November 8, 1989 NMA NYC day 1: Gala at the BAM

Allen Ginsberg ● Philip Glass ● Steve Reich ● Laurie Anderson ● Moondog ● Brooklyn Symph ● Bob Weir ● Brand Nubians ● Fran Leibowitz ● Jevetta Steele ● Kronos Quartet ● Harvey Lichtenstein

Opening night gala at the Brooklyn Academy of Music, November 8, 1989

New Music America - regular concert schedule begins on November 10

I think I circled Deborah Harry because she wasn’t part of the public gala, and the others seemed to be only part of the after-gala ballroom for a higher price.

the gala

1. Harvey Lichtenstein and the important people to thank in person

2. Allen Ginsberg

3. Bob Weir and Felicita Seitel

3. Brand Nubians in excerpts

4. Steve Reich introduces Moondog, Moondog’s Surf City

5. Fran Leibowitz: “Why Am I Here?”

6. Laurie Anderson takes our picture

7. Little Village / Bob Telson excerpts

That next sentence is crucial: the Philip Morris rep came out to give a few words and some 80 or so people in the audience started non-stop coughing. Word was they weren’t pleased, especially after some people went around during the festivals with one of the short sleeves cut off - where the Benson and Hedges logo used to appear.

Tim Page reporting from Newsday:

Laurie Anderson: Too many Howdy Doody masks.

- Ear Magazine, February 1990 "exquisite corpse" method of reviews of the festival, in which the end of one's thoughts become the beginnings of another's - unless of course they're separated as they are here.

...did Laurie Anderson's photo of the audience masked as grinning 10-year-old come out?  Weren't the short Telson-Reich-Glass segments triumphs of new music accessibility?

- Howard Mandel editorial, Ear Magazine - February 1990