In the thirty day span that has made up my June, I have ventured from my comfy, Cosby-esque neighborhood in Brooklyn to head into Manhattan exactly four times. Thus, the live entertainment I have enjoyed this summer has so far fallen under the general umbrella category of “Bands I Wouldn’t Ordinarily See In 2004, But They’re Playing In Brooklyn, So Why The Hell Not?” It’s how I ended up attending a Phish concert ^[1] for the first time in four years at Keyspan Park. And it’s how I saw Aimee Mann at St. Ann’s Warehouse ^[2], even though I’ve seen her twelve times (no, really) in the past couple of years and promised I wouldn’t do it again because, I thought, one could listen to her tell that story about meeting Liam Gallagher only so many times. I was wrong. Turns out, I could listen to it again.
And I’ll be listening to it tonight ^[3]. Because the only word more appealing than “Brooklyn” is “free.” So upon discovering that she would be playing a free show on the Hudson River as part of the clunkily named “Downtown NYC River to River Festival 2004,” I started packing my worldly goods into a handkerchief I’ll tie off with a stick as I begin the trek northward. It’s free! Freeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!
Come on down. Just don’t be that really tall guy who gets there four minutes before the show starts, pushes his way to the front, and stands directly in my sight lines. Be some other guy than that.