Let’s Active: rock nyc Concert Picks Week Of August 17th, 2015
Earl Sweatshirt
On record, Earl Sweatshirt is all dark lyricism and hard vibrating beats, he rhymes his way through life and, not unlike pal Tyler, is like a rhyming diary of problems, including his health. He rescheduled this Best Buy concert from April to this Saturday due to health problems, but who would cash in their ticket when they could see one of the primary rhymers in the country? The man is one of the best, up there with his buddy Chance The Rapper, and this is a must see.
Monday – Mac DeMarco – Bowery Ballroom – I finally figured out who reminds me of: he is like a teenage Jonathan Richman.
Tuesday – Counting Crows – JBL Live At Pier 97 – Great, great venue and while I haven’t seen them in a long time, they were excellent when I did.
Tuesday – Jimmy Buffett – Jones Beach – Another guy who is better on stage than he has any right to be, especially at a Beach type venue.
Wednesday – Juanes – MSG – Colombian Latin-AMerican singer, has peaked and is still huge
Wednesday – Rakim – BB Kings – Still reminds me of Nas… in a good way. Though I prefer Rakim, certainly one of the best rapper-poet. This is not rap in 2015, and it is rap’s loss. The one time I saw him on stage, five years ago, he blew me away.
Saturday, Sunday – Billboard Hot 100 Music Festival – Jones Beach – I saw the Weeknd last year and I thought he was great (also at the Swift gig but that was just a song), otherwise Weezy, two thirds of Swedish House Mafia headline Friday, Justin Bieber, Skrillex and Nicki Minaj on Sunday.
