The Bowery is bigger than New York. Marking the indomitable concert promoter’s first venture outside N.Y.C., Bowery Presents will soon host a steady stream of rock, pop and blues acts at Montclair, N.J.’s Wellmont Theatre—an 86-year-old movie palace recently refurbished by the Rosen Group. And guess who scored the opening night honors … It’s Hanson! That’s right, the blond-haired triplets who gave us “MMMBop” will trip the light pop-tastic on Nov. 1. (Apparently, they’ve released more albums since then, but we can’t say for sure.) Thankfully, they’ll be followed by some folks with a bit more maturity. There’s Steely Dan, Tony Bennett and Al Green for N.J.’s moms and dads. There’s the Decemberists and Wolf Parade for the 20-something kids (and Rufus Wainwright for the ones that live in Chelsea). There’s even Bill Maher for the politically inclined. It’s all here at the Wellmont Theatre and it all goes on sale on Saturday, Sept. 13, at 10 a.m.
‘Course if you’d rather stay in the city this fall (we hear Manhattan is gorgeous this time of year), you’ll have the boys in Vampire Weekend and Philly’s Man Man to keep you company. The latter’s punch-drunk carnie-anthems (see 2006’s Six Demon Bag and this year’s Rabbit Habits) blow up Webster Hall on Oct. 10 with manic locals Titus Andronicus. And Vampire Weekend will put the “sweat” in “sweater” for their show at Terminal 5 on Dec. 5. [Man Man on sale now; Vampire Weekend tickets on sale Friday, Sept. 12, at noon]
All our favorite guitarists love them, so why shouldn’t the darn things have their own birthday party? On Friday at 7 p.m., the Knitting Factory hosts a concert in celebration of the 50th anniversary of the Fender Jazzmaster—a guitar that has nothing to do with jazz and everything to do with rawk. Sonic Youth axemen Thurston Moore and Lee Renaldo will be on hand, as will Television’s Tom Verlaine, Dinosaur Jr’s J Mascis and Wilco virtuoso Nels Cline. Time to show all those kids at the sports bar what a real Guitar Hero looks like! Tickets are running low … [On sale now]
Those concerned about their hearing (and not their wallets) should head to the Opening Night Gala of the New York Philharmonic’s 08-09 season on Wednesday, Sept. 17. The Lincoln Center concert, which begins with a reception at 6 p.m., features Berlioz’s Roman Carnival Overture, Ibert’s Flute Concerto and Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 4. After the show, there’ll be ample opportunity to chat about the first concert of Lorin Maazel’s last season during the gala dinner at The Tent. [On sale now]
