Boredoms Top Last Year's 77 Drummers Event for Dual-Coast 8-8-08 Concert

On 7/7/07, a lot of couples got married, a lot of bands played at Live Earth, and Tupac Shakur did not, as far as we know, "return to the world from his faked death." But the gathering of superstars and their supersongs at Live Earth was, to some, practically a sigh of apathy compared to the cosmic gathering at the Empire-Fulton Ferry State Park, against the backdrop of the Brooklyn Bridge. At 7:07 PM, a Boredoms concert called 77BoaDrum started. Usually, a Boredoms concert consists of a circle of three drummers at full kits plus Yamataka Eye as the leader. This one was more or less the same, except the formation was that of a spiral, and instead of three drummers, there were 77, all with full kits.

I am the biggest Boredoms fan I've ever met, and here I was in CA; I did not make it out to NYC. I was convinced the event lacked my presence, but Yoshimi mentioned in an interview at the time that 8/8/08 might see another event. Then, a year later, in an unlikely moment — browsing the latest message from the Aquarius Records mailing list — my heart skipped a beat reading what was, as far as I know, the first actual public announcement of the reality of 8/8/08, or as it is officially known, 88BoaDrum:

"And finally, it's official, another Boredoms multiple drummer blow out. This one on the very mystical date of 8.8.08, with 88 drummers this time. [Aquarius employees] Andee and Michael will be doing it again, as will a whole bunch of Bay Area drummers. And West Coasters rejoice! This time it's happening in L.A. More info soon. But as any of you who made it to the 7.7.07 blowout, it will be awesome!"

Yep. On Friday, 8/8/08 at 8:08 PM PST, at the La Brea Tar Pits in Los Angeles, 88 drummers will gather for a brand new composition by Eye. And lest you think Brooklyn would allow the West Coast a solitary moment of glory — lest you think that — the band Gang Gang Dance will be putting on the same show, same amount of drummers, on the Williamsburg Waterfront at 8:08 PM EST. Nike Sportswear sponsors, and presumably because of that, both shows are free. The L.A. performance's drummers were chosen by Boredoms and Hisham Bharoocha (Soft Circle, formerly Lightning Bolt and Black Dice), the artistic director of both 77BoaDrum and the L.A. 88BoaDrum.

As of this writing, free tickets (one per person) are still available at Brown Paper Tickets; you'll have to call the L.A. County Museum of Art and Amoeba in Hollywood (or, for Brooklyn, Other Music and Sound Fix Records) to see if any of those physical locations still have passes available.

The most exciting part, of course, is that the actual Boredoms will be present in L.A., and this time, I will be there. Watch this humble Mogger's page for as damn full a report as I can muster!

The diagram depicting the lineup of last year's 77BoaDrum.