Brooklyn Gets (Rolling) Stoned

via justwilliam1959.wordpress.comAs the man with the enormous lips said: "You can't always get what you want." This is especially true if what you wanted was to scuttle the Barclays center and, for instance, stay in your home and/or business that was inconveniently located in the arena's footprint. But sometimes...sometimes...you get what you need. "What you need," henceforth, can be defined as a bloated, corporate tour from the grandaddies of the dinosaur rock groups. 

Yup, the Rolling Stones are saying hello, Brooklyn.

On on Dec. 8, they will be interrogating brown sugar, re: it's tastiness, and encouraging the starting up of themselves from our borough's gleaming new basektballetorium. The big shows just keep rolling in at that place, don't they? This'll be the only NY show on the band's upcoming tour, since they've neglected MSG in favor of Newark's Prudential Center. So yeah, Manhattan, how does it feel? To be on your own? Completely and utterly unlike a Rolling Stone? (I apologize profusely for that.)

Tickets go on sale Nov. 19 at 10am. Maybe you like to spend lotsa money on old, dancing singing men?

[Video]: The Song Called "Park Slope"

The full title of the song, performed by a band called ABADABAD (part "Abba," part "Gattaca," for me at least), is actually titled "Park Slope (I'm Sorry)," though it's hard to tell if the apology is meant for the neighborhood itself or someone living with it. Either way, it's a pretty catchy song.

FIPS WAS THERE: Brooklyn's Finest Finds Her Way Home

[Babs singin’ about Brooklyn in Philadelphia. An acceptable video from Barclays is not available at this time, so just deal with it.]

I wish I could say that seeing Barbra Streisand on her “Back to Brooklyn” tour at Barclays Center with my mom was not my idea, but that’d be rewriting history. My mom’s been a fan her entire life and saw Babs on tour in 1994, so when it was announced that she would trot her formidable stuff into the brand new Barclays Center arena just a few blocks from my apartment, I shot a quick email to my mom to see if she'd be interested. I’ve never been particularly secretive about my love for Barbra, but I don’t think I’d have found my way to the concert unless my mom’s interest was high. Turns out, it was very, very high.

The Saturday night concert, a love letter to the Brooklyn that a young Barbra Streisand grew up in, was billed as a homecoming. To me, it felt more like a nostalgia trip. After all, Barbra left the borough to pursue her dreams and probably hasn’t been back since, though she hears Williamsburg is very chic. When cheering for a picture of the street signs at the corner of Newkirk and Nostrand Avenues erupted amongst the crowd, many of whom I imagine are former Brooklyn residents, I felt as though I had stepped in a time machine. The only other photo projection that elicited an equal response was one of Barbra and Judy Garland. Thus I established that Barbra’s core audience (gay men and older Jews) were in full force and ready to take a trip down memory lane with her.

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FiPS Presents "Rocktober": A Round-Up Of Musical Acts To Catch in BK This Month

via guitober.com

Say it with me folks..."Rocktober!" It's the most fun month because of A) candy, B) slutty cat/nurse/devil/anything costumes, and C) "Rocktober" is the only good phrase radio DJs ever invented. This Rocktober, FiPS would like to ensure that you rock(tober) out sufficiently, so we've provided a massive list of tons of shows that will rock all over so many Brooklyn faces this month. The most loved/hated venue, The Barclays Center, gives us the large arena shows, while the smaller, neighborhood spots still remain un-engulfed. Therefore we're treated to an amazing range of musical possibilities here in the Slope. This also happens to be CMJ month, so make this the most musical 31 days of your Park Slope existence -- check out the options by venue and 'hood. 

** PARK SLOPE/GOWANUS **

BELL HOUSE:

 * Friday, Oct. 5: Los Straitjackets, Bell House: The Lucha Libre-bemasked instrumental rockers  keep things pretty energetic and interesting for being lyricless. Songs come packed with surf-rock licks and other quotes from rock's teenage years, propulsive drums, and weird mugging from behind those weird masks. 8pm, $15.

* Saturday, Oct. 13: Dig Deeper w/Green Berets, Bell House: The Dig Deeper series scours record stacks for old-school crooners and showmen/women, flies them to Park Slope, and sets them loose to pleasures your ears. This time out, Chicago soul group the Green Berets, limited in their heyday due to the Vietnam draft, play only their second NYC show ever. It's a rare-vinyl lover's wet dream. 9pm, $20.

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Rihanna, Greenday added to growing list of Barclays Center Performers

Two more musical acts have been added to the growing list of artists set to perform at the Barclays Center next year:

** Rihanna Will perform on Saturday, May 4, 2013. Tickets go on sale Friday, September 21 at 12PM.

** Greenday Will perform on Wednesday, January 16, 2013 at 8PM.  Tickets go on sale Friday, September 14 at 12PM.

Tickets can be purchased on the Barclays Center site, or on Ticketmaster's website. Or from some nasty Craigslist scalper. Ticket prices have not yet been listed, but if they follow in the footsteps of the other musical acts, you can expect to pay anywhere from $30-$10,000.

I'd love to see Rihanna team up with Tré Cool to sing a quiet duet of "All By Myself."