Life in Bushwick, Brooklyn -- Bushwick blog

Phoebe Waterson

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Lady Magma Rocks Out for Charity

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Andrea Mersits of Lady Magma. — Photo by Phoebe Waterson

Bushwick-based band Lady Magma played to a packed crowd at K&M Bar Friday night as part of a benefit for the AIDS Resource Foundation For Children. The band, made up of singer Andrea Mersits, Brian Derdiarian and Teresa McMahon on guitar, bassist Chelsea Vigue, and drummer Max Dunlop, rocked out with an energy so contagious that it led to a crazy dance party afterwards!

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Ghostbusters Ball: Poor Turn Out, Good Potential


Dance off at the Ghostbusters Ball, Market Hotel — photo by Phoebe Waterson

I braved the cold to check out the first annual Ghostbusters Ball at Market Hotel on Friday night, camera in hand. The event was curated by Ben Furgal and organized by Toilet Records, Sleep When Dead and Show is Monster. Proceeds went to benefit Showpaper, a local events flier.

I was surprised by the small turnout of this all-ages event. The place looked great, with black lights, funky art and a large-scale projection. The DJ was playing great tunes (like MJ’s Thriller!) — the only thing missing was people! Maybe it was too early for people to get into the Halloween spirit, maybe people were at CMJ; whatever the reason, attendance was not what I expected it to be.

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Bushwick Performers, Unicorns at Union Pool

Phoebe has a fancy camera and good eye, so she’s charged herself with taking photos at the events she attends. See her full set from this night on the Bushwick Culture flickr stream.

I took a little field trip on Monday night to support Bushwick artists and “unicorns”, Christina Medina (you may know Christina from her work with Anti-Oxidant, a Bushwick-based video art and experimental film forum) and Helena Peterson, as they performed with Laurendarling and the Ladies of Fakework in the Busy as a Rainbow Brigade, a part of the Team Spirit Animal Squad at Union Pool. The event was presented by The Trapeze Loft and the Badmittens. And I wasn’t alone — there were several other familiar faces in the crowd, including the members of Bushwick-based band, Bonnie Baxter.

While I normally go out of my way to avoid the crowds at Union Pool, I was pleasantly surprised by what turned out to be an entertaining and colorful evening. The night was a whirlwind of bands, video projection art, burlesque dance, trapeze, hula hooping and dancing unicorns. It was performance art at it’s best — the kind that doesn’t take itself too seriously, but is there purely to entertain the crowd.