All Over Albany

Upbeat on the Roof 2018

Taina Asili will be there in August. / photo: Kiki Vassiliakis

The Upbeat on the Roof series starts up a new season at The Tang Museum at Skidmore tonight (Thursday).

The free Thursday evening concerts are on the roof of the museum (thus the name), and the galleries are open late.

This year's lineup is below. As in years past, it includes local acts across a range of genres.

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PearlPalooza 2018 lineup

Superorganism is one of the headliners.

This year's PearlPalooza -- the WEQX-organized free music festival on Pearl Street in downtown Albany -- is Saturday, September 15. And the lineup is out.

Without further ado, here's the list of acts with sample video clips...

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Freedom Park 2018 concert series lineup

Moriah Formica will be there later in June.

The popular series of free concerts at Freedom Park in Scotia starts this Wednesday.

As usual, the season includes big lineup with multiple concerts each week from June through late August. And the lineup includes a bunch of different genres.

Freedom Park is on the Mohawk River, just over the Western Gateway Bridge from Schenectady, next to Jumpin' Jack's. (Sometimes you can catch a water ski show, too.)

Here's the schedule...

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Alive at Five 2018 lineup

Matisyahu will be there in June. / photo: Chris Townsend

The Alive at Five series starts up its new season next week. The free Thursday night concerts are at Jennings Landing in Corning Riverfront Park, and run into August. (With a week off around July 4.)

Without ado, further or otherwise, here's the lineup with a sample clip for each headliner...

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At The Plaza 2018

The series starts with the 4th of July Celebration -- and Smash Mouth is headlining. / photo via Smash Mouth Facebook

The schedule for this summer's lineup of events at/near the Empire State Plaza is out. It includes a mix of concerts, festivals, and outdoor movie screenings. All the events are free to attend.

The series stars July 4 and runs through September. This year's slate also includes a new event, the Hops and Harvest Festival, a celebration of "the best of what autumn has to offer in upstate New York and blue grass music."

On with the schedule...

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Rockin' on the River 2018

Singer/songwriter/composer Meklit will be there in July. / photo: Marco Peris / via Meklit Facebook

The full schedule for the next season of the Rockin' on the River free concert series in downtown Troy is out.

The Wednesday night series starts June 6 in Riverfront Park and runs through August 8.

And here's the lineup...

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Music Haven 2018 lineup

Nigerien singer/songwriter/guitarist Bombino opens the series in July.

The lineup for this summer's Music Haven series in Schenectady's Central Park is out.

One of the things that distinguishes Music Haven among the free summer concert series is its focus on world, jazz, and roots music. And a bunch of upgrades to the venue itself are set to debut this season.

This venue's schedule also includes a handful of concerts beyond the typical Sunday evening Music Haven concerts.

The series starts July 8. Here's the lineup...

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Spin Doctors at Schenectady County SummerNight 2018

This year's Schenectady County SummerNight is July 13, and the headline is the band Spin Doctors.

Also part of the lineup: the bands Lucy and Bendt.

SummerNight is a free block party on State Street in downtown Schenectady from 5-10 pm. Shops will be open, and there are food vendors, kids activities, a sand sculpture, and fireworks at the end of the night. It's become a huge event -- last year's SummerNight drew an estimated 20,000 people.

By the way: It's been 27 years since Spin Doctors released Pocketful of Kryptonite, which sold more than 5 million copies in the US. And, according to the band's Wikipedia page, they've been together together and making albums ever since, except for a two-year hiatus around the early 2000s.

photo: Lucy Onions