20th Century Boy: Marc Bolan and T.Rex 30th Anniversary Celebration

20th Century Boy: Marc Bolan and T.Rex 30th Anniversary Celebration
Joe's Pub in the Park
Delacorte Theater, Central Park
New York City
Saturday, September 29. 2007

This show was a BLAST!

Luckily I had three amazing people backstage working (directly) with me, but I have never run around backstage this much in my life! Managing over 40 musicians/performers for a show that lasted less than 2 hours. Photos and set list below.

At some point I'll get a chance to take a pic of the poster that Rob Youngberg designed. I got it signed by Tony Visconti - so cool!

Patti Smith story: On the set list, I had put "Children of the Revolution" on top. Next to it, I wrote "PATTI SMITH - WHENEVER SHE IS READY". I saw her tour manager pointing it out to her - they seemed to get a kick out of it. Teehee! (It was true, though - we were happy to get her on whenever she wanted.) :) She was soooo great!!

During the last song, Hot Love, I went on stage and took a bunch of photos. Unfortunately, that was a totally spontaneous thing and I didn't even check my camera settings. But whatever!! The pics below were the result.

OH! And I got two shout outs! How cool is that??



Joe Hurley:


Clem Burke:


Sylvain Sylvain & Dave Amels:


Jane Scarpantoni (cello) & Claudia Chopek (violin)


The band was:
James Mastro (musical director / guitar)
Tony Shanahan (bass)
Clem Burke (drums)
Tish & Snooky (backing vox)
Dave Amels (keys)
Jane Scarpantoni (cello)
Claudia Chopek (violin)
Geoff Blythe (sax)
Rob Youngberg (percussion)

SET LIST
1. Children of Rarn / Ride A White Swan - The Screaming Orphans
2. Telegram Sam - Keanan Duffty
3. Children of the Revolution - Patti Smith
4. Solid Gold Easy Action - Willie Nile
5. Slider - Lloyd Cole w/ William Cole
6. Jeepster - Richard Lloyd w/ Lloyd Cole
7. Life's A Gas - Joe Hurley w/ Tony Visconti & Steve Conte
8. By the Light of the Magical Moon - The Bedsit Poets
9. XMAS - Dave Amels
10. Born to Boogie - Tish & Snooky
11. Groove A Little - Robert Gordon w/ Steve Conte
12. Cosmic Dancer - Michael Cerveris
13. There Was A Time - Patti Rothberg & Lisa Burns
14. Raw Ramp - Owen McCarthy
15. Rip Off - Steve Conte
16. Rapids - Lloyd Cole w/ William Cole
17. Dove - Ragga w/ Tony Visconti & Erik Paparazzi
18. Mambo Sun - Richard Barone w/ Tony Visconti & Candy
19. 20th Century Boy (Please fill me in on who ended up on stage! I was runnin' around getting the next couple songs together. Coordinated during the show - plucked Moby outta the audience to play guitar.)
20. Solid Baby - Justin Bonds & Jake Shears
21. Ballrooms of Mars - Ivan Julian
22. Get It On - Sylvain Sylvain
23. Metal Guru - Justin Tranter
24. Hot Love - Cast (when I took above pics on stage!)

And there was a cake. And actors (Cara Seymuur of Hotel Rwanda, Gangs of New York, American Psycho). And BP Fallon. And dancers. And a little girl. And...you know, other stuff.

I was so excited to be a part of this - thanks to Joe Hurley and Ed Rogers for asking me. :)

365 Days

It has been 365 days since I took on the goal of taking one self-portrait per day for an entire year.

And what an interesting year...filled with fun, love, and self-discovery.

In my 365 Days set, there are 352 photos. Hmmm. A couple I kept all to myself. A couple I probably just forgot to add to the set. A couple are in some folder somewhere and never got uploaded to Flickr (I had some hard drive failures throughout the year too...). And a couple I never took at all.

But it was for me. So I'm happy with my 352 photos.

It's amazing how much the photos remind me about the events and moods of the various days, months, seasons. I'm gonna do it again this year, but with a twist. I don't think I'll announce the twist. I think you'lll catch on within a few days.

And now I'm gonna look back on the year... (this became more random than expected)

My first photo was with my (now gone) cat, Ramona. And, inexplicably, a monkey.


My most popular photo ever (over 11,000 views):


The warmest/fuzziest...


Sometimes I like to play dress-up:


The funniest (in my opinion):


The one that spread like wildfire (so many great copycats of this photo):


The cryingest:


The outdoorsiest:


CBGB's just before it closed:


My first published photo in the NY Times:


The one I did for a free t-shirt and a mention on reallysmalltalk.com:


My first selfie with my Rebel:


The birth of Teeny Tiny Feminist:


The first time I cloned myself:


Featuring socks:


My haircut (it hasn't looked like this since!):


My favorite schoolgirl photo?:

Busy Week

I've been so busy this week...getting ready for the T.Rex show tomorrow, photo gigs, the premiere of Million Dollar Mermaid (a short film/music video I helped out with - a tribute to Coney Island), and all the usual stuff.

