Darmstadt

"In C" performance at Darmstadt, 11/29/07, originally uploaded by dubitable.

I have been MIA the past few weeks due to an annoying series of computer problems which has basically rendered me laptop-less. A terrifying state, let me tell you. Anyways, they are not quite resolved but at least I have backed up my recent data.

Thursday night I was lucky enough to see an amazing performance of Terry Riley's In C at Galapagos in Brooklyn, performed as part of the DARMSTADT "Classics of the Avant Garde" series. I have loved In C ever since I first heard it on WNYC's New Sounds show, late one night. I own a couple of recordings of it but this is the first time I've seen it live. The instruments included drums, guitar, base, a toy piano, a trombone, a sax, voices, and several laptops. Dave was one of the musicians, performing using SuperCollider on his laptop. That's him in the second row, staring intently at his screen.

It was definitely one of those events that makes me really happy I live here.

Also, the New York Times liked it. The reviewer called it "the most vital, audacious and energizing performance of the score I’ve ever heard."