Astoria, Music
Jun 19, 2014

Summer 2014 Waterfront Concert Series in Astoria Park

The Waterfront Concert Series this summer again takes place on the Great Lawn in Astoria Park on Thursday evenings at 7:30 p.m. in July and August. It’s a great chance (…)

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The Waterfront Concert Series this summer again takes place on the Great Lawn in Astoria Park on Thursday evenings at 7:30 p.m. in July and August. It’s a great chance to kick back, have a picnic, and listen to some tunes. Thanks to the Central Astoria LDC for putting this together. Here’s the schedule!

July 10 

Strawberry Fields (a tribute to The Beatles)

July 17

Forever Ray (a tribute to Ray Charles)

July 24

The Devotions (DooWop)

July 31

Motor City Revue (a tribute to Motown)

August 7

Michael Patrick’s Ring of Fire (a tribute to Johnny Cash)

August 14

The Regulars (Pop/Rock)

And don’t forget—the annual Independence Celebration Fireworks are at Astoria Park on the evening of Monday, June 30!

About Meg Cotner

Meg Cotner was trained as a harpsichordist and now works as a freelance writer and editor. She is the author of "Food Lovers' Guide to Queens," and is a skilled and avid home cook, baker, and preserver.

15 Comments

chris sahar

Astoria still has a ton of retirees here. Also, as has been posted Astoria Park is surrounded by dense concentrations of residential buildings and very little commercial stuff going on. Finally it is an area that generally likes things low key and often work to keep the park quieter and cleaner – accepting some exceptions such as the Fourth of July celebrations. Astoria and generally the 114th Precinct is one of the most populated in the city – over 200,000 people (see nyc crime map)

There are other options – Why not Rainey Park or Socrates Sculpture? Rainey really could use the concert, it is underutilized but practically across from Noguchi and south of Broadway, the LIC Trolley could do an extra run for the festival. Socrates is a no-brainer and the beach, Hallets Cove, and Welling Court Murals+community garden nearby give a nice artsy urban panache. Rainey has one advantage – further away from residential buildings – major disadvantage a little off the beaten path for visitors.

Also, some of the bands that I have heard in Brooklyn have an issue with overly loud basses which rattle your whole damn skeleton. Not fun.

But yes, I agree there are far TOO many cover bands. The Gantries concert series does a far better job showcasing local and international music acts. One way to change this is to get involved with the Central Astoria Business Alliance – join them and suggest a New Pop festival.

In sum 1) Alternative more music friendly venues: Rainey Park, Socrates — and I forgot, Queensbridge Park all great for a daytime or early eve new pop music fest. 2) Join Central Astoria Alliance if you want to update the line-up of acts for next year 3) Remember Astoria is an extremely polyglot place, possibly one of the most contrasting areas of NYC – for this reason, it is hard to expect concerts of popular indie bands for a whole afternoon.

Finally it is FREE, think of how exclusionary some residents feel when there is a huge cool concert with a $50 ticket price or more and they cannot afford it but they have to deal with crowds, noise, and litter.

Reply
J-La

Perhaps all of you above will suggest some bands to the organizers of the concert series.

But yes, Astoria does still house a population that enjoys these types of events as well. Old and young. Some of these concerts are perfect for children.

Reply
Mark

Wow, that is a super sad list of performers. Happy for them to get the work, know that some will enjoy them, BUT – who programs this series? Is there no way for that opportunity to be made more of then this??

Reply
Going Greek

I personally don’t care if someone famous is playing, but to see a lineup of cover bands is disheartening. There is a lot of great original talent in Queens and NYC in general (of all different styles).
That Beatles cover band wears wigs and uses fake synth sounds for horns. It’s embarrassing.

Reply
cmd

While true, those concerts in Brooklyn aren’t free (I paid close to $50 to see the National). But most importantly, they have a bandshell there and the infrastructure to support 5-10,000 people to attend. If there were suddenly that many people in Astoria Park, I imagine there might be a few complaints.

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Pete J

I totally agree. None of this is my taste, but does *anyone* in Astoria want to see a doowop band or a Ray Charles tribute? Astoria is not a retirement community (anymore).

Reply
GMB

Um… Brooklyn gets Janelle Monae, The National, Jack Johnson… and we get the bands that play for free on the subway?

C’mon Astoria. It’s time to expect more of ourselves…

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