Scene report: Day One (Thursday)

After last year's festival, one reader of this blog suggested that we stick to a one-show-per-post principle so it's easier to find info on individual projects in a hurry. Makes sense to me, but I also think there's something to be said for daily "scene reports" as a way to capture the essence of the festival as a whole: the difficult decisions about what to see and why, fleeting observations about peripheral activities that may or may not be "part of" the fest in an official sense, and the ever-important question of economics. So when time permits, I'm gonna do both: write in broad terms about my day at the festival, and also provide more detailed notes on each show I see in separate posts.

I was really wiped out Thursday afternoon, and I didn't feel like I was up for a lot. Besides, even though I'd spent many, MANY hours proofreading the festival brochure and press release, I hadn't taken any time to make up my own personal list of what I wanted to see. I spent at least an hour at home highlighting descriptions of stuff that sounded interesting, then threw up my hands in despair and said, "Oh, the hell with it; I'll just head to Allentown and see what's playing when I get there." Ended up spending another full hour at Jim's SteakOut just mapping out possibilities for Thursday through Saturday, and checking out the fab Artvoice cover story. By the time I was done, I'd already missed at least three shows on my original list, all of which I figured I could catch another day anyway. While there are several full-length, serious plays this weekend that I'd like to see, I just didn't have the energy to commit to an hour-and-a-half-long production. The main thing I knew I wanted to catch was "Epicircle," the Ed Powell retrospective at Rust Belt, and I was very glad I got to spend some time in that amazing installation (which is only up through Friday night).

From there I headed to Sp@ce 224 (my first visit to this ever-changing site since it was a comic book store) for "Call It Chocolate Cake," followed by "Wandering" at College Street Gallery, at which point I realized I'd lost my wallet. Back to Sp@ce 224, where it was waiting for me, and then to Nietzsche's for the tail end of the Kick-Off party, where I caught part of a typically noisy, anarchic set by Josh Strauss and the other members of Forgotten Figures Falling Between Two Twigs.



Walking into Nietzsche's, I couldn't help but notice a huge piece of fabric rolling out the front door like a giant tongue. Music Czar Curt Rotterdam tells me this thing will be reappearing at future showcases, and you're welcome to add your own comments to it. Just like this blog! Long live Infringement!



(That blurry figure to the left is my Dream Cabaret colleague Jeannine Giffear, whom I'd hoped to see in the Genuflektors during the Kick-Off Party, but I missed their set, so I'm gonna have to catch one of their two Steel Crazy gigs later on.)

Amount spent on admissions for the evening (2 performances, 1 concert showcase, 1 exhibition): $1
(Okay, I know I sound like a total cheapskate, but in my defense, I did lose my wallet. And I also shunned one of Artvoice's hot tips for festival survival: I didn't bring enough small bills! Lesson learned...)