Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings, Lake Street Dive Play Free NYC Show Tonight

The Lowdown Hudson Blues Festival returns to lower Manhattan tonight and tomorrow, and as usual the organizers have put together a good lineup. Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings bring their popular old-style soul to the Brookfield Place stage tonight as the headliners. The No BS! Brass Band opens the show at 6 p.m., followed by up-and-coming pop-soul favorites Lake Street Dive at 7. Sharon Jones and her band take the stage at 8:30.

Above: "Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings at Pori Jazz 2" by kallerna - Own work. Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons.

Tomorrow night the headliner is legendary blues-rock singer-songwriter John Hiatt, whose songs have been covered by everyone from Bonnie Raitt to Sheryl Crow. Hiatt is scheduled to take the stage at 8:45 p.m., preceded by the James Carter Organ Trio (6 p.m.) and five-time Grammy-winning blues outfit the Robert Cray Band (7 p.m.).

The shows take place at the waterfront plaza at Brookfield Place (outside the World Financial Center Winter Garden), west of the World Trade Center near the intersection of West and Vesey Streets. (See map.) Seating is limited, but standing room is available. See the Lowdown Hudson Blues Festival website for instructions for getting seats.

A quick recap of the set times for this year's Lowdown Hudson Blues Festival:

July 16
6:00 PM - No BS! Brass Band
7:00 PM - Lake Street Dive
8:30 PM - Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings

July 17
6:00 PM - James Carter Organ Trio
7:00 PM - The Robert Cray Band
8:45 PM - John Hiatt & The Combo

Music Notes: Download New Corin Tucker Song, Muse Goes for Gold, Free Williamsburg Concerts, & More

Here's a roundup of news from around the music world: new songs, free concerts, & various other things.

* Corin Tucker of Sleater-Kinney has a new song out, "Groundhog Day," and you can download it here, (via Consequence of Sound and Pitchfork). It's the lead-off track from the group's forthcoming second album, "Kill My Blues" (cover below) which will come out on Sept. 18th on Kill Rock Stars.

Album cover of the second full-length from the Corin Tucker Band.

* Muse has also released a new song, "Survival," which has been tapped as the official song of the 2012 London Olympics (listen below). You're going to be hearing it everywhere; get used to it now.



* The schedule for free concerts at the Williamsburg waterfront have been released, and there are three solid shows:
July 19th: Pretty Good Friends with Eugene Mirman and special musical guest OK Go
August 18th: Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings with Antibalas
Sept. 7th: Bob Mould (performing Sugar's "Copper Blue" as well as songs from his new album, "Silver Age," as well as tunes from Husker Du, Sugar, and his solo career).

The shows take place at Williamsburg Park at N. 12th St. and Kent Ave. See Free Williamsburg for more information on free and ticketed concerts and links to buying tickets.

* Mumford & Sons announced summer tour dates, and they're coming to Hoboken on August 1st. They'll be playing at Pier A park, and tickets are $55 (but have no additional fees). For that price, I'll wait to see if there's a good opening act on the bill. Tickets go on sale here on Friday the 29th (presale is the 28th).

See here for tickets for all other summer Mumford shows.

Live Music in NYC & Environs for New Year's Eve - Who's Playing?

Patti Smith & band continue their annual run of New Year's Eve shows  in NYC this year. Shown here is their New Year's Eve 2007 show at Bowery Ballroom. Photo: Kimberly Smith

For me, seeing live music is the best way to ring in the new year. And all things considered, you can get more entertainment bang for your buck with a concert than with a pricey cocktail party or other New Year's Eve option.

Here's a look at some of the live music shows, large and small, taking place in New York City and the nearby area on Friday, December 31st. (Note: Tickets may not be available for all events at the time you're reading this; make sure to check the venue's website for details.)

• Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings & Allen Toussaint, Best Buy Theater (formerly Nokia Times Square), 8 p.m., $55
  
• Patti Smith and Band, Bowery Ballroom 8 p.m., $55
  
• Los Lobos, City Winery, two shows: 7:30 p.m., $60 to $175 (11 p.m. show sold out)
  
• Mike Doughty, Maxwell's (Hoboken, NJ), 7:30 p.m., $25
  
• The Detroit Cobras & The Fleshtones, Maxwell's, 10:30, $20 advance/$25 d.o.s.
  
