A few years ago I got tickets to see The Black Keys in Central Park for my friend Penelope's birthday, and one of my favorite summer traditions was born. It seems that the show I'm most anticipating each summer falls on the week or even day of her birthday (July 28), and we have seen some of the best concerts of my life for these birthday shows.
Last year, it was the mind-bogglingly amazing Flaming Lips and Weezer special tag-team show at Jones Beach. (Bonus: my brother came for that one because Weezer is one of his all-time favorite bands, and the three of us were completely blown away).
This year was Beach House on a Monday night in Central Park. From the very first time I heard the song "Gila" years ago, I've been obsessed with seeing Beach House live. I couldn't have hoped for a better venue than Central Park in the summer. I bought these tickets back in January, and I'd been eagerly awaiting it for months.
Man, oh man, it was worth the wait. We started by meeting early for a bottle of wine and dinner at Bar Italia, then got gelato before heading into the park. Thanks to Twitter, I knew we had loads of time before the stated 5pm doors / 6pm start, so we lingered and relaxed.
If you are ever near the 72nd Street entrance to Central Park, go to the Grom Gelato cart. It is extraordinary. We both got half chocolate, half raspberry, and it was an exquisite blend of tartness and rich, velvety chocolate. Truly perfect stuff.
We got into the park as the opening act, Lower Dens, began their first song. I'm really glad we got to see their set because they were terrific, and I've enjoyed getting to know their music better since.
It was so hot and humid crammed in with hundreds of generally surprisingly awesome people that sweat was literally streaming down our legs. The technical no-smoking policy generally in place at SummerStage concerts was particularly lackadaisically enforced at this show, and because Penelope and I are probably the only two women of our generation who don't smoke, we moved out of the thick haze of the crowd for a while. (I realize that sentence probably makes me sound eight million years old and supremely cantankerous, but I have basically lost all patience for people smoking all over me.)
This move turned out to be especially fortuitous, as we found shelter (and a seat - yep, still old, but I was full of wine and spaghetti carbonara) on the bleachers under the trees, which afforded both air to breathe and an amazing view of the spectacular lightning in the massive thunderstorm that accompanied Beach House's set.
(You'll have to take my word that they're in there.)
Unlike some bands inclined toward playing rushed or abbreviated sets when poor weather hits outdoor shows (cough, Walkmen and Grizzly Bear at Governor's Island, cough), Beach House played a full luscious, beautiful set. (Set list here.) If you know the band, then you can see what a tremendous concert it was. Victoria Legrand adorably said she hoped Mother Nature would be benevolent and let them play the whole show, and toward the end, she thanked Her for being so sweet and lovely. I couldn't possibly have a bigger crush on a band than I do Beach House, and in a way, incorporating natural pyrotechnics and a refreshing downpour made the concert even better. Couples sweetly kissing under umbrellas suggested I wasn't the only one who appreciated the added ambiance.
I tried to take a video of the way the lights shimmering in the trees combined with the heavy rain made the whole park look and feel like it was underwater. I didn't really succeed in capturing it, but you can perhaps get an idea of how spectacularly lovely the evening was anyway.
Outdoor summer concerts in the parks are one of my very favorite parts of living in New York. I think this birthday concert tradition is one of the better plans Pel and I have ever devised.
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