They are performing in The Tell-tale Heart at College Street, and as you'll notice, I am on the outside looking in. Got there too late, thanks to a lengthy search for a parking space in Allentown. (I actually had one right next to the gallery for Shakespeare in the Parking Space, but it wasn't a legal one, so I had to relocate, which took half an hour if you count running into friends on the street.) The door was closed, the room was full, and the stage was right next to the entrance. Damn!
It's just as well. Right now I fondly remember missing a day of the fest--only one, that is. I'm up to three and three-quarters now. Thanks to a huge backload of work and a looming drop-dead-line at my day job, I haven't seen a show since last Tuesday. (I'm counting yesterday as the three-quarters, because I was at least able to spot part of Exception from the car and see ten minutes of Squid Ink, and then host Shakespeare.) Very, very pissed off about missing so much after working for five minutes to help put it all together, and about not having time to blog as regularly as I would have liked.
So in lieu of scene reports or reviews of shows (I do still have plenty of each from the first weekend that I never got around to), I will post a few fleeting memories and photos I like, both here and in a future entry or two, in no particular order. You have my sincerest apologies for not posting most of these while the shows were still up and running. Oh, well: maybe next year.
Aidan Baker at Soundlab last Saturday. His set and Beta Cloud's marked the end of a long day of festivalgoing for me, and they were kinda perfect: soothing noise, to coin an oxymoron. Quiet music at a deafening volume, if you can wrap your mind around that. I know I can, and I bought CDs by both artists so I can relive that perfect moment any time I like. (Full disclosure: Not for everyone! I was playing Beta's Nephology in the car the other day, and my partner asked, "Is something wrong with the radio?" Ah, what a question!)
Live painting at the College Street Block Party last weekend. I like this photo (these four people should form a band, just so they can use this shot as their album cover), and I love the intersection of the party and the festival every year. Gracias to Mike Mulley for making the party happen, and to Jason Klinger for putting together the visual art component of the festival.
A rapper performing in Vendetta's Open Lot on Monday night. I didn't catch his name, but I also saw him at the open mic in the Steel Crazy lot on Tuesday.
S. Vestas' Squid Ink setting up in Days Park last night. As noted above, I only caught a few minutes of the show, but I'll see it tonight. These two women are famous around the fest for two things: an incredibly lax approach to start time (fortunately the Saturday crowd had a good sense of humor about waiting around for an hour for them to show up, which is a fairly common occurence) and even more incredible performances. Don't miss them. It was also fun to run into them at Jim's SteakOut, still in those sheep/goat/whatever costumes two hours after their show.
More to come!
2 comments:
Found out my invitation to the blog has expired, so I thought I'd post a few parting shots before I head down to the post-festival festivities......
Many apologies to the performances I DIDN'T review in my attempt to selfishly cram in as much as I could in the past 72 hours. Thanks to Josh, the R-rated Rockstar, for assembling his cadre of performers; especially impressed with a few of his lady poets.
Blown away by Triple Flicker last night,supreme dancing; kudos to Brian Milbrand for his contributions/curation. Also, Brian, lovely fashion choices for your role in Shakespeare in the Parking Space. Nice asp!I went home and pulled out King Lear for next year.
Traipsing around Allentown in 92 degree weather following the action of Exception and the Rule, I expected to be more concerned with my physical comforts than the play itself; no, wonderful, enthusiastic performances thrown together without much time but a lot of heart, soul, and talent. I was moved to tears.
I am NOT stalking Aaron Piepszny; seeing three of his performances in 26 hours was entirely, well, planned, after yesterday.
Delighted that I was able NOT to miss "Midsummer Dyke's Dream" after all, the packed and sweaty house really seemed to enjoy the over-the-top and hilarious rip-off.
Thanks, at last, to the readers of this blog, for being patient with this reviewer, who has had a lot of enthusiasm for what's gone down, and NO expertise in describing it. I'm really just somebody's mom.Next year.
Ron, that unknown rapper is Alex Mead, whose rap name, ironically, is My Rap Name is Alex. He is also one of our city's finest poets. His website is: http://amprosoft.blogspot.com/
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