Last Friday, the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles kicked off the 2010 season of “First Fridays”. Sure, one can quibble about the fact that it was actually the second Friday of the month, but let’s not hold it against them.
This was my first “First”, and I admit that my initial interest was to see the musical performances. While I loved going to the Museum of Natural History when we lived in New York, I figured that in this case, the museum was just the backdrop for the show. Wrong.
The real star of First Fridays is the museum. Sure, the place was packed wall-to-wall with hipsters. Yes, there were full cash bars in front of the classic dioramas. Of course, there were 2 DJs spinning tunes that had these imbibing hipsters swiveling their fashionably clad hips. But even with all of the “fun”, there was also education. And it was fun, too, dammit. Maybe it’s the (not-so-)inner nerd in me talking, but sitting in a museum hall listening to a lecture about spider silks was better than enduring most of the opening bands I’ve seen in the past year.
The evening started at 5:30, with a tour of real live spiders. We didn’t get to the museum until 6ish, so we missed that, sadly. When we entered the museum, the party was in full swing. People were donning the free old-school 3D glasses and mingling amongst the dinos in the main entrance. We did a quick walk-through of the place and discovered that the first scheduled lecture was to take place at 6:30, so we headed upstairs. We were able to snag two of the last seats for the SRO presentation entitled “Spider Silks: Natural Engineering Marvels” by Dr. Cheryl Y. Hayashi. And you know what? I learned a lot.
After the lecture, we headed back downstairs for the music. We found a good spot in front of the stage, and with almost 20 minutes before the first set, I realized that I was thirsty, so I headed out of the hall to buy a bottle of water. Here’s where my only real criticism of the evening takes place: there are 3 bars set up in the museum, but there isn’t one in the hall where the performances are. I crossed over to a bar, waited in line and ordered a water for me and a beer for Heather. When I went to pay the $9 with my credit card, the bartender told me that there was a $25 minimum for plastic. I left the room and headed over to the ATM, waited in line and got some cash. Back at the bar, I waited in line again for the bartender. I bought the drinks and made my way back to the live performance room. Unfortunately, there was now a long line to get back into the room. Several minutes later, I finally found myself back in the room. Heather didn’t know where I was the whole time, because neither of our cell phones worked in that one room, but I finally found her before the show started. If the bar had been in the room (and there hadn’t been a silly $25 minimum), none of this insanity would have taken place. End of rant.
Anyway, the first act was tUnE-yArDs. Like the first time we saw her, Merrill Garbus was amazing. Her command of the stage is extraordinary. When we saw her play at the Troubadour, she was accompanied by a bass player and a guitar player. This time, the bass guy (I don’t know his name, sorry) was still there, and her sound was augmented by a trio of drummers. I imagine that most of those present are going to be talking about her for a long time. I can’t wait to see her again. (I could attempt to describe her music, but you should just scroll down to the bottom of the post for a sample.)
After thetUnE-yArDs set, the room seemed to get even more crowded in anticipation of Atlas Sound(they were actually doing a great job of crowd control – the crush toward the stage plus the body heat generated by those assembled just made it more oppressive).
Bradford Cox, the leader of indie rock greats Deerhunter and sole member (basically) of Atlas Sound, came to the stage and got a loving and warm reception from his adoring fans, which he acknowledged immediately. He sat down with his guitar and harmonica and started his set.
Atlas Sound makes beautiful music – but for me, the setting just wasn’t right. I know that friends of mine have seen Deerhunter perform at the Museum and they thought it was a brilliant show, but for me, the Atlas Sound stuff is best appreciated chilling out at home. Bradford posts a ridiculous amount of great music on his blog, and I’m used to downloading it and listening to it as I browse the web. It’s a singularly private experience. Perhaps if I wasn’t standing in a hot crowd, pushing toward a stage where the artist was sitting, just below my sight-line, it would have been a different story, but that’s how it was. We stayed for most of the set, but split just before the end. I’m not disappointed, and I’m still a fan, but this wasn’t for me.
We got home and looked at the flyer for the upcoming First Fridays (there are 5 more this season) and did a little math. If you’re not a member of the museum, each event costs $9 a person (museum admission). If we go to the next 5 First Fridays, it’ll cost us $90. Museum membership, which includes expedited entry into First Fridays as well as other cool perks such as membership at the Page Museum (at the La Brea Tar Pits), costs $70 for a family for the whole year. We’re joining the museum. See you there in February!
Here are a couple of videos that I found on Youtube of the event. Kudos to the intrepid videographers who captured them.