I’ve been scheming and trying to get ahold of a couple of tix to see Jandek in NYC next month; been tryin’ ever since I found out he was gonna actually gonna play there about 3 weeks ago.
I had a buddy in NYC all set to go to the box office Monday afternoon to buy them, because the folks at the Anthology Film Archives told me that was the only place they were gonna be sold. Well, they went on sale 3 hours early at a music store, and sold all 100 tix (the place only seats 200).
When I called AFA to say “dude, wtf?” I was told they would now be selling the last 100 tix online at ticketweb. Sales were supposed to start at 1:00pm Eastern, so I’ve had their site up for hours, hitting f5 every few minutes. When they dint go on sale at 1pm, I called AFA and was told the new time was 5pm. Starting an hour before that I sat here hitting refresh.
They finally went live at about 5:15pm, and in the time it took me to enter my credit card # and my address, they sold the last 100 tix.
I’m not sure what amazes me more: that you’re bummed about not getting to see Jandek is NYC, or that 100 Jandek tickets sold in fifteen minutes.
Though Jandek starting to appear live has been one of the weirdest things about the new millenium, in and of itself, so I guess that nothing is so bizarre anymore.
dude, the 100 tix sold in less than 2 minutes. All I had to do was type in my 16 digit credit card # and my address, and they were gone.
The good news is that according to a confidential source, he already has more plans to play in America! WOOT!
I asked my source to elaborate, but was told “sorry, I can’t say anymore”. There’s still tix left for the N’Orleans show, but I don’t know anyone in NO anymore, so I haven’t made any plans to go there.
Jandek is an artist who has been recording since 1978, on the Corwood Industries label out of Houston, TX. Corwood Industries appears to exist for the sole purpose of putting out Jandek records. He has, to date, 43 albums of what most people describe as the worst music ever created.
A typical Jandek album features him strumming/plunking/picking on what seems to be an untuned guitar, usually on just one string, while he mumbles and groans his way thru lyrics that could only have been written by the most disturbed, loneliest loner the world has ever (not) seen. I say (not) seen, because until he gave a surprise performance in Wales last October, he had never performed live. Yep, 38 albums and 27 years without a live performance.
The mystery surrounding him, his music, his album cover photos, and Corwood Industries is thick.
As far as I know, he has only ever given 2 interviews. One willingly, over the phone to John Trubee (of A Blind Man’s Penis and the band The Ugly Janitors of America fame) and the other to a woman named Katy Vine, a writer for Texas Monthly magazine who tracked him down in 1999. At least, she is pretty sure she tracked him down. The man she interviewed would not give his name and would not confirm that he was Jandek.
Since his first public performance last fall, he has played twice more in the UK and recently announced three shows in the US. The NYC show will be his 6th live performance.
A gentleman by the name of Seth Tisue maintains the most comprehensive Jandek site. There are lyrics, every album cover, a complete discography, reviews of the performances, speculations, rumors, etc. Seth truly does an outstanding job. There is a link to the Texas Monthly article and to articles written by Irwin Chusid.
One of the strangest phenomena is that those of us who find something redeeming in the man’s decidedly odd style seem to all respect his desire for near-anonymous privacy. He prefers that the music speak for itself, and even in the film about him, he was not tracked down or cornered on camera. He isn’t even in the film, except as a voice and a guitar.
I can go on and on about him and his music. As I wrote in my review of the film:
I was really looking forward to seeing him in NYC, but apparently I typed too slowly. 100 tix were available, 2 per purchase, so I assume that the first 50 people who clicked the “Purchase” button got them. Thankfully, as I said above, I have a source who tells me that this will not be his last performance. Next time I’ll just have to be a quicker clicker, I guess.
is that according to a confidential source, he already has more plans to play in America! WOOT!