On June 21st 2011, Nick Franglen played the theremin under the Manhattan Bridge for 24 hours, starting and ending at midnight. "Sensors on the bridge above him registered the passing of each cyclist, creating a moment of silence for everyone who crossed the bridge throughout the day." This week Nick posted a film documenting the event which you can watch (don't worry it's only 17 minutes), below...

Continue reading "Watch Nick Franglen's 'Hymn To The Manhattan Bridge'"

On June 21st, British artist and electronic musician Nick Franglen (of Lemon Jelly) will play a 24-hour piece of improvised music, starting and ending at midnight, in collaboration with the thousands of people who walk or bicycle across Manhattan Bridge during the course of the day.

Franglen will be installed in The Archway under the Manhattan Bridge, playing a Theremin with looping effects pedals to create washes of sound. Meanwhile, sensors installed on Manhattan Bridge's pathways, high above The Archway, will register the passing of each bicycle and pedestrian, sending messages to Nick's equipment that imprint a moment of silence on the music for everyone who crosses the bridge. The music will be a unique collaboration between the musician and the bridge users, who will unwittingly guide and develop the character of the piece.

He's under the bridge in DUMBO. You can head over there or just watch the stream, along with a video about a similar stunt he pulled at the London Bridge, below...

Continue reading "Look for Lemon Jelly's Nick Franglen under the Manhattan Bridge (or just watch him online)"

DOWNLOAD: Boredoms - Jungle Taitei (MP3)

The Boredoms (& 74 friends) played a free 77 drum "BoaDrum" show under the Brooklyn Bridge in the DUMBO section of Brooklyn, NYC on Saturday 7/7/07 @ 7:07 for about 77 minutes almost two hours. I unfortunately was one of the thousands that did not get in. According to the extremely heated comment sections HERE, HERE, and HERE, there were about 4000 people who did get in. I walked away only blaming myself for showing up so late. I didn't even realize until afterwards that those who arrived as early as 3pm didn't even get in, and I totally sympathize with the people who waited on line for hours just to find out the place was at capacity - that obviously should not have happened.

By the time stupid-me arrived, the line was still huge, and the police had just started to take control of the door. Everyone else associated with the event was left completely powerless against the guys in uniforms. Nobody was getting in - even some guy who was "with the Boredoms", press, a volunteer who had left or something - NOBODY. I was sad, but decided to make the most of it. I hung-out outside - listening, walking around, sitting on the rocks by the water, and taking pictures. About 45-60 minutes into the show I went back to the front entrance to find at least 200 people filing out early. "Excellent!", I and everyone else at the door thought, "one out, one in", but NOPE. The cops refused to even let in the diehards who never left their spots on line throughout the entire event. THAT was the most frustrating thing for me. It made no sense. They could no longer blame capacity - they (the cops) just felt like being dicks - even lecturing the pleading crowd, "blah blah you should get to free concerts early blah blah talk to my boss not me blah blah...". You could tell they were loving every minute of it.

More pictures, including some of those watching the show from up on the Brooklyn Bridge, below....

Continue reading "(outside the) BOREDOMS 'Boadrum' under the Brooklyn Bridge"