Warm Up, the popular, almost decade-old event at PS1 always pulls a fantastic crowd, looking to dance to great music. Saturday's set started with a tight set by Darshan Jesrani and featured MU, the collaboration of Maurice Fulton and Mutsumi Kanamori. Kanamori's set took a while to get the crowd on her side, but after she had won them over, Fulton spun an amazing set.
The biggest change in Warm Up over the years has been the increasingly pervading corporate logos. It's fantastic that they are able to team with Nikon and Target. Nikon has a discreet booth off to the side. Target is a little more, um, invasive. Early on they started with red and white beach balls emblazoned with the Target logo being dropped from the P.S.1 roof. Good enough fun, but rather distracting when what you are there to do is dance.
When the beach balls ran dry (mostly deflated and pocketed over time), the next aerial assault happened. Foam-filled zippered nylon red discs came down. Possibly they were meant to be frisbees, but a suspicious mind thinks they were actually supposed to be used as seat cushions. These flew nicely in the air, but were a jolt to the system if they hit you. (And the zippers were particularly harsh on the face.)
It was not long ago that a corporate sponsorship meant a mention on the website, a banner or twelve, or a mention in the program. More and more, sponsors chose to impregnate events making sure that "maximum consumer visual impact is achieved".
Dancing is about moving to music, feeling the crowd and getting down. If arms are raised in the air it should be out of joy, not self defense.
Maybe napkins would be more effective?
