by Michael Sherer
As the band Blondie is in its 40th anniversary, its co-founders Deborah Harry and Chris Stein sat down with journalist Anthony DeCurtis for a conversation at the fabled 92 Y. Harry came out with black tape over her mouth, which got some laughs. Stein asked her if it meant that she wouldn’t be talking, and Harry in turn removed the tape and said that she would speak.
Harry, 68, was rather reserved throughout, with Stein being the more talkative of the two. Stein, 64, has been photographing since ‘68, and is a graduate of the School of Visual Arts in lower Manhattan as a photography major. Stein has spent much time putting together a forthcoming photography book that has lots of photos of Harry and the band from their earliest days. There was good deal of discussion on the book, which I enjoyed. Being a photographer myself, this was the most interesting part of discussion for me. It became more so when many images from the book were shown on the screen. Some were really quite good.
by Michael Sherer
Since its inception in ‘05, the Pulse Art Fair has been a popular draw both here in NYC and in Miami. It’s prime mission is to allow for the discovery and acquisition of cutting-edge contemporary art, often by young artists. It’s held at the Metropolitan Pavilion, which is in the Photo district area on West 18th Street in Manhattan. Tthere were two highlights for me, and they’re both from young Cuban artists.
One was an interactive installation called Nearness by Arlés del Rio. It was presented by Times Square Arts and the Cuban Artists Fund and was financed by The Rockefeller Brothers Fund. It was initially featured in the plazas of Times Square from July 8–August 18, 2014. del Rio utilizes space and physical barriers to challenge participants to consider penetrating forbidden areas to satisfy their curiosities and desires toward it. The Times Square exhibit consisted of 17 life-sized orange sculptures, assembled from galvanized steel, iron and concrete. They’re in the form of human cutouts of various sizes, and have a silhouette like quality. Participants are able to easily to pass through the panels, which serve as a metaphor for the social, political, cultural and personal barriers that separate strata of people. The indoor art fair version consisted of a much smaller scale presentation made of black, chain link fence material with the cutouts within. The concept and metaphor was the same, though.
by Michael Sherer
Lisa Robinson and her close friend of 41 years, Fran Lebowitz, had quite an engaging and humorous chin wag, as the British say. Robinson’s new autobiography, “There Goes Gravity,” was the catalyst for their sit down at the fabled 92Y on the Upper East Side of NYC.
Robinson has been a music journalist since 1969. She’s written for several magazines, the long defunct and Michigan based Creem being the most interesting in my view, and has been with Vanity Fair since ’99. The ‘70’s and ‘80’s saw very few women holding down this role, as the music world has been, and still is for the most part, run by men. Interviewing musicians, singers and entertainers has been Robinson’s specialty, and she’s done countless numbers of them.
Fran Lebowitz, a writer also, began being read by the public when she was hired by Andy Warhol to contribute a column to his Interview paper in the early ‘70’s. She became popular very quickly, due to her acerbic, dry wit and keen observations. A stint at Mademoiselle magazine followed.
by Sal Serio
The night before Easter Sunday a gathering of the black concert t-shirt contingency gathered at the Majestic Theatre in Madison for a different type of resurrection. Namely, a resurrection of the rock ‘n roll ritual, punctuated by fists and horned-hand-signals held high. And beer. Lots and lots of beer.
This show was headlined by Italian rockers Lacuna Coil, who are on the road promoting their new album ‘Broken Crown Halo’. While Lacuna Coil are an exciting live band, whom I’ve seen on stage many, many, times, the real draw on this particular evening, for me personally, was the So. Cal. hard rock trio Kyng. This gives me pause for a moment to reflect on the too-cool-for-school routine of many to show up late, just for the headliner, and totally blow off the opening bands. I can not express enough how much I feel this is in grievous error. So many times I’ve caught some impressive up-and-coming group, that I previously knew nothing about, just because I made the effort to get there early and show the openers some respect.
by Michael Sherer
Edgar Winter and his fine band delivered an exuberant and rockin’ performance in the intimate and inviting setting that the Iridium provides. Located in the Theater District in midtown, the long standing club is in the heart of the city. With fine food and drink and a friendly staff, it’s an excellent venue to attend.
With a veteran artist like Winter, who has an extensive catalog dating back to the early ‘70’s on the Columbia/Epic label, there was much material to choose from. Winter has two major hits that FM radio has played a whole lot: Frankenstein and Free Ride. The set concluded with these two respective songs. The rest were, in this order: Rebel Road, Eye On You, Hangin’ Around, Tobacco Road Short, Texas Tornado, Real Good Time, Explosion and Possitive (sik) Drinking. Winter told the crowd that he came up with that song while roaring drunk, and that he really likes it. There were also a couple Led Zeppelin songs thrown in, which the band played with much gusto.
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