Itchycoo

December 19th 2006 by E..

Don’t worry, friends…neither finals nor the artist formerly known as Cat Stevens can stop me from telling you about this weekend…

Thursday night, after finals were all done (for me, at least), Bubbie, Zayde and I went to Beth Sholom to see the group Work O’ The Weavers…I had seen them and met the lead singer at NERFA, and I was invited to see them here…the difference was that this time, they were performing not only with Fred Hellerman, an original member of the real Weavers, but with the combined choirs of several congregations in the area…what I expected to be an OK performance (they were good at NERFA, but I really was far from being in the mood for more folk music) turned out to be a load of fun…and not just because I was thanked for my help and support…remember those choirs?…well, turns out that I know more than a few people in said choirs…Maxie Kravitz, Emily Green, even Heidi, who I haven’t seen in at least two years…it was very entertaining, and the crowd was totally into it, which is a true sign of a great performance…

Friday started off (and continued to consistently be) a very weird day…Damien Rice, the Free At Noon artist, showed up around the time bands usually start performing…he was supposed to be there around 10:00, and the concert started around 12:30…it was very ridiculous…and after all that, he was rather boring (for my taste, that is…the crowd loved him, which I guess goes to show that that little credo works both ways)…he’s apparently real big with the crowd who like sad songs, of which I am not a member…oh well…at least I got to meet Gene and Dean Ween the previous week…now that was awesome!

Saturday night was the XPN Member Holiday Dance Party, featuring dueling DJ’s…DJ David Dye playing the funk (mostly from the 70’s, though he did play “Where It’s At”, most likely to see if we were paying attention), and DJ Robert Drake spinning the new wave from the 80’s and such…it was a lot of fun, as I got a chance to have a great chat with Robert before he started playing tunes, and he’s always fun to talk to…if you have the means, I highly recommend it…it is so choice…

Sunday night on the Folk Show, among other people, were Shtreiml, a klezmer fusion band from Montr