Review: Catalpa Festival @ Randall's Island (Day 2)

Girl Talk @ Catalpa NYC

Catalpa Festival @ Randall’s Island - July 29, 2012
Photos: Geanna B. and James MacFie / Review: Geanna B.

La-di-da-di-dahh! It's time to talk about the D-O-double-G! What, what, what whaaaaaat! Fo' rizzle. If there was anyone at Catalpa who was more excited to see Snoop Dogg than me, I would like to shake that person's hand. And then possibly give them a high five. Possibly. My dad hates rap music, so I used to have to listen to Snoop in my room quietly with headphones on without moving, so as not to upset his classic rock sensibilities. But before I geek out on middle school nostalgia, let's dive right into the funstuffs.

Sunday. Round Two. No Mercy, Mr. LaRusso.

Review: Catalpa Festival @ Randall's Island (Day 1)

Catalpa Festival @ Randall’s Island - July 28, 2012
Photos: Geanna B. and James MacFie / Review: Geanna B.

Renaissance Fairs are great, we know this much is true. Where else can you eat delicious turkey legs while donning your favorite crushed velvet garments and lamenting the devastation of the Bubonic Plague? Probably nowhere, actually. But even in the midst of all this Humanist fun, there is one major thang that the Renaissance inarguably lacks: the presence of Snoop D-O-G-G and his historic album, Doggystyle.

Lucky for us, Catalpa NYC was there last weekend to fill the void. But what is Catalpa, exactly? And how did it get its name? And how are we to pronounce said name? And why were there no cats involved? AND WHERE WERE THE BRISKET TACOS?! All of these questions remain unanswered, but we did give it a Google, just for good measure:

Catalpa Festival Next Weekend! (7/28-29) Lineup, Set Times and Tickets!

Veritable smorgasbord music festival Catalpa is coming to Randall's Island next Saturday and Sunday, featuring 3 stages and over 40 artists throughout the hip-hop, indie, reggae and electronic music scenes. The official lineup and full schedule have been announced and are available on the festival's website, with info about tickets, transportation and a pretty ridiculous flame throwing sculpture/structure/DJ booth.

No, really. Check it out for yourself.

Fucking Nostalgic's Guide to Summer in NYC (Part One)

Overwhelmed by the insane amount of summer shows taking place this summer in New York City? You're not alone. Over the past few months, dozens of festivals, concert series and one-off shows have been announced, and it's pretty impossible to keep up with all of them. So over the next couple of weeks, we'll be taking a look at everything NYC has to offer (both paid & free) with our FN Summer Concert Guide. We'll be outlining the major inclusive festivals in this post and then in part two we'll take a look at ongoing summer concert series that will be taking place throughout the season. Without further ado...

FN News Roundup: March 22, 2012

It's been quite a day in terms of album reissues, festival news, and movie castings that have been plucked from our dream journal. But pop this article up on your phone and go read it outside, it's like summer out there right now!

• At long last, shoegaze legends My Bloody Valentine will reissue their classic LPs Isn't Anything and Loveless along with four EPs' worth of material from 1988 to 1991 and unreleased / rare tracks. The countdown to May 7 is ON! (Slicing Up Eyeballs)


• Speaking of long-awaited reissues, David Bowie will be celebrating the 40th Anniversary of The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders From Mars on June 5, with completely remastered tracks and an audio DVD with previously unreleased mixes (Consequence of Sound)


• INDEED. Michael K. Williams (Omar from The Wire) has officially signed on to play Ol' Dirty Bastard of the Wu-Tang Clan in an upcoming biopic about the late rapper's career and life. YES. TO. THIS. (Warming Glow)


• Happy 35th Anniversary to the B-52s! The band who taught us much about tin roofs rusting are playing four shows in the NYC area in July with Squeeze, plus a separate show in Englewood, NJ in early August (BrooklynVegan)


• I guess we can't complain about a lack of local festivals anymore. We've got another new one on July 28 & 29 called the Catalpa Festival with headliners including TV On The Radio & The Black Keys, along with Snoop Dogg performing Doggystyle in its entirety. Geanna expressly wanted that last part bolded (Pitchfork)