Tonight Norah Jones and her band opens of the 2010 season for Celebrate Brooklyn, the music/film/spoken word (which this year is comedy) festival held in the bandshell in our very own Prospect Park.  This is kind of a homecoming for Norah, who recently bought a house in Cobble Hill, but as far as I know hasn’t yet moved there.

If you haven’t seen Norah’s show in a while or haven’t heard her recent album, The Fall, be prepared for some changes.  Yes, Norah will play piano on a few songs, but will spend much more time playing a Wurlitzer keyboard and a candy apple red Fender Mustang electric guitar.  And the songs from The Fall are more upbeat than some of Norah’s previous stuff.

Joining Norah in her band are Brooklyn’s Smokey Hormel on guitar, drummer Joey Waronker, keyboard player John Kirby, bassist Gus Seyffert, and multi-instrumentalist Sasha Dobson (a personal favorite of mine and Norah’s close friend) on guitar, percussion and backing vocals.

Here are some tips about getting into the show tonight:

Entrance: For this show the only entrance will be the one at Prospect Park West and 11th Street.

Lines: It’s going to be crowded and there’s going to be a line, so get there early. The doors will open at 6:30pm.

Give $3: That’s the contribution that Celebrate Brooklyn asks and they put on great shows every year. This year a bunch of their corporate sponsors didn’t pony up, so you should. $3 for Norah? That’s more than a bargain.

Seats: There are about 2000 seats (with the front section roped off for the folks who paid $325 each to attend a pre-show fundraiser). The earlier you get on line, the more likely it is you’ll get a seat.  But if you want to make a picnic out of this, bring a blanket and sit on the grass hill in the back of the bandshell area.

Food: No cans, bottles, coolers or alcoholic beverages can be brought in. Everything else (foodwise) is OK.

Norah goes on at 8pm; there’s no opening act announced.

–Eliot Wagner