The Modern Sky Festival NYC happened in Central Park last Sunday (10-4-15) headlined by Yoko Ono and The Plastic Ono Band. The 82 year old widow of John Lennon launched the group along with John in ’69 as a concept; a kind of umbrella that would encompass whoever got involved, even the audience, in music making with them that lasted about five years. Ono, however, revived the name about six years ago. For this performance, the band was not announced ahead of time and it turned out to be stacked. She was backed by Yo La Tengo along with, depending on the song, Jared Samuel on keys, tabla player Nitin Mitta, drummer Denardo Coleman, cellist Kris Hoffman, singer Julianna Barwick, Sean Lennon, and Thurston Moore.
Modern Sky is a bit of an umbrella as well as it’s a record label and concert promoter as well as a magazine and other things but it’s best known for the festival that began in Beijing in 2007. The lineup in Central Park was heavy on Beijing artists with New Pants turning in an especially exciting performance. Sex, Drugs, Internet (a taste is given in the video) was the song of the day from the unpredictable quartet.
Gang of Four is down to one original member these days but Andy Gill chose his current cohorts well. The 2015 incarnation was tough and did justice to the classic material. Just booking a band whose name is a reference to a part of airbrushed Chinese history seems like a coup for the organizers!
As with last year when I shivered through a Cat Power set, Modern Sky marks the end of outdoor concert season in NYC for the year. Cheers to Summerstage for a great 30th anniversary year…
