black Sea, Southside Johnny, Ed Kowalczyk of Live, The Smithereens, Paul Rodgers, and Toad the Wet Sprocket. I'll have more info on this festival in a forthcoming post.

What shows are you looking forward to seeing this weekend? Leave your comments below!

Free Concerts: Aretha Franklin Next Week; Taj Mahal Tonight; Eugene Mirman/They Might Be Giants Tomorrow

Aretha Franklin is confirmed for a free show in Coney Island next Thursday.

The Seaside concert series today announced its "mystery guest" for its show next Thursday, August 4th: Aretha Franklin. Some people had speculated that the performer might be Peter Frampton, but the Queen of Soul has been confirmed and is featured on the Seaside website (above).

Franklin had been scheduled to play the Coney Island free concert series last summer, but had to cancel it and a number of other shows due to illness. For a while there were rumors that Aretha had some kind of fatal disease, but happily those were just speculation and the soul pioneer is back on the road.

Other news in free summer concerts in New York City in the next couple of days:

* the inaugural Lowdown Hudson Blues Festival starts tonight at the World Financial Center with the legendary Taj Mahal and his trio, singer-songwriter Amy LaVere, and the new band featuring Mike Farris, who was the frontman of Double Trouble and the Screamin' Cheetah Wheelies. 6 to 9:30 p.m., WFC Plaza, outside the Winter Garden, near West & Vesey Sts. (see maps of WFC area)

Friday night the festival continues with James Blood Ulmer and the Memphis Blood Blues (featuring Vernon Reid of Living Color); The Growers, and The Beauties. 6 to 9:30 p.m., WFC Plaza.

The Lowdown Hudson Blues Festival concludes Saturday with Steven Bernstein's Millennial Territory Orchestra and Henry Butler featuring Dean Bowman and Sandra St. Victor; Hazmat Modine, Ryan Shaw; Danny Kalb; and Citigrass

* Actor and comedian Eugene Mirman will be doing a free show Friday at the Williamsburg Waterfront with special guests, including They Might Be Giants, who will be playing a full-length concert. The show, called Eugene Mirman and Pretty Good Friends, featuring Todd Barry, Patton Oswalt, and Kristen Schaal. Doors open at 5:30 p.m.; no ticket needed, but admission is first come, first served. Williamsburg Waterfront, East River State Park, 110 Kent St. (map of Williamsburg Waterfront with link to get directions)

They Might Be Giants says that the show will span their entire career, including their new album, "Join Us." And the band notes that the show is a homecoming of sorts, since the Williamsburg waterfront is where they filmed their very first video 25 years ago.

Spotify Launches in the U.S.; Joan Jett, Patti Smith Play Free Shows Tonight

The wait is over: Spotify is available to American music lovers as of July 14.

Spotify U.S. launches: After many false starts, the Spotify music streaming service arrived stateside today, July 14th. If you want to use the free service, you'll need to enter your e-mail address to get an invite (I have no idea how long it might take to get one). Spotify also has two options for paid service, at $4.99 and $9.99 a month, that you can sign up for now, without an invite.

If you use the website Klout, you may be able to get a free Spotify account right away through their "perks" program, depending on your "klout" level. (That's how I got my Spotify account today, although my klout score is not that high.)

So far I've been able to listen to a few albums in their entirety (the new Foo Fighters and Taking Back Sunday), so haven't had time to really explore the service too much. It works and sounds good so far, and the ads weren't too intrusive, in my opinion. I'll post more of my impressions of Spotify once I kick the tires a little more.

There was one disturbing note in using Spotify: when I opened the application with my iPod plugged in and iTunes open, Spotify was encouraging me to erase the music, movies, and similar content on my iPod. Huh? Needless to say, I didn't click on that option, and ejected my iPod so there was not even a possibility that its contents could be wiped out.

So what can Spotify do, in its free and paid versions? Spotify's blog introduces the services and explains the options. And Electronista has a quick hands-on guide to the premium Spotify features, with screen shots.

Free NYC shows tonight: Tonight is a good night for free gigs in the City. Here are some of the options:

* Joan Jett and Girl in a Coma, Seaside Summer Concerts, Coney Island, 7:30 p.m.
* Patti Smith and her band, River to River Festival, Castle Clinton, 7 p.m. (free tickets available at 5 p.m. at the site; first come, first served)
* Tune-Yards with Austra, RiverRocks, Hudson River Park (Pier 54), doors: 6 p.m. (show time not listed)

Free Summer 2011 Concerts: Joan Jett Kicks Off Coney Island Series

Joan Jett kicks off Coney Island's Seaside Summer Concert Series this Thursday.

The Seaside Summer Concert Series had to leave its old location, but that's not stopping the music. The popular series near the boardwalk in Coney Island, which had to leave Asser Park because of complaints from the neighbors, is now taking place a few blocks down the road, and Joan Jett and the Blackhearts will be kicking off the series this Thursday, July 14th.

Girl in a Coma, which is on Jett's own Blackheart Records, will open the show. I don't think the neighbors in the old location would have liked the racket these ladies can crank out.

The new location for the Seaside Summer Concert Series, says its website, is at West 21st St. and Surf Avenue, next to the Brooklyn Cyclones' ballpark. Concerts take place on Thursday nights at 7:30 p.m. You'll find directions to the Seaside concert location here. By subway, you can take the D, F, N, or Q trains to the last stop, Coney Island/Stillwell Ave. Turn right at the corner of Stillwell and Surf Avenues (where Nathan's is), and walk along Surf Avenue to West 21st St.

Also on the 2011 Seaside schedule:

• July 21 - An Evening with The Monkees and special guest MC Jay Black
  
• July 28 - Mary Wilson (of the Supremes) and The Spinners
  
• Aug. 4 - "Mystery Night" (artist to be announced a week before the show)
  
• Aug. 11 - Annual Latino Music by the Sea concert (artist to be announced; Maria Torres Dancers)
  
• Aug. 18 - Cheap Trick and The Rattlers 

The old location featured a number of row of folding chairs surrounded by a lawn area where people would lay out blankets, etc. I have no idea what the new concert venue is like, but the website says it has folding chair for rent. I'm hoping it's a grassy area like the previous site, as opposed to being basically a large paved area. I'll post any additional information I find out about the location.

What good shows are people seeing this week?