Morning after SoundWalk, with John Cage: Hair of the Dog

Yes, wikiGong performed at the 2012 Long Beach SoundWalk Saturday night, about which more later. It was a success, at least to the extent that we (well, mostly Dave, really) got set up in good time, and performed the pieces we’d planned on, more or less on schedule. Friends, family members, and strangers came and went during SoundWalk’s four-hour span, and many of them seemed to enjoy what they saw and heard.

Beyond that? We’re still sorting it out for ourselves. There have been isolated instances of solitary reflection, but no group assessment so far. Let the dust settle.

While last night was not the physical ordeal we experienced in 2011, it was a long, hot evening. For me and Dave, at least. A cold hit Becky as the day wore on, and she had it worse than we did.

In any case, we were content to take our time getting out of bed this morning, one by one, and to divert ourselves with other topics.

Given the performance last night, and our focus on Los Angeles history in “Looking Backward,” how apropos to see avant-garde composer John Cage spread out over most of the Los Angeles Times’ “Arts & Books” section. (The principal article in this cluster is at http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/arts/culture/la-et-cm-john-cage,0,3501401.htmlstory.) I had not known that Cage was born in Los Angeles, and lived in Southern California for years; nor that September 5 will be his 100th birthday.

In a sidebar comment, Jeremy Gilbert-Rolfe wrote something insightful about Cage’s influence:

But whether artists were directly influenced, it’s hard to say. Being directly influenced by John Cage would be ridiculous, like being directly influenced by Warhol or Duchamp; you’d have to argue with it, subvert it.

Probably true. But indirect influence? Surely. Like the air we breathe. Happy birthday, John.