Flake in the City - Part 1
My NYC trip kicks off with Vijay Iyer (feat. Arooj Aftab), Trey Spruance Stone Residency, Secret Chiefs 3, & ... Crowded House?
Sup Lovers?
So… I went to New York and now my whole life has changed. There are too many stories and too many experiences to share from my sixteen day stay. Some days I was seeing as many as three shows a night - it was bonkers, I tells ya!!
Only a couple hours after landing we kicked things off with the first of many frantic drives through Manhatten and surrounds, including my first look at the Brooklyn Bridge and a quick jump-out to see the inside of Central Station in all of about 45 seconds. I could never have anticipated how excited I would be to see a bridge, but I fell instantly in love with the mighty structure, announcing it to be my favourite bridge in the world. Fuck knows there was no time to sit and enjoy it though, as Vijay Iyer was about to start rockin’ Bryant Park, as part of the “Picnic Performances” series of free concerts.
8/30 Friday: “Picnic Performances” Vijay Iyer feat. Arooj Aftab, Bryant Park
Vijay Iyer (piano), Arooj Aftab (vocals), Devon Gates (bass), Jeremy Dutton (drums)
The night was warm and the park was totally packed with music lovers, families, and general weirdos including my new internet-friends-turned-real Graig and Sasha. These two are concert junkies of the highest order, and we clicked from the get go. My heart swelled as we enjoyed the mild evening, sitting out in the open air on picnic blankets, groovin’ to the family-friendly jazz stylings of Vijay and his perfectly capable trio of bassist Devon Gates and drummer Jeremy Dutton. This was Devon’s first night as part of the trio, and she absolutely slayed - no nerves, just pure professionalism. Arooj Aftab also joined the trio for a stunning little number. Her voice is so arresting and angelic, and this was my first time seeing her live. There is something very special about her natural timbre, which sounds as good, if not even better than the recordings. This cameo was criminally short, and later in the show she came out for a small encore round, which she ended after a while claiming she had “Just smoked a cigarette!” and encouraged everyone to dance along instead - not that anyone noticed a change in the quality and purity of her vocal delivery. Naturally I stood up and danced my little heart out. A good number of happy New Yorkers stood up and did the same. The vibe was summery and fun, and even though Vijay isn’t my favourite pianist, I couldn’t have been more elated. You can see an instagram 50-second montage of my first day in NY here!
Then I got hit with a fuckin’ terrible cold and had to stay in bed isolated for two days till it passed. That was balls. So I totally missed out on the Marc Ribot quartet with Mary Halvorson. DAYUM.
The good news was that the cold healed up fast! My parents had arrived and we were able to go out and start having some fun. My Mum and Dad are just as nerdy about music shit as I am, so regular tourist attractions were often met with a musical twist. Here’s a photo of my parents at Times Square, waiting until the giant screen changed to Nick Cave so they could take a cool photo.
No music-lover’s trip to the Big Apple would be complete without a sit and chill in Stawberry Fields, Central Park…
…or a little stopover at the Led Zeppelin Physical Graffiti House!
Did you know that they have a shop in there called Physical GraffiTEA? Of course we had to go in and enjoy a hot tea after a lovely long day on our feet.
Amongst the other adorably touristy things we did: long walks through Central Park, eating pastrami & Reubens at Katz Deli, eating pizza by the slice, taking a shopping trip in Brooklyn, going all the way up to the top of the Empire State, seeing the Bull statue in the financial district, wandering down Wall St, and accidentally taking a ferry to Governors Island instead of Staten Island and ending up seeing the Statue of Liberty from afar. Here’s another 60-second montage I made on Insta.
Also spotting this hilariously named yacht:
But let’s get back to music because there’s not enough hours in the day.
9/4 Wednesday: “Gravity Stairs Tour” Crowded House, Pier 17 Rooftop
Neil Finn (vocals, guitar, keys), Nick Seymour (bass, keys) Mitchell Froom (keys, backing vocals), Elroy Finn (drums), Liam Finn (guitar, backing vocals)
Weeks ago, Dad had excitedly stayed up till stupid o’clock in the morning to get Silver Premium tickets to Crowded House at Pier 17. We had an almost uninterrupted view except for one tall fellow who my Dad affectionately nicknamed “Andre the Giant," but fortunately there were also some jumbo screens so we could see Neil Finn and co just fine. For the record, Neil’s hair is still fantastic. Also, the panoramas of Lower Manhattan and the Brooklyn Bridge were to die for. The helicopters that flew joyrides overhead, however, fucking terrified me for real.
I had made my Mum a bracelet that said “NEIL FINN FOR THE WIN,” and she wore it with pride, hoping he could read it from around seven rows back. (I doubt it, but she didn’t need to know.)
CroHo played for ages to a lively, mostly middle-aged crowd - many songs from their latest release “Gravity Stairs” including crowd favourite “Oh, Hi!” Naturally the set was filled with classics including “Distant Sun,” which was my Dad’s favourite of the night, catching him slightly off guard as he recalled a tale in which he had saved a shitload of money for the company he was working for in 1993, in what he called “a highlight of his professional career." The song had been playing on the radio at the time, and Dad told me the story after the show with a glisten in his eye. I can see where I get my emotional connection to music from in both of my parents. I am so grateful that they passed on this passion to me.
