More Fun with Music and Art

Hanukkah it was not, but between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, Yo La Tengo played a big ol' show at the Roseland Ballroom. Bigger venue than they usually play (in my experience, anyway) and it was packed with 3,000 of us. We got there too late to enjoy the musical stylings of the Susquehanna Industrial Tool & Die Co., but I hear they did a fun set in the lobby area. We did catch most of the Black Lips set, which was good for some good-n-loud.

Then came the main event: Yo La Tengo themselves, rocking in their own inimitable way. They gave us a healthy dose of the best material from their newest, Popular Songs. They rocked their classics (ok to call them 'classics' right?) including taking "Blue Line Swinger" to heights only dreamt of in your mythology.

They were introduced by the Daily Show's John Oliver, who had his work cut out for him trying to focus that many hipsters. They had visual stimulation provided by the Joshua White and Gary Panter Light Show.

The light show was a show of its own. Joshua and Gary are visual artists from the original psychedelic rock era. Nary a computer in evidence. Just some guys with projectors, colored oils, spinners and slides working a visual counterpoint to the music.


A microcosm of the reactions of our little group to this phenomenon:
Sherin: I love how old-school this light show is - analog everything!

Cory: You can see the hand of the artist, like with Jackson Pollock.

Frank: I feel like I'm at Iron Butterfly.

Amanda: Why isn't anybody dancing?




I don't know who shot this video (though I think it probably was Qbertplaya) and it seems possible that it'll be pulled down off the internets at some point. But for now, enjoy - string section and all.

HellGate Love Letter

This was the performance piece we saw a couple weeks back on the East River. Put together by the Alice Farley Dance Theater and produced in conjunction with the environmental activist group Solar One, it was a fantastic tribute to an earlier era in New York, and a great example of the kind of thing that continues to make the city singular. Loaded with poetry both verbal and visual, it started with a dance by these gals:


They were Spiney Star Fish, and they were accompanied by a couple guys who wandered around the crowd playing music through these crafty speakers hanging around their necks.



While this was going on, programs were distributed which included poetry by Lorca and Whitman, odes to New York - both the man-made and the natural sides. Characters named Gallus Mag and Sadie the Goat came out and delivered the bulk of the evening's text: a mytho-poetic incantation, reminders that these canyons of concrete and steel are surrounded by rivers, and right on the edge of the power of the ocean.

Here's Gallus mag in all his glory:


As you can see, the costume design, makeup and other visual elements (not least of all the park, the river, and the view of Brooklyn and Queens on the other side) were a big part of this show.

The crowd was herded up and down the path as different etudes emerged involving dance, text, and ever more expressive costumes. I was impressed by this River Cactus.


Dancers sprang from every rock, tree and rail.



There were many characters I didn't get good shots of, including this Sea Horse, but his unicycle costume is so rad I can't resist putting this picture, however blurry.



It even involved some tricked out kayaks.
And in keeping with the idea that nature is cyclical, it ended at the place where it began...
See those kayaks in the background?
Very cool event. By the way, the name "HellGate" comes from the Dutch word "Hellegat," which means both "Hell Gate" and "bright passage" and was the name Dutch settlers gave to the East River Strait.

Ok, I don't know why I'm not able to format this particular entry any better than I have. My html skillz evidently leave a lot to be desired. Hope you can make heads and tails of it. My main point is: All hail public art in New York outside in the summer!