Hey Hartlist,
Which one is it; there’s no such thing as a free lunch, or the best things in life are free?
JUST THE FACTS MA’AM - FREE SHOWS
MAY 29 - The Chrysalis 62: “IN JUNE”1, 4PM Eastern
solo livestream music & chat over here (& on FB & Insta)JUNE 15 - Irish Arts Center Cafe 11th Av (51/52), Doors at 7PM
an intimate trio show in the swanky new IAC Cafe; think ‘The Chrysalis’ live, but moreJUNE 18 - “Porch Stomp” on Governor’s Island! 1:00PM
full band unplugged show in a day full of great music- details forthcoming
FROM THE CHRYSALIS
Maybe it’s a false dichotomy. I’ve always thought “no free lunch” meant “nothing in life is free”, but maybe the person who said it originally was really just talking about lunch.
ICYMI, yesterday, the food delivery behemoth GrubHub did a promotional thing where supposedly anyone could order lunch for free between the hours of 11 and 2.
On a single day (yesterday).
In New York City.
What could go wrong?
By the time I heard about it via an excited text message on my extended family thread, I couldn’t even order, let alone get food. Their site had crashed, duh, because they were apparently receiving six thousand orders per minute, DUH, because they offered a FREE LUNCH in NEW YORK CITY, and also kind of? didn’t tell the restaurants about it? Possibly? Unclear. (I am but a journalist OF THE SPIRIT ok I’ll show myself out.)
Anyhow it was, predictably, a @#%^& show and food was wasted and people never got lunch and also it wasn’t actually free, obviously, come on, what were we all expecting, and also, not once, not ONE TIME during the whole thing did ANYone say or post “there’s no such thing as a free lunch”.
I am ashamed for all of us.
It’s kind of like when you watch the documentary about the Fyre Festival and are like oh my god that awful con man who but then are also kind of like … so tell me again about the people who bought tickets…??
Some lunch got delivered. My cousin-in-law sent a triumphant text that read “Got my lunch from {REDACTED}2!” followed a few minutes later by “Don’t order from {REDACTED}.”
Maybe it should be “There’s no such thing as a free lunch worth eating”?
But that sounds like I’m telling you not to come to the June gigs.
Which will be actually free! AND good! Because it will be a little different, and interesting, and not ‘trying to do the full-band-music-venue-show-but-for-free’. Also, also, for these, we will be paid, whether or not you show up (though, not ideal for anyone.) For the July show, there will be a cover charge, and we will not get paid unless you show up. Confused? Me too. Welcome to showbiz.)
I’ll stop here before I accidentally trigger that “But shouldn’t all art just be, like, free?” conversation that pops up now and again. (Though, weirdly, it’s usually just music that gets thrown under that particular bus, isn’t it?)
Literally - actually - the minute I finished writing that sentence, my friend sent me this.
Anyway, I buy books AND voraciously borrow from libraries; I buy theatre tickets AND mooch HBO off my friends. And I both pay to eat in restaurants AND gratefully eat dinner at my friends’ houses, for which I one is usually not charged (unless it turns out to be one of those weird pop-up restaurant things). It’s not an either/or.
Sometimes you get what you pay for is true; sometimes grace drops a priceless experience into your lap.
But also maybe they’re not always mutually exclusive.
TICKETS ON SALE FOR MY BIRTHDAY SHOW
JULY 9 - Rockwood Music Hall, 7PM
the annual birthday party, full band, plugged in, beautiful venue, great sound, the whole nine yards
:)
love
Rebecca
“In June” is the theme of the show, but it takes place in May. I (too late) see the confusion.
leaving restaurants unnamed because the shame belongs to grubhub. and, again, all of us.