XL Recordings

Plus: Isaac Hayes, Michael Showalter, Beth Orton, Brazilian Girls

The annual summer concert series Celebrate Brooklyn! returns in 2008 with more to fete than just a certain NYC borough. This year marks the 30th anniversary of the series' inception, and to toast the momentous occasion, Celebrate Brooklyn! is doing, oh, just the usual: putting on kickass free events in Prospect Park.

The interdisciplinary lineup for this summer's celebration includes dance, theater, comedy, and all manner of music performances. Among the highlights: that previously reported, Wordless Music Series-sponsored Deerhoof gig with openers the Metropolis Ensemble ("remixing" Stravinsky's The Rite of Spring), the Philip Glass Ensemble, Isaac Hayes, Beth Orton, Michael Showalter, Brazilian Girls, and Karsh Kale providing a live score to kung fu classic Enter the Dragon, plus plenty of dubious Next Big Thing indie rock from the likes of Cold War Kids, Ghostland Observatory, and Elvis Perkins in Dearland. But hey, it's free, right?

Not so free but still awesome are a pair of benefit concerts at Prospect Park featuring Feist (July 9) and Spoon (July 15). You'll have to pay a "reasonable ticket price" to get in, but that money goes to support future free Celebration Brooklyn! events. So think of this as a "Buy 1 Feist, Get 1 Isaac Hayes Free" special. Not too shabby.

Check out the series' full slate of summer spectacles here.