Make Music NY

The Make Music NY festival is a one day event with over 800 acts performing at venues all over the Five Boroughs. Some of those venues are street corners, park bandshells, storefronts, and restaurant entryways. It's a really good way to celebrate lesser known acts of nearly every genre and promote NY as community of music supporters. Which they are. It was hard, however, to see all the shows I wanted to see, without my jetpack. But I got a few. Governor's Island, to Ft. Greene, to Eleanor Roosevelt Park, to SoHo, to Tavern on the Green, to the Guggenheim. I met some great people, both fans and performers, and saw some really quality acts. One of the most interesting aspects for me was Punk Island. They booked all the punk shows on one of 12 satellite locations on Governor's Island. The stages were makeshift and immediate. A front porch, a tarp on the lawn near the water, a parking lot a dark archway between two wings of a building. It had this great, raw, "I can make my music anywhere with electricity" vibe that felt more authentic than say an abandoned factory-turned venue.

Some were drunk. Some were crazy. The guy pushing the guitarist was drunk and crazy.

Mike from The Underclassed

Cassis and the Sympathies

Jeffrey Bobrick

There were a lot of shows. Not all of them were packed.