Asleep through NJ.

I should re-name this blog "www.asleepthroughnewjersey.blogspot.com" or something, due to the number of bus trips we've been making up to NYC (New Jersey pretty much taking up the entire trip between Philadelphia and Manhattan) and my ability to sleep soundly through every trip. So far it seems I'm taking advantage of proximity to NYC far more than the last time I lived in Philly ('93-'98), so that's a plus. Last night's trek northward was inspired by the discovery of a Recoil concert - only one of 2 in the U.S. on this spring's tour - taking place at Le Poisson Rouge in Greenwich Village. To explain: Recoil is a band/musical project undertaken since the late '80s by former Depeche Mode band member Alan Wilder. My husband John is quite enthusiastic about Depeche Mode (a vast understatement) and we have 4 or 5 of Recoil's albums... so we had to give this a go. It was a unique event, definitely worth the trip - and John got to say "hi" to Alan Wilder, and thank him for all the great music over the years, check it out:

...so I think that pretty much made John's day - possibly his week, maybe even his month. Maybe more. I, too, got a genuine and substantial thrill out of being in such close proximity to Mr. Wilder, enough to take several frenzied photos:
In short, it was excellent. Back to NYC tomorrow night for some visual art rather than music, to catch the group show at J. Cacciola Gallery... stay tuned for photos. In the meantime, here's a Recoil video from the 2000 album "Liquid" - the song is called "Strange Hours" and features the vocals of super-freaky and frankly terrifying singer and performer Diamanda Galás: