After this long miserable winter, we needed some kind of bright burst of color to lift our spirits. Don’t bother looking outside, look right here on this screen because you can finally start planning your summer around the free Celebrate Brooklyn Prospect Park shows. The folks at BRIC really topped themselves this year, snagging not only Janelle Monae for the opening night show, but also grabbing St. Vincent, The Dum Dum Girls, Deltron 3030 and Talib Kweli among others for the summer’s free shows. Full lineup below, and judging by this at least, it’s gonna be a good summer.
All shows listed are free (suggested donation $3); shows with the $$$ next to them are paid ticketed shows.
Celebrate Brooklyn Opening Night Concert with Janelle Monáe
Wednesday June, 4, 8pm
THE SOUL REBELS | JON CLEARY & THE ABSOLUTE MONSTER GENTLEMEN | THE LOST BAYOU RAMBLERS
Saturday, June 7, 7pm
$$$ JACK JOHNSON | BAHAMAS Celebrate Brooklyn! Benefit Concert
Tuesday, June 10, 7:00pm
CELEBRATE ORNETTE: THE MUSIC OF ORNETTE COLEMAN FEATURING DENARDO COLEMAN VIBE
Thursday, June 12, 7:00pm
OZOMATLI’S OZOKIDZ
Saturday, June 14, 4pm
$$$ THE NATIONAL | PHOSPHORESCENT Celebrate Brooklyn! Benefit Concert
Tuesday, June 17, 7pm
$$$ THE NATIONAL | LORD HURON Celebrate Brooklyn! Benefit Concert
Wednesday, June 18, 7pm
$$$ THE NATIONAL | MS MR Celebrate Brooklyn! Benefit Concert
Thursday, June 19, 7pm
AMOS LEE | LAKE STREET DIVE
Friday, June 20, 7:30pm
DUM DUM GIRLS | HOSPITALITY | TEEN
Saturday, June 21, 7pm
WARPAINT | YELLOWBIRDS
Thursday, June 26, 7:30pm
SHOVELS & ROPE | VALERIE JUNE | SHAKEY GRAVES
Friday, June 27, 7pm
LUCIANO | SANDRA ST. VICTOR & OYA’S DAUGHTER
Saturday, June 28, 7:30pm
ROBERT GLASPER EXPERIMENT FEATURING TALIB KWELI | GLENN KOTCHE | AJA MONET
Saturday, July 5, 7:00pm
ILLYA KURYAKI & THE VALDERRAMAS | CHOCQUIBTOWN | RVSB
Thursday, July 10, 7:00pm
VOTE, IT AIN’T ILLEGAL YET!
Friday, July 11, 7:30pm
ALLOY ORCHESTRA: HE WHO GETS SLAPPED | STEPHANE WREMBEL
Saturday, July 12, 7:30 P.M.
SHEN WEI DANCE
Thursday, July 17, 8:00pm
BEBEL GILBERTO | VINICIUS CANTUÁRIA | NETSAYI
Friday, July 18, 7:00pm
DELTRON 3030 | NOMADIC MASSIVE
Saturday, July 19, 7:30pm
$$$ NEUTRAL MILK HOTEL | CIRCULATORY SYSTEM Celebrate Brooklyn! Benefit Concert
Tuesday and Wednesday, July 22 & 23, 7:00pm
NICKEL CREEK
Thursday, July 24, 7:30pm
AMANDLA!: A REVOLUTION IN FOUR-PART HARMONY | NAO MUYANGA
Friday, July 25, 7:30pm
$$$ NICK CAVE & THE BAD SEEDS | DEVENDRA BANHART | NICOLE ATKINS Celebrate Brooklyn! Benefit Concert
Saturday July 26, 7pm
DANCE THEATER OF HARLEM | LEYLA MCCALLA
Thursday, July 31, 7:30pm
JIMMY BOSCH Y SU ESTRELLAS | PEDRITO MARTINEZ GROUP FEATURING ARIACNE TRUJILLO
Friday, August 1, 7:30pm
KES THE BAND | KUENTA I TAMBU (KiT)
Saturday, August 2, 7:30pm
ALTAN | MAURA O’CONNELL
Thursday, August 7, 7:30pm
ASIAN DUB FOUNDATION: THX 1138 | TAYLOR MCFERRIN
Friday, August 8, 7:30pm
ST. VINCENT | SAN FERMIN
Saturday, August 9, 7:30pm
You can find the whole schedule here, but yeah, this looks like a great season. Who needs Bonnaroo?