Sunday, January 15, 2006

More Kicks Than Pricks in 2006

Gary, Bruce Springsteen, and Caroline Sinclair at the after-party for the NY Guitar Festival's "Nebraska Project" show, The Wintergarden, NYC, 1/14/06

photo by Bob Jacobson | Click to enlarge (hosted by flickr)

Played this humongous tribute to Bruce Springsteen's "Nebraska" album in front of 2-3000 folks at the Wintergarden in the World Financial Center here last night, as part of the opening of the NY Guitar Festival--and man, what a great night! I played this space before (right across the road from Ground Zero) as part of a Tribute to the late great Arthur Russell in '92, and also played "The Golem" there a few years later--it is an elegant space, a giant fishbowl-like atrium with real live palm trees shooting up to the rafters (kinda like Atocha Station in Madrid)-- but this concert was something else again!

Organized by creative whiz-kid and accomplished guitarist himself David Spelman, the night boasted a wonderful lineup of performers: Michelle Shocked, Vernon Reid, Jesse Harris, Lenny Kaye, Dan Zanes, Martha Wainwright, Marc Ribot, Chocolate Genius, Laura Cantrell, and many other luminaries, and it was nice to see old friends like WFMU's Irene Trudell and NY Times scribe Peter Keepnews there (they first met by the way on the subway en route to the shoot for my "Skin the Rabbit" video on Jan. 2nd 1993, and married a couple years later). Also in attendance were artists John Bowman and Anne Shostrom, plus my old pal Johnny 99 who was at my wedding to Caroline 21 years ago here, whence David Johansen performed with his Buster Poindexter band for free as his wedding gift to us. For my number last night I did a tres psychedelique solo electronic version of "State Trooper", the very doomy, (Charlie) Stark(weather) Suicidesque track that was used as the closing music in a Sopranos episode some time ago, and I pulled all the stops out (like E. Power Biggs) and then some--and the Boss himself showed up to the astonished delight of the assembled multitudes to put a capper on the evening. Bruce sang a Woody Guthrie song with the ensemble en masse at the end, and was extremely complimentary on my performance backstage (told me at the Stone Pony a couple years ago that my guitar playing and arrangement of his music was "phenomenal" when I had Gods and Monsters there to perform "Ain't Got You" from his Tunnel Of Love album for his Light of Day charity event--which really made my year!) Caroline was over the moon to finally meet the Boss as Bruce is one of her faves, and I have a nice picture of Bruce, Caroline and myself snapped by my guitar tech Bob Jacobson which should be booted up here imminently soon as web mistress Tanya gets back from Maine at the end of this week, along with some other miscellaneous folderol...I'm back at the NY Guitar Festival on Jan. 25th at Merkin Hall in Lincoln Center to play at the Tribute to Skip James show, this time I get a whole set to myself and will bring Gods and Monsters and special guest Felice Rosser along for the show.

xxlove

Gary

1 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

Hey Gary,

Caught you during sound chek on saturday at the financial center. Nice interpretation, enjoyed the use of effects. Were you using a phase recorder? What other gear/pedals were you using? Didn't think to ask when I met you briefly. Regardless, enjoyable.

Thanks. Steve.

1/16/2006 12:38 PM  

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