Last year the Boredoms came to Brooklyn for a 77 minute performance with 77 drummers on 7/7/07. What better way to follow that up than with 88 drummers on 8/8/08. Well you could do it on both coasts, which is exactly what they did. Thanks to the generous support from Nike, both of these events AND thousands of ice creams were free for whomever RSVPd and headed on down.
The Brooklyn edition of 88BoaDrum was moved to the State Park that opened last year on Kent and 8th St. in Williamsburg. I hung out by the water there last year and thought itd be a perfect place for an outdoor show because there was enough space for a few thousand people and the backdrop was the East River and Manhattan.
The first time around we gave away a few hundred ice creams and I got to sit down and watch most of the show in a park between the Brooklyn and Manhattan bridges. This year we stepped it up and brought out Newt and our new NYC push cart so we could sling ten times as much. Gang Gang Dance was in charge of leading the Boadrum circle for Brooklyn cuz The Boredoms were out west at the tar pits. As much as I wanted to just chill and hear the music, I think I prolly enjoyed it more by being a casual listener. Last years show was unbelievable for the first 45 minutes but continuous drumming for over an hour can be a li’l much when thats all you have to focus on. By being outside I felt like I could direct my attention when I was into it or listen passively while shuttling boxes of cream or hanging out.
88 minutes seemed to go by surprisingly quick and we stuck around to make sure people got some treats on the way out, especially some of the drummers. We couldnt stay too long though because we had to drop off the cart at Kool Man then split towards Baltimore for the Virgin Fest where wed be slinging all weekend.
-ICM
On the other side of the country, Bessie was at the La Brea Tar Pits for the Boredoms’ take on the 88 drummer extravaganza.
I showed up early and met up with Rachel and Matthias to get a start on getting people cream with the pushcart (which we plastered with Nike stickers, we’re just gonna go ahead and say there was 88 stickers on it). For the first hour or so we hit up all the people working inside, then got the line outside. They were about to start letting people in, so we just handed off ice cream to open hands. Since the truck was stationed inside, I figured there was little need to hold up the line giving people choices at this point.
The show started at 8:08 as they had said. Although, the first ten minutes or so was just one steady bass drum beat and occasional cymbals. After a while they got into the swing of things and began the percussionary assault.
I wrote a song to go along with it, it goes like this:
“Drum!”
“Drummy drum drum!”
“Drum drum drummy drum!”
Repeat.
Thanks.
Interestingly enough, they actually played for about 95 minutes. For shame!
Eventually, after unloading thousands of ice creams, everybody headed out. Since everybody was unloading in the place from which I had to leave, I stopped and gave away a bunch more to the good people loading up the gear and the stray drummers still hanging around.
Everybody wins!
-DG
Thanks to Nike for making the event and the free cream possible. Thanks to Jelly NYC for making everything run smoothly. Weve got a couple more gigs coming up with Nike including the free shows during Music Fest Northwest (Built to Spill, No Age, check the site for details). Well also be at Art Basel at the end of the year in Miami slinging a ton of cream. Hope to see ya there.
