WFMU is takin' the act on the road! On Saturday, April 28th, we'll be staging a freeform styled invasion of Brooklyn's wonderful Southpaw nightclub. On the evening's menu will be live sets from The Major Stars, Jonathan Kane's February, Flaming Fire, and DJ/Rupture (w/ accompanying video by Daniel Perlin). Admission will be free!
Ehh, wouldja dance that back to me, pilgrim?
Yes indeed, this event will be the kickoff for a multi-part series of WFMU-sponsored FREE live music events to be held in the city over the coming months. We're desperately excited to be stepping back into the realm of live music events, and even more excited to be working with such an incredible lineup of artists. We'll be spotlighting each of the performers here on the blog in the coming weeks, so stay tuned for further developments, all of which will be announced on the air, on the WFMU homepage, and right here on BoTB. Mark your calendars and saddle up, folks. This'll definitely be one for the record books, and I ain't talkin' about Trouser Press.
The Free Music Series is being made possible through a grant that WFMU received from the New York
State
Music Fund, which was set up by New York Governor Elliott Spitzer. The fund's goal is to help creatively-minded artists who are not afforded the same opportunities for exposure that bands with the backing of commercial radio, slick-talking industry insiders, and major record labels are. In fact, it's some of those same major labels who were found to be engaging in payola to drum up airplay for their various flavor-of-the-moment acts. The subsequent fines paid by said labels were collected by the NYSMF, and have been deployed to non-profit arts organizations like us to promote the kind of independent musicians that we feel a special artistic kinship with. We're extremely proud to have assembled such a dizzying collection of top-notch performers, all of whom bring wildly different yet perfectly complementary sounds to the bill. If you're a fan of what this radio station does, you'll want to make attendance your weekend's top priority.
Although admission to this event will be free, there are no advanced tickets available. Admission will be first come, first served on the evening of the show. Southpaw is located at 125 5th Avenue in Park Slope, Brooklyn. 18+ to enter, 8 PM doors.
Additional artist links with Real Audio listen links:
Major Stars live on WFMU | Listen to "Cinnamon and Lightning"
Jonathan Kane's February live on WFMU | Listen to "Sis"
Flaming Fire live on WFMU | Listen to "Lemon Isis"
DJ/Rupture on MySpace | DJ/Rupture's blog | Listen to "Little More Oil" (featuring Sister Nancy)
Wow! This is very cool for many reasons.
1. Thanks, Governor Spitzer. What a clever use of fines collected from payola perps. It is actually approaching justice to have those fines go to non-profits and creatively-minded artists. Kinda Robin-Hood-esque, wouldn't ya say? How nice that this fund will help make up for the travesty-of-the-week pushed by the labels and major stations.
2. To said payola perps: nyah-nyah!
3. Congrats to FMU for scoring a grant from NY State. And you're in NJ! Since when does NY give NJ anything except the finger?
4. Free music! Thanks FMU for passing the goodies on to us, and to a gaggle of musicians. I saw Flaming Fire at the Loser's Lounge Devo show many years ago, and their act was so fantastic. Looking forward to seeing them. And you!
Posted by: Cheese Snob Wendy | April 04, 2007 at 02:35 PM
Perhaps New York is realizing that some of its cultural heritage is borrowed from the DURRTY JERRZZ JURZ
Posted by: ifjjjjjjjjj | April 04, 2007 at 06:09 PM
Well well, the many facets of public opinion. Here, I was just thinking that this series shows that a big part of WFMU's hometown vibes are in NYC, see?
Posted by: Parq | April 04, 2007 at 08:14 PM
WFMU is classic NJ weirdness, just like Uncle Floyd. NYC can enjoy the fruits of it from time to time, of course.
Posted by: ???? | April 04, 2007 at 09:04 PM
The future of live streaming music: live bands.
Posted by: Nicholas | April 05, 2007 at 07:36 AM
I like to think that WFMU is as much a part of the underdog gonzo spirit of Jersey as it is a part of the art and culture of New York City. Also, since NYC is within our broadcast range (and it is a New York State grant that's making this possible), the placement makes good sense.
Posted by: Mike Lupica | April 05, 2007 at 10:46 AM
Those who've never seen Flaming Fire are in for a treat. Their show at Tonic a few weeks ago was the best of theirs I've yet seen (and I've seen a good many of their shows). Request their cover of Dio's "Holy Diver" and see what happens.
Posted by: vjb2 | April 09, 2007 at 07:28 PM
I'm a narc, and even I am generally interested in this event going well. Best of luck you crazy kids.
Posted by: TotalSquare | April 16, 2007 at 08:25 PM
I, too, am a Narc, and wish you all well in this bold adventure.
Posted by: Sergeant Reff | April 16, 2007 at 10:10 PM
How big a crowd is anticipated for this event? I'd love to go, but it's a bit of a haul by public transit (2 hours or so for me) so I don't want to go through that to be turned away at the door.
Posted by: Listener Dave | April 17, 2007 at 05:18 PM
Flaming Fire red is the new black, Park Slope is the new Macdougal St, and WFMU is the new Radio Free America. I will definately interrupt my otherwise sedentary life to attend the SP gig. Nothing like sharing a good bill with the FMU fam.
Posted by: Magoo | April 21, 2007 at 07:08 AM