Raise the Roof of the Town Hall with They Might Be Giants, Nada Surf & Charles Bissell of the Wrens!

Join us for the Raise the Roof Benefit Concert to help fund the Northside Town Hall Community and Cultural Center. NAG and the People's Firehouse need to raise almost $2 million to make the former Engine 212 into a building that will be a new civic engine for the neighborhood by housing a variety of important community services and offer a new community performance venue/meeting space. Help us make the dream a reality and join us...

Wednesday October 28th at the Music Hall of Williamsburg
66 North 6th St, btween Wythe and Kent.
Doors at 8p, show at 9p
Buy tickets now: General Admission $25, VIP Tickets $75

They Might Be Giants
Charles Bissell of the Wrens
Nada Surf (acoustic)

These are local bands that rarely play in the neighborhood, so this is your chance to see them, while helping us kick off our fundraising campaign for the Town Hall.

Tickets are $25 general admission, and there are a limited number of $75 VIP tickets. The VIP tickets allow access to a special seating area and free wine and food from Red Tail Ridge Winery and The Garden.

More information about the show is on the Music Hall of Williamsburg's site.

You can buy tickets:
-Online via Ticketmaster
-At the Music Hall of Williamsburg (Sat 11a-6p) or Mercury Lounge (Mon-Sat 12-7p)
-At Teddy's (96 Berry Street @ North 8th Street)

The show will have special guests, games of skill, art happenings, and other exciting things--get your tickets now!

"Pool Parties" to return

But this time, they will be in East River State Park. Perhaps they will name them "Park Parties?"

Photo by Amit Gupta via creative commons license

Concerts Seeking New Home

The Daily News has a story about where the McCarren Park Pool concerts will go once construction begins this winter, with a quote from NAG board member Evan Thies (hat tip: 11211). As noted previously, the City's Bushwick Inlet Park, proposed to be constructed in stages over the next few years is one possible site. Others under consideration are the waterfront State Park between N7th and N9th and several private waterfront parcels in Greenpoint.

Alex Kane, a concert organizer who runs JellyNYC--the folks who bring you the free Sunday pool parties--has been the very active on trying to find new concert space. The Open Space Alliance, a local non-profit that has coordinated the events at the pool this summer and helped keep the proceeds in the neighborhood, is also playing a major role in seeking a new venue.

Related Items
Sign the JellyNYC petition to keep concerts in the neighborhood
The last free concert at the pool is scheduled for this Sunday, August 24, and features indie-rock mainstay Yo La Tengo.

McCarren Park Pool Events Need a Home in 2009

Free Williamsburg notes that the Pool Party at McCarren Pool this past Sunday was one of the most popular and crowded yet. Now in their fourth year, performances at the pool are operated under the non-profit umbrella of the Open Space Alliance.

As a welcome development, the Parks Dept. will begin construction a restored, functional pool in 2009. But while the pool is under construction for several years (and depending on Parks Dept. policies once it's finished), the free events that have thrived there will need a new home. One site under consideration is 50 Kent Ave, a former sanitation facility, but there may be environmental issues with the site preventing its use in 2009, and the site lacks the inspirational setting of the pool.

Photo by Agaton Strom

Noted: There will be a benefit concert for the Open Space Alliance on August 13 featuring Wilco (fun fact: band member Pat Sansone was a Greenpoint resident for a few years).

And, while we're talking about the pool, we can't resist a link to PoolAid's classic "We Are The Pool" video, which was produced by NAG board member Mikki Halpin and featured this poster in the role of a lifetime as PoolAid Man.