Welcome to the working week here at Shore Fire. Suite 16 is a place for our gang to let you know what we're up to and what our clients are doing. What we're thinking about in the media world, the entertainment world, the music world. Places we've been, places we're going. Every once in a while, what we had for lunch. Thanks and enjoy.
Friday, April 27, 2007
A Very Hip Week
This week was a busy one in NYC for The Tragically Hip, who are in the midst of a U.S. tour in support of their tremendous new album 'World Container'. On Monday I escorted Gord Downie to interviews at WNYC, Extra, and Bloomberg Radio. Here is Gord with Producer/reporter/ Hip afficianado Paul Goguen of Bloomberg.
Gord is one of the most fascinating musicians I've spent time with- over the course of the day we talked about everything from Mid-20th century Eastern European literature to global warming to bike riding, to little tricks you can do with a pen, like flipping it around your thumb (a habit we both share, it turns out).
Tuesday, Aliza Rabinoff took Gord to CNN for an interview with Shannon Cook that aired on their online video service CNN Pipeline. Later that night, the guys put on a cracking, 2-hour, sold-out show at Irving Plaza.
Afterwards, Gord stopped to say hi to Shannon Cook and CBS Tech Reporter Daniel Sieberg...
...while Shore Fire's Mark Satlof and Mike Mettler of Sound & Vision (a veteran of over 150 Hip shows) played it cool.
Siggy's, a new organic restaurant in Brooklyn Heights, is all the rage during Shore Fire's lunch time. Their unique sandwich combinations are fresh and delicious and their turkey burger is a large portion of mouth watering perfection. The Cheese Lover Heaven sandwich (brie and apples topped with slivered almonds, olive oil and a fig spread) tops our list.
We haven't quite figured out how to take advantage of their "aliens eat free" policy yet though.
Ryan Shaw displayed his incredible chops last week on Martha Stewart, wowing the crowd. He sounded great during sound check, but Ryan really connects when there's an audience present. Met bookers Jeffry Culbreth and Maura Kelly, who treated us well in the green room. Martha, for her part, praised Ryan's "timeless" soul music.
Ryan and band are hysterical backstage, cracking non-stop jokes over turkey sandwiches and fresh fruit and, I'm told, the best cappucinos a green room has to offer.
Meanwhile, we learned how to shop for ecofriendly products with Josh Dorfman, "The Lazy Environmentalist"; how to make Poule au Pot with Anne Willan; and saw a multitude of gorgeous bonsai trees on the expansive set.
L-R, here's Rob (pictured with his gorgeous 1969 Telecaster), Keith, Martha, Ryan and Tiny (with awesome 5-string bass).
To see Ryan sing "We Got Love," click here and click "next" in the video box.
Kristen Ann Carr Fund gala really was a "night to remember"
Don't know where to start...the honoree, the company...the food! Last Saturday's benefit for the Kristen Ann Carr Fund, which honored Shore Fire's president Marilyn Laverty for her many years of support, was a blast all around. Laverty's friends, large family, a clutch of Shore Fire staff and clients (including Elvis Costello, Diana Krall, Bruce Springsteen, Steven Van Zandt and Mary Weiss [of the Shangri Las]) filled the Tribeca Grill along with many other longtime supporters of the Fund from across the music business and from other fields. KAC's Barbara and Sasha Carr and Dave Marsh, meta-manger Jon Landau and Bruce Springsteen toasted Laverty as "part of the family." But on to the food! Imagine, if you can, all you can eat Nobu sushi (on the east coast it's termed "all you CARE to eat" Me, I cared to eat lots.) and endless amazing appetizers and dishes from all of Drew Neiporent's restaurants.
Laverty's toast from Dave Marsh
Here's Marilyn with Jeff Walker, former Shore Fire staffer and current client as VP of Marketing for First Act, along with his wife Kiki...both down from Boston for the weekend soire.
Left to Right, Shore Fire staff enjoying a bite: Nora Lyons, Rebecca Shapiro, Aliza Rabinoff, Carrie Tolles
Left to right: Joe McEwan and Mary Ellen Cataneo, Shore Fire client Mary Weiss (of the Shangri Las) and her husband Ed Ryan.
A posed moment with L-R Dana Points and her husband & Shore Fire VP Mark Satlof, Shore Fire's Nick Baily and his fiance Becky Phillips.
