On Saturday May 16th, I dragged some folks to see Dan Deacon at the Bowery. At midnight. Now, shows that start at midnight are fine with me, but not with everybody on this planet. And you know it was a good show when even people in the crew who walked in complaining about the hour left wondering when the next Dan Deacon show is. I guess he's well known for setting up his rig in the middle of the floor at solo shows and playing in close proximity to the crowd. This tour he's doing something different, which is a huge band backing him, with several (4?) keyboard players, several drummers, and much more. A very fun night. One thing I'll say about the show, that you can sort of see in the pictures below. DD does a lot of crowd participation gags. At one point, he called upon two people to begin building a bridge. He said that people should walk under those two, and when they get to the other side, the next two people should extend the bridge. The next two, extend it even further. He proposed doing this through the main floor, down a flight of stairs, through the ground floor, and returning up the back stairway. Seemed ridiculous to me. It must have seemed ridiculous to others as well, because someone near DD must have audibly scoffed, and he assured them that it could work. So he starts getting people to do it, heads back to the stage, starts the song, and we're up in the balcony watching everything. I sort of assume that people are getting bored of it or there are logistical problems or whatever, but a little while later, I see the first people who have entered the tunnel on the main floor, gone through the whole thing, and return to the main floor exit the tunnel, jumping up and down for joy, and it was such an amazing moment to watch. Anyway, A+ for DD. Photos below.

Above, the bridge begins. Below, another crowd participation game.

What next? I guess I should mention going to
Brooklyn Bowl, the latest brain child of a child with big brains. Bowling in the next lane were Eric Krasnow and Adam Deitch. I think Krasnow is going to be doing a weekly Sunday brunch there when it opens.
And Phish tour started last night. Life is good.