Right now I am hanging out at an all day rehearsal for the T.Rex show. This is what I love - being around artists, running around taking care of what needs to be done. Music is great - the show is going to be fantastic. Yay!

Get tickets at http://www.joespub.com!

Rock on.

UPDATE:

Took a few pics. Man, Gibson is a sweet place to be.

Ragga, Erik Paparazzi, Tony Visconti

Across the Universe...

...was not very good.

Hats.

I've always loved hats. On Sunday I bought two new ones.

This is the first.

Patti Smith

Breaking News!



Patti Smith is gonna be performing at the Marc Bolan / T.Rex Celebration! Joe's Pub in the Park - Delacorte Theater.

http://www.joespub.com

You should come!

Overheard in Park Slope...

One girl to another on 7th Avenue:
"It's not like I'm an f'ing crackhead. I just really really like pot."

One girl to another at Tea Lounge:
"Yeah, she got totally mad at him because he didn't look like Abe Lincoln anymore."

Rainy day

I had an outdoor photo gig today.

It rained.

Woo! Songs posted!

Four new songs have been posted for 100 Songs in 100 Days.



I sing a tiny bit of backing vocals with Katie McClenahan about two and a half minutes into "Open Up A Little Lovin'".

Listen to all the new songs! They've changed styles, added guest vocalists, and all sorts of fun stuff! :) :)

Listen to them on MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/100songs

More information on all of the songs: http://www.100songsin100days.com

Immortalized.

I made myself a little office at the top of these steps while Kevin and company were recording.

It was dubbed "Hilary's Perch". At the end of the session Wednesday night, Q asked "one L or two?" and proceeded to write on the steps with a sharpie.

Then I took a selfie with it. Then Q wanted to take a picture of me. Then Kevin wanted to take a picture of me.

I don't think many girls come to this studio.

Phone Update!

I have an iPhone.

This has been my most successful ($-wise) month ever as a photographer. (My most successful overall would be January - when I had 3 pics in the NY Times.)

Anyway, apparently I feel the need to justify the fact that I bought something...unnecessary.

Matt told me I should buy a $700 purse or something.

This is more my style...

It hasn't rung yet.

UPDATE: I wrote a text that had "iphone" in it and it was automatically corrected to "iPhone". Heh.

New Phone

My phone has just about had it.

Do I renew Verizon? What kind of phone should I get? I went in the store and didn't see anything I like. Except the fancy ones. But that would mean spending lots of money up front AND a whole lot more added to my bill every month. Blech.

Or should I switch to AT&T and get an iPhone or something? Would that mean having to change my phone number? I love my phone number.

Ugh.

I guess I should really be asking service providers. Not you. Eh?

UPDATE:
I can keep my number if I go to AT&T.
Verizon is all like "go ahead, see if we care" even though I've been their customer for 8 years.

It's shocking to me that they don't even try to talk me into keeping my account or offer any special deals or whatever. (I like being appreciated.)

Looks like I may be moving on!

:)

Research

I am currently looking at examples of photos of authors on book jackets.

I don't have time to go into it right now, but the process is highly amusing!

Writing this to remind myself to come back to it later...

One photo gig down today. One to go.

Talk Like A Pirate Day

Apparently, it's Talk Like A Pirate Day.

Yar.



Of course I got into the action. Sheesh!

Marc Bolan & T.Rex 30th Anniversary Celebration

Today was a band rehearsal for the Marc Bolan & T.Rex 30th Anniversary Celebration.

I never take photos like this!


Back:
Tony Shanahan (Patti Smith/Bass)
Rob Youngberg (Honeycomb/Percussion)
Joe Hurley (Rogue's March/The Gents)
Dave Amels (Mary Weiss/Keys)
James Mastro (Ian Hunter-Patti Smith/Gtr)
Ed Rogers (The Bedsit Poets)

Front:
Geoff Blythe (Dexy's-Black 47/Sax)
Jane Scarpantoni (Lou Reed/Cello)
Tish & Snooky (Manic Panic/Back Vox)

Missing from photo: Clem Burke (Blondie/Drums), Claudia Chopek (Violin)

More photos followed by press release...

