The weather doesn’t look very promising for tonight’s New Pornographer’s show at Battery Park, but there are a number of other musical happenings this weekend worthy of your attention.
Friday:
- REwind: A Cantata For Voice, Tape & Testimony/Richie Stevens (Celebrate Brooklyn, 7p) This has been a bit under the radar, but looks to be a major musical event: the American premiere of Cape Town composer Philip Miller’s cantata based on South Africa’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission hearings, blending music with samples of recorded testimony and projected images. Opera superstar Sibongile Khumalo joins other South African soloists, a string octet, and a 100-voice chorus composed of Brooklyn’s Total Praise Choir of Emanuel Baptist Church, the Williams College Choir, and a South African ex-patriot choir, all led by Lion King choirmaster Ron Kunene. If that isn’t enough, Brooklyn’s own folk legend Richie Havens opens. Free.
Saturday:
- Live Earth (Giants Stadium, all day) Not really that into Kelly Clarkson (?) but wouldn’t mind seeing the reunions of The Police and Smashing Pumpkins, or Kanye West and Alicia Keys. Still, this one seems mostly for the kiddies (AFI) and their ‘rents (Bon Jovi). Tickets are $83 to $348.
- Boredoms (Empire Fulton Ferry State Park, 3p) Celebrating the Day of Sevens, Veteran Japanese iconcolasts Boredoms will stage BOA DRUM, a 77-minute, one-time-only performance featuring 77 drummers seated in a spiral under the bridge. Free, but you need to RSVP on the website.
- Built to Spill/Cat Power/Bob Mould (McCarren Pool, 5p) Indie rock listings site Oh My Rockness has the scoop: former Husker Du and Sugar frontman Bob Mould has been added to an already stellar lineup at the pool, making this concert a no-miss. (Mould confirms the date on his site.)Tickets are $32.
Sunday, there’s a free gig at McCarren Pool and the first Summergarden concert at MoMA, also free. Probably can’t go wrong at either.