the soundtrack to this blog will be… crystal castles. they are the darlings of the indie rock scene now for a variety of reasons, partially just because they are weird as hell. but at the same time, their sound appeals to me, because there’s so much going on… and you can’t tell me its frenetic movement doesn’t get you going. alice glass has one of those voices that pierces the soul and proceeds to twist the knife. ethan kath’s mixing creates ambiances that squeeze emotion out of me. and dude, when i close my eyes, i feel like i’m in a giant video game. how do you NOT love it? admittedly, they’re canadiens, but i guess even the syrup drinkers can create something dope. and let’s face it, if it weren’t for canada’s lenient weed laws, music like this could never have been created. oh as an aside… since these pics are all facebook stolen and i need a camera, anyone wanta suggest a cheap digi camera for me?
big things come in small packages?
moving on, saturday, i had the privilege and the pleasure of performing at Umass VSA’s culture show: Spring of Heritage (btw, dopest juxtaposition evar). let me just say, it always does my soul good to see hella vietnamese people who are connected to their culture and proud. that critical mass is sometimes hard to achieve, and always energizing to see. living in new york, sometimes i get disconnected from this larger conception of vietnamese america. it’s understandable, as there is such a tiny population of vietnamese americans in the City, but that just makes the times when i get surrounded by my folks feel even that much more special.
rolling up to Umass was a trek, as are bus rides in general. but i managed to sleep through a lot of it, and i’ve come to appreciate the changing face of scenery i get when i move up and down the nation’s roadways. but immediately upon arrival in the town, i got picked up by one of my old high school classmates, TRISTAN in his bomb bmw. he’s the president of the VSA, and my point person for the whole trip up. i gotta shout him out and give him hella love for going out of his way to be hospitable, even with no sleep and with the hecticness of running the larger show. which leads me into telling yall that the Umass Amherst student run hotel is fiyah. hella surprisingly so, considering it looks like a waffel iron from the outside, but is hella gorgeous on the inside. guess who made my reservations there?
me being me, after i dropped my stuff, i decided to “rest” by going drinking with some friends.
old friends NEATH and LINDA (who i secretly have a crush on… or do i?), met me up, took me to their home and showed me a wonderful drunken time with new friends like the hella subtle clever and beautiful LU and the impeccably dressed korean balla MYUNG HYUNG. oh whiskey, how you make me feel at home.
fortified, i got a ride back from the ever generous NEATH and LINDA to the hotel, and tossed myself into my usual insomnia and nightmare punctuated sleep. it was great seeing these folks, because like many of yall, they are good friends that i never get to see enough, so i cherish my time with them… what i can remember of it. i usually don’t mention friends i meet up with, for a host of different reasons, but i figured they deserved it, considering i see them once a year. and since NEATH has started me on my path of WoW addiction. and of course they drove me back to the bus station for my ride back, which is always nice.
at the run up to the show, i met hellllllllla people, who must forgive me for not remembering their names. it’s been awhile since i’ve done a culture show this big. special props goes out to the really dope sound crew, whose names i’m hoping i’m going to get right… KATHARINE, CHRIS x2, STEVE, AYUMI and a few others who i’m too much of an alky to remember. they were a hella professional crew who made your friendly neighborhood poet boy sound and look so much better than he could have otherwise. so many thanks and much love to them, and to tech crews everywhere. hanging out with the tech boys and the stage hands, ANDRE and TONY (i think) was one of the highlights of chilling at the fine arts center before the show.
one of the trippiest experiences i’ve had was meeting the two Miss Vietnam International pageant queens, Ms Donna Vo and Ms Jennifer Le, both of whom managed to combine beauty and presence in such a way as to draw every eye in the room when they entered (male and female). they were the first beauty queens i’d ever met, so it was one of those trippy cool experiences i know imma tell my kids about.
the show itself was dope, coming together in spectacular fashion. there was a pretty big turnout, in a really crazy big cement and steel auditorium that made me feel like a gladiator in roman times. really though, part of my ritual is walking the venue, to focus and to kind of take it in… ish took me forever son.
but yes, hella folks on the playbill, but i’m going to do my damndest to mention all of those i got to see before i dipped out to prepare myself. it’s the least i can do after all.
