Alabama Shakes brings down Carnegie Hall

March 25, 2017

I apologize for the delay since I should have wrote this last weekend.  I’m trying to write a blog entry once a week.  Once a week.  That is all.  Yet, even the single entry can get tangled in other demands.  Writing is a discipline.  Either I have it or I get distracted or lost in other habits.  Anyway, here is my review of the Tibet House concert on March 16^th…as always thank you for reading it.

I was in Pennsylvania on business and yet I had tickets to see the show at Carnegie Hall.  When I bought the single seat – a few weeks back – I bought the most expensive - in the orchestra. I knew I had to write down the event my book since I would forget.  I had made plans with a client to visit the company and yet, even with the date marked down, I still forgot.  But, I was not going to miss this event.  The lineup was incredible, Iggy Pop, New Order, Alabama Shakes, Patty Smith, Laurie Anderson, and others and of course the esteemed composer Philip Glass.  It was a benefit concert for the Tibet House and yet it was also a celebration of Philip Glass.

After driving a few hours up the NJ Turnpike, I drove up to the George Washington and drove down the West side of Manhattan.  It was dusk.  The lights on the bridge were faint as well as the dim lights from the multitudes of apartments and offices rectangled in the steep skyscrapers.  I made it to the parking garage and walked three blocks to Carnegie Hall.  I ate dinner at a rest stop in New Jersey. I was not sure, how much time I would have before the show started.  I had time.  Bought a t-shirt, found my seat and was impressed with the expansive white room, the gold and the high ceiling as well as the sparse stage.  I was there with enough time.  I could have sat down and ate. 

The seats in the hall were cramped.  They were built for another epoch.  I was pulled into the conversation from a couple who sat in front of me.  Eventually, it was time for a bathroom break.  It was already ten minutes after the show was scheduled to begin.  Maybe it begins at 8?  Go ahead and take a piss. I decided to get up and make my way out from the middle of the aisle where I sat.  I made my way to the bathroom.  I heard applause as I stood there.  I was late.  I couldn’t go anywhere.  I stood there. Quick rinse in the sink and a swift jog back to my door where I was…stopped.  You can’t go in.  The monks are chanting.  The doors were closed.  The usher walked away and I tried to sneak in.  Nope.  There was another usher on the other side keeping people like me out and away from receiving a blessing.  Eventually, the doors were opened and I was back in my cramped seat.

Most of the night had shouts to resist Trump and the shared dismay that we have Donald J as our president.  Laurie Anderson was the first act and performed a beautiful piece on her late husband, Lou Reed who I saw perform at another Tibet House benefit concert.  Alabama Shakes could have performed the whole show since they brought the house down.  I was there to see them and Iggy Pop who performed with New Order and heard a rendition of Joy Division’s She’s Lost Control.  Ben Harper performed and introduced his daughter who sang with him.  The theme of family was evident.  Philip Glass’ son played, Patty Smith’ daughter and son played as well.  Patty Smith closed the night with a Bob Dylan song and final was, People have the power!

 I was not sure what to expect driving back.  The city streets were narrow since there was a snow storm just a couple of days before.  It took me two hours or so to get back.  I climbed into the bed leaving the fabled city so many miles away. 

