shows we love :: summerstage 08

Summer wouldn’t be complete in NY without all of the outdoor concerts and shows. This month we’ve been really lucky to see a whole host of talent grace our stages under the sun. Central Park Summerstage has had a great run the last couple of weeks with Santogold, Kid Cudi, Seun Kuti and Afrika Baambatta. Just this past weekend, Giant Step hosted the stage with Janelle Monae, Little Jackie, Jamie Lidell, Jose James and Gilles Peterson. If you haven’t heard of these artists, you should definitely check them out.

Santogold has been causing some noise with her irreverent electro sound, collaborating with Pharrell and opening up for the Coldplay tour. She was joined that day by Kid Cudi, with his great anthem, “Day and Night,” A-Trak (from Kanye’s camp) and DJ/producer Diplo (from MIA fame). The park was packed and jumping for hours.

Another memorable moment was seeing Seun Kuti, son of Afrobeat legend, Fela Kuti play along with his father’s band, Egypt 80. There were plenty of hips shaking that day. To top it, we had hip hop legend Afrika Bambaataa perform that day with MC’s from the Zulu Nation. He played all the classics and kept the audience hyped.

To finally top this amazing concert run, we had the pleasure of seeing the sensation that is Janelle Monae, who was recently signed by Sean “Diddy” Combs to his label Bad Boy. She absolutely killed it with her charismatic stage presence and a range of songs that touch on soul, rock, funk and punk. Her quirky dancing and stage diving kept us all guessing what she would do next. Amazing! We then got the nu-Motown sound of Little Jackie with her sassy lyrics and social commentary. Jose James kept it jazzy with his buttery vocals and tight band while Jamie Lidell let the beast out with his improvisational soul and dancing antics. Gilles Peterson had just arrived that morning and was unpredictably inspiring as always playing all genres under the sun.

There is no place I’d rather be than at New York outdoor concerts in the summer. Absolutely breathtaking!

- review & photos by Moni Pineda

This entry was posted on Saturday, August 16th, 2008 at 6:30 AM and is filed under FWL BLOG and tagged with afrika baambatta, dj moni, friends we love, friendswelove.com, FWL BLOG, gilles peterson, jamie lidell, janelle monae, jose james, kid cudi, little jackie, love, mike vargas, moni pineda, nuyorktricity, santogold, seun kuti, stage. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.