Oh my god! Today’s A Rrose in a Prose could have turned out awful–I had four cancellations from various poets and authors before the event. Plus I adhered to the “Exhaustion” theme just a little too literally, and slept until 1:00 p.m. rather than waking up at 9:30 a.m., meaning that half the needful things (microphones, food, booze, coffee, dogs, chairs, posters in the street announcing “EVENT HERE!!!”) were in the wrong places at the wrong times.
But the talents of Chris Hess, Iris De Anda, and Steven Fleet rose to the task. And as luck would have it, Stephen Kalinich showed up and laid down some of the same great poems you can hear on A World of Peace Must Come, which just got released on vinyl!
Actually all the music today was pretty amazing. Both Aniela and Marisa from Cardoo were able to make it down and play some really incredible improvised rock-scapes over some of my poems, and they extended that offer to Stephen too–which basically means we’re all one degree of separation away from the Beach Boys on one of those Pete Frame rock family trees! Plus Geoff Geis, our musical headliner, was ridiculously compelling, playing guitar on some songs, singing loud and off mike over a booming digital backing track on some others. Really, Geoff helped in so many ways that I kind of feel like the event was partially his. (And he got really good coffee.)
It didn’t hurt that we had some really incredible art on the walls. Thanks again so much to Dave Van Patten, champoyhate, Zara Kand, Walt! Gorecki, and Elsa Henderson, for getting stuff to me on time for today’s “sneak preview” of the upcoming L.A. RECORD art show. (Aaron Giesel’s incredible photos were supposed to be on the walls, but I couldn’t get them mounted in time–a pity, since his photos of the Entrance Band, Dead Meadow, and Ariel Pink were all pretty stunning. You’ll all have to come in a few weeks when the actual exhibit opening takes place.)
But really, the biggest credit has to go to the audience. You guys were really loving, attentive, and supportive, and made me go from serious stress-ball to my regular fun-loving host self in 12 seconds flat. Please come back next month.