• Chuck Berry, B.B. King's, 8 p.m. ($98 advance/$100 d.o.s.) & 11 p.m. ($120)
  
• The Butthole Surfers & Lumerians, Music Hall of Williamsburg, 9 p.m., $55
  
• Titus Andronicus, Real Estate, Andrew Cedermark, & Julian Lynch, Ridgewood Masonic Temple (Brooklyn), 8 p.m., $15
  
• Drive-By Truckers, Terminal 5, 9 p.m., $35
  
• Passion Pit & Slick Rick, Wellmont Theatre (Montclair, NJ), 8 p.m., $70
  
• Ms. Lauryn Hill, Bowery Ballroom, 8 p.m., $75
  
• Gov't Mule, Beacon Theatre, 9 p.m., $59.50 to $84 plus fees
  
• Phish, Madison Square Garden, 8 p.m., $70 plus fees
  

Music News: Dylan Cancels Asian Tour; Albums from Elliott Smith, Peter Wolf, & Sharon Jones; Rihanna & Neil Young Tour Dates

Left: Kill Rock Stars is releasing two albums by the late Elliott Smith this week.

There's lots of music news this week, from tour dates to new albums; from hot new artists to veteran performers:

* Bob Dylan has canceled his tour of Southeast Asia after Chinese officials declined to let him perform in Shanghai and Beijing. Dylan, who has never performed in China, is thought to have been kept out of those cities for fear the sometimes-rebellious performer might make some controversial comments, a la Bjork's shoutout to Tibet at her concert in Shanghai a couple of years ago.

* Northwest indie label Kill Rock Stars will re-release Elliott Smith's first and final full-length albums, "Roman Candle" (1994) and "From a Basement on the Hill," according to the Wall Street Journal's Speakeasy blog. The first had never been mastered; the latter is a release Smith was working on at the time of his suicide in 2003. Both are out tomorrow, April 6th.

* I hadn't thought about Peter Wolf, longtime singer for the J. Geils Band, for years, but he's coming out with a new album. Both the Wall Street Journal and NPR talked to the blues-rock group's frontman about his latest effort, "Midnight Souvenirs."

* The Journal also has a nice article on the new album by Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings, the soul group that uses tape machines and analog equipment in a Brooklyn studio to give its albums a retro-soul sound. "I Learned the Hard Way" drops on April 6th.

(Update: Amazon.com is offering a free MP3 download of the title song from "I Learned the Hard Way." Site doesn't say how long it'll be available.)

* Rihanna is spending her summer on tour, and taking along Ke$ha with her. On-sale dates for the Rihanna/Ke$ha tickets are posted; New York shows are August 12th at Madison Square Garden and August 15th at Jones Beach.

* Neil Young has announced some new May tour dates, with concerts slated for Buffalo, Connecticut, Kentucky, Atlanta, South Carolina, and Nashville.

New York Concerts on Sale: Vampire Weekend, Sharon Jones, Peter Gabriel, K'Naan, Mo'nique

UPDATE: Tickets now on sale for second Vampire Weekend show (9/16)
- - - - -
Here's the latest in my semi-irregular listing of New York area concerts that are going on sale soon or that recently went on sale. As usual, there's a good mix of big stars and up-and-coming artists who are popular.

Going on sale Friday, February 26th or Saturday, February 27th:

* Vampire Weekend, September 15th, Radio City Music Hall (SECOND VAMPIRE WEEKEND SHOW ADDED for September 16th; tickets on sale now)

* Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings, May 1st, Apollo Theater (April 30th show already on sale)

* Mo'nique, April 9th at Prudential Center (Newark) & April 24th (The Theater at Madison Square Garden)

Now on sale:

* Peter Gabriel (with 54-piece orchestra), May 2nd & May 3rd, Radio City Music Hall

* DJ Rekha, April 23rd, The Fillmore New York at Irving Plaza

* K'naan and Wale with John Forte, March 31st, The Fillmore New York at Irving Plaza

* April Fools Comedy Show hosted by DL Hughley, April 1st, The Theater at Madison Square Garden

More to come next week.