Archive for April 14th, 2006

I just got back from the ’secret’ (and free) Franz Ferdinand show at Hammerstein Ballroom. It’s really weird going to a matinee concert. I thought that knowing it was daylight outside would keep me from enjoying it, but once inside, it was impossible to tell I wasn’t at a regular evening performance.

I was told that we might just be going to a sound check. But it wasn’t, it was a full set. In fact it was better then a regular show. There was no pretense. Franz Ferdinand came out. Some of them looked amused, some of them look tired. They started to play. They started to have fun. One of them took off his shoes. They took requests from the 500 person audience, which was full of die hard (and young!) fans. They let a bunch of people get on stage and sing along. They did NOT play Take Me Out. Three of them started playing the same drum kit at once. They finished their set and left the stage (they had to go rest for their show tonight). All in all, it was pretty awesome.

The concert was a ’secret’ because in order to get in you had to add them to your MySpace friend list. The genius who came up with this should get a promotion. I’m sure hundreds of people joined MySpace yesterday, just to get a ticket. But I was pretty impressed that no advertising was shoved down our throats once we got there, just a couple of simple banners on the side. There was a massive line to get in, but inside there was room to move around (it was only about 1/3 full on the floor and the mezzanines were empty). Even though I know it’s a terrible marketing ploy, I was really happy with it. I would recommend one of these shows to anyone in a position to go (they are supposedly having them all over the country, just add MySpace Secret Shows to your friend list to find out where and when).

[I also got to use my fancy new camera to capture some video, which will be posted soonish - check back for it this weekend]

UPDATE:

I went to the Metropolitan Museum of Art today to check out the special exhibition Hatshepsut: From Queen to Pharaoh. With the exception of learning her personal story, which is pretty fascinating, the exhibit wasn’t really that exciting. It looked like every other exhibit I’ve ever seen about mummies, except that there were no actual mummies.

One thing I did notice was that there were a lot more ‘girly items’ on display, which was kind of fun. There was all kinds of jewelry; rings, bracelets, cuffs, armbands, necklaces, belly-necklaces, ornate clasps, collars, rings, earrings and a diadem(a decorative headpiece). There were also a couple of jewelry boxes a some other toiletries, like powder boxes, kohl jars and applicators, combs, tweezers, ointment jars, cosmetic jars, cosmetic spoons (which were purely decorative and meant to be ‘cute’), hand mirrors and even a razor(yes, hers — did they shave their legs back then?).

Overall, I’d say don’t go out of your way to go to this exhibit, but if you’re in the Met anyway, wander through it. It runs until July 9th, and be sure to download The Special Exhibition Podcast to your iPod (cheaper than the $6 they charge there).

[Just in case you are lame like me and don’t know how to subscribe to a podcast, here’s how to do it (in iTunes): 1) click on Podcasts in the left menu 2) choose advanced from the top menu 3)choose subscribe to podcast and 4)paste in the URL (the one above, that ends in .xml) ]