The hunger for community

This is about an art gathering rather than music, but I think the same concept would work. People want a community, and it could be built around music. Bring them together, have them share food, and have them bond over creativity.

Slideluck Potshow - New York Times, 3/27/07: "The main attraction, a two-hour slide show of work by 37 artists, drew nearly 800 people, representing a jaunty cross section of the city’s young creative class.

It was the possibility of a lively communal viewing experience that inspired the series. Casey Kelbaugh, a goateed freelance photographer who has worked for publications including The New York Times, founded Slideluck Potshow in his tiny backyard in Seattle in 2000 with a simple invitation to friends and colleagues to bring slides and food. The idea caught on quickly, and he held 20 slide show parties there before moving to New York in 2003.

'I got here thinking, well, I have this thing that’s very popular in Seattle, but the idea of a potluck dinner in New York would never get off the ground,' said Mr. Kelbaugh, 32.

Still, he spread the word and held a Slideluck Potshow in his East Village apartment in early 2004. He was surprised when 120 people arrived, obligingly toting home-cooked dishes as well as images of their work. The event mushroomed into a kind of open-mike night for photographers and other artists, who would show up with trays of slides or CDs to show.

'The whole thing is that it’s participatory, and it’s about creative expression,' Mr. Kelbaugh said. 'It’s a little bit outside the photography establishment.'”

New York
creative class
third places
creativity