DeVotchKa! Talking to Strangers! and Old Books Cheap!
On Tues May 20, my friend Danielle and I went to NYC to not only meet up with my other friend Stephaney (whom I met in Japan), but also to see DeVotchKa at Terminal 5. By the time we got to her place we skipped dinner to go straight to the concert hall. Upon arriving, we situated ourselves in the center of the pit and caught the last two songs by the opener, "Fancy Trash". Fancy Trash wasn't bad, but the singer had a twangy voice that didn't really sit right with their music style. While we were waiting for the next act, Basia Bulat to come on, we decided to talk to the strangers behind us.
Terminal 5 is a rather new venue up on the West side, near the Hudson River. It has 2 balconies and a pit. From the pit, it looks like a giant cube. The strangers (I forget their names...one was a graphic designer though...) warned us that they had seen previous shows at Terminal 5 only to be disappointed by the sound quality. They also said that the middle of the pit was the best place to stand because sometimes people that are on the balconies throw their drinks down and you could potentially be hit with a bottle of beer. I can tell you that the entire concert reeked of pot, or at least down in the pit where we were. I surprised myself, I was one of those people who were jumping and clapping (and thinking to myself..."White people like DeVotchKa").
When Basia Bulat came on the stage, she was at first by herself. She had a powerful, rich, deep voice. Later, the rest of her band mates came on with instruments like the ukulele, violin, cello <3, drums, and dulcimer. Her music was definitely folk inspired but it was happy and energetic. The guys behind us came especially to see her play, so it was interesting to note that one of the opening acts had its own faithful following started.
Then we while waiting for DeVotchKa to come on, we talked more to the couple in front of us. The girl said that she did watercolors and proceeded to talk about the patient process of creating layers of washes and letting them dry while my friend Danielle gave this girl's boyfriend a hard time about being tall and blocking everyone in front. I mean he was 6'3" which is not gigantic, but when you might catch the lead once every 15 seconds that carries a bit of a jealous stigma. The time between sets passed by so quickly! The secret to having fun at a show is talking to strangers, I'm convinced!
DeVotchKa came on starting with "Head Honcho" off their new album, A Mad and Faithful Telling. I can't recall the exact set list, but they played Along the Way, The Clockwise Witness, Undone, Transliterator (with the red strobe light), Basso Profundo, How It Ends, Curse Your Little Heart, The Last Beat of My Heart, Something Stupid, and definitely one song I had never heard before (although I didn't see Little Miss Sunshine and I have a feeling it was from that). I was like, ooo when are they going to play Enemy Guns? So in turn, my friend Danielle would scream out ENEMY GUNS!! every time the band took a water break. The end of their show drew near and still no Enemy Guns. I was getting a little disappointed... I mean they didn't have their usual aerial stunt performers at this show either (I think they had the space but possibly Terminal 5 had considered it a liability), and I was a LOYAL FAN who dragged not one but two of my friends to see them play.
DeVotchKa came out for an encore, and started with Such A Lovely Thing. I was like AH HA! I know this one, because I downloaded it off of iTunes for free after I had purchased the tickets. They got the crowd involved and we sang along. They played another song, and then the last song...ENEMY GUNS!! Hooray! I was jumping up and down the entire time. The sound quality in the venue was incredible and seductive, but at the same time I was able to easily have a conversation with the people standing next to me. I left the concert unharmed and without my ears ringing, even while I was only about 5' away from the stage!
After the concert, we went out for dinner with the couple who was standing in front of us at a traditional italian restaurant. Everyone else snubbed the l'acqua frizze but I wasn't about to drink an entire bottle myself so I consented to just regular water. I had linguine with fresh clams, scallops and shrimp...just like I had in Florence. Oh what delicious food! The couple that we ate with happened to both work at B & H Photo which any photographer will immediately know the name of. It is a company that specializes in electronic goods...I like to compare it to the likes of Yodobashi Camera. The girl was explaining how she got the job there, but also how it is run by Hasidic Jews and how they are still very traditional in their treatment of women. She said that she gets paid less than the men that work there and she can't even wear a short sleeved shirt to work, she has to cover most of her arms with an additional cardigan, etc. Basically it was her last chance at a job and she went back in after the interview and pleaded for the job (otherwise she'd have to move out of the city, etc). Her determination and persistence inspired me.