James Mastro and Tony Shanahan:


Tish, Snooky, Geoff, and Ed (band)
with guest performers The Screaming Orphans (sisters Marie Therese, Grainne, Angela and Joan Diver):


PRESS RELEASE:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE


PUBLIC THEATER/JOE'S PUB IN THE PARK PRESENTS
20th CENTURY BOY: MARC BOLAN & T.REX 30th ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION
David Driver Sings The Scott Walker Songbook
Justin Bond is Close to You
SAT, SEPT 29TH, 7PM SHARP
DELACORTE THEATER, CENTRAL PARK, NYC

Marking the sixtieth anniversary of Glam-Rock Icon Marc Bolan's birth (9/30/47), and the thirtieth of his passing(9/16/77), this one-night-only event is a celebration of his life and lasting musical legacy, showcasing songs from Tyrannsaurus Rex through all the T.Rex classics, including gems from the seminal 'Electric Warrior' and 'The Slider', and hit singles like “Ride a White Swan”, “Children of the Revolution”, “Telegram Sam” and the US top 10 hit “Get It On”

Hosted by acclaimed NYC singer-songwriters, Joe's Pub Favorites,(and life-long T.Rex fans) Joe Hurley (Rogue's March/The Gents) and Ed Rogers, the 90 minute concert in the stunning setting of the Delacorte Theater, will begin at 9pm sharp.

An All-Star Collective of musicians including Clem Burke (Blondie/Drums), Tony Shanahan (Patti Smith/Bass), James Mastro (Ian Hunter-Patti Smith/Gtr), Jane Scarpantoni (Lou Reed/Cello), Dave Amels (Mary Weiss/Keys), Tish & Snooky (Manic Panic/Back Vox), Geoff Blythe (Dexy's-Black 47/Sax), Rob Youngberg (Honeycomb/Percussion), and Claudia Chopek (Violin) will back a glittering array of special guest singers.

Performers who will be singing the praises of Bolan & T.Rex include Sylvain Sylvain and Steve Conte of the NEW YORK DOLLS, Richard Lloyd of TELEVISION, Tony Winner Michael Cerveris, Jake Spears (Scissor Sisters), Justin Bond (Kiki of Kiki and Herb), Robert Gordon, Richard Barone, Lloyd Cole, Willie Nile, Ivan Julian (The Voidoids), Keanan Duffty (Slinky Vagabond), The Bedsit Poets, Screaming Orphans, Justin Tranter (Semi Precious Weapons), and Marc's son Rolan Bolan. (Very special guest singers TBA week of show)

Hurley's 1997 event for the 20th anniversary celebrations took place over 3 sold out nights at Fez, and he has kept it an 'extended T.REX family-affair' by reuniting the same All-Star Band for this year's outdoors show at the world-famous Delacorte Theater in Central Park. Many band members and performers are traveling great distances to be a part of this celebration, excited to show their love of Bolan- Clearly, his spirited and innovative songwriting, his cultural significance and lasting influence, remain as strong as ever, thirty years after his passing.

Press inquiries: beatclub69@aol.com jseroff@publictheater.org
For more information: http://myspace.com/trexanniversarynyc

Tickets on sale now.
All Seats reserved. www.joespub.com or 212 967 7555

All Singers subject to availability.

Jury Duty

Oy. I have jury duty in October.

Last time I had jury duty, I was chosen.

Why do I have to be so normal?? ;)

Wouldn't it be awesome if blogging about it made me less likely to be picked?

Jump!

Matt had a fun picnic party in Prospect Park yesterday. Our friend Sam has been all into jumping photos, which are sooooooo fun to do. So, of course, I had to join in. :)

Sam, Emily, Sara, Matt, Meghan, Miguel, Susan:


Lee:


Steph:


Shawn:


Meghan:


Mark:


Sam:


Susan:


Miguel:


More pictures can be seen here (Sam's), here (mine), and here (Matt's).

Video from the pier

A couple days ago, Kevin and I headed over to visit Brian and record some sound samples for Kevin's future work.

Once again, I put my limited video and editing skills to work. And once again, I (at least) am amused.

Mr. Brown stole my muffin.

This morning I was back aboard the Yankee Ferry for some recording.

I ate half of my blueberry muffin. Put it back in the plastic and back in a paper bag and into my camera bag. Zipped it up. Mr. Brown was awfully interested in my bag.

An hour or so later, I must have left the camera bag open when I got something out of it. When my tummy started growling, I went back for my muffin.

No sign of it or the plastic or the paper bag.

I walked to the other side of the boat and saw two little brown legs peaking out from under the bench. I looked under and there was Mr. Brown. A few feet away was the brown paper bag. I opened it up, and there was the plastic wrapping.

But the muffin? Gone.

The Smooth Spot

Yesterday, Kevin recorded in Michael Kevin Walsh's studio - The Smooth Spot. Kristen Bussandri sang vocals and was fantastic! Also playing were Michael, Arnold Wise, and Saadi Zain. The song is finished and should be up on MySpace shortly. It was such a fun time!

Michael Kevin Walsh:


Kristen Bussandri:


Kevin Bertotti:


Arnold Wise:


Saadi Zain:


And a couple more for fun...

Kristen Bussandri:


Kevin Bertotti & Kristen Bussandri:


George Inhulsen & Kevin Bertotti: