Yard Dogs Road Show is Pure Visual and Sonic Voodoo

On Saturday night if you weren't at the Playhouse, you missed an amazing show and apres-dance party. Be sure to get in line the next time the Yard Dogs are in town because there will certainly be a line. In fact, they will have to book them for a few more nights because based on the crowds reaction during and after, the show was a huge success. Thanks to Dom and the rest of the FrontStreet Productions crew, we had the opportunity to experience one the best live entertainment shows in Jackson in the most perfect venue you could possibly conjure up for them. In fact, I heard that their reaction was nothing short of super fired up when they walked into the Playhouse that afternoon and saw the stage set-up. They loved it so much that at 3:30am they were rocking out on stage to an empty theatre. And a special thanks has to go to Ben, who kept the dancing going into the wee hours. Somehow he was able to keep the dance floor full long after the alcohol stopped flowing...that is some serious DJ talent!

I really can't describe the Yard Dogs show any better then Dom already did...
"The Yard Dogs Road Show is a hobo cabaret, a living patchwork of vaudeville and rock and roll. In the enchanting land of stage show entertainment, theirs is both pleasant and formidable terrain. They require a sensitivity to the subtle and the absurd. The lead the modern hobohemian on a visual and sonic journey through a part of history that may or may not have existed-followed by an ambitious return to the emotional challenges of our punch-drunk contemporary world. It's a true story on stage: sword swallowers, dancing dolls, fire eaters and sunset hobo poetry- all animated by the live sounds of the yard Dogs cartoon heavy band. Yard Dogs Road show is pure visual and sonic voodoo.

Born from the saloon vaudeville that toured the Wild West in the late 1800's and slammed into the underworld of modern American road culture. The Yard Dogs create a timeless space for the union of ancient theatrical alchemy and modern pop culture."

Jackson attracts many who like to take risks and push the extreme limits. For those who like to push those limits culturally though art, music, film, collective experience and personal expression, the options are limited. But there are a few vanguards in this town who are continuously at the forefront of pushing what is possible and allowing the rest of us the opportunity to feed off of that energy and experience, Dom Gagliardi is one of them. He is always behind the most progressive music events that happen here. He is committed to expanding our cultural opportunities in Jackson and I give him a huge hug for that! We all need to continue to support his efforts.

I find it interesting that he was able to bring in a show that was completely entertaining and sexy and at the same time explored the deeper philosophical question that we are often faced with here in Jackson...how do you merge the "Cowboy Culture" with a modern vision? How do they exist and evolve side-by-side? How do you even define those two things? Art of all genres is the perfect medium within which to explore that question. I am so thankful that we have such a vibrant and diverse community that is open to and supportive of these cultural experiences and conversations!

The next cultural vanguard I need to talk about is Tony Birkholz who brought us Pangea Day, the first Global Campfire event...

A little Tuesday Morning Music...

...worth checking out. Thanks Ben.

First Friday | May 2nd

Our First Friday this month was a fun event. check out the pictures in the slideshow (click to see a larger version) and go to our news section to read more...

My Trip to the Spiral Jetty

"Do you always live your life like The New Yorker travelogue?" was Ben's comment about my recent 40hour adventure in Salt Lake City. I guess that packing in art, skiing, music and IKEA warrants that. The inspiration to hop in the minivan and drive 6 hours to SLC was to experience in person Robert Smithson's Spiral Jetty. It just so happened that the spring skiing at Snow Basin was amazing, Ivan Neville was funking SLC up with his Dumpstafunk band, and I really needed a couch from IKEA. Luckily all these elements led me to convince a friend who happens to have a huge truck to join me, because the hour-dirtroad-trek off the highway out to the jetty itself would have destroyed my van.

If you've visited our blog before, you might know that I have talked about the Spiral Jetty, in fact it was the inspiration for my very first blog here! It is an earthwork of major influence and proportions. I fell in love with this piece of art 18 years ago in an art history class, but had only seen photos of it. Over the last 40 years, the Jetty has experienced varying degrees of exposure based on the rising and falling levels of the Lake. Having experienced quite a drought recently, it has been exposed and accessible for the last five years. The difficulties in getting there of course are a part of the experience and I can imagine that for someone coming from an urban area the remoteness of it must be intense. Unfortunately, the very essence of the piece itself which is so site-specific is threatened by proposed oil exploration nearby. You can learn more about this and what you can do by visiting the DIA Foundation website and my earlier blog.

So how was it? Like visiting an old friend. I walked the 1500feet to the center of the spiral and breathed in the energy. The center turn of the spiral is now solid salt. The rocks are covered in crystals and salty foam blows by my feet. The water surrounding the spiral is also very surreal. Filled with brine shrimp and minerals, it is varying shades of red and purple. It's water, but it seems to be moving in a slow, viscous manner. Turn, and walk the spiral back out and a journey of rebirth has been made. Words flood my brain: calming, meditative, inspiring, hostile, solitary,an amazing interactive of solid and liquid,pilgrimage, mythological, infinite,enigma.

I love this bit from Smithson."I was slipping out of myself again, dissolving into a unicellular beginning, trying to locate the nucleus at the end of the spiral" (Holt 1979)

As we drove the pitted road back out to go rip up the slopes at Snow Basin, we passed a rental car with a well-dressed and wide-eyed couple inside. Art-lovers on a pilgrimage? Must have been because there is no other reason to be out in that environment in that low, little car. I wondered what they were thinking, what their experience would be. Would they make it out of there without a flat tire or broken axle? Did they buy the insurance on the car? How out of their element are they putting themselves in order to experience this piece of art? And I applauded their dedication.