I've been receiving frequent messages from a Mr. Steve Rogers, urging me to attend events at Webster Hall, including the Tuesday, Antihoot run by Lach. Mr. Rogers is a pretty persuasive guy, so I turned out on Tuesday to see what the hubbub was about. Actually, this was my second visit, truth be told, after checking out the Antihoot's new location on its very first night in back in March.
When I arrived, Talia was playing--the same young Talia I'd noticed at the Open Mic at Sidewalk the night before. Talia's songs often are about the emotional currents stirred up by the guys in her life (or at least the ones she has crushes on) or by conflicts with her classmates in school. I've got to give Talia credit for having the drive to write songs and find places to perform them. Plunging headlong into this stuff at an early age means that she will have more opportunity to learn and develop her writing and generally to find a path into music if she decides that's what she wants. And what better way to do it than hanging out at late-night songwriting joints!
Next up was a group called Now (if I'm not mistaken) a duo with a quite lithesome young lady and a guy singing a heavily pop-flavored tune to a rhythm track.
Mike Rechner played two songs from his Churchill Downs project. Mike's songs always seem heavily influenced by Lou Reed to me--spare and somehow bringing out feelings of alienation. Cool stuff.
Morgan Heringer played a couple nice tunes...she referred to standard ukulele position--one leg on a chair, elbow on the raised thigh, holding the angled up ukulele.
The Gentleman Scumbag was up next with funny stuff about his job as a dirty balloon maker at Lucky Cheng's. I particularly liked the story about the father who insisted that John make a particularly profane balloon sculpture for the man's 15 year-old daughter.
Emily Moment was on hand with accompaniment from a friend on guitar. The songs seemed to have kind of a country-flavored pop feel . Emily's vocals stand out more each time I hear her play.
Joie Blaney was a fixture for years at Sidewalk's Open Mic before moving to L. A. a couple years ago. It was nice to see him back in town for a visit. Joie played some new songs, including one about the bygone days of Sweet Bohemia.
Dave Woodcock, a very versatile performer who I gather is visiting from England, displayed some virtuosic technique with a song on piano about how "life ain't worth a damn" and then turned to guitar for a much gentler song called Gretna Green. Very nice.
The Scufz is a retro-flavored act with a guy on washboard/percussion, a fellow on guitar and vocals and another on washtub bass. The guitarist seemed to be pulling most of the weight musically and had some nice jazzy chords to fill out their sound. In the middle of the set a scantily clad gal appeared with a megaphone to pick up the vocals and added further retro-style with "voidio-do, voidio-do" lyrics. She then surprised us by whisking off her short dress to reveal an even scantier costume underneath.
Lenny Molotov played and JJ Hayes did a song about Killing the Buddha.
One of the things I've noticed about the Merlin Room at Webster Hall is that it provides a much more sophisticated range of atmospheric devices for Lach to play with. The whirling stage lights are one thing but I jumped every time I heard the smoke machine hiss on.
The Merlin Room is a gorgeous space and is a great place for anyone who has wanted to play on a larger stage in amuch more polished setting than Sidewalk. Although it probably had as many people in attendance the other night as Sidewalk's open mic usually does, the large room made it seem more sparsely attended. But with Steve Rogers on the case I'm sure that will soon be a thing of the past.
After I headed out from Webster Hall, intending to catch the train home--I ran into Crazy and the Brains and friends who were heading over to Sidewalk to hear Diane Cluck. Diane's songs are gentle and elegant. They require intent listening but it pays off. In particular, a requested song, Macy's Day Bird struck me as ravishing. One of the reasons to hang out in this scene is for the times when you unexpectedly encounter moments of powerful artistry. Thanks to Crazy and Co. for tipping me off to Diane's show which was a nice way to finish off the night.
Thursday, May 13, 2010
Wednesday, May 12, 2010
Monday Night Open Mic, May 10, 2010
I thought there was some good energy the other night, helped by the addition of a big projection screen behind the stage which featured videos by a few folks on the list. Preston Spurlock showed some of his animations--a number of which I'd seen but all of which are brilliant. Interspersed with those he had some bizarre "found" footage, including a real educational film from the 1980s (?) which explored different ways to refer to a penis. The instructor, a straight-laced looking woman in front of a blackboard kept asking her students for more references and and wrote them all down--cock, dick, meat, etc....totally bizarre. Pete Scalzitti also showed the cool animation for his song Amy, which he accompanied live on piano.
It was actually Brian Speaker who opened the show with a song from his Mars Chronicles opera. Good to see Brian is recovered from whatever bug knocked him out of commission for a bit.
