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CBGB Festival 2013 Lineup: My Morning Jacket, Grizzly Bear, James Murphy, More

CBGB Festival, My Morning Jacket, Grizzly Bear, James Murphy, Times Square, free

CBGB is going Broadway — two years in a row. The second annual music festival named after the legendary New York venue will once again host a free concert in Times Square, organizers have announced. My Morning Jacket and Grizzly Bear lead the October 12 lineup for 2013’s CBGB Music & Film Festival. Also on the bill are Divine Fits, the Wallflowers, and a DJ set by James Murphy.

The concert will span multiple outdoor stages on Broadway, plus include a music equipment expo, a skateboard half-pipe, rock climbing, a record fair, and various other interactive exhibits. That’s all part of the larger CBGB festival, which takes place at assorted venues in Manhattan and Brooklyn from October 9 to October 13. Hundreds more bands will be performing in connection with the fest, including Meat Puppets, Spank Rock, Amanda Blank, Atlas Genius, Bell X1, Lisa Loeb, Dale Earnhardt, Jr. Jr., and Hanni El Khatib.

Also, a movie portion will debut dozens of new films, the entire affair kicking off on October 8 with the U.S. premiere of the CBGB movie. The biopic on CBGB founder Hilly Kristal stars Alan Rickman as Kristal, Foo Fighters drummer Taylor Hawkins as Iggy Pop, and Swedish actress Malin Akerman as Blondie’s Debbie Harry. Stay tuned for more information about this year’s fest on the CBGB website.

Last year’s inaugural CBGB fête brought a Sex Pistol, a Guns N’ Rose, Superchunk, the Hold Steady, and more to Times Square. Krist Novoselic gave a keynote address. A backstage scuffle involving former and current members of the Cro-Mags also drew attention, leading to a criminal investigation that ended with charges being dismissed. The more the Bowery changes, the more it — well, the Lower East Side has actually changed a lot, but it’s still great news that CBGB lives on in festival form.