Tags archives: Father John Misty

  • The title of Barnaby (aka Barney) Clay’s new documentary, SHOT! The Psycho-spiritual Mantra of Rock, says it all, really. This rambling, entertaining portrait of legendary music photographer Mick Rock is full of its genial subject’s own musings on his life and art. It also encapsulates the excitement and excesses of the heady musical era that Rock (barely) lived through and documented. For anyone with a passing interest in the rock scenes of the late 1960s through '70s, this will be pretty fascinating stuff. For those, like myself, who remember wondering about the photographer whose impossibly appropriate name appeared on pictures of many groundbreaking artists, this will provide context, and then some. (For the record, the man’s given name is actually Michael David Rock.) The film opens with present-day Rock (now in his late 60s) loading his camera at a live TV on the Radio show. He talks about his process, which—at its best—makes him feel like an assassin, “I’ve got my sights on you, gonna take you out.” Later he clarifies, “I’m not after your soul, I’m after your f-ing aura,” which might prompt an eye-roll, except that he really did capture the essence of performers (and friends) such as David Bowie, Lou Reed, Iggy Pop, Freddie Mercury and Debbie Harry, among others. For many awestruck kids, Rock's images were their introduction to these genre-defying musicians. The film takes us through a more or less chronological account of Rock’s career, interspersed with[...]
  • 3. SummerStage May 18 - September 24 Rumsey Playfield Musically, Central Park is usually just buskers and that one guy playing music obnoxiously loud from his phone. Except in the summer. During the warm months, the Park hosts SummerStage, an outdoor festival of almost entirely free shows. Like Celebrate Brooklyn, the series includes the odd benefit concert, for which admission is charged, but the majority of the line up is free. Everyone loves free concerts. Plus, even when admission is charged the money made helps fund SummerStage, so the proceeds still go to a good cause. Each year the SummerStage concerts are held at Rumsey Playfield in Central Park, which can be best accessed by entering the park at 69th Street and 5th Avenue. Seating (e.g. bleachers) isn’t always available and space is limited, so come prepared and probably early. On weekdays, doors are an hour before the show and on weekends are an hour and a half. If you don’t get a good spot or arrive after capacity is reached, there always plenty of green space around the venue to sit on and listen. Alcohol is not permitted, but food/drink will be available from Pizza Moto, Asia Dog, Blue Marble, Lonestar Empire, and many more vendors. Professional cameras (SLRs) are also not allowed, but there’s always your phone? So settle in with an Ommegang and snapchat your friends from #Summerstage. Of all this season’s shows some of the stand-outs are: 6/6: Blue Note Jazz Festival (2:00 PM) 6/17: Lindsey Stirl[...]