reviews – Mitchell's thoughts, photos, etc.

What Does the Venue Think?

By Mitchell Slepian

Last night, I saw Paul Simon at the Forest Hills Tennis Stadium. A few days ago, I was at Yankee Stadium. Just before that, I saw Lenny Kaye in the Loft at City Winery, Human League with Soft Cell and Alison Moyet at Radio City Music Hall, and Kim Deal at Pier 17. Future shows will be at the Beacon and Garden. Speaking of the Garden, we all know Taylor Swift married there on July 3.

Paul Simon at Forest Hills Tennis Stadium

All shows brought their expected crowds. We had the aging hippies, the artsy and all-black-wearing new wave and goth crowds, and, of course, those of us decked out from head to toe in our NY Yankees apparel. It didn’t help. They embarrassed themselves by allowing the Twins to pound them. Seems to be a trend. George and the Stick must be rolling around in their graves.

Many of us have felt the Garden shake during performances by The Who or felt connected to Bono. We’ve come to a new understanding of the world while listening to the top-notch songwriting and skills of the Cure and Depeche Mode. We ached that Siouxsie Sioux only did a few shows and did not come to NYC.

But did you ever wonder what the arena feels like? We know what the Stadium feels. It wants the Yankees to bring home that trophy. It’s been far too long. Sure, these venues are concrete and steel. But do they have feelings? Do they have a sense of what’s happening inside them? Does the Garden ever say to Radio City Music Hall, I wish the Human League were on my stage? I doubt the Stadium talks to Fenway Park. They hate each other. Or maybe they complain about the fans or certain players?

Forest Hills Tennis must have been happy to have its local Forest Hills High School boy, Paul Simon, performing at its arena. Although the schoolyard in “Me and Julio Down by the Schoolyard” is never officially named. Per the lyrics, it is in Corona. I have been to the schoolyards; it is believed to be. As I was listening to him perform it, I wondered how many people in the venue had ever traveled to the yards he meant. What does that schoolyard think?

Do the venues have favorite artists? Do they prefer the classic rock, goth, or pop crowds? Does it give off feelings that enhance or hurt the show? Does it get excited when one band does three or four nights? I saw Billy Joel’s residency at Madison Square Garden a few times. Does the Garden kick back into Billy’s coming tonight, and will we have his awesome crows? What does it think when Robert Smith takes the stage with the Cure, and they play in darkness vs. the more top 40 shows that light up the place? Does it prefer bands that really honed their craft to those that are marketing projects created to sell tickets and push downloads? Maybe I need to ask it. It might laugh at me. Or whisper back its thoughts.

100 Years or Goodbye Yellow Brick Road

Does Music Make a Difference When Shooting and Editing Photos?

By Mitchell Slepian

Hello, readers. As my regulars are aware, ninety-nine percent of the time, the images in my stories have been shot and edited with my Nikon camera. As Paul Simon sings, I like to take photographs. My Kodachrome sits on a table next to an old Nikon that was a workhorse and is now out of commission.

Sheepshead Bay by Emmons Avenue – Edited to Sir Elton

When shooting and editing, I always have songs in my head. One of my all-time favorite songs is “100 Years,” the opening track on The Cure’s “Pornography” album. It might be the darkest, most goth album of all time. I listen to it nonstop. Here’s a taste of Robert Smith’s (The Cure’s founder, lead singer, and possibly the best songwriter ever) lyrics. “It doesn’t matter if we all die. Ambition in the back of a black car.” I listen to lots of other great artists. Some are happier than The Cure. Of course, some are just as dark. Here’s a partial mix: Bauhaus, David Bowie, Billy Joel, Depeche Mode, Erasure, Sir Elton John, Joy Division, John Lennon (probably the best musician of all time), Led Zeppelin, Bob Marley, The Psychedelic Furs, The Smiths, Siouxsie and the Banshees, U2 and The Who. And the list goes on.

It’s not unusual for me to have some of these lyrics floating through my brain when I’m shooting. “Confusion in her eyes that says it all. She’s lost control. And she’s clinging to the nearest passerby.” – “She’s out of Control,” Joy Division “Girl of sixteen, whole life ahead of her. Slashed her wrists, bored with life. Didn’t succeed, thank the Lord.” – “Blasphemous Rumors” – Depeche Mode “Back to the howling old owls. Hunting the horny back toad” – “Goodbye Yellow Brick Road” – Sir Elton and “Before you cross the street. Take my hand. Life is what happens to you. While you’re busy making other plans” – “Beautiful Boy” – John Lennon. He always nailed it. They all do.

