6/4 - 6/5 Hillstock DIY Festival
This year’s Hillstock festival includes two awesome, classic outdoor Brooklyn activities: a block party and a rooftop picnic. Organized by young DIY-ers Eric Williams and Alex Billig (with help from Silent Barn and Showpaper’s Joe Ahearn), these two events will host more than 30 bands for a grand total of $15. On 6/4, there’s the Block Party, featuring electro-soul locals Ava Luna and much more, and then on the 5th there’s the Rooftop Picnic, with Easter Vomit, Laura Stevenson and Kittens Ablaze. Now that’s keeping it real. Real frugal.
Block Party at 106 Emerson Place, 10am; Rooftop Picnic location TBD, 10am.

6/10 Andrew Bird
So this is basically the official start to the summer concert season, and really, we could think of far, far worse ways to kick things off than to have Andrew Bird playing violin, whistling and singing his meticulously crafted chamber-pop songs for free at the Prospect Park Bandshell. It’s been quite a while since Bird last released a proper full-length (2009’s Noble Beast), so hopefully he’ll have some new material to play for us tonight.
Prospect Park Bandshell, 8:15pm, FREE.

6/14 The Decemberists, Best Coast
There’s no way around it, really: at least within the realm of indie-rock anyway, this is one of the strangest pairings imaginable: The Decemberists are of course known for their hyper-literate, smart-aleck take on indie-folk, prog and all sorts of traditional music. Best Coast, on the other hand, is known for smoking shit-tons of weed and writing really simple but extremely catchy songs about missing your boyfriend. Still, though, we find ourselves desperately hoping for an on-stage collaboration, in hopes that one might rub off on the other.
Prospect Park Bandshell, 6pm. $40.

6/16 - 6/19 The Northside
Festival
What do you mean, conflict of interest? Look, we’re simply letting you know that there is a four-day music festival taking place in Williamsburg and Greenpoint, featuring over 250 bands and basically every single venue you can think of. The highlights? Well, as of now, you’ve got Beirut and Sharon Van Etten at a new McCarren Park stage on Friday night, then Guided By Voices, Wavves, Surfer Blood and The Babies at the same space on Saturday. We’ve also got bands like Woods, Atlas Sound and Eleanor Friedberger at the beautiful, 800-cap St. Cecilia’s Church, an opening night party with Theophilus London, a set by Deer Tick’s Nirvana-covering alter-ego Deervana, and much, much more. And keep in mind, this is to say nothing of the roughly 50 showcases being booked by the city’s most influential music blogs, record labels, publications, etc.
Visit northsidefestival.com for details.

6/18 Governors Ball Music Festival
Well, will you look at us playing all nice and shit, even deigning to tell you about this event, which takes place, you’ll notice, on the Saturday of this year’s Northside Festival. It’s a doozy, though, with sets by local scene-stealers Das Racist, the inimitable Big Boi, mash-up artist extraordinaire Girl Talk and, uh, Passion Pit, which… sure, fine. There’s much more, too, and if you choose this over any of the really great stuff going on at Northside, well, we’ll be angry, but we’ll find it in our hearts to forgive you. Really, though? Passion Pit?
Governors Island, All Day, SOLD OUT.

6/24 Florence and the Machine, Twin Shadow, Bubbles
Somewhere on Youtube, there is a video of Florence Welch running around an onstage track at a massive outdoor British stadium show wearing nothing but a leotard and obscenely highheels. Singing, too—as well as any mega-talented person standing still in flats and breathing normally would. We’re still not sure how this is possible, and still kind of considering the possibility that Florence Welch is the secret identity of Wonderwoman. Maybe at Summerstage she’ll reveal the truth.
Central Park Summerstage, 5:30pm, $35.