On Thursday, July 22, the 32nd annual Seaside Summer Concert Series at Asser Levy/Seaside Park, hosted by Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz, will feature the "Happy Together Tour," including The Beach Boys, the Turtles (featuring Flo & Eddie), Mickey Dolenz (the Monkees) and Mark Lindsay (Paul Revere and the Raiders). The Seaside Summer Concert Series at Coney Island and Martin Luther King, Jr. Concert Series in Crown Heights/Central Brooklyn have entertained hundreds of thousands of residents over the past three decades and remain the largest free concert series in the New York metropolitan area.
"Brooklyn is proud home to everyone from everywhere, so there is no better place in the world to enjoy music-the universal language," said
BP Markowitz. "That's why I have been so proud to host free concerts at Coney Island for more than three decades, and in Central Brooklyn for 28 years. From Seaside's stellar lineup of
Neil Sedaka,
The Beach Boys and the B-52s to MLK's
George Clinton,
Toni Braxton, and Sean Paul-not to mention a chance to catch the first lady of soul,
Aretha Franklin, at both concert series-Brooklyn is once again the place to be for hot fun in the summertime."
You can capsulize most pop music acts by reciting how many hits they've had and how many millions of albums they've sold. But these conventional measurements fall short when you're assessing the impact of
The Beach Boys. To be sure, this band has birthed a torrent of hit singles and sold albums by the tens of millions. But its greater significance lies in the fact that it changed the musical landscape so profoundly that every pop act since has been in its debt.
Had this remarkable band been less committed to its art and its fans, it could have retired from the field with honor at dozens of points along the way, confident that it had made a lasting contribution to world culture. It could have rested on the success of the epoch-shifting Pet Sounds masterpiece in 1966; or after recording Love's co-written Golden Globe-nominated Kokomo in 1988 and seeing it become its best selling single ever; or after being inducted that same year into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame; or after watching its worldwide album sales blow past l00 million; or after winning the NARAS Lifetime Achievement Award in 2001 [along with The Who,
Bob Marley,
Tony Bennett, Sammy Davis Jr. and Les Paul]. And still,
The Beach Boys continue to have fun, fun, fun, with no end in sight.
The Seaside Summer Concert Series, now in its 32nd year, is the largest free outdoor music series in New York. Throughout the years, the free Thursday night series has attracted top name classic rock, pop, oldies, contemporary and Latin performers to Asser Levy/Seaside Park, at West 5th Avenue and Surf Avenue in Coney Island. Shows begin at 7:30 P.M. Chair rentals will be available for $5, or concertgoers can bring their own chairs.
The Martin Luther King, Jr. Concert Series is celebrating its spectacular 28th season with a star-studded lineup of gospel, classic soul, contemporary, Caribbean and R&B artists. The free concerts are at 7:30 Monday nights at Wingate Field, entrances on Brooklyn Avenue between Rutland Road and Winthrop Street. Seating is limited so attendees should bring chairs.
Performers are subject to change without notice. Call the concert hotline for updates at 718-222-0600, or visit www.brooklynconcerts.com.