The next day we went to the Williamsburg section of Brooklyn par recommendation of our professor friend Ron. I can't believe how many vintage/hipster shops are down that way, filled with overpriced clothes from the 40's-80's. After looking through a couple of shops, we all mutually agreed that we had seen enough of those and proceeded to other kinds of shops. One of them that we went into was a bookstore called "Spoonbill and Sugartown Books". They carried ALL KINDS of books, and surprisingly the erotic ones were at the front of the store. I was starving and sort of rushing through the store when I noticed a book called "MUSEES D'EUROPE: FLORENCE" by Gustave Geffroy. Wait! A book about museums in Florence...I gotta see this! I looked inside, and the book had hundreds of pictures (black and white highly detailed images) of artworks and architecture in Florence. The book is written in French, but that didn't deter me...(I never miss an opportunity to keep up with my French).
I mean the book seemed pretty old...it was kind of located in an odd section, as if someone had taken it off a shelf in the back and placed it near the hip local photography section and bookmarks. I questioned if it was even for sale. I looked in the front of the book, and it had a price written in pencil..$20, but there was no publisher's copyright. How old was this book? I brought it up to the cashier and they said that I only had book 2 of a set. The other book was listed as being $12.50 but the owner of the store gave it to me for only an additional $5. They said that they estimated the book to have been published around 1930, but when I looked online last night, I found out that it was written between 1906-1908! The author, Gustave Geffroy was a famous French art critic who published several books regarding museums of europe and took careful consideration of Cezanne and Monet's works. Not only did I have a set of books that related to my experiences in Florence, were written in French, but also written by a historical art critic. WOW! Also, the books are in pretty good condition, and I checked the price online and it said that in the best condition they were selling for about $98 a piece.
Overall it was a wonderful time in the city despite the random episodes of rain. Tonight I am going to see Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull!!
Terminal 5 is a rather new venue up on the West side, near the Hudson River. It has 2 balconies and a pit. From the pit, it looks like a giant cube. The strangers (I forget their names...one was a graphic designer though...) warned us that they had seen previous shows at Terminal 5 only to be disappointed by the sound quality. They also said that the middle of the pit was the best place to stand because sometimes people that are on the balconies throw their drinks down and you could potentially be hit with a bottle of beer. I can tell you that the entire concert reeked of pot, or at least down in the pit where we were. I surprised myself, I was one of those people who were jumping and clapping (and thinking to myself..."White people like DeVotchKa").
When Basia Bulat came on the stage, she was at first by herself. She had a powerful, rich, deep voice. Later, the rest of her band mates came on with instruments like the ukulele, violin, cello <3, drums, and dulcimer. Her music was definitely folk inspired but it was happy and energetic. The guys behind us came especially to see her play, so it was interesting to note that one of the opening acts had its own faithful following started.
Then we while waiting for DeVotchKa to come on, we talked more to the couple in front of us. The girl said that she did watercolors and proceeded to talk about the patient process of creating layers of washes and letting them dry while my friend Danielle gave this girl's boyfriend a hard time about being tall and blocking everyone in front. I mean he was 6'3" which is not gigantic, but when you might catch the lead once every 15 seconds that carries a bit of a jealous stigma. The time between sets passed by so quickly! The secret to having fun at a show is talking to strangers, I'm convinced!