One can be sure the songs in my head while I am shooting affect how they are taken. I might adjust the ISO and F-stop based on how I am feeling. In case you were wondering, I do not listen to music on my iPhone. I hate headphones. I used to wear my Walkman’s headphones slightly above or below my ears. Sometimes I still do that with headphones when I am Zooming or watching things on YouTube. Songs always go through my head. It gets me through the days. Or as Robert Smith says, “In Between Days.” That’s on the “Head on the Door” album.

Bees Fetching Honey – Edited to the Cure

The other day, I was editing some images from Emmons Avenue, Sheepshead Bay and the New York Botanical Garden while listening to Sir Elton. Then I switched to a mix of The Cure, Echo and the Bunnymen, Erasure, and Psychedelic Furs, Siouxie and the Banshees. Erasure brings back memories of camp. The Cure, Erasure, and the Furs bring back old memories of dating and driving around in my old Caddy with the girls I liked. We usually listened to those bands. My first date was to see The Cure with Love & Rockets and the Pixies as the openers. We were too young to buy beer. We shared M&M’s. I still think about all of this when certain songs play.

Look at the images and see if you can tell the difference. This was written and edited to Led Zep’s “How the West Was Won.” With final touches while listening The latest from The Cure: “Songs of a Lost World.”

Milk

It was a party at Anat’s place. Marc, Alana, Jen, Tzipora, and Elan were there with their kids. Dan just got back from picking up some more wine and beer. All of the kids were playing. Anat was feeding Gillil. Not being shy, Alana yelled out, “Hey, Anat is that date milk she’s sucking out of you?” Marc has a friend who works on a dairy farm and knows everything about milk. Anat retorted back, “I have no clue. Why don’t you try some.” They all laughed. Tzipora’s eyes were fixated on Alana. Eran knew about the two of them. Marc and Alana mentioned the powers some of their kids had. This was the only group that knew of their powers. Alana said imagine if Marc and I had a kid. It’d be a monster. Our kid would come from two parents who have superpowers. The others are only from one. Marc smiled.

The party winded down. Marc and Alana, left hand in hand. The two of them began discussing having a kid. No, they would not get married. They just wanted to see what they created. They imagined what would happen if the Emperor and Princess Leia had ever gotten married. Or if Anakin married Ashoka. That’d be interesting. Imagine what the Force would wield. The two of them went home and started playing Love & Rockets. They woke up the following day and were still discussing having a kid.

New Year’s Morning

After their fight with the gunman, the two raced home, hoping to watch the ball drop. They missed it. Oh well. They didn’t care much. They did their traditional thing, played “New Year’s Day,” and went to sleep listening to Leonard Cohen.

They got up and debated doing the Coney Island Polar Bear Plunge the following day. They were pissed with the weather. So, they decided to stay home and chill. Tzipora called to wish Alana a happy new year. She and Marc’s ex, Jen, are still some of the very few people who know about their pals superpowers. Tzipora was in the bar when Alana debuted hers against some dumb jock who was getting fresh with Alana and her girlfriends. Tzipora’s new marriage is going great. Alana still had baked in her mind when she unleashed her wine and ran out of the bar to avoid getting caught on social media. The truth is Alana debuted them against Marc. But that was in one of their usual fights. They were in their breakup mode. The time in the bar with Tzipora and the other women was the first time she used them to save someone. She gained them in Israel and tested them there. But she was a novice then. Alana remembers Tzipora following her, and they spent the night together. At that time, Marc was on and off with Jen. He did save her a few times. Alana tried to take her out. Then Anat was beginning to use her powers and going after all. That is until she saved and adopted Jerry.

Jay was hungover from his New Year’s Eve celebrations. He was in a club all night. He got into a few fights and reigned with his glass firing. Blood was everywhere. As usual, he evaded the NYPD.

Marc went to buy bagels for Alana. She decided to get out of bed and turn on the TV. Television was new to them. They just got a new one. Marc had an old TV from 1998 or so. He only watched his beloved Yankees and Bloomberg News. En route to the bagel store, he saw Jay stumbling down the block. The two’s eyes locked. Jay tried to shoot Marc with glass. As he fired, he fell backward and landed on his head. Marc fired away barley and drenched him in honey. Marc texts Alana and Anat about this episode. Anat was happy that Jerry’s biological dad was on the floor again. She wonders what, if any, powers her new child would have when it is born. Dan came in with flowers for his wife and some donuts for Jerry.