Category: Brooklyn

Tours of Historic Kings Theatre in Brooklyn Make a Smashing Comeback

Kings Theatre, located in Brooklyn New York is proud to announce their Historic Tour events will be making a comeback. Tour dates are scheduled for February 18 and March 11 at 1pm. An introduction of a weekday tour will be taking place on March 21 at 7pm.

Kings Theater built in 1929 as one of the five original Loew’s Wonder Theaters . The Theater was originally a movie palace live performance venue featuring vaudeville reviews. The 20th century movie palace was inspired by the French Renaissance Revival style of the Palace of Versailles and the Paris Opera House. What we now know as Kings Theater became stagnant after its closing in 1979 until undergoing restoration in 2013. In 2015, the theater was officially opened as Kings Theatre with a debut performance by the amazing Dianna Ross. Kings Theatre is now recognized as a cultural and economic cornerstone of the Flatbush community and a magnificent addition to Brooklyn’s spirited cultural landscape.

During the 75 minute tour, expect to be educated on the historical and architectural highlights from knowledgeable tour guides. For example, guests will learn about the baroque stylings of this luxurious theater, the “Queen of Kings”, the Robert Morgan Wonder Organ, and become informed on the theater’s daily workings.Starting in the resplendent grand lobby, guests will travel through ornate speakeasy lounges and both levels of the 3,055-seat auditorium.

Under the management of Ambassador Theatre Group, Kings Theatre now portrays a variation of world class programming that includes live music, stand-up comedy, theatrical and literary events in addition to hosting film shoots and even private events. Guests will have the option of enhancing their experience to include two drinks and access to one of the theaters private speakeasies for a post tour destination. For tickets and further information on Kings Theatre tours, please visit here.

January 26, 2023
Nick Hakim Returns to Brooklyn with Third Album “Cometa”

Coming off the October release of his third full-length album, Cometa, Brooklyn-based artist, Nick Hakim, performed at Brooklyn Steel this past Saturday, Jan. 21.

Nick Hakim, 2023 Photo by Parker Alexander

Nick, joined by his incredibly smooth, regular musician accompaniment consisting of bassist Kyle Myles, guitarist Joe Harrison, and drummer Vishal Nayak, brought fresh sounds and layers to his already sonically rich vocal and backing melodies.

The night’s performance began with a few songs off the new record, blending in occasional songs from his second and debut album, also including, “I Don’t Know”, from his E.P. Where Will We Go, Pt. 2.

Nick Hakim, 2023 Photo by Parker Alexander

Midway through the gracefully blended set, show opener June McDoom joined the band on stage, providing harmonies fit for Nick’s soulfully gritty vocal style throughout the remainder of the show (not including the encore).

Nick Hakim & June McDoom, 2023 Photo by Parker Alexander

Later in the night, Nick’s brother Danny supplied guitar accompaniment to “Perfume”, which he wrote the chords for.

Nick and Danny Hakim & June McDoom, 2023 Photo by Parker Alexander

Some highlights of the night were a rousing performance of “Qadir”, named after his late friend, Qadir Imhotep West. Through repeated choruses, the band fully enveloped the audience, reaching out in the quiet and intimate moments, making the once industrial steel manufacturing plant feel like a personal performance in his living room, all whilst not forgetting to shy away from the crunchy, distorted guitar riffs and driving bass line.

Tomorrow night, the group heads to Philadelphia, continuing the tour through mid-February, before flying overseas in March.

January 23, 2023
Brooklyn MC Skyzoo Releases “The Mind Of A Saint” Album, “Straight Drop” Video

Brooklyn-based MC Skyzoo has dropped his newest studio creation, told from the point of view of “Franklin Saint”, the series protaganist of FX’s Snowfall. The video for lead single “Straight Drop” has also been released.

Skyzoo Releases New Concept Album

Art Imitating Art

Across this new 10 song character study, Skyzoo puts himself in the mind of the character, and raps about the motivations, surroundings, and the reality of the drug epidemic.

