WFUV Summer Music Guide 2024
Soaking up the tunes in Newport (photo by Laura Fedele/WFUV)
WFUV is supported by the Surfside Beach Hotel and Surf Club in Point No Point, CT. What will be your Surf Side Story?
Text your music buddies and sync your calendars, there's a lot of great music coming up this summer. Here's a list of some events we're most looking forward to (in chronological order); you can pick up a pocket-sized print version wherever you see the WFUV tent or table out at a show.
Skip ahead to: The Rooftop At Pier 17 | Stone Pony Summer Stage | Forest Hills Stadium | SummerStage, Central Park | BRIC Celebrate Brooklyn! Festival | Wilco's Solid Sound Festival | The Capitol Groove | Caramoor’s American Roots Music Festival and American Roots Evenings | Battery Park City River & Blues Series | Lincoln Center’s Summer for the City | Great South Bay Music Festival | Newport Folk Festival | Falcon Ridge Folk Festival | Newport Jazz Festival | Hudson River Park Blues BBQ Festival | See.Hear.Now Festival
The Rooftop At Pier 17
Where: Pier 17, South Street Seaport, New York City
When: Now-September 14
FYI: One of NYC’s favorite outdoor venues at South Street Seaport with dazzling views of downtown Manhattan and Brooklyn.
Shows include:
7/30 Switchfoot, Blue October and Matt Nathanson; 7/31 The Mountain Goats; 8/3 Ajunabeats Outdoors; 8/4 SLASH, Keb' Mo', ZZ Ward, Robert Randolph; 8/6-7 Ice Spice 8/15 The Stray Cats; 8/16 Andrew Bird and Amadou & Mariam; 9/4 Crowded House
Stone Pony Summer Stage
Where: Asbury Park, NJ
When: Now-August 18
FYI: The legendary Stone Pony’s Summer Stage has a huge season of outdoor shows in Asbury Park with something for everyone. Fun to listen to music from the beach.
Shows include:
8/3 The Struts and Barns Courtney; 8/16 The Gaslight Anthem; 8/18 Slaughter Beach, Dog; 8/28 Umphrey’s McGee; 9/1 Waxahatchee, Tim Heidecker, Snail Mail; 9/18 Stars: Set Yourself on Fire (20th Anniversary Tour)
Forest Hills Stadium
Where: Forest Hills, Queens, NY
When: Now-October 19
FYI: Forest Hills Stadium is located near the LIRR and E, F, M and R subway lines. Look for the WFUV Clubhouse between portals 3 and 4.
Shows include:
8/16-17 King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard with Geese and DJ Crenshaw; 8/25 Pitbull with T-Pain; 9/7 Omar Apollo 9/13 The National and The War on Drugs with special guest Lucius; 9/14-15 The Killers 9/18 Kings of Leon and Phantogram; 9/20-21 Khruangbin with Men I Trust; 9/22 The Marley Brothers: The Legacy Tour; 9/27 IDLES with The Walkmen; 9/28-29 All Things Go music festival with Chappell Roan, Ethel Cain, Janelle Monáe, more 10/18-19 Sturgill Simpson
SummerStage, Central Park
Where: Rumsey Playfield, Central Park, New York City
When: Now-October 3
Tickets: Entry on a first-come, first-served basis for free shows. Tickets required for the benefit concerts (*).
FYI: SummerStage’s closest park entrance is 69th Street and 5th Avenue. Street parking is tough on the east side, but if you’re up for it, it’s not too bad a walk from the West Side.
Shows include:
*7/31 Blue Note Presents: Robert Glasper feat. Yebba; 8/4 Galactic feat. Irma Thomas; 8/18 Funk Flex Birthday Party with Slick Rick, Doug E. Fresh; *8/21 Gaslight Anthem; *8/23 The Roots, Jungle Brothers, Digable Planets; 8/27 Snail Mail, Tim Heidecker, Fenne Lily; *9/17 Squeeze with Boy George, *10/3 Brittany Howard, Michael Kiwanuka with Yasmin Williams
BRIC Celebrate Brooklyn! Festival
Where: Prospect Park Bandshell, Brooklyn, NY
When: June 22-August 2
Tickets: Most shows are free.
FYI: Bring a blanket or a chair for maximum enjoyment. Note that parking can be challenging around Prospect Park.
