Although not in New York, the Virgin Mobile Fest in Maryland is only a few hours away. And this year it’s free! Taking place on August 30, 2009, the festival will be at Merriweather Post Pavilion, one of my favorite venues anywhere (and also the namesake of Animal Collective’s last album). Regular free tickets are gone, but you can get free VIP tickets by volunteering. Find out how here. And here is the lineup:

• Blink-182
• Weezer
• Franz Ferdinand
• Girl Talk
• Jet
• Mates of State
• Public Enemy
• Taking Back Sunday
• The Bravery
• The Hold Steady
• The National
• St. Vincent
• Wale

And in the dance tent:

• Danny Howells
• Holy Fuck
• Lee Burridge
• Pete Tong

Kind of weird lineup, but whatever, it’s free!

Image: Newscom

If you buy Mandy Moore’s new album Amanda Leigh at any Best Buy store, or at their site, you can bring your receipt to Highline Ballroom tomorrow (Tuesday, June 2) for a chance to get in to see her live. Having a reciept does not guarantee entry, it works on a first come first serve basis–so get there early! The show starts at 8 pm, doors open at 7 pm. Good luck!

Image: Devorah Klein

The final show at Central Park’s Summerstage has been announced: Dinosaur Jr. will be playing and The Walkmen will open for them. And, it’s FREE! Dinosaur Jr.’s new album Farm comes on June 23. It seems like only a distant memory when they were broken up….(from 1997-2005)

If you are still recovering from the 3-day weekend, get over it and get ready to go out this week, starting tonight! Here are some shows at some of the smaller venues in the city going on this week:

• Here We Go Magic aka Luke Temple aka some music I am really into right now, is playing a FREE show tonight at Union Pool with Midnight Masses before he heads out on tour with the one and only Grizzly Bear. If you miss him tonight and can’t catch him with Grizzly Bear, he is also playing a FREE show on July 3 at South Street Seaport.
• Shilpa Ray and Her Happy Hookers are strating thei residency at Pianos tomorrow (Wednesday, May 27) and it was just announced that the special guest is A Place To Bury Strangers. Nice! Coin Under Tongue and Sisters are also playing. Tickets are still on sale.
• Also tomorrow (Wednesday, May 27), Cymbals Eat Guitars, Hallelujah the Hills, and Ford & Fitzroy are all playing at Southpaw.
• If none of those float your boat, another new favorite, BLK JKS, are also playing tomorrow (Wednesday may 27) at the Bell House. Tickets on sale.
• On Thursday, May 28 Andrew W.K., Cherie Lily, Height, Ed Schrader, DJ Dog Dick, and Ana Lola Roman will all be at Santos Party House.
• Also on Thursday, May 28, Parts and Labor, Omega Jarden, Noveller, and Talk Normal will be at Union Pool.
  

The Whitney Museum of Art will be hosting a Dan Graham retrospective (Dan Graham: Beyond) from June 24 to October 11. Some background on Dan Graham from the press release:

Graham (b. 1942) has been a central participant in the development of contemporary art since the 1960s — from the rise of minimalism, conceptual art, video art, and performance art, to explorations of architecture and the public sphere, to collaborations with musicians and the culture of rock and roll.

He has done projects involving The Kinks, Patti Smith, Sonic Youth, and many others.

During the exhibit, The Whitney will host a series of free concerts on Friday night. The shows, held in the museum’s Lower Gallery, are scheduled for July 10th, 17th, 24th, and 31th at 7pm. So far we know The Feelies (whoh worked with Graham) are playing an acoustic set on June 26 for the kick-off and Abe Vigoda will be there on July 17.

Image: Newscom
Debbie Harry of Blondie performs for NBC’s Today Show in 2007.

A bunch of free shows for this summer have already been announced, but here are some more! All of these shows listed are FREE!