Shore Fire's Matt Hanks with his wife Courtney, and SFM's Aliza Rabinoff.
It was 1995 and I was sitting in Yankee stadium with my father. I opened the Yankee yearbook and there he was in the section that profiles up and coming players. Derek Jeter. From that day forward I was smitten- O.K. maybe a little obsessed. It was also at that moment that my already intense love of baseball became a devotion.
Last night I came as close to Mr. Jeter as I ever have. Thanks to client Phil Ramone's season tickets I sat only 7 rows away from him. I bounced in my cushioned chair like I had the first time I stepped into that majestic stadium. Joining in the excitement was fellow Shore Fire staffer Michael Lavigne and Entertainment Weekly's Associate Editor Simon Vozick-Levinson.
Woke up mighty early this morning to accompany Ryan Shaw and his mighty band to CW 11 Morning News on 42nd Street. The sun was still not up when I got there but Ryan had started his soundcheck and was ripping through an incredible version of "Do The 45." That man is truly tireless!
And true to form, he put on an incredible performance for the cast and crew and another CW 11 guest, actress Elizabeth Berkeley (pictured). CW 11 entertainment anchor Emily Frances told Ryan, "you're amazing." See for yourself here.
For more Ryan, check him out on Martha Stewart on Friday!
It's no secret that there are some major baseball rivalries here at Shore Fire. Diana, myself, and the elusive Chris Thieke are huge Yankees fans, while Boston transplant Nick Loss-Eaton favors the Red Sox. I believe that there are a few Mets partisans lurking about the office as well.
One thing we can agree on, however, is that this youtube clip has everything that makes baseball such a great spectator sport: fan-player interaction, internecine fighting, grown men acting like children, bored announcers, inappropriate use of the slo-mo and replay buttons, and most importantly, flying pizza.
Thanks to Deadspin for the link. Their hard hitting investigative work on this story is here.
Of Montreal stole a substantial portion of my heart years ago when I first heard their bizarre, playful, suspiciously catchy and indescribably fantastic song “Penelope.” I’ve been in love with the former Elephant 6band ever since, and their latest album ‘Hissing Fauna, Are You The Destroyer?’ is definitely their best work yet. Carrie Tolles and I saw them live last month at Irving Plaza, which was great, but left me hungry for more. If only someone somewhere would find a way to combine my love for Of Montreal, fascination with karaoke and obsession with the cult classic Wet Hot American Summer (WHAS) into one unforgettable evening…
Enter New York Magazinewith the answer to my prayers. On Saturday night, as part of their NYxNY series, New York Magazine hosted Indie Rock Karaoke at Studio B, featuring Of Montreal playing a set of their own and then acting as backup band for the few souls brave enough to get up on stage to sing classic rock hits. Alan Shemper (aka Michael Showalter’s character from WHAS) served as emcee for the night of raucous brilliance, offering the crowd a few of his signature so-bad-they’re-good jokes and making my heart long to be back at summer camp.
While I didn’t make it up on stage with the band, scene-stealing actor Paul Rudd and STELLA alum David Wain did (they’re also the star and director of WHAS, respectively), and their passionate rendition of “More Than A Feeling” by Chicago was easily the best cover of the night.
Yes folks, Saturday night was proof that hipster dreams can come true. Too bad I didn’t have a camera with me, but here are some shots from Stereogum…hop on over there or to Brooklyn Vegan to hear more about the show and for more pictures!
Kevin Barnes, lead singer of Of Montreal (pic via Stereogum)
Paul Rudd sings it likes he means it... (again, via Stereogum)
If there's a better way to spend a Saturday morning with your kids than rocking out at a Ralph's World show, I have yet to find it. Ralph played a sold-out show at Symphony Space in NYC on Saturday, and aside from the usual smokin' originals, he debuted a kid-friendly cover of, yes, Stairway to Heaven! As I looked over at my daughter, taking in this weird, wild song she'd never heard before, I thought of the first time I heard it. Under VERY different circumstances.....Maybe Ralph can help me turn her on to Black Sabbath next. Photo by budding 4-year-old amateur photog Emma Hanks.
