14 Hours with 24 Hour Nuclear War

The 24 Hour Nuclear War event was a blast (ha). I managed to make it to 14 of the performances, missing among other things the 5 a.m. Darker Denim, 6 a.m. Will Fist and 7:00 a.m. Magpies performances, as well as the 9 a.m. march undertaken by Woman and others from the Old City to the top of Kerbela Temple. The brave and crazy souls who made it to those events gave them all high marks, and I think a few souvenirs of the good times may remain under the Gay St. viaduct. I also missed Bryan Baker’s mysterious 4 a.m. call to a phone at Central and Jackson, and have yet to hear what it was all about. I’m curious.

I hate to single people out becuase the whole thing was so much fun, but Jason Boardman’s opening musique concrete tape loops at the KMA were truly exceptional, Black Atticus held court to a rapt midnight audience at the Art Gallery of Knoxville, Cain Blanchard blew minds with his powerhouse one-man band at Host’s 2 a.m. performance, most of Royal Bangs delivered an amazingly energized set at noon on Saturday at Basement Gallery, followed by Double Shuttle’s eerie darkroom sorcery at their N. Central practice space, topped off by a weary but inspired closing by New Madrid at Pilot Light. The public performances, such as Jesse Wagner in the Sunsphere’s observation deck and Seth Mahern and Bloomington cohorts in front of Yee Haw were also a lot of fun. The rain and fatigue just added to the mood of the event, and there were moments when it seemed a bit surreal and dream-like.

A big congratulations and thank you to all the musicians and venues involved, and an extra big hand to Will Fist, who must have performed in about 1/5 of the events. Big ups, too, to the group of kids who found out about the event at Boardman’s KMA performance, and decided to make a night of it. I think they made it to every event but two or so. Special recognition to Killa Mike Adams and Gutlocker Mary, who stayed up all night and made it to every event from midnight on. And infinite thanks to Jason Boardman, for bringing so many different people together for this. I can’t remember a Knoxville event quite like it, and it would be impossible to duplicate, given the X-factors involved in how the whole thing might come off, the crummy weather which didn’t deter people and the level of curiosity and enthusiasm that went into it.