Patti Smith News

Riot Fest has unveiled its daily lineup for the 2019 festival, with a very special deal: single-day tickets will be priced at $49.98 for a very limited time. 1-day and 2-day tickets are on sale now.

Maria-Christina Oliveras takes us through her involvement with the world premiere musical KISS MY AZTEC!

Experience the first free public performance of '41 Strings,' a four-part symphony composed and performed by Nink Zinner (Yeah Yeah Yeahs) and 50 musicians at Rockefeller Center on Saturday, July 27 starting at 6:00 PM at Rockefeller Plaza, located between 49th and 50th Streets and 5th and 6th Avenues, Manhattan.  The New York-centric ensemble joining Zinner includes Paul Banks (Interpol), Lenny Kaye (Patti Smith band), Jaleel Bunton (TV on the Radio), Nancy Whang (LCD Soundsystem), Brian Chase (Yeah Yeah Yeahs) and more.

Opera on Tap in partnership with The Old Stone House, The Park Slope Fifth Avenue BID, and Anti-Social Music and in association with Sing For Hope and with support from the Park Slope Civic Council, will stage an interactive musical walk through America's volatile political history the weekends of July 5th and July 12th entitled This Is The Ground. With curatorial support from famed song historian Paul Sperry, music will include a diverse array of songs spanning popular and classical styles ranging from the 1790s to now. Billed as a site-specific, interactive musical journey mapping an American refusal to surrender, the experience has been developed and directed by renowned theatre-makers, Latrelle Bright and Jerre Dye.

The new exhibition Bob Gruen: Rock Seen opens at the Morris Museum, featuring a selection of 72 works by one of rock & roll's best-known and most respected photographers. Active in the rock scene for over fifty years, Bob Gruen (b. 1945, New York) has shot some of the most memorable images of rock music's greatest artists. His photographic approach is distinguished by the ability to capture performers, both onstage and off, through candid images that convey the feeling of the moment. The show will be on view from June 21 November 10, 2019.

Alex Harris, the Texas-hailing Atlanta-based emerging alternative R&B singer-songwriter, releases his debut EP Pink Cloud today via RED MUSIC. CLICK HERE to listen to the newcomer's 5-track EP that Harris penned and co-executive produced alongside Nathaniel 'Nature' Jones and executive producer Damian Clarke. The genre-bending EP, which fuses classic and current pop, hip-hop, alternative, and R&B melodies, details Harris's personal journey as an artist coming into his own and ready to make his introduction to the world. Pink Cloud is available on all digital streaming platforms now.

What we always hear: "Black Male Shot by White Police Officer." What we never see - how loved ones struggle to cope in the aftermath.The Matrix Theatre Company presents theWest Coast premiere of a daring new play from a significant emerging voice in theater. Scraps, written by Geraldine Inoa and directed by 2019 Obie Award winner Stevie Walker-Webb, opens at the Matrix Theatre onJuly 6, with previews beginning June 27. 

Carnegie Hall today announced the 2019-2020 season of Carnegie Hall Citywide, a free concert series that brings music to all five boroughs of New York City. Presented in partnership with local community organizations, the performances showcase outstanding mainstage artists and rising stars, tapping into the pulse of the city and bringing people together to share in the joy of music. Carnegie Hall Citywide builds on Carnegie Hall's tradition of bringing free concerts to New York City neighborhoods for more than 40 years.

TheaterWorks and the Wadsworth Museum of Art are joining forces to present drag superstar Varla Jean Merman in her one-woman comedy cabaret Under a Big Top on Sunday, June 23rd at 7pm. The performance, co-written by Hartford-area playwright Jacques Lamarre and directed by Michael Schiralli, will be held in the Wadsworth Atheneum's theater.

Like a lot of good music, Riot Fest began in a basement, when a rabid fan wanted to connect his favorite bands with like-minded music lovers in Chicago. Fifteen years and 1,500+ bands later, Riot Fest returns to Douglas Park with a stacked array of bands to score the festivities—featuring many friends of Riot Fest returning to pay tribute to the festival and its loyal fans, alongside iconic and emerging artists who reflect the broad musical tastes the festival is known for.

