Livin The Life – Three Crazy Nights in NYC

I’ve always felt that real writers only sit behind their computers when they have something to write, the rest of the time they’re out investigating whatever scene they cover. This past week I embodied that ideal by covering five events (three album release parties, one concert and one trade show) and going on one audition in the span of three days (well, most of it was technically at night). In the process of doing so I ran into a lot of friends and saw a lot of interesting things. Here’s the rundown.

Thursday, July 17th

The Plan: To hit up Jake Lefco’s Missing Trooth album release party at the Bowery Poetry Club.

The Execution: Caught an early train into the city so I could bum around on a bit on what turned out to be a beautiful evening. I caught the 6 train downtown, which had not one, but two totally gorgeous women on it, and hopped off at Bleeker. As I passed the club I saw another bar, Slainte, which had a bunch of televisions glowing, many of which had the Mets game on, which had just started. I sat down, ordered up a pint of Guinness and watched the first two hours of the game (an eventual win) before leaving to meet up with some of my people a few spots down. At the Bowery I would not just link up with Jake Lefco and Karma Response Unit Records label owner Happ G, I would also run into Hired Gun, Tah Phrum Duh Bush, Bisc1, Conscious, illspokinn, Core Rhythm, Homeboy Sandman, Kats, Domer, brokeMC and Why G (apologies if I left anyone’s name out). I gave out some “I’m a B-Lister” t-shirts (all your favorite artists are wearing them… I’m making sure of that!), hung out for a while, and, sadly, had to leave during Tah’s set to catch the 12:22am train home so I could be in bed before 3am.

Saturday, July 19th

The Plan: Meet up with Amalia Martino of Blue Shoes Media, hit up the Kind Monitor album release party at Joe’s Pub at 9pm, hit up Rabbi Darkside’s album release party / birthday party at 11:30pm at Mercury Lounge.

The Execution: The train in was marked by two ominous signs; only one ramp having been put up to board it and a baby bird falling from its nest and dying in front of us. The train would later die at South Norwalk, leaving us to have to transfer at Stamford. Thankfully I found someone interesting to sit next to for the rest of the ride.

Before either release party I wandered around Manhattan, hitting up Cozy’s for food and Slainte for a few more Guinness (two for one pints!). I texted Amalia that I was in the city and we made plans to meet up at Rabbi D’s party. At around 9pm I made my way to Joe’s Pub, said hello to Joshua of Kind Monitor and kicked back to enjoy the show, which was great. I even received a shout out mid-set when Joshua explained he had joined UCB because a journalist had called him shy in an article. It was a great moment as both I, the journalist, was there, as were a lot of his classmates from UCB. After the show I had a great convo with another one of his friends who is a musician.

At 11pm I moseyed on over to Mercury Lounge where I met up with Rabbi Darkside. I had fantastic timing as I was able to witness a cop pulling over three women who looked like they’d already had a good night on the town. I met Alix outside the bar, the Beyond Race intern who was supposed to cover the show, but the age limit of the Lounge didn’t allow her to come in. After a quick conversation with her and her friend I made my way in and just like Thursday Hip-Hop was supporting Hip-Hop as Super King Armor, Homeboy Sandman, Tah Phrum Duh Bush, Core Rhythm, CONCEPT, Tzo, Shawn Randall, Hired Gun and Farbeon were all in the house. Amalia came through closer to midnight and brought Seattle Hip-Hop duo Steelo with her. Everyone dug Rabbi D’s performance. As I was leaving I saw one more emcee as I bumped into one of the guys from T-Weaponz outside the club before catching a cab back to the train station.

The 1:49am train ride home wasn’t too bad. I met up with Alix and her friend, saw one of the guys I work out with at the gym, and even found a girl walking around on the train in her bare feat (nasty, I know). Some strangeness came when we arrived at Fairfield, though. The doors opened and we weren’t lined up with the ramp at all! Since half of the cars were aligned the conductor didn’t bother to move forward for us. We could only get to one tiny corner of the ramp from the door, so one by one we put a foot on it and swung ourselves to safety. There’s nothing like 3am gynastics.

Monday, July 21st

The Plan: Hit up the LENY tradeshow in the mid-afternoon, meet David Bosch of Koch Records, kick some ass at an audition at AOL Music, check out Lauren Ianuzzi’s show at Piano’s at 8pm.

The Execution: Arrived at LENY, which is the London Edge rock and cult fashion trade show, at around 3pm. Met up with David Bosch and took a tour around the place. I really dug some of the more original stuff, including the Alter Ego line of jewelry made from old children’s toys, the watches of Nemesis, and the artwork of No Monet and Alayana Magnan. I was disappointed Mini Britney would only be around on Tuesday, but I got to catch a bit of Grinder Girl’s act. This is the woman who puts on a metal outfit and takes a grinder to certain parts of it. There’s nothing like literally seeing sparks come out of a girl’s vagina.

After LENY I made my way to my audition at AOL Music, which I think I rocked, and then ventured over to Pianos. On my way to Pianos I bumped into Lee (of The Square Egg fame), who is one of my favorite people, and had a good conversation with him while hanging out by a subway station. Once I made it to Pianos I had to wait a bit for Lauren and her people to arrive. Little did I know my friend Amanda Tropila would also be in the building, as would half a dozen other PR pros. Everyone had high praise for Adam’s World and really dug the Artist Of The Week feature on Lauren. Miss Ianuzzi then rocked the house with her fantastic vocals and equally fantastic stage presence. She’s a natural performer who is a joy to watch as she plays with the crowd and makes it a point to show that she’s having a good time while doing so. (If you want to catch her in CT, come out to Cousin Larry’s in Danbury on August 30th!)

After a little bit of networking the 10:22pm train was calling me. I made my way home and am now totally exhausted. The next time anyone asks what a day in the life of Adam B is like I will simply direct them to this post.

You can check out pictures from all the events at: Livin The Life – July 08.