by Steven Pisano

(All photos by Steven Pisano)

You know it's summer when the BRIC Celebrate Festival season starts in Prospect Park (even if Mother Nature won't officially chime in for a couple of more weeks). On Tuesday, thousands of people lined up along Prospect Park West and then thronged the Bandshell area to listen to Common open up this year's long list of great concerts, one of the finest line-ups ever.

While there were not many overt references to the current political administration in Washington, Common's reputation is based on singing socially conscious songs, so the topics of race, personal freedom, social inequality, police violence, and similar concerns were thick in the air.

But there was no moralizing or preaching. Common does not communicate from a pulpit or from an altar on high. He spreads his beliefs by walking amongst people's everyday lives, so most of all, he spent the evening telling the audience the story of his life through his songs, from the days he longed to sink baskets like Chicago superstar Michael Jordan, up through the current day, as a father himself.

by Katie Zepf

The eighth edition of the Governors Ball Music Festival kicked off on Friday, drawing a capacity crowd once again to Randall’s Island. Launched in 2011 by Founders Entertainment, the festival draws in roughly 150,000 patrons every year, making it one of the most anticipated and popular music festivals in NYC. In addition to the music, which plays out across four stages, there are food trucks from across the city, including Brooklyn-based ice cream shop Van Leeuwen, local burger joint Bareburger, and the popular John’s Juice, which sells fruit juices served served straight from the shell (think watermelons, pineapples, etc.) Gov Ball also displays countless murals painted by New York City artists, and there's even a mini golf course if you wish to take a break from all of the music madness.

The first act I saw on Friday was Sir Sly, an indie rock trio from Los Angeles appearing on the Honda Stage. With lead singer Landon Jacobs on guitar, Jason Suwito on keyboard, and Hayden Coplen on drums, the band delivered a short set of songs from their first two releases, You Haunt Me and Don’t You Worry, Honey. Jacobs used a vocoder that allowed him to sing with different added effects, though he also sang with his natural voice. Playing to a large, yet intimate crowd, the band played in front of a projected anime show, with Jacobs dancing wildly throughout the stage. Sir Sly finished with their two biggest hits from Don’t You Worry, Honey: “High” and “&Run.”