Re: Patti - Meltdown - 16 June 2005

["PageRox" <PageRox93>]

Andrew, this sounds simply wonderful!
Quite a moving evening, thank you for your sensitive comments about the
affair. I felt like I was there as you described Patti marching round with her
clarinet!
And--------Front row centre!
Lucky dog! :-D

And, as you say and I quite concur: this evening will last with you a long
time.

Thankyou SO much for your commentary on the whole fest so far--especially this
one and the Yoko one. Very dear to my heart, both of these persons.

Was one allowed to take pictures, and if so, did you or anyone else? I'd love
to see them of course! :-D

XO-Glenna


  ----- Original Message -----
  From: Andrew F Wilson
  To: babel-list ; GordonComs
  Sent: Friday, June 17, 2005 2:22 AM
  Subject: Patti - Meltdown - 16 June 2005


  Thursday night's Meltdown concert at the Queen Elizabeth Hall was
  "Pages from Chaos: A Homage to William Burroughs".

  The performance began with guitarist Marc Ribot (pronounced Ree-bow) -
  a captivating performance that included using a handheld electric fan
  to play flamenco style.  He was then joined by the novelist Iain
  Sinclair and the comic book story writer Alan Moore.  Whilst Ribot
  continued to play in the background, Moore and then Sinclair read from
  their own writings about William Burroughs.

  For the next part of the event, Patti came on stage and told a story
  about how Burroughs came to give her a copy of THE WILD BOYS.
  Accompanied by Ribot she read, and partly sang, from the final pages
  of the book, before taking up her clarinet.  As the music continued
  Tilda Swinton came on stage and read the same piece.  It was an
  improvisational tour-de-force and nothing less.

  Following a 15 minute interval, jazz pianist Matthew Shipp and
  guitarist Jason Spaceman came on stage and performed a duet.  Whilst
  they continued to play, Sinclair and Moore then took turns to read,
  the latter reading from THE NAKED LUNCH.  Sinclair read partly from
  his SLOW CHOCOLATE AUTOPSY.

  Patti next joined Shipp and Spaceman on stage to perform as a trio,
  and she recounted a story about her first meetings with Burroughs,
  which revolved around her calling taxis for him at the Chelsea Hotel.
  She then read from the preface to QUEER before taking up her clarinet.
   At one point she telescoped the mike stand down, to better pick up
  the music.  When she moved back to the book later in the piece she
  knelt in front of the now-low microphone with arms raised in an
  arresting image.

  This was formally the end of the concert, but after some thank-you's
  Patti told another Burroughs/taxi story, was temporarily overcome by
  emotion, then read a poem for William Burroughs, ps/alm 23 revisited.
  Finally, she asked everyone (except Ribot, who appeared to have left)
  to improvise another piece.  This involved Sinclair telling a story,
  Moore reading from THE NAKED LUNCH and Tilda Swinton reading from
  QUEER.  Meanwhile, Patti marched around the auditorium playing
  clarinet.  The improvisation ended with Patti lying on her back at the
  front of the stage.  There was no way to follow that and the evening
  ended, literally, on a high note.

  This was clearly a unique performance.  We will not see this one
  again, although we may well witness further nights of this calibre
  over the coming week.  As an added bonus, my seat was front row centre
  tonight, and this experience is going to stay with me for a long time.

  kind regards


  Andrew


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