Garden State of Mind
Why MSG shows hit different
A couple of weeks ago, I saw Pearl Jam on a Sunday night at Madison Square Garden. (Cue the, “OK, Gen Xer” jokes). One of the things that I like most about Pearl Jam shows is that lead singer Eddie Vedder always sprinkles in a couple of interludes where he just talks to the crowd. (Side note: I’m a huge fan of these moments at shows. I even get excited for Bob Weir’s little, “We’re going to take a short break. We’ll be right back” line after the first set of Dead shows.)
During Vedder’s interlude at MSG, he mentioned that the band recently wrapped the Canadian leg of their tour, and that they added an extra stop specifically to pay for the fine that they would incur by going past the curfew when they played the Garden. Now, I don’t think Pearl Jam would have had any difficulty covering the curfew fines without the additional show, but the fact that the band knew in advance that they would break curfew in NYC and planned accordingly is exactly the kind of mischievous resourcefulness I want out of a rock band.
It also underscores what it means to play a show at Madison Square Garden.
It was probably after Vedder’s monologue that I texted myself, “See ur fave band at MSG '' so that I would remember to write this piece. Even though it is not that different of a space architecturally or acoustically than many other arenas throughout the country, there is a hard-to-put-your-finger-on special something about a show in the self-proclaimed (but hard to argue with) “World’s Most Famous Arena.”
I think that’s because when you go to a concert, you want more than to hear music that means something to you. You want to know that it means something to the performer, too. Sure, there are tricks that bands can play, like inserting the name of the city they’re playing into the lyrics of a song. That’s a guaranteed way to earn a surge of applause. But it’s also fairly obvious pandering.
When you see a show at the Garden, you feel that they really, really mean it. It could also be a trick, but I’m here for the wilful suspension of disbelief. The last show I’d seen at MSG before Pearl Jam was Phish in April. Even though I don’t really like Phish, I kept looking at the band and thinking that it must be really awesome to have this crowd in this city in this venue be this rapt in your music.
This is certainly not the case for every performer. But in my experience, it seems to be especially true for acts that vary their sets from show to show. There are only so many ways to make an NYC performance different when your setlist and production is exactly the same as it was in Columbus, OH. More flexibility on song choice leads to more opportunity to make a show unique, which may bias great MSG shows toward rock acts over higher production value pop acts.
Nevertheless, if given the choice to see an artist—any artist—perform at MSG or at any other indoor venue in the U.S., I’d take the Garden every time.
A Star-Studded Goodbye to All that
It’s a shame that “New York media elite” has taken on a negative connotation. In many ways, that breed of well-read, well-cultured, well-dressed, and well-articulated person is all I’ve ever aspired to be. It was something Joan Didion achieved, and this Times piece on the similarly-accomplished who turned out to her memorial this week is a welcome reminder of the glamor that occasionally accompanies a life of letters..
—Justin
MY NEW LIFE IN NYC | Casey Neistat
Rachel and I are trying to watch at least one movie per week in Mexico City – we have a subpar couch (ideal, can’t fall asleep), a 4K projector, and very few friends. We spent ~30 minutes trying to find a good movie to stream the other night, before realizing that none of our streaming services work in Mexico. So until I can get a VPN setup on our router (pray for me!) we’ve been watching a lot of YouTube. Casey Neistat is synonymous with NYC creative and after a long stint in LA, his move back has lead to a few great vlogs for us to watch instead of movies, for now.
—Andrew
Nuclear Power Is Our Best Hope to Ditch Fossil Fuels | Isabelle Boemeke | TED
Isabelle Boemeke, the nuclear influencer also known as Isodope, fucking rocks. Aside from one unrelated TikTok that I won’t share here, her TikToks are the only ones I’ve ever sent around. I do not have a TikTok, but her videos are so good that I sought them out and sent them around. Isabelle (and Kurzgesagt) have completely opened my eyes to the power (heh) of nuclear energy. If you’re a nonbeliever, noninterested, or a casual fan, watch this TED Talk and tell your friends: nuclear is the bomb in a good way!).
—Andrew
Reigning Champ West 4th St Mini Hoop
Because of the way my home office as it were is set up, I spend a good deal of time looking at the wall behind me as I sit on Zoom calls. I’ve spruced it up a bit from its barren origins with some shelving and photos, but when my gaze falls on the door to the room, I always see underutilized space. That’s why even though there is no good reason for me to spend $400 on a mini hoop like this one from Reigning Champ, I still want to.
—Justin