Ra Ra Riot at All Points West.
Everyone loves free tunes, right? If you’re lucky, you’ve been invited to try Spotify or Turntable.fm, so you’re up to your eyeballs in whatever songs you want at no cost. But, if you’re not so lucky there are other places to score music gratis.
Let’s start with free shows, which are wonderful whether or not you have beta access to a new music services. First, on Friday Ra Ra Riot will be playing with Delicate Steve and Buke and Gass at the Prospect Park Bandshell as part of the Celebrate Brooklyn series. The gates open at 6pm and the show is at 7pm, but you’ll probably want to line up early for this one.
Punctuality could also get you into a Brooklyn Bowl show for free on Monday–if you get to the Robbers on High Street residency show, which also features Brothers and The Twees, before 7 p.m. it’s free. And if you don’t make it in time, it’s still pretty cheap–only $5. If you’re looking to plan ahead, Against Me! will be playing a free show with Tokyo Police Club, Big Freedia, Japanther, and Team Robespierre at the House of Vans on August 18. You have to RSVP on their website and get there early to line up because it’s first-come-first-served. But if you can get in the door, it’ll probably be a great show.
There is also a myriad free streams and downloads out there. If you’re trying to gear up for next week’s (sold out and not free) Bon Iver show in Prospect Park, NPR has a recording of the group’s recent show at the 9:30 Club in Washington DC that’s available for streaming. Local punks Cerebral Ballzy–who will be playing the Afro-Punk festival later this month–recently released their self-titled full-length album and five of the songs are available over on SoundCloud. Emo/indie act Into It. Over It. are streaming their newest LP, Twelve Towns, which is a collection of songs about twelve different cities around the country. No, Brooklyn isn’t one of them, the only city in this state that’s included is Buffalo. But it’s still worth checking out.
If you’re looking for more than just the freebies above, there are always other shows to see this week:
Aug 3: Big Audio Dynamite/HR Human Rights (Bad Brains)/Andy Rourke of the Smiths (DJ Set), Brooklyn Bowl, 8 p.m., $35 and up, limited admission at the door
The Ettes/Heavy Cream/Hans Condor, Knitting Factory, 8:30 p.m., $10/12
Sufjan Stevens/Diamond Rings, Celebrate Brooklyn, 7 p.m., $35
Aug 4: Off With Their Heads/Dead to Me/The Holy Mess/more, Knitting Factory, 7:30 p.m., $10/12
Benefit for Silent Barn: The So So Glos/Nuclear Power Pants/Pygmy Shrews/RoomRunner, Shea Stadium, 8 p.m., all ages, $10
Aug 5: Ra Ra Riot/Delicate Steve/Buke and Gass, Celebrate Brooklyn, 6 p.m., free
The Growlers, Brooklyn Bowl, 8 p.m., $5
Aug 6: Tigers Jaw/Three Man Cannon/Kite Party/Jim Hefferman, Knitting Factory, 7:30 p.m., $10/12
Misstallica/Queen Diamond/Emily Pukis and the Vagrants, Union Hall, 8 p.m., $10/12
Summer Thunder 2011 with Stabbing Eastward/Path of Least Resistance/Wilder Zoby, Union Pool, 4 p.m., 21+, free
Aug 7: Whatever Brains/Rank Xerox/Zulus/Face the Rail/Passive Agressor, Death by Audio, 8 p.m., $7
Aug 8: Mixtapes/Direct Hit/Timeshares/Candy Hearts/Masked Intruder, The Acheron, 8 p.m., all ages
Robbers on High Street/Brothers/The Twees, Brooklyn Bowl, 8 p.m., free entry before 7 p.m., $5 after
