Brooklyn Comes Alive
Brooklyn NY
September 29, 2018
by Miles Hurley
To submit a story or to just say hello, email us at [email protected] Check out the Live Music News and Review.com Facebook page for updates and announcements. From last year: Skerik, George Porter Jr., Rob Compa and Eli Winderman-all year long music superfans chase names like these around the country, knowing that every live performance they give will be something special, and something wholly unique from yesterday’s show. The one day mega musical event Brooklyn Comes Alive, which returns this Saturday on September 29 to staple downtown venues The Brooklyn Bowl, Rough Trade, and Music Hall of Williamsburg, throws names like these together in a more or less impromptu setting, gives them the stage for a brief (but oh so special) block of time, and let’s them, for lack of better phrasing, simply “do their thing.” Ever want to a hear stripped down version of Lettuce with jazz virtuoso Wil Blades filling in? Or perhaps you have a feeling that bass wizard Mononeon and powerhouse drummer Nikki Glaspie would absolutely crush it together on stage? These are just a few out of many musical collaborations that will happen between over fifty artists this weekend in Brooklyn. See the lineup picture within this article to get a full scope of the impending awesomeness. Along with the more freeform sets, BCA’s lineup this year, as in past years, will have plenty in store in the way of musical tributes. Starting that off will be the triple header tribute at the Bowl, with Brandon “Taz” Niederaeur, Adam Smirnoff, and more honoring Col. Bruce Hampton, Butch Trucks, and Gregg Allman all in one set. Later, the music of the mighty Steely Dan will get treatment from a huge, heavy-hitting lineup at Music Hall of Williamsburg, including Kung Fu’s Tim Palmeri, The Motet’s Joey Porter, and others. Finally, a sure to be emotional honoring of Prince will be headed off by bass whiz Mononeon, the “Purple One’s” most recent surviving musical collaborator. The bass whiz will be joined for that by the likes of Nate Werth, Lyle Divinsky, the Turkuaz backup singers, and more. Come this Saturday, Brooklyn will experience an entire day and evening of musical moments that, come Sunday afternoon, people will be saying “you cannot have missed.” An event like Brooklyn Comes Alive is a jazz/funk/rock music fan’s secret dream come true, manifested across a series of improvisational mad science experiments. No matter what these sets might end up sounding like, native and traveling fans alike know that it will be special just the same. Actually, make that day, evening and morning-the fun is scheduled to reach all the way until 3:45 AM on Sunday, with the last features being two sets of Jam Cruise Presents: The Jam Room at Music Hall. One is hosted by original Meters Man George Porter Jr, the other by Brooklyn-scene queen Karina Rykman and Turkaz’s Craig Broadhead, and there’s no telling what may come out of those wee morning hours. The only understandable hang up is the overlap of many of these sets, but let’s be honest: that’s just another way of saying there’s too much good music happening at once, and is that actually a real problem? But, in all seriousness, attendees are advised to get to sets that they really want to see as early as possible, because the spaces of the Bowl, Rough Trade, and Music Hall of Williamsburg will fill up fast with packed crowds-that is a guarantee. And tickets are close to being sold-out! But there are some left for purchase, and you can get yours by heading to this ticket link below: