Friday at the B+B Newsroom Rayya Elias, author of Harley Loco: A Memoir of Hard Living, Hair, and Post-Punk from the Middle East to the Lower East Side, and Brendan Jay Sullivan, author of Rivington Was Ours: Lady Gaga, The Lower East Side and the Prime of our Lives read from their recently published memoirs and talked about the changes they’d seen in the East Village and Lower East Side over the years. Play the video to watch the readings and conversation. And here’s what happened when an audience member asked the authors to compare the eras during which they moved to the city (the late ’80s and mid-aughts, respectively).
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rayya elias
Would You Get One of These Memorial CBGB Tattoos?
Okay, so Glenn Branca thinks CBGB was “just a shithole where bands got up on stage and played,” but others think the place was pretty special. And many of those folks are likely to converge on Greenpoint today, because Three Kings Tattoo is giving away one of these memorial tattoos between 2 p.m. and 10 p.m. It’s first come, first serve, but don’t expect quite the kind of line those $13 tats got: these are going for $100 to $300.
When you’re done getting inked, head over the the B+B Newsroom to hear Rayya Elias, who played at CBGB back in the day, read from Harley Loco, her memoir about her rough-and-tumble life in the ’80s East Village, followed by Brendan Jay Sullivan reading from Rivington Was Ours and sharing his memories of running with Lady Gaga on the Lower East Side. The free reading and discussion starts at 7 p.m., at 155 Grand Street, off of Bedford Ave., in Williamsburg.
Friday at the Newsroom: Musicians Remember the LES in the ’80s and Aughts
With the CBGB movie premiering tonight and the CBGB Festival kicking off this week, nostalgia for the East Village and Lower East Side of yore is ripe as ever. You’ll forgive us for indulging along with everyone else: This Friday, join two consummate chroniclers of downtown music and nightlife at the B+B Newsroom as they read from their recent memoirs and tell it like it really was (no Savannah stage sets here).
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