Archive for July, 2007
Cosmic Drummers Shake The Heavens
Posted on July 9, 2007
On 7/7/07 at 7:00PM 77 drummers lead by the Boredoms put on the performance of a lifetime. Rescheduled from 2006 (which thematically at least was a fantastic idea), 77 Boadrum was a spectacle with ridiculousness only matched by its own awesomeness. The basic idea is that EYE conducts a group of 77 drummers with some electronically modulated stringed boards, colored batons (to hit the boards and signal drummers) and THE TRIDENT OF POSEIDON. This is not an exaggeration, he took out a trident and smashed the boards, causing all 77 drummers to launch into frenzied solos. Beats spiraled out of the center creating waves of sound that overlapped and eventually consumed each other. Here is a diagram:
Now for a personal touch to this story:
My companions and I woke up bright and early, then took an unscheduled detour to over near Coney Island thanks to the simplicity of the New York subway system. Once we got back to DUMBO (down under the Manhattan bridge overpass, yes it is the stupidest name for a neighborhood ever) we scoped out the venue and popped a squat on a restaurant stoop. It was around 1:00, and “the cops will make you leave” if anyone tried to line up before 2:30, so we knew we were in good shape. Just around the corner was Grimaldi’s Pizzeria, along with about 50 people in line on the sidewalk. We managed to get our pizza in a bag (boxes are apparently a luxury they refuse to afford customers) and since it was only 2:20 by the time we were done, we figured everything was still well on schedule. We stroll around the corner to see…about 400 people already in line. So much for the iron claw of the NYPD. We scurried down the block and managed to get in line well within the “safe zone” of people who would be allowed in. Since this was a free concert it was going to be packed to the gills, so timing was of the essence. We burned our asses and ankles indian style on the sidewalk for an hour and a half, then were let in to the Empire-Fulton Ferry State Park.
The drums were already set up. There weren’t any seats so speak of, so we just set up shop about a foot from the outermost ring. I was between position 72 and 73 to be exact. This gave us the perfect view of the Boredoms themselves, as it was a dead shot to the stage.
We were so close we could have taken an errant slap at a drum if we wanted. We were a bit too busy having our minds blown completely out of our heads for that though. It was an amazing experience, and one that will never happen again. There were cameras everywhere (not mine of course, just my crappy cellphone camera), so I’m hoping there will be some grand video memorial officially put together. In the meantime, here is a nice collection of online media for those who missed out:
Event Photos via Flickr
Tie Dye – this bears a bit of explanation. I don’t know who this kid was, and he was about 25% of the circle away from us, but he was dancing up a STORM during the whole affair, crumbling up rocks and waving his shoes in the air. He knows how to have a good time.
A nice close up video
The view from the bridge
Eye attacking his string boards Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
AND NOW
Since I haven’t seen it anywhere else, here are pictures of the program given out at the show:
The cover of the program.
“YOU are the 78th member! This is because the sound will spiral outwards, from left to right, like DNA, from deep inside of us right out to you. The 77 drum group is one giant instrument, one living creature. The 77 boadrum will coil like a snake and transform to become a great dragon!
-EYE”
Notice that wavy line is the milky way, just for some scale in comparison to the magnitude that was the drum circle.
You can see more of my crappy cell phone pictures, bigger pictures of the program, and pictures of the commemorative t-shirt in my 77 Boadrum gallery.