summer shows / rumors

ah - summertime. the time of iced coffee, kickball in the park, canada day and lots of free shows. this past weekend i rode my bike out to mccarren pool to check out the first pool party of the summer. the line-up was +/- , oakley hall and superchunk. none of which are current favorites, but all of whom were entertaining. this first pool party was more for meeting up with friends and enjoying a few cold beers on a beautiful summer afternoon. the slip 'n slide was back this year as was the summer long dodgeball tournament. in addition, there was a misting tent and some of those strange inflatable windsocks that you often see whipping about on the side of the road advertising a carwash. the lineup looks to be pretty good this summer, man man is next week with illinios and dengue fever. other standout shows for the pool this summer include ted leo, the thermals, blonde redhead, tv on the radio, dan deacon, erase errata and a special guest on july 22nd - which is rumored to be gza / genius preforming "liquid swords."

manu chao at prospect park and a couple unconfirmed tidbits about the brooklyn dining scene after the expansion.



credit

i was lucky enough to catch manu chao [loud music plays after link] at the prospect park benefit show last night - thanks to a friend at slope cellars. i have to say, that for somebody i didn't know much about, he put on a pretty amazing show - it was standing room only and the crowd was going crazy pretty much the whole time. he was on his third encore as we were leaving. the only downside to the night was that i ran into some problems getting my camera inside the venue. once i was inside, i realized i had forgotten to check and see if there was a memory card in the camera before leaving the house...of course there wasn't. manu chao plays another sold out show at prospect park tonight, even listening from the lawn outside the gate would be pretty enjoyable i'll bet.

lastly, two rumors that i've heard.

1 - 360 in red hook is closed for good.


the phone number still states that they're closed for renovations, but it sure has been a long time. according to sources, arnaud + co. racked up a bit of debt and decided to take an extended vacation to the loire.

[- update - via eater -]

"More on the disintegrating state of affairs at Red Hook's one-time culinary pride and joy 360: 'The restaurant 360, which is currently "closed for renovation" may not re-open. Sources in Red Hook said, the chef/owner, Arnaud, is burnt out and tired of the place. He wants out and will probably sell it to one, or few, his staff. Arnaud is currently on vacation and probably scuba diving in some exotic locale with no intention of returning to work.'"


2 - the new development at 500 4th avenue in park slope will feature an olive garden as the retail anchor of the 11+ story apartment building.

brownstoner has an older post about 500 4th here