Week In Rock: They All Came From Brooklyn
7 photos
<strong>It Came From Brooklyn</strong><p>Last night the Guggenheim hosted another event for their <a href="http://guggenheim.com/brooklyn">It Came From Brooklyn</a> series, which brings talented Brooklynites all the way to the Upper East Side. The evening was hosted by <a href="http://gothamist.com/2008/12/23/max_silvestri_comedian.php">Max Silvestri</a>, and featured a (bit too maudlin) reading from Rachel Sherman, and live sets from Tanlines and Yeasayer. A 3-D light show was also advertised, but as the evening went on we were told the glasses were merely for "enhancement" purposes.</p><p>The $45 ticket price is a bit high, but those in attendance were also able to check out the <a href="http://gothamist.com/2009/08/13/kandinsky.php">Kandinsky retrospective</a> while there... just so long as they didn't have their <strike>3-D</strike> enhancement glasses on. The guards were unusually strict about this.</p><p>There was a bar set up, with a ticket system in place (one wine was 3 tickets, aka $6); and the museum served as a gorgeous venue, with plenty of great sightlines. Frank Lloyd Wright, however, didn't design it to be acoustically perfect for future indie bands â leaving Yeasayer sounding more like <em>Meh</em>sayer (sorry). That said, we sort of prefer these museum rock shows over the status quo â so we hope there are many more to come!</p><p><em>Click through for more photos and a review of They Might Be Giants, who played a benefit in town earlier this week.</em></p>
<p>Yeasayer</p>
<p>Yeasayer</p>
<p>Yeasayer</p>
<p>The crowd, with enhancement glasses</p>
<p>Kandinsky After Dark</p>
<strong>TMBG Hit Home Turf</strong><p>It's kind of unfair for everyone else that when Brooklyn wants to hold a benefit concert featuring hometown heroes, they get They Might Be Giants. Playing to benefit the <a href="http://www.nthccc.org/">Northside Town Hall Community Center</a> project, the Johns pulled out obscure favorites and hits alike, from both adult and kids albums. Hits like "Birdhouse in Your Soul" and "Ana Ng" had everybody singing along, while more obscure songs like "Subliminal" made hardcore fans happy. However, some of their best stuff has been off of their recent kids albums. Their upbeat sing-along "Why Does The Sun Shine (The Sun Is a Mass of Incandescent Gas)" was only upstaged by their newer, more accurate version "Why Does The Sun Really Shine? (The Sun is a Miasma of Incandescent Plasma)," written when they discovered the lyrics to the original, taken from a 1960's Encyclopedia, were wrong. And towards the end of the night, "Istanbul (not Constantinople)" brought the house down, with an incredible Spanish guitar intro by Dan Miller. They were energetic and funny, and it's always good to see them on their home turf. â <em>Jaya Harrover Saxena</em></p>