the mcs were TRISTAN and JENNIFER LE, who both looked resplendent in their traditional ao dai. which reminds me that i have never worn an ao dai in my life. which maybe should be a priority someday. they opened up with the national anthems of the united states and vietnam, as well as lighting the incense to the ancestors. the girl who sang the us national anthem, had one helllluva voice on her.
the lion dancers from Hong Tinh were dope, had a bunch of really interesting tricks and really got ummm, right into the audience. by the way, i wish i had the camera to see that one guy in the crowd slapping one of the lions in the ass. one of the most epic moments ever.
i actually bounced at this point to head back stage… but, i had caught a bunch of the acts before when they were running their sets in dress rehearsal, so let me just give the acts i missed a few words. judy le sang Bonjour Vietnam, which i’d never heard before but will be listening to after this blogpost.
the girls of the modern dance crew rocked the stage and got the crowd moving to a really interesting mastermix.
the new year’s skit was hilarious, and hella real. my vietnamese is kinda wack, but i actually understood what was going on, which was nice. and in all honesty, the skit was hilarious, especially in that it touched on experiences that vietnamese ams and asian ams have all experienced and understand. it was a wink and a grin at our parents and our miscommunications that warmed the heart and brought a smile to the face.
i only managed to catch part of the fan dance and the traditional fashion show in rehearsal and didn’t get to see it, but considering the roar of approval from the crowd, they went over hella well.
i must give props to UCONN’s modern cinderella skit, as it was extraordinarily well put together. they had all of cues perfectly timed, so much so that they were actually lip synching to a tape in the background and still managing to pull it all off perfectly. i managed to catch their set twice, once in rehearsal and live from the stage, and i hafta give them their due. between costume changes, lighting and music changes, the crew managed to pull off a really intricate dance, and do it with verve. as someone who’s done theatre before, i know how hard that can be, so much respect. even more than that, i gotta give love for them graciously sharing space with me… they had the nicest green room and allowed me to take a nap in there. i hope i get to see those folks again sometime and kick it for real. get at me folks.
TRISTAN was on before me, and managed to serenade the crowd with a love song, even after being sick and running around making sure the show was together. much respect to him for being able to juggle all that he did and still sing on top of it all.
when i got on stage, i was struck by how welcoming the audience was. it was a sizable number of people, but they definitely engaged with my work, and made me feel really welcome and loved. the beautiful Ms DONNA VO helped me out with milking poetry, before i went into the rest of my set. she was a great sport, and made me look hella good, so great love. i always like to think of sets as conversations with my audiences, which is why i banter a lot, try to gather opinions and do the pieces i do. the fact that the audience gave me so much of themselves and were so into it reaffirmed to me why i love my job so much.
give me your phone number?
i unfortunately didn’t catch the rest of the show, until the modern fashion show. which i gotta highlight because of the intricacy and delicate elegance of the paper dresses that were modeled. i go to school with hella fashion majors, so i know how difficult design actually is, and considering the really beautiful creations i saw were made from one of the most ornery materials ever, i have to tip my hat to the folks who put that together. absolutely amazing.
after the show was the usual after show hijinks. much love all around to all the people i met, including ‘dre, jenny, kevin, chau, tony, tiffany, linda, the other vinh, and too many others for showing me hella love. beer and chicken forever. oh and of course, facebook for the pics.
special gratitude to LUAN and ANNA for taking me into their home and feeding me one of the bombest breakfasts i’ve ever had. hospitality like yours renews my faith in the goodness of people. hit me up if you’re ever in the City.
as i left umass amherst, the snow started piling down, making it even more of a winter wonderland. i’ll always ‘preciate the great memories i now have from umass amherst.
thanks yall, everyone who i met, who showed love, ’specially TRISTAN and the VSA crew and the dope sound crew.
great love. facebook me. big cheeks are ’sposed to be good luck right?
tune in next time to hear my ramble about the NYU occupation. oh and…
life is a series of (un)fortunate accidents and misplaced pencils, that somehow form a pattern. god has a sense of humour.
Tags: poetry, show recap, shows