Summer in New York City brings with it many things. Every vaguely green space fills with eager sunbathers, every bar and restaurant patio fills with sun-starved drinkers, and every neighborhood rings with the ubiquitous tune of the Mister Softee ice cream truck. In recent years, from Central Park Summerstage to downtown’s River to River Music Festival, free music has become a calling card of the year’s warmest season as well, and Jelly NYC’s McCarren Park Pool Parties have risen to some prominence among the weekly free show in the area. In addition to a summer-long dodgeball tournament, a rain-or-shine waterslide, and the requisite food and alcoholic beverage vendors, both up-and-coming acts and established indie powers have flocked to Williamsburg to play the pool.
As recently as 2005 JellyNYC was a production company of friends with disparate yet complementary talents looking for something big to launch their brand. A company, in the words of founder Alexander Kane, “bored of seeing the same old stuff presented in the same old way, marketed in the same old manner, and seeing the same bad bands get all the press.”
Ideas began to coalesce and in 2006 the company committed to its first free summer concerts… some two months before the first planned show. Each week was a struggle, not only to book bands on such short notice, but also to find enough money to fund each party. The Brooklyn Brewery was the first company to sign on, and as others jumped on board Jelly and its small band of volunteers began the harrowing task of making each show a reality.
“That was the real charm of that first season,” Kane said. “Everyone was digging their claws in the dirt to make it happen.”
From Of Montreal, the Silversun Pickups, The Walkmen, and Spank Rock in 2006 to TV on the Radio, Ted Leo and the Pharmacists, Ghostland Observatory, and Blonde Redhead in 2007, JellyNYC has landed acts across genres with varied levels of experience, and with widely differing levels of exposure. They’ve made a reputation for booking quality bands and picking acts they love rather than acts that are charting high or creating buzz on the internet. “We don’t cater to hipsters or the latest, coolest thing,” Kane said. “It’s about making something you think is quality rather than targeting to a specific niche.”
Co-sponsored by Helio since last year, this summer the Pool Parties are heading into their third season of free Sunday shows - beginning June 29th with the Hold Steady - but the future of the venue is in doubt. As part of his PlaNYC initiative, Mayor Mike Bloomberg announced in April of last year that, in addition to other city improvements, up to $50 million would be allocated to turn the space back into a community swimming pool. The Parks Department is currently working with the community on the project, which is now in its initial phases and will take several years to complete. Though JellyNYC is facing the looming loss of the pool as a performance space, Kane is not worried about the future of the shows.
“We want what the community wants and if that means an entire pool then that’s fine,” he said. He went on to state, however, that Williamsburg is a music town and as such needs outdoor venues for music. “If not at the pool then maybe on the water, or even just digging a big ditch and playing a show.”
Click to JellyNYC.com for the full list of this summer’s Pool Parties.
© Eric Atienza 2008 for Listen In Some rights reserved.
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