Last Thursday on my mind: Cops Vs Music

Dateline: New York City last Thursday June 10 2010

Screengrab: BP Fallon & His Band – Aaron Lee Tasjan, Sean Lennon & Lenny Kaye – live @ Milk NYC by Christopher M Lynch

Pete Doherty arrives at JFK at 11am for the Corduroy Magazine launch/KIVA.org fundraiser being hosted by Irina Lazareanu at Milk NYC later that night. US immigration refuse him entry and after holding him for a while stick him on a plane back to London. Irina and BP Fallon return from the airport without Mr D.

Nonetheless the show that night – put together by Irina and the fab fashion designer/stylist/effervescent event organiser Liz McClean – is the biggest thing to hit New York since Andy Warhol and Max’s Kansas City ruled. Exaggeration? No.

Milk holds 500 people at most and 10,000 people turned up. Mayhem ensued. West 15th Street and beyond was jammed. The NYPD put The Meatpacking District into lockdown and as there was no room for them to drive on the streets the police drove along the pavements with loudspeakerss, ordering the fans to disperse. Twice the police tried to close down the show but first Irina and then BP took to the mic and refused to stop. Ah, rock’n’roll!

Photography: BP Fallon DJs @ Milk NYC, Irina Lazareanu choogles,
by Radek

Photography: BP Fallon & His Band live @ Milk NYC by Brooklyn Vegan

And the music? BP opened the proceedings as DJ – with Irina on bongos and Sean Lennon on guitar joining in. Then Ms Lazareanu – verily a veritable force of nature – took the stage backed by Sean and Charlotte Kemp Muhl and pals to unleash an explosion of spoken word titled ‘Many Springs’ that quelled the audience with its power and drew tears in many for its naked emotion. Simply mesmerising. This girl is a major talent. Simple as that.

Video: Irina Lazareanu & friends performing ‘Many Springs’ live @ Milk NYC by Joly

BP Fallon and his band – for this special occasion Aaron Lee Tasjan on acoustic guitar, Lenny Kaye from The Patti Smith Group on electric guitar and Sean Lennon on drums – opened with the spoken word number ‘Fame #9’ which segued into ‘I Believe In Elvis Presley’, Lenny’s liquid mercury guitar flourishes glistening with Aaron’s feral honey-dripping slide. They then premiered a new song ‘I Saw Her Face’ – written by Fallon/Tasjan/Nigel Harrison – with Aaron and Lenny joining BP on vocals on this outrageously catchy ditty with its chorus of “Met her in Venice, it was a Tuesday. Later she said it was April Fool’s Day…”

Video: BP Fallon & His Band performing ‘Fame #9’/’I Believe In Elvis Presley’ live @ Milk NYC by Joly

White Light/White Heat: BP Fallon surrenders to the gods @ Milk NYC
by Shaun Hoffman

When BP had rung Lenny Kaye to invite him to play with him, Lenny said he’d love to – but he was going down to Memphis to meet Jerry Lee Lewis at Jerry Lee’s house. “Well, Lenny,” BP had said “That’s as good as an excuse as any man could give me. I forgive you”. A few days later Lenny rang from Memphis. “I’ve seen Jerry Lee. It was terrific. Now I’m coming back for your gig”

Photography: Cory Kennedy & Sean Lennon & Adam Green & Charlotte Kemp Muhl & Irina Lazareanu by BP Fallon

Now Irina and Sean and Charlotte and Adam Green are playing, again dedicating the evening to the absent Pete Doherty and performing songs like Adam’s ‘My Shadow Tags On Behind’ and Sean and Charlotte’s ‘Garden Du Luxembourg’ and Sean and Irina’s ‘Strange Places’ and Janis’ ‘Mercedes Benz’ and Dylan’s ‘Girl From The North Country’ and The Beatles version of ‘Twist And Shout’. And it’s loose and it’s rocking and it’s charming and very very special, the contagious joy of friends converging to make music together.

Photography: Theodora Richards & Aaron Lee Tasjan & Lizzie Jagger
by BP Fallon

Bruce Willis is one of the punters mad for it, because he somehow managed to get in. Isabella Rossellini and Michael Pitt and Helena Christensen didn’t. Meanwhile during the silent auction to aid KIVA.org, the photograph of Irina Lazareanu by Alexandra Carr is sold for $12,000.

Photography: Irina Lazareanu by Alexandra Carr raised $12,000

Photography: Irina Lazareanu by BP Fallon

The party moves on to Kenmare, where BP Fallon DJs again…

Photography: BP Fallon DJs @ Kenmare by Starr Rinaldi

And now the web is reporting. “Pandemonium erupted outside New York’s Milk Studios Thursday night as thousands of bearded and bedazzled hipsters… were greeted not with musical performances and free alcohol but by the blaring sirens of New York’s finest” says WWDMEDIA.

Alex Geana in Huffingtonpost.com writes that “the cops were converging on the mob scene…” while refinery29.com says “When we rolled up to Milk Studios… we weren’t exactly prepared for the shit-storm outside… and we kid you not when we say it looked like the swat team of cops was just waiting to be provoked”.

Photography: The police outside Milk courtesy Corduroy Magazine

Ah, fuck it. Last Thursday in New York is what New York used to be and what is was again for one extraordinary night. A brilliant creative scene with musicians collaborating plus excitement and fun and people going bonkers – even rioting in the streets. It’s only rock’n’roll and there’s more to come… watch this space.

More reports:
Vanity Fair
Papermag.com
Brooklyn Vegan
PrefixMag.com
ShockYa.com
Spinner.com
and
Corduroy Magazine says thanks

BP Fallon thanks his tour manager Shaun Hoffman and Liz McLean and Cheri Bowen and Nur – and Rassi who gave his space Milk for free. And a doff of the Derby to Joly for his excellent videography x