What if Iggy Pop sang for Joy Division or Don't Take Pictures in Carnegie Hall

3/12/14 16:44 Philadelphia Airport waiting for a connection to Pittsburgh

Last night, I saw Iggy Pop for the first time. I’d like to see him again since the performance was a benefit concert at Carnegie Hall for Tibet House, the cultural capital in the US for Tibetan culture as expressed by Dr. Robert Thurman.  I bought the ticket since Iggy is the grandfather of punk and there’s nothing in the horizon that gives the impression that he will play in the New York area anytime soon.  I expect another year will pass.  I’ve been to the Tibet House benefit concerts before, I recall Michael Stipe kissing Mike Mills on the lips after they performed a song together.  Allen Ginsberg reciting his poetry while Philip Glass played solo piano as the poem progressed the music...glistened in our ears.  I’ve seen Patty Smith who closes each show with People Have the Power.  She sang a Lou Reed tribute, Perfect Day and then came back with her band to perform Land which merged into a voluminous chant…Gloria.  Her sways and hand gestures are timeless, calling out to the the sedated crowd in the orchestra...demanding them with her powerful voice to get up!   But before Patty...seeing Iggy perform with New Order was a truly rare experience, as well as a pure shock - the artists on the stage performed three songs, two were Joy Division, Transmission, and Love Will tear Us Apart as well as a New Order song, California Grass which was the first time it was performed live.  Iggy’s baritone voice was strong.  The experience was like watching a black baggy coat phantom rise from the dead...rest in peace Ian Curtis...but if he was alive he'd feel the hairs tingle - Iggy was chilling - so fucking close to perfection.  Dance....dance...the crowd was close to hysterics...as Iggy's jerky dance moves were like split fire lightening.  And I wondered - how old is this guy? 66…How could I complain of these aches?  Was he born with a limp?  Never knew it…some guy behind me said it was part of his shtick.  That is what makes New York great; some guy uses a Yiddish phrase to say Iggy has balls.  The National played as well, performing a song for the first time with a string quartet and accompanied by Sufjan Stevens.  Never heard of him, but he received a good response from the audience.  No crazy stories to share.  Well one.  There was a guy who kept taking pictures and it was a huge distraction since he was a couple of rows ahead and below me.  No one was stopping him.  I thought, where the bleep were the fucking ushers?  I had to keep this event in perspective, using the F Bomb there would not be acceptable, you know this was a benefit concert for the Tibet House after all.  Buddhists don’t go for F bombs at their concerts.  I'm furious and I know from getting caught at Carnegie, oh those red uniformed ushers in Carnegie Hall have a fierce reputation for pouncing on anyone who tries to take a picture.  This guy had free reign, not a care, like he was like a photographer at a hockey game, and he kept taking pictures, almost as if it was a nervous reaction. I imagined what sparks were flying off in his brain; I must take this fuzzy picture, oh…this one as well. Oh, there goes The National.  I need to take more fuzzy pictures.  There goes the stage hand; he looks interesting from up here.  I will take FUZZY picture.  So, I think – heck, maybe they changed policies at the venue?  Maybe, I too can take a picture? A moment I can share with you. Why not?  I pull out my phone and click and…CRACK...BAM….a flashlight is blaring, blinding me and my shocked face.  I hear from the aisle, “No pictures!”  Wait, I’m telling the usher…yeah, I know what you're thinking and you’re right…I’m telling on the photographer in front of me… the shit head who’s clicking away two rows…down there… in front of me, who does not stop!  I took one.  ONLY one fuzzy picture…she tells me, "I didn't see him, I saw only you."  I stress, he is there.  Look...I watch her peering over the heads in the last row and she catches him and tells him to stop.  Yes!  Vindication is alive.  She goes back to her post.  The guy didn’t stop.  She catches him again, and she stormed down to him four more times.  Each time she leaves, he shrugs his shoulders.  Does not give a shit.  I say, yeah, sure, you can try to stop us - you usher in red – try to stop the shit-head photographer… and me too... we go on taking more faint and distant pictures…all images were fuzzy in this historic venue.  For the record, I took two.  Check em out.  I copied the clear close-up from the web.  I saw my brother, Dave afterwards and met Ali and Amanda on the corner of 56^th and 7^th since they went into the city to see Brian Cranston in All The Way.  Dave drove back to PA.  And afterwards we ate at Carnegie Deli…Amanda and I spit a pastrami sandwich… it was the best pastrami sandwich I ever had, the meat was so lean it disintegrated on my tongue.  We drove home and I was up less than five hours later to begin… a new day of work…

Thank you for reading this   

Meeting Michael Stipe, Patty Smith is my hero, Tibet House 2011

Last Thursday I ate my dinner at the Cracker Barrel in Trevose, PA. After I finished I headed up to NYC to meet Ali and Amanda and Emma Tess at Carnegie Hall. The show began at 7:30 and I just made it to my seat as Robert Thurman walked on the stage and spoke about Tibet House, it was a benefit concert for the foundation.
Tibet House US is dedicated to preserving Tibet’s unique culture at a time when it is confronted with extinction on its own soil. By presenting Tibetan civilization and its profound wisdom, beauty, and special art of freedom to the people of the world, we hope to inspire others to join the effort to protect and save it.

Tibet House US is part of a worldwide network of Tibetan institutions committed to ensuring that the light of the Tibetan spirit never disappears from the face of this earth.
Our seats were up at the top balcony, but the acoustics in the auditorium are perfect. The ornate ceiling, stucco walls with gold trims were pristine. After a blessing for a prosperous new year by a group of monks, the performers hit the stage. The reason we attended was to see Michael Stipe, but before he sung, Patty Smith recited a haunting Rimbaud poem as her daughter played piano and her friend on the xylophone. All of the performers were incredible, from Jesse McCartney, Taj Mahal, Angelique Kidjo, The Roots, Flaming Lips, who were the most excited to be on the stage. I loved the fact Philip Glass plays and MC's the show. We're blessed to have all of these gifted artists on the same stage.

It was a good night. After the show,I had an opportunity to give Michael a copy of Killer Commute. Before I saw him, I signed the book and scribbled in frozen black ink my email address. A minute later he bolts out the stage door and headed back to the waiting car as fast as possible. Shit, he ain’t talking to a little crowd waiting. Signs a few things, CDS…some guy walks next to him and holds up a camera to get them in the shot, flash. He signed the copy of Killer Commute as he kept walking - quickly. I explained, it was his copy, and he looked up, “oh, I thought you wanted me to sign it. Thank you.” He was gone, I didn’t get the full attention, I felt like I was in a rush…my heart was racing. Hey Michael, this is my novel. I used lyrics from Mr. Richards…scribbles his name…I held it as he walked on and caught myself…no, I need to give him the book instead of holding it! Mission accomplished. Thank you.