“When making this album, I wanted to do something that creatively pushed a button. Something that served a purpose, while trying to understand both sides of the fence that it represents. The idea of a fictional character, Franklin Saint, and what his innermost thoughts could be when dealing with the worlds he’s caught in between. What makes it so intriguing is that his character and his world are mirrors of a time and era that really happened. The birth of one of the world’s most addictive drugs and how its ripple effect took on a life that may seemingly never die. The crack era was one of the worst chapters in black America’s story. Using the Snowfall series as a vehicle to delve into both sides was truly fascinating as an emcee”.
Skyzoo

This companion experience comes at a perfect time, as the sixth and final season of FX’s Snowfall begins airing on February 22, 2023.

The Mind Of A Saint, Now available

A Successful Partnership

For this LP, Skyzoo once again teamed with D.C based The Other Guys. The production duo of Mighty Joe and Isaiah “Insanate” Mensah follow have been collaborating with Skyzoo for years. Their music chemistry is palpable on this project, which has relatable themes, even to those not familiar with Snowfall. The songs feature thoughtful interludes, and Pete Rock/DJ Premier-style outro beats at the end.

While not new to the ‘conceptual album” as evident on his previous projects, this is definitely Skyzoo’s most ambitious, and often grueling project.

“It was one of the most intense projects I’ve ever written. The idea of becoming a fictional character, which represents actual real-life events, making sure to hit every detail, from both the show and our real world, was a writing exercise like no other” Skyzoo claims. “I’m honored to have been able to do so, and I’m honored that The Other Guys trusted me to step outside a box, and truly push the envelope with this. Enjoy, and remember, like they told us in the ’80s: Just Say No.”

Skyzoo’s The Mind Of A Saint is now available at all DSP’s via First Generation Rich/HiPNOTT Records.

January 19, 2023
Raegan Sealy Drops Soulful Pop Hit “Make ’em Jealous”

Brooklyn soulful pop artist Raegan Sealy’s newest single “Make ‘em Jealous” just dropped on January 12^th, an upbeat, indie soul piece set out to reframe the cliché of being stuck in a toxic relationship, with a satirical spin.

“Make ‘em Jealous,” featuring The Gang of Angels, an all-female choir from Nottingham, UK led by Honey Williams. Taking her inspiration from a diverse range of artists like the Arctic Monkeys, Lana Del Rey, Marina, and more, Sealy fuses her soul-pop vocals with an infectiously recurring beat.

Sealy’s new single shines optimism on the self-delusion that so often keeps us from moving on. “Make ‘em Jealous” reclaims the hope of strength and courage in the healing part of a breakup. With lyrics such as, “Everyone wants a sip of my love, but they just get a taste,” Sealy shows off her undeniable confidence and spunk.

“What is it that we tell ourselves in order to ‘stay?’ How does our ego react to accommodate disrespect? And how hilarious is that, when you think about it? This emotional push and pull in these dynamics is truly often like a Laurel and Hardy sketch,”
Raegan Sealy, on her new single.

Outside of music, Sealy is an advocate and teaching artist, and received a Fulbright Scholarship in 2015, one of the most prestigious academic scholarships in the world, along with her MFA from The New School. Continuing to sing and perform her own poetry, she has opened for Shane Koyczan, Kae Tempest, and Ice T. She even gave the first official TED Talk entirely in rhyming verse in 2019 which you can watch down below.

Now officially based in Brooklyn, Sealy has beautifully fused her musical and writing talents to tell her story as a soul-pop singer-songwriter. “Make ‘em Jealous” is the first in a series of singles Sealy will be releasing throughout 2023. But this new soulful single is sure to leave her listeners feeling more confident than ever.

To listen to Reagan Sealy’s new single “Make ’em Jealous,” click the link here.

To find more information on upcoming releases from Reagan Sealy, click the link here to access her website.