From the ashes of London indie pop outfit Blindness comes the dark and dynamic alt-rock project Where We Sleep. The debut EP 'Experiments In The Dark' releases on May 31. Ahead of this, the present 'Into The Light', which features Debbie Smith of Echobelly, Curve and SPC ECO fame on guitar. Smith was also in Blindness and is part of the trio Snowpony with My Bloody Valentine's Debbie Googe and Moonshake's Katharine Gifford.

ArtsEmerson, Boston's leading presenter of contemporary world theatre, proudly announces its 10th Anniversary Season featuring five new commissioned works and five reprises from six different countries. The 2019/20 season continues ArtsEmerson's commitment to international work and to contemporary artistic forms including circus, mixed media, music theatre and first person narrative all from diverse perspectives. The landmark anniversary season will feature the world premiere of Detroit Red (produced by ArtsEmerson and written by Will Power) which uplifts Malcolm X's under-examined, life-shaping experiences as a young man who called Boston home. It will also feature the U.S. Premiere of Plata Quemada (TEATROCINEMA), the gritty true story of Argentina's most daring bank heist.

Holding its sixth edition over the midnight sun weekend with 72 hours of non-stop sunlight next month, Iceland's Secret Solstice has revealed its final lineup for this June 21-23, 2019 at Laugardalur, Reykjavik, Iceland in addition to announcing its new off-site after-hours programming, Ragnarök. Welcoming over thirty new acts to its artist lineup new additions include UK rapper Yxng Bane, technical DJ wizard James Zabiela, Canadian rapper/producer Night Lovell, and rising hip hop newcomer Dillon Cooper. Also announced are California's house and techno partystarters Desert Hearts with Mikey Lion, Lee Reynolds, and Marbs as part of their debut European tour as well as Bill Patrick, Patrice Bäumel, No Regular Play (live) and many more including a plethora of talent from Iceland's burgeoning music scene.

Children's Theatre Company announced today they are entering the development phase on a new punk rock musical based on the award-winning book, The First Rule of Punk by Celia C. Perez. This premiere production will feature select songs from the BMG catalog. BMG proudly represents the music publishing of such iconic artists as Blondie, Iggy Pop, Patti Smith, Devo, Siouxsie and the Banshees, Billy Idol, Simple Minds, The Cramps, Television, The Slits, The Germs, Chrissie Hynde & The Pretenders, and more.

Ford Theatres presents an immersive experience: Last Whispers - Oratorio for Vanishing Voices, Collapsing Universes and a Falling Tree, on Friday, June 14 at 8:00pm. Last Whispers is simultaneously a spatially-designed sound composition and a film -- an invocation of languages that have gone extinct and an incantation of those that are endangered.

 The Mahaiwe Performing Arts Center will present Broadway legend Patti LuPone on Saturday, July 20 at 8:00pm, and The Fab Faux performing a celebration of the 50th anniversary of Abbey Road on Friday, August 2 at 8:00pm. Tickets go on sale to Mahaiwe members on Thursday, December 20 and to the general public on Friday, December 28. Mahaiwe members enjoy ticket discounts, early ordering privileges, and other perks for a full 12 months. Memberships start at $75 ($35 for those 30 and under) and contributions can be made at the box office or online.

Starting tonight, 100+ setlists from renowned musicians will go to auction online to benefit international youth writing and activism centers and organizations on behalf of Setlists For Young Voices. Setlists For Young Voices is a new initiative developed and launched by Nick Hornby (novelist, screenwriter, co-founder ofMinistry of Stories, a London-based youth writing center), with the help of Dave Eggers (novelist, co-founder of San Francisco youth writing center 826 Valencia), and Michael Chabon (novelist, screenwriter).

Evans Mirageas, The Harry T. Wilks Artistic Director of Cincinnati Opera, today announced a host of programs celebrating the company's upcoming 100th anniversary in 2020, along with repertoire and casting highlights of the 2020 Summer Festival.

Seattle Women's Chorus (SWC) wraps their 2018-2019 season with one big blowout concert at Benaroya Hall on April 28 at 4pm. Legends of Rock is a loud proud ode to the trailblazing singer-songwriters who weren't afraid to raise their voices and make a scene.