Shows include:
8/2 Meshell Ndegeocello - No More Water: The Gospel of James Baldwin; 8/9 Jesse Royal, Anant Pradhan & Larry McDonald; 8/10 Charlotte Adigéry & Bolis Pupal, Sinkane
Caramoor’s American Roots Music Festival and American Roots Evenings
Where: Caramoor Center for Music and the Arts, Katonah, NY
When: Festival: June 29th; Roots nights: July 12, August 3, 9
FYI: The festival has day and evening sessions with performances in various locations around the gorgeous grounds. Caramoor is family-friendly — bring a blanket and chairs for the day performances on the field.
American Roots Music Festival artists include: Madison Cunningham, Lizzie No, Solomon Hicks, Fantastic Cat, Rissi Palmer and Poor Monroe.
American Roots Evenings include: 7/12 Lost Bayou Ramblers; 8/3 Rhiannon Giddens; 8/9 Ollabelle
Also scheduled: 8/16 Mokoomba; and more.
Battery Park City River & Blues Series
Where: Rockefeller Park, Battery Park City, New York City
When: July 11- August 1
FYI: Admission is free. Music starts around 7pm on Thursday nights in July. A great lineup with the gorgeous backdrop of Rockefeller Park. Don’t forget a picnic!
Shows include:
8/1 Abraham Alexander
Lincoln Center’s Summer for the City
Where: Lincoln Center and various spaces, New York City
When: July 12-August 10
Tickets: Most events are free or pay-what-you-can.
FYI: “Summer for the City” includes over 200 events for New Yorkers.
June/July/August shows and concerts include multicultural outdoor dance, theatre and music performances, including: the immersive AR experience “The Bridge” (featuring Nona Hendryx); National Black Theatre’s “The Dream that Will Be”; 7/24 Danny Lipsitz and The Brass Tacks Ballroom Orchestra; 7/30-31 Carlos Miguel Prieto conducts Haydn and Ginastera, feat. J’Nai Bridges
Plus musical storytimes for children, dance workshops, yoga, movement and tai chi classes, comedy showcases, events for neurodivergent audiences, immersive virtual exhibits, PEN talks, and silent discos featuring Joe McGinty’s Loser’s Lounge, DJ Bill Coleman, Cruz, and others on New York City’s largest outdoor dance floor.
Newport Jazz Festival
Where: Fort Adams State Park, Newport, RI
When: August 2-4
FYI: The festival’s genre-defying lineup has something for everyone.
Artists include:
Friday: André 3000, Kamasi Washington, Brittany Howard, Cory Wong, PJ Morton, Galactic with Irma Thomas, Moonchild, Chef Adjuah
Saturday: Dinner Party (feat. Terrace Martin, Robert Glasper, Kamasi Washington), Elvis Costello, Thievery Corporation, Terrace Martin, Samara Joy, Terrace Martin + Calvin Keys, Lianne LaHavas
Sunday: Nile Rodgers & Chic, Laufey, Robert Glasper, Christian McBride’s Jam Jawn (Special Guests TBA), Meshell Ndegeocello, Shabaka, Kassa Overall
Hudson River Park Blues BBQ Festival
Where: Pier 76, New York City
When: Saturday August 10
FYI: This annual day-long celebration of The Blues and stellar BBQ make the perfect summer day hang. And it’s free!
Artists include:
Alexis P. Suter, Blackcat Zydeco featuring Dwight Carrier, Sheryl Youngblood, Joe Louis Walker, Altered Five Blues Band
Plus a second stage presented by the Jazz Foundation of America
Sea.Hear.Now Festival
Where: Asbury Park, NJ
When: September 14-15
FYI: Stages on the beach, plus surfing competitions and great photo exhibits by Transparent Clinch Gallery while you’re there.
Artists include:
Saturday: Noah Kahan, The Black Crowes, 311, The Revivalists, The Hives, Grace Potter, Sierra Ferrell, Peaches, Guster, Ziggy Alberts, Robert Randolph Band, Joe P, Passafire, Sonic Blume
Sunday: Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band, The Gaslight Anthem, Trey Anastasio Band, Norah Jones, Kool & The Gang, Action Bronson, Gogol Bordello, Larkin Poe, Joy Oladokun, The Aces, Eggy, Illiterate Light, Bertha, Sunshine Spazz, Rachel Ana Dobken