January 16, 2023
Specialists to hold Album Release show at Brooklyn Made on January 13

The Specialists, a New York City-based funk collective, will hold an album release party at Brooklyn Made on Friday, Janaury 13 featuring Will Leet and Bentley Robles.

Founded by guitarist Will Harden and bassist Mikey Rotunno, Specialists have a sound that is cultivated by Harden’s powerful vocal and compositional style and Rotunno’s masterful production laced with frequent harmonies and hip-hop verses. The duo began with a tradition deemed Funky Friday, releasing new music on consecutive Fridays, leading to a polished, funk-rock listener experience.

Specialists’ most recent EP, Glass, is the precedent to their upcoming album, Hole in the Wall. Music fans will appreciate the subtle, jazz-influenced intricacies of their playing and listeners will be taken away into the sonic spectrum, with ease, thanks to their devotion to listener accessibility and pop influence.

Hole ln The Wall has come to define the sound that the funk-rock band has always been seeking. With changes to their recording process from the help of legendary recording studio Sabella Studios their sound has taken on a new edge and polish while retaining their signature mix.

After Specialists’ winter tour in January 2022, the band began writing with influences from the cities they performed in and the artists they met. For example, “Why Do You?” offers a country-rock swing track influenced by the classic sound and culture of Nashville, TN. Touring more frequently, Specialists have catered their songwriting to the reception of their newly gained fans. Having such a dance-oriented crowd on tour, the band wrote “Birdseye” and “Hole in the Wall” just for the occasion. Their latest single, “Glass,” covers more ground as well, pleasing the ears of R&B and pop music fans, creating a well-rounded, attention grabbing and energetic album the band have put their hearts and souls into.

Joining Specialists will be Will Leet, a Brooklyn-based singer-songwriter, known as the lead guitarist of international touring act, Sammy Rae & The Friends. Will’s music is an eclectic mix of rock, folk, country and baroque pop, with influences ranging from Kacey Musgraves to the Grateful Dead. In September 2022, Leet released his debut full length record, Come Back Roses, a community-sourced, crowdfunded project that was the product of 7 years of songwriting with his co-writer, Chris Burns. When life was put on hold in 2020, Will had nothing left to do but pour every ounce of himself into these songs.

Also joining Specialists will be an artist hailed as “the future of pop” by Monster Children, Bentley Robles. One of the defining voices of the New York underground, Robles is boisterous, impassioned and unapologetically queer, a Chicano synthpop artist born and raised in Los Angeles and now thriving in Brooklyn. His singles “kim kardashian” and “don’t listen to this song” (a collaboration with Gregory Dillon) also debuted with acclaim by METAL, Pride.com and more.

Tickets for Specialists with Will Leet and Bentley Robles are available here.

January 11, 2023
Patti Smith Celebrates 76th Birthday at Brooklyn Steel

As 2022 was wrapping up its final week, Patti Smith returned to Brooklyn Steel for two nights on December 29 and 30 to celebrate her birthday (which coincided with the second evening). Brooklyn Steel was flooded with fans for the shows, seemingly sold out on the evening we attended and sold out on Dec. 30. The venue’s size and layout made it an excellent atmosphere for an intimate performance.

In her true spirit, Smith’s show was an amalgamation of poetry, beauty, and fierceness wrapped in a blanket of rock and roll. The show featured her high energy songs such as “Free Money,” “People Have the Power,” and her mainstay take on Them’s “Gloria.” Earlier that day, the world had lost iconic British fashion designer and cultural influencer Vivienne Westwood. Many musicians had taken to social media to pay tribute to her, and Smith dedicated her song about sadness and loss “Redondo Beach” to Westwood after saying a few words.