It’s been a whole week now since Marilyn and I went to the tribute to Bruce Springsteen concert at Carnegie Hall, and I think I’ve finally calmed down enough to write a coherent blog entry that isn’t just “Ohmigod!! Bruce is AWESOME!! Ahhhh!!” repeated over and over again. While that’s still a pretty much what I tell people when they ask me what I thought of the show, here’s a more thorough response (with fewer exclamation points) for you, dear Shore Fire blog reader:
Boasting a too-good-to-be-true lineup of artists covering songs by The Boss to help raise money for Music For Youth, the show had all the requirements for a really good concert even before anyone played a single note. But once on stage, the performers were all so genuinely excited to be there…at Carnegie Hall…singing songs by Bruce…with Bruce there listening and watching…with hundreds of Bruce fans listening, watching and singing along…
Oops. Sorry, got a little lost in the moment there. I guess trying to describe the special ingredient that made the show so great is just an invitation for my mind to keep wandering back to last week. I’ll refocus. What’s that you said? What band was my favorite? Good question.
Well, everyone was top-notch. Josh Ritter was, as always, swoon-worthy and subtle with his rendition of “The River,” and the Young People’s Chorus were outstanding, for sure. Patti Smith and Odetta both blew me away and I’ll be talking about seeing them both perform at Carnegie Hall for the rest of my life. But my favorite? I’d have to go with the guys who looked like they were having more fun than anyone else ever has on stage: The Hold Steady. I literally couldn’t stay in my seat while they played they were so great. They’re clearly huge Bruce fans, and clearly could have played any of his songs with the same enthusiasm and genuine oh-my-gosh-we’re-just-so-happy-to-be-here excitement they showed singing “Atlantic City.” And clearly, theirs is the next album I’m buying.
Oh yeah, and did I mention Bruce Springsteen also gave a surprise visit to the stage to sing a couple tunes? Yeah. I’ve never seen him play before, and I’d be lying if I said I knew all of his songs, but I can say that hearing him play was absolutely unforgettable, and that I’ll be telling my “The First Time I Saw Bruce Play” story to any and everyone who will listen for a very very long time…
Lucky for you guys, though, I’m not even going to try and describe what it felt like to watch Bruce bring all the performers on stage last Thursday for the show-closing “Rosalita.” You can watch the clip from YouTube below:
Happy Friday, folks. I don’t know about you, but I’m going to be spending my weekend listening to some songs by a certain fella from New Jersey…
There's a certain high level executive here at Shore Fire that has a bit more than an average interest in Super Mario Brothers, as evidenced by using the video game's theme song as her cell phone ringtone. Damm, that song is pretty seriously catchy. Apparently we're not the only ones to figure it out. Check out this drummer's interpretation:
We were delighted that Alison Speranza and Jared Sakolsky of Concert.tv were able to join us today for Pizza Friday. They filled us in on what they do at this terrific on-demand tv channel that focuses on live music only...they say they've never aired a music video! After pizza, we chatted in my office:
Idolator posted these two mixes a little while back and i have had them on nonstop rotation. I'm a huge fan of the 2 Many DJs style of mix, combining little snippets of hundreds of songs from every genre into one sweaty dance mix, and these are shining examples of that art.
We had an impromptu birthday celebration yesterday for Shore Fire....hard to believe, but Marilyn Laverty started the company on April 1, 1990. Congrats. In related news, Laverty will be honored at this year's annual Kristen Ann Carr Fund gala "A Night To Remember" on April 21. That's Laverty center below.
To be honest, it's more of "adventures in Michael can't operate a car" but there's a publicity angle.
Around 7:15pm yesterday i was driving home along the FDR, when i got a call from a writer saying he was having trouble reaching one of my artists for a phone interview. So i began taking down his number so i could have one of my colleagues who was still in the office conference the two parties together. As I was doing so, inching along at a snail's pace in heavy traffic, i lost focus for a second. When i looked up, a blue chevy impala was looming up in front of me. I slammed on the brakes, but too late- i rear-ended him.
Now, normally this would be a minor incident. A tiny fender bender, with negligible, bordering on nonexistent, damage to both cars. Normally.
The car i had rear-ended, however, was an unmarked police car, and the driver a NYPD detective. It was when he put on his flashers that i began to ponder what my prison name would be.
Fortunately, he was very cool- gave me a bit of a hard time for my absentmindedness, but as we both stood there looking at our cars and seeing that there hadn't really even been any paint chipped off the bumpers let alone a dent, crack, or anything worse, he decided to let me go with a stern talking to.
Never let it be said that i won't go to the wall for my clients. Or that i am a good driver.
