On Thursday, August 19, the 32nd annual Seaside Summer Concert Series at Asser Levy/Seaside Park, hosted by Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz, will welcome new wave legends the B-52s, with a special appearance by founding Go-Go's singer Belinda Carlisle. The Seaside Summer Concert Series at Coney Island and Martin Luther King, Jr. Concert Series in Crown Heights/Central Brooklyn have entertained hundreds of thousands of residents over the past three decades and remain the largest free concert series in the New York metropolitan area.
"Brooklyn is proud home to everyone from everywhere, so there is no better place in the world to enjoy music-the universal language," said
BP Markowitz. "That's why I have been so proud to host free concerts at Coney Island for more than three decades, and in Central Brooklyn for 28 years. From Seaside's stellar lineup of
Neil Sedaka,
The Beach Boys and the B-52s to MLK's
George Clinton,
Toni Braxton, and Sean Paul, Brooklyn is once again the place to be for hot fun in the summertime."
It has been said that the B-52s are as quintessentially American as
The Beach Boys. And twenty-five years and over twenty million albums into their career, the B-52s remain the among the most beloved rock stars ever. Any mystery concerning the longevity and ongoing appeal of the B-52s is immediately solved when exposed to their unique concert experience. From the timeless gems of Rock Lobster, Planet Claire and Private Idaho, to the more recent classics of Channel Z, Love Shack and Roam, the B-52s unforgettable dance-rock tunes start a party every time the music begins.
Formed on an October night in 1976, following drinks at an Athens, GA, Chinese restaurant, the band played their first gig at a friend's house on Valentine's Day 1977. Naming themselves after Southern slang for exaggerated "bouffant" hairdos, the newly-christened B-52s (
Fred Schneider,
Kate Pierson, Keith Strickland, Cindy Wilson and Ricky Wilson) began weekend road trips to New York City for gigs at CBGB and a handful of other venues.
Before long, their thrift store aesthetic and genre-defying songs were the talk of the post-punk underground. A record deal soon followed and their self-titled debut disc, produced by
Chris Blackwell, sold more than 500,000 copies on the strength of their first singles, the garage rock party classic Rock Lobster and 52 Girls. The B-52s began to attract fans far beyond the punk clubs of the Lower East Side, galvanizing the pop world with their "stream-of-consciousness" approach to songwriting and outrageous performance. They had clearly tapped into a growing audience for new music that was much larger than anyone could have anticipated. "We always appealed to people outside the mainstream," says
Kate Pierson, "and I think more people feel they're outside the mainstream these days."
Hollywood native
Belinda Carlisle was (and occasionally still is) the lead vocalist for the pop rock band the Go-Go's and is also a successful solo artist. After the initial breakup of the Go-Go's in 1985, Belinda embarked on a solo career resulting in six internationally successful albums and the chart-topping hit Heaven is a Place on Earth. The video for that song was directed by
Diane Keaton and included an appearance by Belinda's husband Morgan Mason, son of actor
James Mason.
Carlisle's TV appearances include Celebrity Duets, the MTV competition reality show Rock the Cradle, and the eighth season of Dancing with the Stars. Her autobiography, Lips Unsealed, was released in June of 2010.
The Seaside Summer Concert Series, now in its 32nd year, is the largest free outdoor music series in New York. Throughout the years, the Thursday night series has attracted top name classic rock, pop, oldies, contemporary and Latin performers to Asser Levy/Seaside Park, at West 5th Avenue and Surf Avenue in Coney Island. Shows begin at 7:30 P.M. Chair rentals will be available for $5, or concertgoers can bring their own chairs.
The Martin Luther King, Jr. Concert Series is celebrating its spectacular 28th season with a star-studded lineup of gospel, classic soul, contemporary, Caribbean and R&B artists. The free concerts are at 7:30 Monday nights at Wingate Field, entrances on Brooklyn Avenue between Rutland Road and Winthrop Street. Seating is limited so attendees should bring chairs.
Performers are subject to change without notice. Call the concert hotline for updates at 718-222-0600, or visit
www.brooklynconcerts.com.