A motif of the evening was time, given the impending change of year and two more important milestones – the birthdays of both Smith and her long-time collaborator and guitarist Lenny Kaye. While taking a brief break mid-set, the band covered “Time Won’t Let Me,” “If I Could Turn Back Time,” and “Time Is On My Side” while a cover of The Chambers Brothers’ “Time Has Come Today” came later in the show. With Kaye’s birthday a few days prior, Smith rallied the audience for a round of “Happy Birthday” for his day (Smith had her birthday moment with the sold-out crowd the next evening, with cake!).

Along with Patti Smith, her band includes Lenny Kaye and her son Jackson Smith on guitar, Tony Shanahan on bass/keys, and Jay Dee Daugherty on drums. Smith’s tradition of performing shows for her birthday (and by nice coincidence, celebrating the upcoming New Year) is one not to miss.

Patti Smith – Brooklyn Steel – December 29, 2022

Setlist: Dancing Barefoot, Redondo Beach, Free Money, Ghost Dance, Because the Night, My Blakean Year, Nine, Pissing in a River, Time Won’t Let Me (>) If I Could Turn Back Time, Time Is on My Side, One Too Many Mornings, Peaceable Kingdom / People Have the Power, Summer Cannibals, Ain’t It Strange, Time Has Come Today, People Have the Power

Encore: Happy Birthday to You, Gloria

January 10, 2023
Damn Tall Buildings Bring Brooklyn Bluegrass to Caffe Lena on January 20

Brooklyn-based bluegrass trio Damn Tall Buildings will bring their fresh bluegrass sound to Caffè Lena on January 20 at 8PM with unmatched energy and enthusiasm that creates a captivating, high-energy sound.

Damn Tall Buildings

Consisting of fiddler/vocalist Avery Ballotta from Bozeman, guitarist/lead vocalist Max Capistran from Bedford, and bassist/lead vocalist Sasha Dubky from Philadelphia, Damn Tall Buildings is a tight, harmonizing, swinging trio that specializes in bluegrass but also expertly ventures through jazz, ragtime, country swing, and contemporary singer-songwriter styles. They have been called “The Carter Family for the millennial generation” by the Boston Globe.

Damn Tall Buildings is a damn fine trio, mixing bluegrass, swing, and foot-stomping old-time music you wouldn’t think possible from a band from Brooklyn.
No Depression, Chris Griffy

Continuing the busk energy in their early days, Damn Tall Buildings still radiates the energy of a ragtag crew of music students playing bluegrass on the street. But anchoring that energy is their instrumental chops, their strong songwriting, and their varied influences that stretch beyond bluegrass. Their latest release was their thrid full length album called Sleeping Dogs including 11 tracks in the summer of 2022.

Holding the mission that “To provide music, connection and learning from a legendary venue”, Caffè Lena presents extraordinary music in Saratoga Springs. It is renowned for its long history on continuously operating folk music venue in the United States. It has been recognized as “An American treasure” by The Library of Congress. The GRAMMY Foundation also recognized for its important contributions to the development of American music. In 2020 they launched a School of Music for the purpose of carrying on the folk tradition of music as a social pastime.

The performance of Damn Tall Buildings will start at 8PM and doors at 7:30PM (EST). Livestream is also available. Tickets for student or child are $10, while $18 for members and $20 for general admissions. For ticket and more information, please visit this link.

January 9, 2023
Brooklyn-Based Jay Sanford’s Latest Project Emphasizes Duality

The latest from Jay Sanford’s project, Sanford, is at once an ending and a beginning. “Anymore” is the third release from an upcoming full-length album under Sanford; though just released it has been a staple of his live show sets, included among a wide range of artists in his diverse set lists — Sam Cooke, Joy Division, Fats Waller. “Anymore” has a positive message of optimism and action. It feels like a goodbye, but maybe it’s a hello.

