Ashlyn N. Ramirez September 13th, 2017 - 3:24 PM
The latest edition of The Broad’s highly anticipated Summer Happenings series is taking place Sept. 23 at The Broad in DTLA; the late night concert series is going to be an exciting night. Each “Happenings” showcases a multitude of artists and works inside the museum; this month artists are curated to compliment the inclusive work of renowned artist Jean-Michel Basquiat. Summer Happenings is meant to shift focus toward the immersive and immaterial, including performance, dance, music and spoken word, according to The Broad’s Summer Happenings program page. With an eclectic mix of curated artists performing ranging from Downtown Boys, Damon Locks and Jay Carlon, Summer Happenings is intent on showing the versatility that gave Basquiat his ticket to fame.
The evening is set to feature queer and marginalized artists across the nation, as well as a performance by Rhode Island-based punk band Downtown Boys, who has been vehemently aggressive against the erasure of people of color, queer people, femmes, etc. since day one, according to The Broad. The band describes their beginnings as “combining revolutionary ideals with boundless energy and contagious, inclusive fun, and their resolve has only strengthened as their sound and audience have grown,” according to their Bandcamp page.
In 2012, Downtown Boys self-released their debut LP. Then the band released their second album, Full Communism, in 2015 to favorable reviews. But they have been touring throughout North America and Europe since 2012. The Broad describes them as bringing an “aggressive dissonance to make a harmonious message against the erasure of people of color, queer people, femmes, and those of us who have always been in the center of the pit whether you knew it or not.” Downtown Boys has recently been working with Greg Norman and Fugazi’s Guy Picciotto on their third LP, titled Cost Of Living.
Other artists performing include Zebra Katz, DJ Rashida, Michael Stock (Part Time Punks), Mecca V A and the MOVEMENT movement, and many more. Each artist is meant to represent a little bit of Basquiat himself: multifaceted and accomplished.
You can check out the full info here: https://www.thebroad.org/programs/summer-happenings-broad-basquiat
$25 advance tickets, $30 at the door.
Ages 21 and up.