DeVotchKa came on starting with "Head Honcho" off their new album, A Mad and Faithful Telling. I can't recall the exact set list, but they played Along the Way, The Clockwise Witness, Undone, Transliterator (with the red strobe light), Basso Profundo, How It Ends, Curse Your Little Heart, The Last Beat of My Heart, Something Stupid, and definitely one song I had never heard before (although I didn't see Little Miss Sunshine and I have a feeling it was from that). I was like, ooo when are they going to play Enemy Guns? So in turn, my friend Danielle would scream out ENEMY GUNS!! every time the band took a water break. The end of their show drew near and still no Enemy Guns. I was getting a little disappointed... I mean they didn't have their usual aerial stunt performers at this show either (I think they had the space but possibly Terminal 5 had considered it a liability), and I was a LOYAL FAN who dragged not one but two of my friends to see them play.
DeVotchKa came out for an encore, and started with Such A Lovely Thing. I was like AH HA! I know this one, because I downloaded it off of iTunes for free after I had purchased the tickets. They got the crowd involved and we sang along. They played another song, and then the last song...ENEMY GUNS!! Hooray! I was jumping up and down the entire time. The sound quality in the venue was incredible and seductive, but at the same time I was able to easily have a conversation with the people standing next to me. I left the concert unharmed and without my ears ringing, even while I was only about 5' away from the stage!
After the concert, we went out for dinner with the couple who was standing in front of us at a traditional italian restaurant. Everyone else snubbed the l'acqua frizze but I wasn't about to drink an entire bottle myself so I consented to just regular water. I had linguine with fresh clams, scallops and shrimp...just like I had in Florence. Oh what delicious food! The couple that we ate with happened to both work at B & H Photo which any photographer will immediately know the name of. It is a company that specializes in electronic goods...I like to compare it to the likes of Yodobashi Camera. The girl was explaining how she got the job there, but also how it is run by Hasidic Jews and how they are still very traditional in their treatment of women. She said that she gets paid less than the men that work there and she can't even wear a short sleeved shirt to work, she has to cover most of her arms with an additional cardigan, etc. Basically it was her last chance at a job and she went back in after the interview and pleaded for the job (otherwise she'd have to move out of the city, etc). Her determination and persistence inspired me.
The next day we went to the Williamsburg section of Brooklyn par recommendation of our professor friend Ron. I can't believe how many vintage/hipster shops are down that way, filled with overpriced clothes from the 40's-80's. After looking through a couple of shops, we all mutually agreed that we had seen enough of those and proceeded to other kinds of shops. One of them that we went into was a bookstore called "Spoonbill and Sugartown Books". They carried ALL KINDS of books, and surprisingly the erotic ones were at the front of the store. I was starving and sort of rushing through the store when I noticed a book called "MUSEES D'EUROPE: FLORENCE" by Gustave Geffroy. Wait! A book about museums in Florence...I gotta see this! I looked inside, and the book had hundreds of pictures (black and white highly detailed images) of artworks and architecture in Florence. The book is written in French, but that didn't deter me...(I never miss an opportunity to keep up with my French).
I mean the book seemed pretty old...it was kind of located in an odd section, as if someone had taken it off a shelf in the back and placed it near the hip local photography section and bookmarks. I questioned if it was even for sale. I looked in the front of the book, and it had a price written in pencil..$20, but there was no publisher's copyright. How old was this book? I brought it up to the cashier and they said that I only had book 2 of a set. The other book was listed as being $12.50 but the owner of the store gave it to me for only an additional $5. They said that they estimated the book to have been published around 1930, but when I looked online last night, I found out that it was written between 1906-1908! The author, Gustave Geffroy was a famous French art critic who published several books regarding museums of europe and took careful consideration of Cezanne and Monet's works. Not only did I have a set of books that related to my experiences in Florence, were written in French, but also written by a historical art critic. WOW! Also, the books are in pretty good condition, and I checked the price online and it said that in the best condition they were selling for about $98 a piece.
Overall it was a wonderful time in the city despite the random episodes of rain. Tonight I am going to see Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull!!