ANDREW W.K.

Friday 12:00 AM at the Square Room
Andrew W.K. + Calder Quartet

“I’m trying to make the most exciting music possible.”
–Andrew W.K.

Bloody-nosed rocker turned motivational speaker and TV personality, Andrew W.K. may still be best known for his 2001 debut record, I Get Wet, and his outrageous party music anthems like “Party Hard” and “Tear it Up.”   And that’s fair enough.  His shows certainly have a tendency to veer out of control, with much of the audience joining Andrew on stage, themselves playing piano and belting out the lyrics.  But this is but a single aspect of the multi-faceted Andrew W.K.

Committed to stimulating all parts of your brain, Andrew W.K. and Calder Quartet have teamed up to perform a collaborative show, mixing reverence with irreverence, and offering their audience a chance for both rapt listening and raucous dancing. Challenging music lovers to explore their comfort zones, Andrew W.K. and Calder Quartet perform together towards a liberated and impassioned definition of art.

Their collaboration began at the acclaimed Wordless Music Series in New York City, where they received favorable coverage and critical response, including great write ups in both the NY Times and LA Times. Perhaps Metal Edge Magazine best described their recent work together when they wrote: “It was strange as hell and it pretty much ruled.”

We’ll let Ronen Givony, the visionary programmer/curator behind the Wordless Music series tell you about it himself:
“The Calder Quartet’s performance with Andrew W.K. for the Wordless Music series in November of 2008 was, without a doubt, one of the all-time highlights of the series’ concerts to date. From the Calder’s selections of music for string quartet…to Andrew’s improvisations on themes of Bach, to the final closing numbers from the Andrew W.K. songbook (with certain raucous audience members joining the band onstage), it was a night I will not soon forget and hope to be able to repeat soon.”

This is what Big Ears is all about!