Musical NYC

Catching up! Since I arrived I have managed to get to a few different concerts. The first was a free mini festival in Central Park; the New York-Tokyo Music Festival. The Japanese artists were Mighty Crown; an awful reggae band, Pe'z; a fantastic jazz band and Hifana; an electronic duo who despite having the electric go off recovered with some funky dance moves which kept the crowd happy til they could bleep away again! These acts were followed by DJ A-Trak who despite being listed as American hails from Canada. He is the DJ for 50 cent so getting to see a half hour set for free is pretty lucky. The final artist was Talib Kweli, an American Hip-Hop artist who is well known enough that other Mountbattens would pay $40 to see his concert a week later. I honestly had no idea who he was but can say that his set was worth seeing and topped off what had been a great day.

I am looking forward to spending next summer camped out at all the free music events they have on in Central Park.



The next gig I went to was Badly Drawn Boy @ The Hiro Ballroom. When I got to the venue I thought I was slipping into some sort of crazy Oriental musical trend as the ballroom was Japanese themed. It made for a really nice atmostphere with everyone sitting on the floor listening to the support artist and bopping along to Badly Drawn Boy. He opened his set with Born in the UK and I managed not to burst into tears at the thought of home and by the time the second encore was done I knew New York would be an adequate replacement for my musical adventuring.

The next would be another concert with a connection to home. Through work I got two free tickets to attend the performance of The Westminster Cathedral Choir at Saint Thomas' Church on 5th Avenue. Not the sort of event I'd normally chpose to go to but anything to escape the torrential downpours New York was offering that week! Throughly enjoyed and I guess you just can't beat a bit of culture to impress the readers of your blog!

My most recent music meandering was to the Nokia Theatre in Times Square. An all American affair this time the day after my return from DC.

The band......Modest Mouse. My knowledge of their back catalog......minimal. The concert......great fun. I just love live music. What next? More concerts - bring it on!