“Anymore” is a twisty word, especially on its own, cut-off and isolated from the rest of his lyric: “Ain’t gonna walk these streets anymore.” Anymore, repeated thereafter on its own, projects almost a yearning, it asks, demands, “is there any more?” Though in the rest of the lyrics, it seems that Sanford is tired and dejected by his current location — “Walking these streets I’ve been a thousand times / Walking these streets got me out of my mind / Same old footprints I have left before / Ain’t gonna walk these streets anymore.” At the same time, he’s noticing the streets, reveling in his own footprints; it seems he’s savoring these last moments as they are fleeting. This duality is true for anyone moving, leaving and changing, you think you’re ready to stay goodbye, but in that farewell the places you feel you’ve been a million times suddenly look brand new. You see them as you never saw them before.

Anyway, “Anymore.” It has the southern twang of Jay Sanford’s hometown in South Carolina and a brooding, bouncing bass-line that evokes Sanford’s current locale, Brooklyn. The stellar horn section — made up of Wayne and Miles Tucker, on trumpet and tenor saxophone respectively — gently guides these two seemingly opposing forces together. Wayne Tucker is lending some star power to Sanford’s latest release, Tucker has played with many jazz, pop and country stars before Sanford, including Al Foster, Elvis Costello and Taylor Swift. His trumpet is subdued on this track, but still offers nuance to “Anymore.”

January 8, 2023
The Hold Steady to celebrate 20th anniversary with Multiple NY shows in 2023

On January 28, The Hold Steady will be making a special appearance, performing for an event at the Music Hall of Williamsburg. The show is occurring exactly 20 years after the band’s first live performance, on the same site (then called North Six). Two Dark Birds will open at Music Hall, bringing the audience back to the January 2003 show where The Hold Steady opened for Two Dark Birds’ Steve Koester at North Six.

The Hold Steady also commemorates the release of their ninth studio album, The Price of Progress. The album will be released March 31, 2023 and found on their Personal Jams record label. This album stands as their most sonically expansive record thus far, while also remaining unmistakably The Hold Steady showcasing narrative rock ‘n’ roll tales of ordinary people struggling and surviving in a modern world.

The following week, the band will travel to the mid-Atlantic for a weekend of shows, from February 2-4. You can see The Hold Steady playing classic venues in Baltimore (Ottobar) and Washington D.C. (Black Cat), before finishing in Philadelphia (Brooklyn Bowl).

The remainder of the year attributes the 2023 edition of The Weekender, the band’s semi-annual multi-night live event for fans in the United Kingdom and Europe, set to take place at London’s Electric Ballroom (March 10-11) and Colours Hoxton (March 12). This will be followed by visits to Portland, New York City (WFUV HighLine Bash), Boston, a two-night stand at Chicago, IL’s The Salt Shed set for June 30 and July 1, joined by special guests The Mountain Goats and Dillinger Four. An additional The Hold Steady show for Chicago at Empty Bottle on July 2 goes on sale this Friday. Tickets for all announced shows are on sale now. For complete details, visit theholdsteady.net.

THE HOLD STEADY – LIVE 2023

JANUARY

28 – Brooklyn, NY – Music Hall of Williamsburg (Official 20th Anniversary Show) #

FEBRUARY

2 – Baltimore, MD – Ottobar ^

3 – Washington, DC – Black Cat ^

4 – Philadelphia, PA – Brooklyn Bowl ^l

MARCH

10 – London, UK – Electric Ballroom *

11 – London, UK – Electric Ballroom *

12 – London, UK – Colours Hoxton * (SOLD OUT)

MAY

12 – New York, NY – WFUV Highline Bash

JUNE

30 – Chicago, IL – The Salt Shed †

JULY

1 – Chicago, IL – The Salt Shed † (SOLD OUT)

2 – Chicago, IL – Empty Bottle

NOVEMBER

29-30 – Brooklyn, NY – Brooklyn Bowl **

DECEMBER

1 – 2 – Brooklyn, NY – Brooklyn Bowl **

# w/Special Guest Two Dark Birds

^ w/Special Guests Friendship

* The Weekender 2023

† w/ Special Guests The Mountain Goats and Dillinger Four

** Massive Nights 2023

January 6, 2023