East River Park (At the Band Shell along the East River in NYC
Between Grand & Jackson Streets):

• July 16: Man Man

• July 23: Slick Rick

• July 30: Ismael Miranda

Asser Levy Park in Coney Island:

• August 13: Blondie, Pat Benatar, and The Donnas

Updated South Street Seaport:

Rockefeller Park in Tribeca:

• June 17: Chuck Brown (Godfather of Go-Go)

The annual NYC Popfest is happening this week and weekend and there are some goodies. I especially recommend Burning Hearts and Suburban Kids with Biblical Names on Sunday at the Cake Shop! Here’s the schedule:

Thursday May 14, Cake Shop:

All NYC Showcase

• Knight School
• Soft City
• Dream Bitches
• The Metric Mile
• My Teenage Stride
• The Ballet

Friday May 15 at Don Hill’s:

• Don Lennon (nyc)
• The Tartans (ca)
• Liechtenstein (sweden)
• Cats on Fire (finland)

Saturday May 16 at Cake Shop:

Free afternoon show

• Hidden Ghost Balloon Ship (mi)
• The 1959 Hat Company (oh)
• Strega (nyc)
• Springfactory (sweden)

Saturday may 16 at The Bell House:

• Computer Perfection (mi)
• Eux Autres (ca)
• The Secret History (nyc)
• Pants Yell! (ma)
• The Radio Dept. (sweden)

Sunday May 17 at the Cake Shop, all day:

• Steve Goldberg (pa)
• Boy Genius (nyc)
• A Faulty Chromosome (tx)
• Very Truly Yours (il)
• The Smittens (vt)
• Rose Melberg (canada)
• Afternoon Naps (oh)
• The Drums (fl)
• The Icicles (mi)
• Casper and the Cookies (ga)
• Burning Hearts (finland)
• Suburban Kids with Biblical Names (sweden)

For tickets and more visit NYC Popfest.

The free summer show schedules are trickling in and here are some more.

Still waiting to see if there are more Castle Clinton shows, but here are 4 shows that are in honor of Woodstock’s 40th anniversary:

• July 16: Steven Bernstein’s Millennial Territory Orchestra Plays the Music of Sly & the Family Stone: “It’s a Family Affair”

• July 23: Richie Havens

• July 30: Arlo Guthrie

• August 6: John Kelly Sings The Joni Mitchell Songbook: “Songs for a Shiny Hot Night”

And here are the shows at Hudson River’s Pier 54 for Hudson RiverRocks:

• July 9: Matt & Kim and Flosstradamus

• July 23: Ted Leo and The Pharmacists, and Radio 4, and Extra Golden

• August 13: Yeasayer and Amazing Baby

The Yard, which is now being called The Bklyn Yard and did not close down (yay!) has one free show coming up this weekend already. It’s at 388 Carroll St. in Brooklyn:

• May 9: The Gowanus Springtime Revue featuring
  Drew Torres
  H. Wood
  Psychedelic Disco Angels
  Fall of the Albatross
  Jonny on the Rocks
  Just a Lil Bit
  The Sheppard Brothers
  KMBS
  Neuronautas
  Tayisha Buay
• May 23: PARKED! a celebration of the best food trucks in NYC
• May 30: SCORE! Gowanus Free Swap
• June 20: NUBLU DAY
• June 27: WINKEL & BALKTICK present…
• August 8: SABBATH IN THE PARK w/ The RUB

and on Sundays they have their Sunday Best show. Here is the schedule:

• May 24: QUENTIN HARRIS, the master of soulful house
• May 31: MR. SCRUFF, a UK-based illustrator, tea vendor and eclectic DJ
• June 7: LUKE SOLOMON, Rekids and Cajual producer
• June 14: JUS-ED, Bridgeport, Connecticut’s finest
• June 21: RUB N TUG, crazy but true
• June 28: JUSTIN MARTIN, the dirtiest Dirtybird of them all
• July 5: LOSOUL, maker of European dance music with big nods to soul and jazz
• July 12: KYLE HALL, the 17-year-old, Detroit-based producer who’s never played New York
• July 19: I:CUBE, a forefather of French house and one half of Chateau Flight
• July 26: OMAR S blows our minds every time
• August 2: MAURICE FULTON, the funkiest DJ we’ve ever heard
• August 9: MOTOR CITY DRUM ENSEMBLE, a young German paying homage to Detroit
• August 16: TIM SWEENEY, the ever-eclectic Beats In Space man
• August 23: THEO PARRISH, a true master playing a long set
• August 30: JUSTUS KOHNCKE, a Kompakt artist playing a live set
• September 6: DJ HARVEY, closing it out crazily and properly

Image: Devorah Klein
St. Vincent at Castle Clinton, July 2008

St. Vincent will do a free in-store performance at the almost closed Virgin Megastore in Union Square TONIGHT at 7 pm. It’s to celebrate the release of her latest album, Actor, which comes out today. You can also catch her at All Points West and at Webster Hall on May 20.

