Yesterday, on 7/7/07, I experienced one of the most fantastic musical events I could have ever imagined. The Boredoms, a Japanese punk/rock group from Osaka, coordinated an event made up of 77 drum kits and 77 drummers set in a spiral formation and called it 77BOADRUM. The event was outdoors in DUMBO, Brooklyn, in between the Brooklyn and Manhattan Bridges. We got in line behind hundreds of people at about 2:30pm, made it in to the park by 4:30pm, and sat in the sun until until the show started at (of course) 7pm.

A beat would begin in the center of the spiral, and work it’s way around the spiral one drum at a time. The effect was unbelievable and deafening, but also hypnotic and infectious. At least a thousand people (probably more) were crowded into the park, sitting around the spiral, and we even saw spectators standing on the Brooklyn Bridge above us. You could hear the beats reverberating off the bridge and the buildings across the water. Everyone was entranced for the almost 2-hour long show, as the afternoon turned into dusk and the sun sank over Manhattan. Oh, and did I mention it was free? And once-in-a-lifetime? Love it. A perfect way to spend a warm Saturday.

You can see a lot of great photos by other folks here.