Upstairs at the Square
By Stacey in Misc on Jan 26, 2010
Combining music and poetry in a fun filled night
I live about fifteen walking minutes from Union Square, and on 17th Street is Barnes & Noble, which I frequently visit. I have gone to some author readings there, most notably, Chuck Klosterman, one of my favorite authors. As I was going up the escalator the other day I saw a sign announcing that Vampire Weekend would be performing there. Free show - count me in! I let my friend, Hannah, know and she wanted to go but had class..therefore the internal battle began, should she be a responsible student or a kick ass fan?
Vampire Weekend won the battle. The performance was set to begin at seven, Hannah and her friend Lucy got there at four, and were not the first ones there. I ambled in at five to see the place packed, but lucky for me, I had friends that saved my seat. Apparently it was not just a performance from the band but a mixing of a reading and music performance, a series called, "Upstairs at the Square." The nights guests were author and poet Kwame Dawes and of course the band, Vampire Weekend.
So how does a Jamaican poet and band of Columbia graduated preppies go together? Well that was the objective of the series. And they did mesh well, Kwame Dawes wrote about Bob Marley and the whole Jamaican reggae scene, and talked a lot about the difference of music and literature. Plus he also performed a lot of his poetry which was brilliant. I would definitely pick up some of his works. Vampire Weekend of course played some tunes from their new album, Contra. Not only did they perform, they also talked a lot about song-writing, influences, short stories and African music influence.
Not only does Barnes and Noble have these series for New Yorkers lucky enough to be in attendance, they are also filmed and available to watch online. I would take the time out of your day to watch this one, its a really fantastic piece, with incredible artists.
Arlene Cook wrote:
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