Here is the awesome schedule for Celebrate Brooklyn at the Prospect Park Bandshell. I for one am psyched for Dean & Britta with the Crystal Stilts, the Purple Rain sing-along with Escort, Femi Kuti, and Los Amigos Invisibles. Here’s the whole thing:

Free concerts ($3 suggested donation):

Monday, June 8, 8:00 P.M. (gates open at 6:30 P.M.) David Byrne

Thursday, June 11, 7:30 P.M. (gates open at 6:30 P.M.) Goran Bregovic & His Weddings & Funerals Orchestra

Friday, June 19, 7:30 P.M. (gates open at 6:30 P.M.) David Rudder/Samantha Thornhill

Saturday, June 20, 7:30 P.M. (gates open at 6:30 P.M.
La Nave de los Monstruos, with live score by Ethel and Gutbucket Part of Celebrate Brooklyn!’s Music & Movies Series

Thursday, June 25, 7:00 P.M. (gates open at 6:00 P.M.) Femi Kuti & The Positive Force/Melvin Gibbs’ Elevated Entity

Friday, June 26, 7:30 P.M. (gates open at 6:30 P.M.) Blonde Redhead

Saturday, June 27, 7:00 P.M. (gates open at 600 P.M.) Dr. Dog/Phosphorescent/These United States

Thursday, July 2, 7:00 P.M. (gates open at 6:00 P.M.) Obie Juan Bermudéz/Cucu Diamantes/Rebel Diaz Bud Light Latin Music Series

Thursday, July 9, 8:00 P.M. (gates open at 7:00 P.M.) Dance
STREB: Invisible Forces

Friday, July 10, 7:30 P.M. (gates open at 6:30 P.M.) Celebrate Brooklyn and LAMC present Los Amigos Invisibles/Aterciopelados Bud Light Latin Music Series

Saturday, July 11, 4:00 P.M. (gates open at 3:00 P.M.) Ezra Jack Keats Family Concert A Very Special Show with They Might Be Giants

Thursday, July 16, 7:30 P.M. (gates open at 6:30 P.M.) Kronos Quartet/Luminescent Orchestrii

Friday, July 17, 7:30 P.M. (gates open at 6:30 P.M.) The Robert Cray Band/The Sweet Divines American Express Roots Music Series

Saturday, July 18, 2:00 P.M.‹9:00 P.M. (gates open at 1:00 P.M.) African Festival with King Sunny Adé/Freshly Ground/The Mandingo Ambassadors/Cheikh M¹Baye & Sing Sing/Abena Koomson/Yasser Darwish American Express Roots Music Series

Thursday, July 23, 8:00 P.M. (gates open at 7:00 P.M.) Dance Stephen Petronio Company

Friday, July 24, 7:30 P.M. (gates open at 6:30 P.M.) Buckwheat Zydeco/The Holmes Brothers American Express Roots Music Series

Saturday, July 25, 7:30 P.M. (gates open at 6:30 P.M.) Kailash Kher/Electro Morocco

Thursday, July 30, 7:30 P.M. (gates open at 6:30 P.M.) Burning Spear/Naomi Shelton & The Gospel Queens

Friday, July 31, 7:00 P.M. (gates open at 6:00 P.M.) The Royal Family: Soulive’s 10th Anniversary Celebration, with Special Guests John Scofield and Christian Scott/Ivan Neville & Dumpstaphunk

Saturday, August 1, 7:30 P.M. (gates open at 6:30 P.M.) Music & Movies Dean & Britta: 13 Most BeautifulŠSongs for Andy Warhol’s Screen Tests/ Crystal Stilts

Thursday, August 6, 7:30 P.M. (gates open at 6:30 P.M.) Music & Movies Purple Rain Sing-A-Long with Escort

Friday, August 7, 7:00 P.M. (gates open at 6:00 P.M.) Grace Potter & The Nocturnals/ Deer Tick / The London Souls

Saturday, August 8, 7:00 P.M. (gates open at 6:00 P.M.) Celebrate Brooklyn & Lyricist Lounge Present Big Daddy Kane (with Special Guests TBA), Plus a Screening of BDK: The Big Daddy Kane Story

===

Celebrate Brooklyn! Benefit Concerts (not free):

July 1
MGMT (Sold Out)

July 21
Jackson Browne

August 11
TV on the Radio (not on sale yet)

August 12
Bonnie Raitt & Taj Mahal

August 14 & 15
Animal Collective