Brooklyn’s Got the Cure for the Wintertime Blues
The cold weeks ahead include such warm celebratory occasions as Mardi Gras, St. Patrick’s Day and the ushering in of (at last!) spring. Brooklyn’s myriad of music venues offer plenty of ways to celebrate these events — and virtually every day in between –with a mix of local artists and noteworthy performers from beyond the borough.
The Music Hall of Williamsburg closes out February with a trio of Brooklyn-rooted artists: Lake Street Dive on the 21st, former Walkmen frontman Hamilton Leithauser on the 23rd and 24th and singer- songwriter Kevin Garrett on Mardi Gras night (28th).
Fat Tuesday at The Way Station kicks off with The Heartland Nomads, an American-roots band based in Crown Heights, whose musical influences include fellow Brooklynites The Lone Bellow. They’ll be followed by another local band, the sultry, sweet string trio Sullied Accolades, and a couple of Brazilian-tinged Manhattan-based acts, Eliane Amherd and As Lolas.
Lake Street Dive / photo by Kyra Kverno
Other Mardi Gras night events include Milo Z and the Z Funk Band at The Hall at MP, New Orleans legend Walter “Wolfman” Washington at Brooklyn Bowl; MC Lars, Mega Ran and Weerd Science at The Knitting Factory; Brooklyn-based South Carolina blues singer Mary-Elaine Jenkins; and The Bell House’ Mardi Gras Bash. The latter show features our borough’s own Gordon Webster, the Hungry March Band (regulars at the Coney Island Mermaid Parade), and DJs Jonathan Toubin and Tanya Solomon.
A few nights later, March 4, The Bell House presents “Party Like It’s 1999: 20 Years Since We Lost Biggie,” celebrating the life and music of Bedford-Stuyvesant rap legend The Notorious B.I.G.
Green Day/ photo by Frank Maddocks / courtesy of BB Gun Press
While you’re waiting for the green days of spring you can check out Green Day at Barclays Center. They’ll be performing there on March 15 in support of their new album release, Revolution Radio.
For those who are into “the wearing of the green,” The Way Station becomes an Irish pub on St. Patrick’s Day (March 17), with the traditional-meets-modern sounds of Three Pints Shy (featuring Brooklyn’s own Jonathan Siregar), Rascals & Rogues and the venue’s own “Celtified” House Band, The Waysties.
On March 18 at the Music Hall of Williamsburg, local dance-rockers Argonaut & Wasp will open for next-door (Queens) neighbors Oxymorrons, who broke out at Brooklyn’s AfroPunk Festival in 2012 as winners of the Battle of the Bands. Weyes Blood (aka multi-instrumentalist Natalie Mering), who drew raves for her show at Greenpoint’s Park Church Co-Op in November, plays the Hall on March 30.
For those who want to put a little “spring” in their step and get their groove on, National Sawdust hosts “Spring Revolution: Jog Blues,” with Jonathan Rose and Jeffrey Zeigler, while Brooklyn Bowl presents the Williamsburg Salsa Orchestra on March 26 and The James Brown Dance Party on March 30. Taking a sneak peek further ahead, the great Willie Nile plays the Bowl on April 6.
For something in the classical vein, Roulette hosts the String Orchestra of Brooklyn, with the Mivos Quartet, performing works by Anna Clyne, a London-born composer who currently calls Park Slope home.