Tonight was definitely a little something different! Actually, it was a LOT different. I've been trying out some new things this month - hey, it's April and I need the distraction, you know? - and there's been plenty vying for my attention. Oddly enough, much has been free. Incredible!
As I said earlier, the SUAF is in town this week, here in the C-Port, as they say. last night I saw P.A.T.H.: A Hip-Hop Documentary at a venue that is fast becoming one of my favorites. Honestly, Indigo Arts has SOMETHING going on EVERY NIGHT. Anyone who says they can't find anything to do here isn't looking, apparently, because I find so much that it's difficult to choose.
Anywho, the film was a documentary about a school dedicated to preserving, archiving, and teaching hip-hop history. Shot in Miami, it followed four instructors as they impressed upon a class the value and rationale behind rapping, break dancing, graffiti writing, and emceeing. What was the most phenomenal aspect of the film was the fact that TWO of the four teachers were WOMEN. Wow.
So, as I'm walking out to my car, I'm looking up into the night sky and thinking, man, Sam, would have really liked that! And into my head I hear "two turntables and a microphooone", that standard tagline, and I just lost my mind for a while. But that's not what I'm talking about right now, so don't bother trying to change my mind.
This morning, on my way to work after my GYN appointment - nope, not gonna talk 'bout THAT right now, either - I grabbed a day-old copy of the entertainment paper to see what was up in this fair city these next seven days. Lo and behold, it had three events for me! All were about the same start time, so I would have to choose carefully how to arrange my evening. I decided The OFFICIAL Savannah Urban Arts Festival LAUNCH PARTY JAM SESSION, slated to begin at 9pm, would be the place to finish up, narrowing my choices for 8pm down to two. Well, I've seen "Back To The Future" several times, and, as much fun as it would have been to see it on a big screen again.. well, that was the key word. "Again". Yeah, let's opt for something DIFFERENT.
So I went to Indigo Arts for show and tell for grown-ups. Truly, that was how the event was billed. It's actually called Savannah Pecha Kucha Night, and this is the fifth time the ever-unique event has been held. Here's the premise: You get roughly seven minutes to tell an audience about something, anything, then it's someone else's turn. No Q&A, no drawn-out explanations. You provide up to twenty slides about your topic and you get twenty seconds to say your piece about each - then you're off the stage and someone else goes on.
I had initially thought it would be a meeting of would-be entrepreneurs and angels, but that was decidedly not the case. Instead, I saw presentations by nine people, all different, all interesting. Briefly, here's the line-up: Chalk drawings of chairs in empty rooms; The wards (squares) of Savannah (a 1985 thesis); How-to write a picture book about a little dog; Amorphous prints on wood; Bringing the 16-foot Elvis head to Los Angeles from Mississippi (in a blue 1953 pick-up truck named Maybelle, no less!); Listerine and the use of "halitosis" in marketing; Teaching block printing in India; Bits of Georgia history; and Photographs shot locally. Wow! Almost two hours, including intermission, of fun, for free. You better believe I'll keep my eyes looking for news of the next PKN!
The off I went to the American Legion, host site of OFFICIAL SUAF launch Party Jam Session. Featuring local hip-hop masters Dope Sandwich and the release of their new CD, I was amazed the place wasn't packed. Seriously! Where were all the students and young folk? Here was a party event, a FREE party event, with not one but several live performers, in a hall for 300. They truly missed out. The party went on until almost midnight, y'all!
There were at least six performers, I think. Let me see if I can name all of them. Daniel Coleman, smooth and lyrical, also a film maker. Brandywine, the official house band for the party, proud to be the support group for MC's. The Chatham County Bosses, a trio of young guys running fast toward the top, especially with their song "Savannah". KidSyc, a fabulous wordsman with a LIVE BAND. WOW!!! And, playing some songs from their latest compact disk, "The Union of Sacred Monsters", the inimitable Dope Sandwich. Hey, I got mine at the show and it was only $5. What a deal!
