CONCERT REPORT: Rise Against at Pier 17

Tim McIlrath performs with Rise Against at Pier 17

WELL WELL WELL. My first concert after lockdown finally happened!

PBS "Icon: Music Through the Lens" Launch Party

 Hello! Finally an event to write about after 1 year+! But what is time anyway at this point. 😫

When I found out about the launch party at Morrison Hotel Gallery for the PBS Summer series "Icon: Music Through the Lens," I was pretty excited. Not only had I never been to this particular gallery, I was delighted to see that there was going to be a significant amount of television dedicated to documenting my biggest passion next to music itself. Not to mention it's been over a year since I've ventured into Manhattan. While I can give you some plusses to taking a break from NYC—namely saving a bunch of money in tolls and parking garage fees as well as saving myself traffic stress—overall, I've really missed that place. So this was a great excuse to go in and reunite with the greatest city on the planet. 

The gallery is tucked away on the second floor of a small building on Spring Street in SoHo. To say the city is back to business as usual might not be accurate, because while I was on my way to the event, I'd never seen the streets so packed. So that was nice to see, albeit a little startling when you've been away from crowd life a long time. I never really bought into the whole attempt by some people to make it sound like it was on the decline. It had its struggles and I'm sure it still does, but ultimately you can't hold NYC down! 

The event was private, but if you were on the mailing list or in-the-know, a simple RSVP got you in. I wasn't sure how big of a crowd would be let in to this tiny space, so I arrived early and thus had no issues. 

The photos that adorned the walls were mostly comprised of instantly recognizable shots to most Rock fans. Among the highlights were iconic shots of Joan Jett, Queen and Iggy Pop by Mick Rock, The Clash by Bob Gruen, Kurt Cobain by Jesse Frohman, Keith Richards and Patti Hansen by Lynn Goldsmith, The Doors by Henry Diltz, and Jim Morrison by Joel Brodsky. Seeing them framed and treated as a singular piece of art really increased the appreciation for these unique photos. 

The event was DJ'd with excellence by Jack James, dressed head to toe in all black with a shock of wavy blonde hair, sunglasses and platform boots (that I admired from afar). Among his choices to help set the mood were Gary Glitter's "Do You Wanna Touch Me" and The Runaways "Playing With Fire", which incidentally I had just listened to on my drive in. So he can definitely sit at my table during Lunch. 

Over the course of the evening, some of the photographers featured showed up to help celebrate including David Godlis and the aforementioned Frohman. Check out MGH's instagram for shots of the scene or scroll down to see mine!

You can watch the series on PBS or else check it out on Amazon Prime Video here.