This passion was realised during “Message to My Girl” - a song that Neil wrote for his future wife, and “guess what,” Mum told me, “They are still together!” Obviously I had heard the song about a billion times before, and even though Neil had the delay pedal up just a little too much for the famous intro, it still hit that familiar chord, and I found myself fighting tears also. It’s just such a great little pop ballad. The chordal transpositions in the chorus are just so heartfelt, and it had been so many years since I'd heard it that it stirred something dormant… I love it when music does that.
I don’t know which was my Mum’s favourite, but I can tell you that the way she threw back her head when she sang the “Ooooh OH!” on “World Where You Live” was so impassioned and adorable I couldn’t help but giggle. She would kind of lean back and aim upwards, "launching" her voice up to the stage like a slingshot, or, like she was singing it in a pub. It was so cute.
Also, the harmonies in Crowded House are just magical - there is something to be said about the blending of the voices from the family band, and Neil’s sons carry on the vocal legacy with stunning accuracy, even when brother Tim Finn isn’t joining them on the tour.
I had such a great time, I even bought this sweet little keyring.
The next night of music experience was my turn to pick, although with Trey Spruance hosting a residency at the new Stone this week, I couldn’t possibly go past the Secret Chiefs 3 debuting an entirely new repertoire of surf music. You are not allowed to take photos in the Stone, so here was what the stage setup looked like before the band hit it. There is a big fuckoff POLE in the middle of the room which sucks ass. Mum and I had no view of Trey, or Adam Minkoff on keys and Mellotron, but I mean, we had a pretty sick view of Ches Smith, Matt Hollenberg, and Shahzad Ismaily so it could have been a lot worse. The following are all my notes I wrote on the night of the show…
9/5 Thursday: UR “PANAMA PACIFIC” - Secret Chiefs 3, The Stone
Ches Smith (drums), Matt Hollenberg (guitar), Shahzad Ismaily (bass), Adam Minkoff (keyboards, guitar), Trey Spruance (guitar)
Psychotic acid fuelled speedruns through to punchy ballads but always with a tonne of grit. Mellotron with heavily affected guitars and super crunchy. Lotta bouncin' from the audience who have trouble refraining from the "No Dancing" rule at the Stone.
Trey occasionally provides choppy chokey vocal scatting. Trey has a beautifully reverberant surf effect on his solo that screeches and pierces through the walls of sound.
Can't decide who's solo is funkier, to be honest; Adam's crazy carnival style, or Matt's effortless boogie. The thing about Secret Chiefs 3 is that they have an umami flavour which you just hear and know how good it is. Call it chemistry, call it talent, call it what you will… The end result is the same diverse, deeply satisfying, but most of all, just entertaining on so many levels.
Shaz and Ches have been playing together so long that you would think that when they both close their eyes they establish some sort of Bluetooth link-up. How deep can you go into surf? Apparently, pretty "far out." The spectacular three guitar harmonies, not seen this well executed since Blue Öyster Cult, are difficult to resist alongside the explosive rhythm section.
The hooks are unforgettable, with just the tiniest hint of reverb… The metal/grunge influence seeps through in dark minor bridges and crescendoing outros that linger in your memory long after the song is over. Goosebump-inducing rock magic. High-paced, galloping, militant, reminiscent of Cowboy movies and Westerns. Overheard while leaving: "Surf music... Right?”
After the show I was able to introduce my parents to Ches, Matt, and Shahzad. As usual, it was a little overwhelming for me having all my favourite musicians telling my Mum and Dad how great they thought I was, with all my writing and stuff. Especially after we had just witnessed their incredibly technically wonderful musical performance. The ever-warm-and-generous Shahzad wasted no time, instantly inviting my parents and I out for dinner the following night. (Of course we said yes!)
Dad was so flashed by the show he not only bought himself a T-shirt, he also picked up a vinyl. Matt Hollenberg informed Dad that he had picked “a good one!” Dad also asked Ches how long it took him to learn all that music. Ches misunderstood and responded: “Since I was a kid,” which I found hilarious.
Keen followers and eagle eyes of Fladik News will remember that back in Warsaw Ches had confided in me that Trey had given him a bunch of "fucking complicated music" to learn, and he wasn’t sure if he was gonna make it. After the Secret Chiefs show I told him that he had learned it well, to which he replied “Oh, the really complicated stuff is coming tomorrow…”
I will leave you on this cliffhanger for now: Will Ches successfully perform the "fucking complicated music" from Trey? Stay tuned to Fladik News…
We are not even a third of the way through all of the shows that I saw, the antics I got up to and the people I met along the way, so keep dialled in to Fladik News for a whole lot more excitement from my incredible time in New York!
As always remember to hit up fladik.net for all your Zorn Orbit needs and fan fun, and I will catch you soon for Part 2 of this totally whacko adventure. I am telling you we have not even scratched the surface yet…
xo
Flake