Free Concert Notes: Titus Andronicus, Tokyo Police Club, Lyle Lovett, The Jacksons, & More

Joan Jett and the Blackhearts played a great show in Coney Island last night (more on that later), but there are still some high-profile free shows coming up in the next week (including several big ones tomorrow alone). Wherever you are in the NYC area, there's a show near you: in Central Park, Prospect Park, Coney Island, Lincoln Center (the last hurrah of the Lincoln Center Out of Doors festival), and Hoboken's Pier A, which hosted 15,000 for Mumford and Sons on Aug. 1st.

Titus Andronicus is part of a free concert at Van's in Brooklyn.

Below is a list of what's coming up in the next week; see the websites for more details on performers, set times, directions, etc. (Note: there are other events for Lincoln Center Out of Doors than the ones I've listed. The website has the complete schedule.)

Sat., Aug. 11th: Carolina Chocolate Drops, Buckwheat Zydeco, and Abigail Washburn, Central Park SummerStage, 3 p.m.

Sat., Aug. 11th: Lyle Lovett and His Acoustic Group and Aoife O'Donovan, Celebrate Brooklyn (Prospect Park), 7:30 p.m.

Sat., Aug. 11th: The Jacksons: Unity Tour 2012 at the Seaside Concerts in Coney Island (West 21st Street and Surf Avenue), 7:30 p.m.

Sat., Aug. 11th: 29th Annual Roots of American Music Festival at Lincoln Center Out of Doors:

• Willie Mae Rock Camp for Girls All-Star Band: Sister Songwriters, 5 p.m.
• The Triple Goddess Twilight Revue: Celebrating the Music of Laura Nyro, 6 p.m.
• Soulful Songwriters Circle: William Bell, Teenie Hodges, and Dan Penn, 7:30 p.m.
• Otis Clay and the Platinum Band, 8:45 p.m.

Sun, Aug. 12th: 29th Annual Roots of American Music Festival at Lincoln Center Out of Doors:

• Tom Paxton, 2 p.m.
• Swamp Dogg, 6 p.m.
• Aloe Blacc, 7 p.m.
• Pardon Our Analysis: An All-Star Gathering for Gil Scott-Heron, 8 p.m.

Thurs., Aug. 16th: Van's House Party with Cursive, Titus Andronicus, Love as Laughter, and Joyce Manor at House of Van's, 25 Franklin St., Brooklyn, 7 p.m. (RSVP here)

Sat., Aug. 18th: Australia Day concert with Husky, Sheppard, High Highs, George Byrne, Maya Jupiter, DJ Ashley Feraude, and Kid Zoom, Central Park, 3 p.m.

Thurs., Aug. 16th:  Gladys Knight and The Commodores at the Seaside Concerts in Coney Island (West 21st Street and Surf Avenue), 7:30 p.m.

Sat, Aug. 18th: Lackawanna Music Festival: Tokyo Police Club, Vacationer, Shinobi Ninja, Body Language, Lights Resolve, We Barbarians, and The Nightmare River Band, Pier A Park in Hoboken, 12 Noon (RSVP here) [UPDATE: There isn't much info at the official site about set times, etc., but this web page lists them. I can't vouch for them, but they sound about right.]

Speaking of free concerts, Joan Jett & the Blackhearts put on a great show last night in extremely muggy conditions in Coney Island (at least it didn't rain). She played a solid assortment of her classic crowd-pleasers, plus a few new songs (so a new album may be in the works). She opened the show with "Bad Reputation" (as usual) and the setlist included "Cherry Bomb," "Victim of Circumstance," "The French Song," "Love is Pain," and "Crimson and Clover." The new songs were called "TMI," "Hard to Grow Up," and "Reality Mentality."

The summer is winding up with a bang; go get out there and see some live music.

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).