Battle of the Philharmonics Brings Hendrix

Photo of the Brooklyn Philharmonic at the Naumburg Bandshell by David Velez.

As mentioned earlier this week, last night an unplanned Battle of the Bands took place between the Brooklyn and New York Philharmonics, both playing Central Park with just 30 minutes between their starting times. Who won? The above photo of the Brooklyn Philharmonic was taken at 8:10 p.m., about 40 minutes after they went on. The below photo of the New York Philharmonic was taken at 9:05 p.m., about 55 minutes after they went on.

Photo of the New York Philharmonic at the Great Lawn by David Velez.

WCBS reports that as part of the kick-off to their "Concerts in the Parks" series, the NY Philharmonic's encore was voted on by the audience. With a choice between "Flight of the Bumblebee" by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov and "Purple Haze" by Jimi Hendrix...they chose the latter. The sonic explosion was followed by a visual one, with fireworks ending the evening. If you missed it, there are plenty more to catch in the future.