Since the dawn of Williamsburg Gentrification, residents have found something to complain about—and recently every summer, without fail, it's the concert series. This used to be held in McCarren Park Pool, but for the past three years has been holding up on the waterfront. Last year things came to a head after jam band Widespread Panic performed and their nitrous-fueled fans terrorized residents by using their "outdoor voices." The Open Space Alliance, who now runs the series, compromised this year by moving down Kent about three blocks, but the move has residents complaining even more. more ›

Earlier this month the Open Space Alliance was looking for design proposals for the 50 Kent space, which will now host the concerts that used to be held a few blocks over, on the Williamsburg Waterfront by The Edge (and at McCarren Park Pool before that). Now they've started up a Facebook page, and earlier today posted a few renderings of what the space will look like come summer. Needless to say, the neighbors complaining about the new location have lost this battle, but expect more come summer. more ›

Last time we checked in with the Open Space Alliance's summer concert series on the Williamsburg Waterfront, they were battling neighbors who wanted them out of the area. Last summer a few locals were traumatized when they mistook nitrous-huffing Widespread Panic fans in the streets as a zombie apocalypse—after that, they pushed for the OSA to make changes with the concert series. The OSA's solution was to move to a new site... about two blocks away. All has been quiet since, and now the OSA has announced they're looking for design proposals to build out the new site, so it would seem they won. more ›

Change was in the air following one woman's account of nitrous-fueled zombie hippies taking over her block after a Widespread Panic concert on the Williamsburg waterfront this summer. Last night a Community Board meeting was held to address the location, and it seems the Open Space Alliance (who host the concerts) and CB1 have come to an agreement: future events will be held a couple of blocks away, at a vacant lot on Kent and North 11th Street. more ›

After a Williamsburg local dashed off a colorful open letter to the Open Space Alliance regarding the "lawless drug nightmare" that "erupted on [the] street after Saturday night's Widespread Panic" concert, we talked to two attendees for their side of the story. And lo and behold, it's a little bit different and a lot lighter on the zombie imagery. more ›

It's been over four years since Brooklyn-based rockers They Might Be Giants produced an "adult" album, which isn't as dirty as it sounds—the indelibly inventive songwriting team of John Flansburgh and John Linnell have been busy carving out an increasingly successful niche for themselves with the 12-and-under set, with a growing catalog of popular rock albums for kids. But tomorrow they finally drop another joint for mature audiences with their new album "Join Us." It's their 15th record, next Friday, July 29th, and they'll be returning to the NYC stage with a highly-anticipated free show for the grownups on the Williamsburg Waterfront (funnyman Eugene Mirman opens). We recently spoke with Flansburgh at-length about Twitter, rejected album titles, the American death trip, and so much more. more ›

Here we go again! Community Board 1 (more like Complaining Board 1, eh?) is trying to strong arm the Open Space Alliance into cutting back on the number of outdoor concerts they're holding on Williamsburg's waterfront this summer. Last night the board's parks committee voted to limit the number of large-scale concerts at East River State Park, by cancelling five shows and reducing capacity from 6,500 to 5,000 people. That's a nice wish list, but it ain't happenin'. more ›

[UPDATED BELOW] Last night one part of the Williamsburg community rose up against another, possibly more "social" part of the Williamsburg community. This all went down at the CB1 meeting, where much of the night was spent discussing that proposed moratorium on all new liquor licenses in the area (more on that later). The shocker came at the end of the meeting, however, when community board members voted unanimously to ban all concerts from the Williamsburg Waterfront! more ›

Though some of us were kind of losing our shit a little bit over last night's weather forecast, in the end Mother Nature permitted Belle & Sebastian to play their first New York gig in four years, under an orange overcast sky at the Williamsburg Waterfront. It turned out to be a sublime night, with a cool, refreshing breeze swooping over the crowd, and the 12-piece ensemble was in high spirits, kicking things off with "I Didn’t See It Coming," a dance track off their new album, Write About Love. ("I love my job," declared frontman Stuart Murdoch after the opening number.) Here's Big Ass Lens' video from the perfect encore, "Me And The Major / Get Me Away From Here, I'm Dying.": more ›

[Update Below] Just a quick note about the most important event happening in NYC tonight, Belle & Sebastian's return to NYC for the first time since 2006! (It rained that time, too.) Thunderstorms and heavy rain are predicted tonight, and a high wind warning is in effect, with wind gusts of up to 60 mph. But Ticketmaster needs to get paid, and the show must go on! The Open Space Alliance Facebook page confirms that at this point the concert at the Williamsburg Waterfront will go on as planned, with Belle & Sebastian's set starting at 8:15 p.m. (Teenage Fanclub will open the show at 7.) No umbrellas are allowed, so just sneak in a flask of Scotch and pretend you're seeing them at a hometown gig. UPDATE: On Twitter, the band says they're going on early at 8 p.m., "to beat the storms." more ›

Last night '90s alt rockers Pavement played the first of many anticipated reunion shows in NYC. When the band's reunion was first announced a year ago, it initially seemed that the band would play just one gig, scheduled for Rumsey Playfield in Central Park. The first show immediately sold out, and so another date was added, and then another and another, and now Malkmus & Co. is cashing in with a five night stand, which kicked off last night at The Williamsburg Waterfront. Were you there? Or were you supposed to go but couldn't remember where you stashed the tickets you bought a year ago? Last week, The New Yorker reported that Pavement fans of a certain age were struggling to remember where they put the damn tickets: more ›

Gogol Bordello and Primus go together like a bonfire on the beach with a head full of mescaline (and a jug of cheap wine thrown in for good measure). Friday night, Eugene Hutz and his exuberant gypsy-punk all stars seized the stage early at the Williamsburg Waterfront, stirring up their signature sweaty frenzy in the early-evening air. After so many days of disgusting, sticky weather, it was certainly a welcome surprise to be standing outside in the sun without wilting, and Gogol Bordello seemed especially enlivened by the cool breeze and spectacular view. Their high-octane set of blistering Balkan beats served as an ideal warm-up for the somewhat downbeat Primus, who surfaced just as the day turned to dusk with Pudding Time, a sludgy creep-out off of their 1990 album Frizzle Fry. more ›

The Pool Parties are just about a week away, and the lineup has finally been announced... maybe. Here's what the schedule allegedly looks like; it was posted yesterday but the organizers at Jelly then wrote something about "the person posing as one of us, the elusive non-existent 'hacker' and the fake line up." What? Anyway, we happened to see a confirmed lineup earlier this week that looked very similar to this, so there's a pretty good shot it's what you'll be hearing at the Williamsburg waterfront this summer: more ›

As the freelancer crowd was just rolling out of bed today and starting to think about where their post-holiday drunch would be coming from, many were hit this morning with a terrifying site: suits taking over their neighborhood! Not to worry though, skinny jeans are still here to stay and the fancy pants come in peace—it's all in the name of leisure.That's because Mayor Bloomberg, Marty Markowitz, Parks Commissioner Adrian Benepe and a few other pols came down to the Williamsburg waterfront to break ground on Bushwick Inlet Park. more ›

Also this week:

• The King of Pop, Michael Jackson died at age 50
• JetBlue announced a live music series at their new T5 terminal
• We interviewed Dr. Dog (who play a free Celebrate Brooklyn! show tonight)
• We also talked to Thurston Moore
• Lou Reed got angry
• Sound Fix will be moving and bringing back live music (but not with the alcohol)
• Nightlife apparently needs to be saved more ›