After seeing Sam’s post about the artwork within the subway stations, I decided to post about the entertainment in the trains. For anyone who has been on a train, they’ve probably seen people get on to the train with a guitar in hand to perform. Since we often need to travel out to the city, the train has become a familiar way of transportation. So you all know how it works, they play a song for us and walk around to collect any donations. Every once in a while when I think the performance was good I would make a donation of my own. The other day as we were all traveling home, I realized how special our city was. We were just at an art museum and when we walk down to the subway there was a man playing the guitar and singing (He was actually quite good).
Everywhere we go in the city, the arts are right there. Music, artwork, and even the occasional dances happen in the train stations. All these performers make traveling just a bit more entertaining, and provide us with wonderful (and at times not so wonderful) music as we await the arrival of the trains.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=73Pg4jQj4PU
I did an entire english paper on street performers. I found some awesome footage that might be of interest to some. Here are some of the videos I’ve found:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HulzV6kxPCU&feature=player_embedded
These guys are amazing. They look like agile bodybuilders.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7i3_VLoKzAU&feature=related
I’ve never seen an electric violin before, but this guy definitely has the spunk to play one.
wow that video of the electric violin was really cool, the other one was impressive as well, but seriously the violin, that is awesome!
Street performers are an aspect of “art” that lends a specific flavor to each city. This sort of things tends to slow down a bit in the winter, but Penn Station and the bigger subway stations provide a steady flow of new and interesting concepts and practitioners. The post from a while back that presented street performers from around the world playing “Stand by Me” is an example of the distinctive “flavor” of artists from various locales.