A Bushwick band is starting an all-ages, day-time replacement for the Brooklyn Night Bazaar — the late-night flea market-style festival and concert series that has been on hiatus since losing its Greenpoint venue earlier this year.
But the organizers of the new hipster market say their fete — which will similarly feature live music alongside an array of craft stalls, tattoo artists, barbers, and food vendors — will cater to a very different kind of cool kid.
“If you’re a rock dad, you can get your beard trimmed, get a tattoo, and put your kid in the all-ages room to watch the good music,” said Rudy Temiz, guitarist for psychedelic rock band the Bushwick Hotel, which is organizing the market. “It’s a great babysitting tactic.”
The emporium, dubbed Rock ’n’ Shop, will kick off on Oct. 4 at Williamsburg music venue the Paper Box with around 40 local vendors, including artisanal beef jerky maker Lawless Jerky, coffee roaster City of Saints, tattoo artist Ulyss Blair, and bookseller McMillen and Boyce.
The Bushwick Hotel will also show up in just about every part of the festival — the band will play a set, members will peddle their artworks, and saxophonist Matt La Von will shuttle shoppers between the market and Bedford Avenue every hour in the group’s recreational vehicle.
With so many strings to their bows, the band members said creating a market to bring them all together in one place seemed like a logical step.
“We’re always kind of walking and chewing gum at the same time,” said Greg Ferreira, the band’s vocalist who is also a visual artist. “It was natural after trying on so many hats that we tried to do them at the same time under the same roof.”
Ferreira said he also wanted to create an “alternative mall” for local youngsters. Growing up in a rough Boston enclave with an overprotective mom, he remembers the urban mall as a one-stop wonderland where kids could shop, catch a movie, and skateboard.
“My reason to get out of bed was that on Saturday my mother would let me chill at the mall,” he said. “That culture doesn’t really exist in Bushwick.”
Rock ’n’ Shop at The Paper Box [17 Meadow St. between Bogart and Waterbury streets in Bushwick, (718) 383–3815, www.paper
