Perhaps taking a cue from the All Tomorrows Parties festivals which each have featured a guest curator, David Bowie has been chosen to hand-pick the artists to perform at the first H&M High Line Music Festival in Manhattan.
In celebrity gossip news, reportedly, Robert De Niro, whose Tribeca Film Festival concludes three days before H&M Fest begins, is upset at Bowie.
http://www.wikio.com/entertainment/m...op/david_bowie
The line-up as announced (so far) includes:
Air
Arcade Fire
Bang On A Can
Daniel Johnston
Deerhoof
Ken Nordine
Laurie Anderson
Laurie McLeod
Legendary Stardust Cowboy
Meow Meow
The Polyphonic Spree
Ricky Gervais
The Secret Machines
I'd never heard of "The Legendary Stardust Cowboy," but I found this rather cryptic
homepage for Mr. Norman Carl Odam.
I imagine Gervais is doing some version of a performance piece. Although, he does play a little rhythm guitar...He did on The Simpsons, at least.
Claude Cahun was a surrealist/conceptual photographer and writer and her art will be featured. Also, of Supreme note, will be an appearance
(And I bet we can thank Laurie along with David) of octogenarian jazz word-man Ken Nordine.
A "Spanish Film Retrospective" is also slated on the festival event calendar.
So, if you happen to be in NYC during May 9-19, (or for the Tribeca Film Festival the week previous) then I'd imagine this is worth checking out.
Laurie Anderson, Deerhoof, and Daniel Johnston should be really good shows, and to be able to see Ken Nordine is a once-in-a-lifetime type-of-thing.
The High Line is set thirty feet above street-level on seven acres that occupy three neighborhoods and is currently being transformed into a greenspace park opening officially sometime in 2008.
some preliminary event info
http://www.brandish.tv/2007/04/david_bowie_cur.html