Sentinel Spectacle

(Flickr, Phil Gyford)

They have caused discomfort, unease, and even the response of New York cops. Scattered throughout the Flatiron District (or NoMad as I have recently read), 31 bronze representations of artist Antony Gormley are making New Yorkers stop. Either to take pictures with, um, anatomically "represented" statues that are at street level. Or to crane their necks and identify the statues that are situated on the ledges of roofs around the neighborhood.

In talking about the statues with friends, most are disturbed. Michel, D'Ann. They do not like the association with those on the verge of ending their life. I, on the other hand, quite enjoy the public art. Maybe I am excited by the view these statues have of the City, jealous of their vantage point and jealous of their lack of a fear of heights. I also get a kick out of how they harmlessly disrupt daily life in this fast-paced "center of the world." I am usually quite the supporter of public art, now that I think about it. The juxtaposition of the uncommon with the mindlessly common. It forces people to look, and observe, and be aware of their surroundings. While I didn't see the Gates, I absolutely loved the simple structures in their unnatural orange color, giving scale and whimsy to Central Park. I love Banksy for how he plays with urban walls, and Shepard Fairey for his commentary.

To some extent, this appreciation for harmless disruption to our lives stretches to blizzards and storms, to subways getting flooded, forcing us to walk to work. I realize those types of events become more of an inconvenience than art you simply observe, but there is some connection in my mind.

Here are just a few links describing the artist, his work, and a recent disruption when a statue was observed on one of the Empire State Building setbacks.

Event Horizon Official Website
New York Times Article
Flavorwire Article
Scare on Empire State Building

Up New York Airconditioned Drains

Atoms For Peace
04.06.10 - Roseland Ballroom, New York

One Set:
The Eraser*, Analyse, The Clock, Black Swan, Skip Divided**, Atoms For Peace, And It Rained All Night, Harrowdown Hill, Cymbal Rush

Encore:
All For the Best^, Fog^^, Everything In Its Right Place^^, Paperbag Writer, Judge Jury and Executioner, The Hollow Earth, Feeling Pulled Apart By Horses

Notes:
Flying Lotus opened
* with Christian Scott on trumpet
** with Flea on melodica
^ solo Thom, on acoustic guitar; first time played live (Miracle Legion/Mark Mulcahy)
^^ solo Thom, on piano


I realize it may be kind of odd to describe a song that is only an hour and a half long as a "marathon," but that is one way to describe Tuesday night's Atoms For Peace show at the Roseland Ballroom. Ninety minutes in total -- the full Eraser set along with the encore . . . even though we were probably standing for over four hours. Was it worth it? Probably. I think it is a good thing when you leave a show wanting to hear specific parts again, and you start searching the internet for recordings. But that doesn't overshadow the discomfort felt at times along with the instances of music where you were underwhelmed.

I know that "Only in New York" is over-used, but that is a fitting way to describe the second night of Thom and Co.'s tour. A few hours before the doors were to open, there was an explosion underground near Times Square, with flames bursting from manholes. According to the Huffington Post:

An underground fire caused chaos in midtown Tuesday afternoon, sending flames into the streets, shutting down Broadway shows, and leaving hundreds of tourists without a place to stay.

At about 4:30 pm a transformer fire burnt three 13,000 volt cables, causing a three-alarm fire. Over a 130 firefighters rushed to the scene to put out the flames . . . Among the four buildings that had to be evacuated was the Novotel Hotel after high levels of carbon monoxide were detected in the basement . . . FDNY Deputy Chief Jay Jonas told WPIX that the levels reached as high as 700 parts per million, which is enough to "kill someone with just a few breaths."

Tuesday night's performance of Jersey Boys was also canceled due to the fire.

I had encountered the fire trucks, ambulances, and firemen milling around 52nd and B'way on my way to meet Laura and Jonathan for a pre-show meal. About an hour later, when we got to 52nd and 8th, we were met with the same trucks and authorities -- as well as a two-block long line for the concert. The front of the Roseland Ballroom was not open, and all fans were being directed in through the back doors after about an hour delay. On top of those issues, the concert was a ticket-less event, so each attendee needed to swipe a credit card before heading in. Needless to say, it was frustrating. Thank god the weather was nice . . .

By the time we got inside, Flying Lotus was already on stage "spinning." What is the correct terminology when everything seems to be on a laptop or one of those CD "turntables?" Mixing? Whatever he was doing, it was relatively enjoyable. At times, it was danceable music; at other times, the sound coming from the speakers was more of a monotonous drone. The crowed erupted the two times he mixed in Radiohead -- he knew is audience. Unfortunately, the floor was already quite packed and we made our way up the left hand side as well as we could, inching past the balcony overhang to try and improve the sound (it helped a little). There was nothing I could do about the tall people, though. (The previous three times I had been to Roseland I was blessed enough to have access to the balcony; I think that is the only way to go at this venue.)

