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Silent Disco: Quietly invading Boston

“Silent disco? What the hell is that?”

Avid silent disco-goers are all too familiar with this question.

So… what is it?

“Silent disco is a new way to experience live music” says George Gayl, co-founder of the event and provider of Silent Storm Sound System.

At a silent disco event everyone is provided with a pair of wireless headphones upon entry.

Through these headphones stream the live music being performed by the DJ or artist of the evening. Each pair of headphones comes equipped with a volume control knob and a mute button. Want to rock out? Crank your volume up! Want to talk to your friends? Hold the mute button down.

OK, so get it? Still skeptical? “Try it, you’ll probably love it. We love converting skeptics,” says Gayl.

CAMP BISCO 9 : Bigger, Longer & Uncut

It’s hard to believe that it’s already been two weeks since music lovers from across the country met, in a 200-acre field just west of Albany known simply to them as ILCC. Indian Lookout Country Club is normally home to The Harley Rendezvous – a biker festival.  But for the past three years the bikers have lent their land to another group of social rebels for one glorious weekend of the summer. This year, Camp Bisco 9 called ILCC home from July 15-17 and along with it came 15,000 fans, adorned in their most outrageous and colorful outfits (a.k.a. “rage gear”).

This year was my fourth Camp Bisco, and also my fourth time at ILCC.  Although I had the inclination this year would be bigger than others in the past, I wasn’t expecting the amount of people and traffic we endured that Thursday morning.  After four long hours of sitting in our cars and waiting in the sweltering heat we finally made it through the gates.  It was an exciting moment, but there was no time to relax.  

The Art of the Human Response to the Naked Body

What a sicko.

I don’t know how to define “art” beyond a poorly-worded attempt at a dictionary definition.  I don’t think most people really can.  But there have to be limits as to what art is.  The “anything goes” mentality only allows for so much.  It’s now my belief that modern art tries to push those limits.

A couple of weeks ago I spent a weekend in New York City and among my tourist stops, I was able to get to check out the Museum of Modern Art.  After seeing the Warhols, Van Goghs, and Dalis I was about ready to leave 15 minutes in.  But I was told by a friend I had to go to the top floor to see the Marina Abramović: The Artist is Present exhibit.  Since I’m already there, what’s a few more flights of stairs?  But nothing could have really prepared me for what I was about to see.

Upon entering the exhibit the only sound beyond people murmuring in shock was the sound of recorded screaming.

Live Together, Die Together? End of the Road for the Lost Saga

It should go without saying that if you’re reading this and you don’t want Lost spoiled for you, that this should be the last sentence you read.

Those that know me well know that I’m pretty critical of Lost. My whole family and a large group of my friends are religious followers of the show. And while they’re grinning from ear to ear at the end of a new episode discussing what’s going to happen next, I’m more often than not the guy sitting next to them rolling my eyes and groaning, “That was retarded.”

The truth is, I’d probably be sitting right next to them toting my very own Darma Initiative t-shirt if not for the fact that I felt betrayed as a fan beyond the show’s second season.

Universal Healthcare: Why Does it Matter?

Maybe if a certain someone was there to stop it...

At first glance, the sound of universal health care coverage is a seemingly great idea.  What kind of sadistic person has their fingers crossed for suffering people to continue to suffer?

I trip children for fun in my free time and even I, in my kinder moments, have been known to grimace at the thought of a hospital declining to help repair their shattered tibias.

So what’s the deal with all these selfish jerks with their hands clasped around their wads of cash? Why are they so unwilling to sacrifice a little to help others?  Well, maybe some of them are just jerks.  But a good amount of them aren’t, and more realistically, that group of people may see the big picture.

The picture where that small sacrifice isn’t so small after all.

What’s the core of the issue?  Is this about money again?  Because it’s not about donkeys versus elephants (which would be a hilarious satirical fight that I hope someone someday is fortunate enough to capture on tape in the wild).  It’s about rights.  The same rights that others fight so desperately for, for issues like women’s rights or gay marriage, are being thrown away as an afterthought – if even a thought at all.  And I guess people have the right to sit back and watch their rights get taken away.  But you at least owe it to yourself to see what you’re losing.

A Quickie With Iron & Wine: Our Endless Numbered Days

The second studio album from singer songwriter Samuel Beam, former college professor turned indie legend, turns six years old this spring. Iron & Wine’s popularity and influence has become increasingly harder to ignore since Beam stopped teaching and started recording music full time.

Having written songs used in television shows and films as far back as Garden State and as recently as Twilight, (did I lose you right there? Stay with me, I’m sorry) Beam’s songs are no secret to the public eye.

So whether you’re unfamiliar or you’re a fan, I challenge you to give what I’ve decided to call the perfect “rainy day” album, Our Endless Numbered Days, a once-through.

Marathon of Music & Madness at Gogol Bordello

Gogol bordello is one of my favorite bands. They stand somewhere in the middle of an eclectic mix of rock, punk, gypsy jazz, and folk genres. I love everything about them- from Eugene Hutz’s eastern European-accented lyrics, to the mad 50-year-old violinist, known as Sergey Ryabtsev, who

rolling stone - hutz

shreds better with his violin than most guitarists can with their guitars. So, needless to say the three hour trek I took to NYC’s Webster Theater last week to see them live was more than worth it in my eyes.

I had seen Gogol once prior in Boston and it was quite possibly the best show I had ever attended. They played for over two hours with such ferocious intensity, and I was curious to see if they would reach the bar they set so high the last time. The band did indeed reach the bar, and even raised it when they played an encore so climactic that I am still recovering today.

Ivan Knows Who Makes the Super Bowl Rock

The NFL Super Bowl is arguably one of the most watched games of the year. It is a night when people get together to chill and

enjoy a good game. It is a night for people jump on the bandwagons to cheer for “their” team. It is a night girls come out and pretend they follow the sport and go to a Super Bowl parties. It is a night to remember.

What’s so special about it this year? Well, the Super Bowl is also a night for hosting a grand musical performance during its halftime show and this year is no different. This year British rockers The Who will take the stage.

A Little Bit Furthur Than We’ve Gone Before

I have been scratching my head for a while now. If there is a God (and no, I am not trying to stir a debate), he is very pleased with us at the moment.

Hmm, maybe not pleased with all of us, but those immersed in the live music scene are getting what they want. Spring was sprung. Summer was stupendous. Fall was fantastic. Winter will be wondrous. Yes, wondrous.

I have devoted so much time making up for Phish’s five-year hiatus over the summer and fall that I think I forgot about my roots. No, not the ones stabilizing my trees. I am talking about the Grateful Dead. When Phish was dead I spent my free time either rocking with Phil Lesh and Friends, slow dancing to RatDog or getting through those shaky spring shows the Dead put on.

Crooked Vultures Not Your Average Rock n’ Rollers

Based out of Los Angeles, rock supergroup Them Crooked Vultures (featuring Josh Homme, Dave Grohl and John Paul Jones) has emerged.

Homme plays lead guitar and Grohl is at drums again, like back in the days of Nirvana. As for JPJ, what doesn’t he play? Of course he is ripping on the bass, but the new album consists of more than just regular guitar, bass and drums. Jones also plays keyboard, piano, mandolin, slide guitar and keytar.

The new album was released on November 17