In less than two weeks, Brooklyn Comes Alive will take over Williamsburg, Brooklyn on September 23rd & 24th, bringing a bevy of unique supergroups, tribute sets, and one-time-only jam sessions that the unique multi-venue festival has become known for. Inspired by the vibrant musical communities of Brooklyn and New Orleans, Brooklyn Comes Alive will turn three neighborhood staple venues -- Brooklyn Bowl, Schimanski and Music Hall of Williamsburg — within a five-minute walking radius into an elaborate indoor music festival. The unique homegrown event puts the focus on the musicians, curating dream team collaborations, tributes, and artist passion projects, with its hand-selected lineup of over 100 all-star musicians culminating in 35+ sets of music.
Today, the final daily schedule for Brooklyn Comes Alive 2017 is here, revealing the times and venue locations of the various sets slated to go down over the weekend. 2-day passes and single-day tickets are still on sale and can be purchased here.
Beginning at noon each day, the festivities kick off at Schimanski, with Leslie Mendelson opening the festival on Saturday, September 23rd. At Schimanski, she will be followed by Midnight North Performing The Music of Crosby Stills and Nash from 1:30 - 3:00 pm, and beginning at 3:30 pm, Hayley Jane will lead her tribute to 90's female rockers, BITCH! Women of the 90's. Roosevelt Collier's Second Annual Brooklyn Get Down takes the stage just after, from 5:30 - 7:00 pm, and the highly anticipated George Porter Jr., Mike Dillion + Skerik superjam
Music Hall of Williamsburg will see its first sets beginning at 4:00 pm each day, with DJ Logic & Friends opening the stage, followed by Muzzy Bearr from 6:00 - 7:30 pm. James Casey & Friends will take the stage from 8:00 - 9:30 pm, and Prob Cause follows directly afterward from 10:00 - 11:30 pm. Dave Harrington & Friends performs from 12:00 - 1:30 am, with a special DJ Set from Brownie closing out the first night at MHoW from 2:00 - 3:30 am.
Festivities at Brooklyn Bowl commence at 5:00 pm on the 23rd with Natalie Cressman & Friends. Their set will be followed by Future Folklore at 6:30 pm, and the debut of Matador! Soul Sounds — a new project led by The New Mastersounds’ Eddie Roberts and Soulive’s Alan Evans — will play from 8:00 - 9:30 pm. Saturday will also see the highly anticipated The Road Goes On Forever tribute to the Allman Brothers Band — featuring Bernard Purdie, Al Schnier (moe.), Vinnie Amico (moe.), Eric Krasno (Lettuce, Soulive), Nate Werth (Snarky Puppy, Ghost Note), Brett Bass (Gregg Allman Band), Rob Compa (Dopapod), Roosevelt Collier (The Lee Boys), and Brandon “Taz” Niederauer — take over the Brooklyn Bowl from 10:00 pm - midnight. Closing out the Brooklyn Bowl for night one are DJ Premier & The Badder Band, with a two-hour set beginning at 1:00 am.
On Sunday, September 24th, festivities begin yet again at Schimanski with a special solo piano set from Jon Cleary beginning at noon. The Skerik, Reed Mathis, Alan Evans, Will Blades, and Will Bernard superjam set follows directly after from 1:30 - 3:00 pm. Next up is A Tribute To Herbie Hancock — led by The Motet’s Joey Porter and featuring his Motet bandmate Garrett Sayers in addition to Snarky Puppy’s Robert “Sput” Searight and Nate Werth, and Trey Anastasio Band’s James Casey — from 3:30 - 5:00 pm, followed by the rare John Scofield + Jon Cleary Duo set from 5:30 - 7:00 pm. New Orleans legends George Porter Jr., Henry Butler and Johnny Vidacovich will play an hour and a half set starting at 7:30 pm, and The Russ Liquid Test will play from 9:30 - 11:00 pm. SunSquabi is set to close out the festival with Jason Hann at Schimanski from 11:15 pm - 1:00 am.
Once again, Music Hall of Williamsburg will see their first performance at 4:00 pm, this time with Octave Cat, followed by Oktopus from 5:45 - 7:15 pm. The Pow! Pow! Power Trio! feat. Rob Compa, Chuck Jones and Adrian Tramontano will take the stage directly after at 7:45 pm. A Tribute To Jamiroquai — featuring Todd Stoops in addition to members of The Motet and Trey Anastasio Band — will play a 90-minute set from 9:30 - 10:45 pm, and then Mike Gantzer of Aqueous will take the stage with Kris Myers and Ryan Stasik of Umphrey's McGee for Dookie at 11:15 pm, closing out the stage.
Brooklyn Bowl will open earlier on Sunday, September 24th for the rare solo piano set from Joel Cummins of Umphrey's McGee. He will be followed by the Metropolitan Jam Grass Alliance from 3:15 - 4:15 pm and Jennifer Hartswick & Friends will take the stage directly after with a set from 4:45 - 6:00 pm. At 6:30 pm patrons of the Bowl will witness a rare collaborative set, featuring Marc Brownstein, Aron Mager, Joel Cummins, Mike Greenfield, Ryan Jalbert, Natalie Cressman and Jennifer Hartswick lasting from 6:30 - 8:00 pm. At 8:30 pm, moe.'s Al Schiner and Vinnie Amico will join Aqueous for the supergroup moe.queous, and then Eric Krasno & Friends will conclude festivities at the Brooklyn Bowl from 10:30 pm - 12:00 am.
Purchasing a ticket to Brooklyn Comes Alive grants you access to all three venues: Brooklyn Bowl, Music Hall of Williamsburg and Schimanski. Wristband-holders may come and go amongst the venues throughout the event, creating an indoor music festival feeling all within the heart of Williamsburg. To find out more about ticketing, VIP options, payment plans and lodging, head to the festival website.