Atoms For Peace took the stage around 10:00, almost an hour later than the previous evening. In case you didn't know, Atoms For Peace is Thom Yorke, Flea on bass, Joey Waronker (Beck) and Mauro Refosco (Forro In the Dark) on drums and percussion, and Nigel Goodrich on guitar and Keys (Nigel is Radiohead's longtime producer). Prior to the night before, the band had only played once before, last October in LA.

The band's (short) set was Thom's solo album The Eraser, in order. I find his first solo release quite enjoyable -- the songs are more succinct than Radiohead's work, and have a few more hooks. I realized, as the show progressed, that The Eraser was something like a dance album for Thom. Especially with the rhythm section that he put together for this tour, especially with Flea. But even with the musicians supporting Thom, the songs in a live setting were a bit hit or miss. At times, the songs fell apart and lost their cohesion, with one instrument overpowering the other. The opening The Eraser was interesting, with Christian Scott sitting in on trumpet (New Orleans musician Scott covers The Eraser on his most recent release Yesterday You Said Tomorrow). I had a hard time hearing him until a few minutes into the song, when you could pick out the brass; a slight reprise/break-down was tacked onto the end. Other highlights, for me, were: The Clock with Refosco doubling Flea's bass by playing this whamola-like instrument; And It Rained All Night; and Harrowdown Hill, where the bass that you were waiting to hear from Flea was front and center (it's also a fun song to sing along to "We think the same things, at the same ti-ime." At the end of Cymbal Rush, when the band left the stage, Laura turned to me and asked if that was it. It really did feel short . . .

Thankfully, I found the encore to be interesting and entertaining, and helped me leave feeling a bit more upbeat about the concert (igoring the pain in my back and feet). The encore started with three solo Thom songs. The first was a cover I was not familiar with, although I enjoyed his acoustic guitar picking and thumping along with the heart-felt lyrics ("Say you love me, say you love me . . . "). I found out later that Thom covered the song on a tribute album for the writer, Mark Mulcahy. For the second and third songs, Thom sat at the piano -- Fog, a b-side, and Kid A's Everything In Its Right Place (another sing-along song). He invited the band back out for another four songs, almost equaling the length of the "opening" set. A Radiohead b-side (Paperbag Writer), new Thom songs (Judge Jury and Executioner and The Hollow Earth), and to close, a Thom b-side (Feeling Pulled Apart By Horses). It was almost unfortunate that it wasn't until Pulled Apart By Horses that I felt the band was really clicking, jamming even, with each musician finding their groove . . . and the house lights came up.

I usually find a way to enjoy the music, no matter how crowded the venue might be, or how much I notice my "lack of height," and the other evening is no different. I am happy I went -- I will always enjoy watching Thom do his little chaotic jig across the stage. I just wish everything about that night was just *that* much better . . .

I Was There

Such a great photo. I find it quite surreal that I played hacky sack in just about that location over 15 years ago.

Spring Into, well, Spring

Hello all.

(Started yesterday, April 1st)

As the sun starts to reflect off of the brick and glass across 26th Street from my office desk, I am becoming excited for Spring. And for good health. See, I have been dealing with a hefty cold for about a week now. It started off as a slight cough, and then quickly dropped into the realm of fever at night, aches in my joints, nerve endings that were alive. It was not fun. I still had my appetite, and it never turned intestinal, but it was the toughest illness I had to deal with in some time. I am still not right, but I like to think I am on the mend. And this weather is helping, as is the promise of Spring just around the corner.

What is also just around the corner is meat. Yes, meat. See, I have become a pescatarian for Lent. I will admit that I got the idea from Kevin Gillespie when he was on Top Chef; he mentioned that he gave up meat for Lent, not just Fridays, and it forced him to learn creative and interesting vegetarian dishes. So I gave it a shot, and so far so good, with just one more day left. I found lunches to be harder than dinners, actually -- for lunches, I often ate dishes with chicken or lunch meat, I guess. And I am pretty much a "sandwich guy." Dinners were a bit easier, as it is not hard to find meat-less Italian or Mexican dinners. Or Falafel, Shushi, plain Pizza . . . On Sunday, we have reservations at Aquavit for East Brunch and I am already excited for the Lamb and Pork offerings. And while it doesn't really go with the Easter "vibe," I am somewhat serious about getting a burger later that day. We shall see . . .

Does this mean I will eat less meat over all? I am not sure. We shall see. I really don't think I eat that much red meat to begin with (a burger every week or two, same with pepperoni on pizza); I know I ate much more chicken. But if I combine it with starting to work out again, and play soccer, it might just work out.
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I am now at home, Good Friday night, windows are open, listening to Donna the Buffalo. I am so ready for Spring.