The idea of putting on an outdoor concert in New York City powered exclusively by solar panels is a clever and necessary one for these energy-troubled times. One could excuse the organizers of the 3rd annual Citysol music festival if their activism overshadowed the music on hand; on the contrary, they presented a diverse bill of performances that ranged from exotic (Burkina Electric, featuring percssionist/composer Lukas Ligeti) to mind-blowing (MC Blitz the Ambassador, with electronics, bass and a full brass section). Headliner Dan Deacon was a no-show thanks to some airline screwup that sent his equipment to Cincinnati; after such a full plate, I can't imagine anyone was all that disappointed.

So Percussion (New York, NY)

  The Acorn (Ottawa, Canada)

Burkina Electric (Ouaga, Burkina Faso, Africa)

  Blitz the Ambassador (Brooklyn, NY)

Ecstatic Sunshine (Baltimore, MD)

I was late arriving at Summerstage yesterday, but got there in time to catch the tail end of Vieux Farka Toure's rocking afropop set. Most of the crowd was pretty soggy from several earlier downpours, so when the heavens opened up again during the next-to-last number, everyone just threw up their hands and danced (myself included). I swear, you've never seen so many happy, beautiful people in your life. Thank God for another summer in New York. (More pics after the jump.)

"Who would have thought that skipping art school, playing the right songs, would get you into the Whitney?" Jared Phillips, Times New Viking

Honestly, I don't know what Jefferson Friedman's 3rd String Quartet (played by ACME's Clarice Jensen, Miranda Cuckson, Caleb and Nadia) and Times New Viking have to do with each other. The Friedman was mostly melodic, ending with some dissonant door-creaking that saved it from becoming saccharine. TNV's crashing punk-pop was fun and careless, pulling the crowd into a bouncing good mood.

Everyone likes to talk about how these Wordless shows introduce indie kids to classical music, with a minimum of pretense. And that's a good thing. But, what about the other way around? I spotted a few classical folks in the audience last night during the Friedman. Did they stick around for TNV? No. Did we miss them? Not really. (More pics after the jump.)