New York Stories 2
I had allocated Saturday as “shopping day”, but my abiding memory is of throwing a strop because I couldn’t find the jeans I wanted in Macys, followed by a hideous ordeal in Lord and Taylor’s lingerie department with a mirror that made me look like Edith Massey. I think it’s safer if I draw a veil across the whole affair.
I shall move on to the purpose of the weekend – a trip to Central Park where my beloved Justin Bond was performing songs of the Carpenters prior to an all-star tribute to Marc Bolan.
Justin strode on stage at 7 wearing a beautiful wine coloured suit and some of the highest platforms I have ever seen. I was delighted to see he had chosen Mister Sister style lighting – deep pink and purple – great minds and all that. He sang the whole Close to You album from start to finish as the sun slowly set behind him, I felt myself choke up with a little love and pride on a number of occasions.
I’m not much of a Carpenters fan so I suppose my favourite tracks were the ones I was familiar with – Close to You, We’ve Only Just Begun. I did have a Carpenters phase when I was 8 but this album wasn’t a part of my collection. Best of all was the Beatles’ Help where he was joined on stage by a group of crazy trannies – The Pixie Harlots – and, cabaret star, Meow Meow who prowled and posed hilariously at the front of the stage. One of them had a face full of glitter and a long black wig and reminded me of Jonny Woo playing a drunken Sue Ellen.
Oh, there was also the guest appearance from Jake Shears who, again, was understated in a modest jacket and jeans as he came on to sing I Kept On Loving You.
Despite the enormous clod-hoppers, Justin still managed to run through the front rows of the audience, holding hands and making people laugh. It was great to see him doing something different but for the for the first 40 minutes couldn’t quite put my finger on what was missing. Then he spoke and I suddenly realised - I’d never seen him just sing before, he usually intersperses the songs with lots of talking.
When he finally did speak it was a heart-warming little tale about his inspiration for the evening. It all goes back to an afternoon when he was very young and the men folk of his family where trying to force him to play softball. He was useless at the game and was sent back into the house in disgrace. There his cousin, Jan, sensing his misery, asked, “Do you want to play Barbies?” So he spent a lovely afternoon playing dolls with his cousin and listening to the Carpenters, and this is his first memory of feeling cherished and loved for the person he was, not for who his family wanted him to be.
After Justin’s set there was David Driver performing songs by Scott Walker, it was an OK set but nothing special, and certainly not as good as what was to follow – the all star Bolan tribute.
I had no idea what this would be like, but it was clear from the off-set that it was to be a great big camp old laugh. All manner of New York minor celebs appeared on stage wearing silly hats and tossing glitter at each other. Most of my NY hero bands were represented – Clem Burke from Blondie, that nice Tony Shanahan from the Patti Smith Group, Richard Lloyd from Television and, later, Steve Conti and the ever annoying Sylvain from New York Dolls.
The show opened with a quiet, hippyish version of Ride a White Swan courtesy of The Screaming Orphans, I can’t remember the order anything else happened. I think Richard Lloyd might have been next, then maybe Lloyd Cole or Willy Nile. It’s all a blur until SCREAM – PATTI SMITH IS HERE!!!!!!!!!!!! Patti strolled on stage to *much* applause to cruise through Children of the Revolution, effortlessly blowing the other acts off stage and receiving a standing ovation. God, how I love Patti.
Aside from her, I predictably liked the faggy types best – there was a beautiful blonde boy called Justin Tranter and a skinny, skinny red head called Owen McCarthy. Also, of course, the lovely Justin Bond and his duet with Jake Shears performing Solid Baby. This time it was Jake in full bug-eyed, glitter freak mode, bouncing around the stage like a man possessed. He made me laugh so much and I couldn’t even get a picture he was moving about so fast.
You can see a number of clips from the performance on You Tube:
(Part 3 to follow.)
2 comments:
That's a great story that Justin told.
It's odd that Rolan is always billed but never shows.
Do you suspect the Shears performance was chemically aided?
Who in their right mind would give a fuck whether Rolan fucking Bolan showed? That would be rather like regretting the absence of Julian at a Lennonfest. Anyway, I would have sacrificed my cats, my boyfriend, my mother and my arms and legs to have seen Patti doing Children of the Revolution - not to mention Justin's duet on Solid Baby. Classy choice! Mark and I have been listening to a ton of Bolan lately - not like he's ever far from the hifi - but, by Christ, if any artist is underrated, it's Boley.
Dawn - I loved your NY stories! xxx
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