​"A lot of people from the old days carry guns. One of these days one of these suburban kids is going to say the wrong thing to the wrong person."
—Longtime Williamsburg resident Sunny Chapman speaks to the Times about the gentrification that's been affecting her neighborhood for the better part of the past 10 years, and how some people might be on the verge of a mad-is-hell moment, in a lengthy story on the Brooklyn neighborhood's growing pains. Much of the Times piece is about the Open Space Alliance's concerts at East River State Park, which have ticked off some residents because of lingering crowds and the way they take over the public spaces with porta-potties, early-kickoff soundchecks, and blockages of the playgrounds. (There's also a dismissive reference to "bridge and tunnel" people now coming from Manhattan, which ha.) This year, the shows have been limited to 15 and will operate under a host of constraints: "no weekend shows in July and August... five of the concerts will be free, including four that are intended to be quiet: two children's shows, a comedy performance and a classical concert." Soundchecks will also begin at noon, as opposed to 10 am. And let's hope that there's extra screening for firearms in the shows' environs, because yipes.

Stuart greets his public. Pics by Rob, more below.

​Belle and Sebastian/Teenage Fanclub
East River State Park
Thursday, September 30

"Make me dance/I want to surrender," croons Stuart Murdoch, doing both, actually, as "I Didn't See It Coming" winds down to inaugurate Belle and Sebastian's 20-song set, which just an hour ago seemed doomed to be a quasi-hurricane-addled washout, but was in fact addled by nary a drop. "Oh, what a great job," he adds as applause overtakes him; soon he is tossing band-autographed footballs (American footballs!) into the crowd. For children 12 and under, he specifies. That, indeed, is a pretty good job.

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Stephen Malkmus (top) and Mark Ibold, each super excited about this in his own way

​Pavement/Jenny and Johnny
East River State Park
Sunday, September 19

Better Than: You probably would've guessed

Pavement have arrived. At last. The bad news is they played virtually ever other major city on earth first; the good news is they're now officially... uh, "well oiled" is probably overstating it, but as we begin with "Cut Your Hair," and Stephen Malkmus rips into the guitar solo with way more more aplomb and enthusiasm than 10 years of band retrospectives have taught you to expect, you appreciate that they had all that practice.

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Throw down your umbrellas, Brooklyn. Pics by Sam Horine.

​Chromeo
East River State Park
Sunday, August 22

Yesterday afternoon's rain-soaked Jelly NYC Pool Party, once thought to be the last one ever due to a since-resolved spat with the OSA, might have been the best one of the season. Storm worries delayed things, but a few hours and a handful of encouraging Tweets later, the rain-soaked grounds of East River State Park opened their gates to the public, which soon enjoyed a headlining set by Montreal's electro-pop cheeseballs Chromeo (see photos of the whole thing here).

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Nas/Damian Marley
East River State Park
Saturday, July 31

With the Manhattan skyline behind us and the sun setting on the first not-disgustingly-hot NYC day in ages, Nas and Damian Marley took the stage for an almost painfully picturesque show Saturday night at the Williamsburg Waterfront. Featuring just about every song from their recent Distant Relatives album, the refreshingly minimal set included zero groupies and, complimenting the full band, only one side performer, who feverishly waved the rasta flag throughout the entire show--apparently, this dude is an integral part of Marley's band. It was also really awesome to be at the first hip-hop show ever to start and end on time.

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all photos Sam Horine

Chuck Schumer with the JellyNYC gang, Sarah Hooper and Alexander Kane. Full gallery from Sunday's first Pool Party here.

The line-up announcement for this season's slew of Jelly NYC Pool Parties wasn't quite as mercilessly drawn out as Big Boi's solo record, but it certainly felt that way. Then, after breathless internet speculation and even a leaked fake schedule was passed around as the real thing, word went out a week and a half ago that not only this year East River Park would be hosting seven free, rain or shine, Sunday-afternoon shows, but that the first Pool Party would be in merely nine days, on July 11. And so yesterday, the Williamsburg Waterfront filled up dutifully to watch Xiu Xiu and Deerhoof cover Joy Division's Unknown Pleasures, Why?, Fang Island, and a girl in a fat suit. Such familiar faces were also there, like the Fiery Furnaces' Eleanor Friedberger, Fiasco's Lucien Buscemi, and the Pool Parties very own saviour, Chuck Schumer. Our friendly neighborhood photographer Sam Horine was there, and endless gallery of shots is here, selected photos below.

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On Sunday afternoon, FIFA will crown the 2010 World Cup winner. At that very same time, Jelly NYC will be hosting its first Pool Party of 2010. To immerse yourself locally in the World Cup final experience, all you need is a football-friendly liquor-licensed establishment, a large-screen TV, and the determination to secure a barstool by noon. To participate in this weekend's Jelly NYC Pool Party, all you need is a KFC Double Down sandwich, a Borat thong, and a bottle of chafing lube. But -- fake suspense -- that's not all. In order to prepare adequately for this weekend's Williamsburg Waterfront free show, here are a few other things you should know:

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Faith No More
East River State Park
Friday, July 2

We are gathered here this evening with our backs to the sunset to watch a reunited Faith No More play the East River State Park, a former shipping dock in Williamsburg consisting of seven mostly un-shaded acres, part concrete slab, part lawn, part Juicy Juice-sponsored playground. At the water's edge, there's a beach about three feet deep. A proud representative from the Open Space Alliance informs us that this is now the largest outdoor venue in New York City. So there are at least two big deals to think about: FNM's first East Coast show in more than ten years, and the fact that it's happening in Williamsburg, a neighborhood whose local culture flowered in part out of an ideological rejection of stuff like $45-ticket hard-rock shows where the beer tickets and the beer are kept under separate tents.

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This loser thanks you. Photo by Sam Horine.

​From triumphant end-of-summer concert titans to endangered species to Chuck Schumer pet political project to potentially saved to emphatically saved--the Jelly NYC Pool Parties have had quite an off-season, and that was before the concert series saved its own venue, as it apparently did today. Assemblyman Joe Lentol has just announced that though the New York State Parks Department had been taking a hard look at Williamsburg's East River Park, the return of the Pool Parties pretty much saved the embattled waterfront space. "We wanted to make sure that the concerts would be a fun and exciting experience for everyone, respectful of the community and also very importantly bring revenue directly into the East River State Park," Lentol told Gothamist. "Thanks to that deal and that funding we are now able to ensure that this important piece of open space continues to be available to everyone."

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