Morgan Heringer played a couple lovely songs--she'll be on the bill at Sidewalk Friday with Cal Folger Day. Birds of Prey performed (Birds of Prey is a gal from Australia who I've seen over the last few weeks). Talia sang Sticky Situation--which she explained is about a girl in her class who i mean to her.
The floating logo from the DVD machine that randomly swam around on the projection screen as various acts played was a strange and inadequate vestige of 1960s light shows. I don't know if anyone else thought about this--but in its day the Fillmore East was just a few blocks away from Sidewalk. How things have changed.
Brook Pridemore, and the Facsimiles played--leading up to Nothing but Strings, which I can only describe as a hip hop violin duo. They were two violinists who played to a hip-hop rhythm track. It was a bit overblown, frankly, but cool nonetheless. I look forward to seeing these guys some more.
Zoe--was it Zoe--I think it was--she sang a song she said was inspried by The Prince by Machiavelli. Most of her performance was from a position on her knees or supine.
###
It was actually Brian Speaker who opened the show with a song from his Mars Chronicles opera. Good to see Brian is recovered from whatever bug knocked him out of commission for a bit.
Morgan Heringer played a couple lovely songs--she'll be on the bill at Sidewalk Friday with Cal Folger Day. Birds of Prey performed (Birds of Prey is a gal from Australia who I've seen over the last few weeks). Talia sang Sticky Situation--which she explained is about a girl in her class who i mean to her.
The floating logo from the DVD machine that randomly swam around on the projection screen as various acts played was a strange and inadequate vestige of 1960s light shows. I don't know if anyone else thought about this--but in its day the Fillmore East was just a few blocks away from Sidewalk. How things have changed.
Brook Pridemore, and the Facsimiles played--leading up to Nothing but Strings, which I can only describe as a hip hop violin duo. They were two violinists who played to a hip-hop rhythm track. It was a bit overblown, frankly, but cool nonetheless. I look forward to seeing these guys some more.
Zoe--was it Zoe--I think it was--she sang a song she said was inspried by The Prince by Machiavelli. Most of her performance was from a position on her knees or supine.
###
Tonight - Wednesday, May 12, 2010
Tonight there are performances all over the place that will test your loyalties and abilities to navigate public transit. As I started to list them all--and the locales--Sidewalk, Cake Shop, Goodbye Blue Monday, Webster Hall, Lilly Coogan's, it made me realize that that the scene that I think of as emanating from Sidewalk really has become rather far flung. For a moment I thought that maybe it wasn't possible to look at this as part of one scene anymore. But, to my sensibility, I do still think there are links and continuity between all these artists and that it's worth recognizing the connections and the ongoing lineage. So, even as things morph and evolve around us, I am going to continue to write about the "Sidewalk Scene" and assume that anyone with a specific enough interest to read this blog will know what that encompasses. And, of course, there still IS the scene at Sidewalk going strong.
Ok, --I'll probably get around to writing more about that stuff some other time, but for now, here is some of what's happening tonight:
at Goodbye Blue Monday Nan Turner celebrates the release of her CD "Construction of a Champ." The evening features performances by a slate of intriguing and talented folks including Susan Hwang, "Jofranna", Dave End, and Nan herself with a large group of friends backing her up as The One Night Stands.
Cake Shop has Only Son and Ching Chong Song on the bill.
Lach's slate at Webster Hall includes an appearance by our friend Joie Blaney, making a rare visit from L. A. Also on that bill is Mike Rechner with his new project Churchill Downs plus Lenny Molotov and Lach himself.
Sidewalk has added an intriguing set by Anders and Co., which I gather will feature folks who were among the regular gang at Sidewalk.
Relative newcomer Charles Mansfield debuts his EP at Lilly Coogan's
I will be at one or more of these shows. And maybe I'll see you there.
Ok, --I'll probably get around to writing more about that stuff some other time, but for now, here is some of what's happening tonight:
at Goodbye Blue Monday Nan Turner celebrates the release of her CD "Construction of a Champ." The evening features performances by a slate of intriguing and talented folks including Susan Hwang, "Jofranna", Dave End, and Nan herself with a large group of friends backing her up as The One Night Stands.
Cake Shop has Only Son and Ching Chong Song on the bill.
Lach's slate at Webster Hall includes an appearance by our friend Joie Blaney, making a rare visit from L. A. Also on that bill is Mike Rechner with his new project Churchill Downs plus Lenny Molotov and Lach himself.
Sidewalk has added an intriguing set by Anders and Co., which I gather will feature folks who were among the regular gang at Sidewalk.
Relative newcomer Charles Mansfield debuts his EP at Lilly Coogan's
I will be at one or more of these shows. And maybe I'll see you there.
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