(dc) ok go

i wish i would have snapped a photo last night during rufus wainwright's theatrics toward the end of his 2-hour show. i won't spoil it for the (maybe one) reader in NYC that might be seeing him tonight, but it was fun. a little bit rough, but it added to the charm. this was the opening show of rufus's tour, which has only a few shows on the east coast before leaving the country.

adding to the delights was the opening band, ok go, whose expertly choreographed (by the lead singer's sister) homemade video has been sweeping the internet. they were tight and fun.

probably the most fun part of the evening was hearing them talk backstage afterwards about how they thought it went. damian was sick and doped up on meds, but he felt good about it. his sister, trish (the choreographer), who had been hired to choreograph (not to spoil it, but just a little teaser) a similar dance for rufus's band, seemed satisfied and pleased, too. ok go is opening only one of the two NYC shows. if you're gonna see them in NY, try to go to that one. i think everyone was tired, and the bands and crew piled into two vans in the alleyway and waited for rufus to sign autographs and take pictures with fans in halloween costumes, one of whom i'd noticed during the show because he was about 6'10" tall. he told rufus that he'd driven all the way from some western or midwestern state (new mexico?) to see him. rufus said, "wow, that's far! was it worth it?," and the guy gushed with such adoration i thought his head might melt.

my friends and i were all there due to the generosity of my friend barry, who manages both rufus and moby. before the show, george treated me and stephen attenborough to dinner at the hotel george. all praise to the georges! stephen has possibly the coolest job ever: "vice president, astronaut relations" for virgin galactic. he's the one to talk to if you've got a hankering for space travel i have a feeling stephen will be meeting up again with barry in london to strategize about getting moby into space. my other friend stephen from the cassettes was also there as barry's guest. we think barry should manage the cassettes, of course, but so far i'm not sure barry has heard them. we did, however, give a copy of their new CD to stephen attenborough, with some animated discussion of the cassettes being the first band in space. i remarked that he must promise that to all the bands he talked to, but as of yet, there is apparently no claim on "first band in space." george and loretta have put their money down on the "first honeymooners in space," with a launch date set for sometime in 2008.

as we were walking out the back door, i saw some flowers that a fan had given rufus during the show. they were abandoned on top of his costume trunk. i said, "awww, those are so pretty, and they're just gonna die." barry said, "do you want them? take them!" so i did.



all this is really an embarassment of riches, confirmed this morning in this link that will marshall sent me. try it.