Is Little Island New York’s Hottest Venue?

When a recent invite for a Childish Gambino “fan listening party” landed in my inbox, I momentarily stopped pawing at my laptop’s trackpad like a feral cat to read the location again: Little Island. While the public park is a pleasant and semi-Shire-like place to bring visitors after the Whitney or Los Mariscos, it’s not particularly known as a music venue — but that’s rapidly changing with what might have been one of Donald Glover’s final gigs as his hip-hop/rap persona and an exciting new series of performances by another noteworthy artist.

From July 24 to 28, the funk liberation band Britton & The Sting will play a new work titled Mama, which was created especially for the venue by the Tony Award-winning artist and advocate Britton Smith. According to an event description, the experience is a “sonic adventure [that] embodies the transformative power of water, life, and connection,” as performed by Smith, Zwe Bell le Pere, Andrew Jagannath, Malachi Mabson, Tiffany Mann, Ines Nassara, and Josh Roberts. The show will take place at Little Island’s amphitheater at 8 p.m.; tickets go for $25.

Ahead of this week’s dates, watch Britton & The Sting’s vibey new music video for their hit “Draw Me” below.