It’s hard to believe it’s been almost 20 years since Paul Morris and I first saw them play.
That was in Paul’s words the “best gig ever” and it’s definitely in my top 5. Not only was it the OK Computer tour, but it was at Radio City.
I think I’ve been lucky enough to see them do every album since then. In all those years and gigs, only the last one was a bitter disappointment. It was at Roseland, which was one of my fave rooms in NY, so I was so excited for it, but for some reason, there was not nearly enough sound. Plus the band played a super subdued set. So unless you were right at the front, which was totally impossible because the venue had let way too many people in, it was a hot cluster fuck of pissed-off heads. So I’m happy to report these MSG shows were pretty great. Paul was able to get us INCREDIBLE seats for the Tuesday, and I was lucky enough to buy decent ones via the bands awesome management & surprise Max (who had never seen them) on Wednesday.
It’s impossible to pick which day was better. Because our seats on Tuesday were so close to the stage, visibility and sound were definitely better. But I think the band was possibly tighter on Wednesday, plus they played "Weird Fishes” and “Creep" ;)
Below are a couple of snippets of the highlights.
It’s been a pretty amazing week of music for me. On Saturday Paul Instigator Weston braved the ridiculous heat to go see Blood Orange, The National and a little of Kendrick Lamar’s set out on Randall's Island for one of the three days of Panorama Festival. However, the highlight of the day was actually unplanned as we wandered into a tent, only to be confronted by possibly the best dance floor soundsystem I’ve ever witnessed. I was blown away for 20 mins by the sound, and also the track selection: a mix of classic to rare disco tunes, blended with current alt dance like Tame Impala. I was very curious who, like me, had a love of these disparate genres. It was none other than James Murphy. He and 2ManyDJ’s were responsible for the soundsystem itself.
I hate going to shows where the room feels more empty than full. I always just feel uncomfortable for the artist.
Walking in to Ron Gallo at the Mercury Longe was no exception.
However, as soon as he started playing my discomfort was somewhat lessened. It was so obvious that Ron Gallo would very soon be playing sold-out shows, and that actually Max and I were very fortunate to see him in a room with only 50 people!
His band are as tight as any hard-working outfit I’ve ever seen.
Musically I felt they are drawing influences and inspiration from all over my favorite parts of rock 'n’ roll’s history--from blues-based Zeppelin, to the Cramps’ distorted rockabilly!
Lyrically, it’s pretty nuts knowing Gallo is only 28. The life experiences and pain dealt with through cathartic songwriting would make one believe he’s much older.
Not only does he have some of the observational skills and earnest intensity of a young Dylan, he has the hair too.
So don’t let anyone tell you rock 'n' roll is dead. Maybe they are.
His debut & cleverly title album "HEAVY META” is due out soon.
Some of you may know my mother Lila Burkeman passed away recently. My sister Brie has begun the thankless task of sorting though mom’s home, & in doing so found these envelopes below. If you’ve looked at STAR WARPSyou’ll know that our mom was dating Irvin Kershner (Kersh to friends & family) while he was directing The Empire Strikes Back. That relationship was the genesis for me creating the book over 30 years later. Below are some of the envelopes sent to Lila from Kerch.
In the early 90’s, in addition to being a DJ, I was party promoter, and a frustrated artist & graphic designer (I guess I'm still that frustrated artist).
When throwing our events, I would get my creative jollies by designing the flyers.
These were mostly done with pencil, pen & ink - doing edits & multiple fixes using white-out & photocopy machines.
A few months ago the design team from KENZO reached out to me asking if I still had my flyers.
In case you don't know, KENZO is a clothing label founded in 1970 by Japanese-French fashion designer Kenzō Takada, & in my youth I was totally in awe of their ad campaigns.
They told me that 1990’s NYC party’s were going to be the main inspiration for their whole next seasons collection.
What a buzz to see bits of my hand drawn designs used as elements for their collection on a Paris runway!
Respect & shout out to Bones and the real Storm Rave crew. Sorry, I’d forgot I’d even thrown a party with Storm as its name!
It had been months since I’d been to a gallery & I was in a desperate mood to see some art, so I texted Sophie & Tucker who I've also been trying to get together with for weeks in an attempt to kill two birds with one synchronistic stone. It’s very rare that a plan like that comes together but today the planets alined.
Being close to the end of gallery hours we only got to see a couple of places but the MR exhibition at Lehmann Maupin was more than enough to satisfy my craving for paint n canvases. Below are a few images & moments of the fun afternoon.
These four are just details from the massive paintings.
Tucker & Sophie used to show scale.
We then snuck into some galley that was closing & snapped this.. (apologies to artist & gallery for not crediting you!)
Met up with their friends Charlie & Apple at Comme Des Garcon, to try on a ton of clothes that none of us could afford.
ST watching the final edit of the Drinkee video.
Old man hanging with the kids..
Sticker found for photo op.
& the saga of the broken platform on Apple’s brand new boots..
I should probably also mention its the only studio visit I’ve been invited to this year.
However being a real fan & follower of BÄST’s since the mid 90’s, I was excited to go over there to take pictures of some of his collage works for the next volume of my book Stickers. I also respect how he's not interested in being a celebrity art-star, he stays anonymous & simply makes emotive art that is beautifully ugly. Below are just a few of the hundreds of works I got to see.
This stencil, almost 5 foot wide from his street days, nearly 20 years old now.
He also kindly donated a few stickers to the project, here's couple I'd not seen before.
Its very rare that the planets (or moods) align that all 4 Burkeman’s will actually agree to go on a suggested weekend outing. However on this rainy Saturday morning Tom Sachs had the power motivate us. I’ve been taking Max to various exhibitions of his since he was very small. The last one, Mission to Mars, being the best publicly funded art event I’ve ever been to, but this was the first time we’ve done one as family.
The show itself is great & has lots for everyone. Its like a mash-up of American pop culture, NASA artifacts & Japanese historical references. The exhibition has both large impressive works & many of what Tom refers to as “nuggets”, his small sculptures.
The title "Tea Ceremony” refers to the traditional Japanese ritualistic procedure that many of the works focus on. There are some dates when Tom will actually be there performing the ceremony himself for people who can sign up in advance.
Even without the Tom Sachs art, The Noguchi Museum is well worth a visit. But right now it's a win win. Go before July 24th. Here's INFO
Really nice tape dispenser.
From Toms love of his sisters Barbie's.
TIE Fighter from NBA ball (needs to be added to Star Warps)
TIE Fighter next to child to show scale.
Bigger child next to NASA suite to show scale.
Does the Big Mac come with Soy Sauce?
Beautiful handbag.
Yoda shrine.
Working aircraft bathroom with fully functional toilet.
The bowls are called Chawan's.
Chop'em out..
Tom's entrance to the garden. Shame it was raining.
