Getting Weird Is Encouraged at Sessions at Santa's

Hunter S. Thompson once said, "When the going gets weird, the weird turn pro." And this is precisely what is happening at Sessions at Santa's, a Tuesday night party at Santos Party House curated by different arty pants each week. The worldwide vibe is definitely weird and the weirdest people in the world are the New Yorkers, especially the artists, and Sessions is where the weirdos dial up their weirdness in front of audiences that are just as weird as them. [OK, I'm going to stop saying weird.] The party's mission, according to Spencer Sweeney, one of the co-owners of the club and the mastermind behind it, is to bring some good old-fashioned art-damageness that's been lacking for what seems like forever back to the city of New York.

The first Session was rather capricious -- curator Bob Nickas put together a night of metal bands in an almost empty upstairs room on a cold January night. But since then, the party's been growing and getting deeply strange, cathartic even. Artists and musicians such as Kai Althoff, I.U.D. (Lizzi Bougatsos and Sadie Laska), Daniel Higgs of Lungfish and Matt Sweeney have curated and performed downstairs where rows of black Hefty trash bags hang from the ceiling like it's laundry day in ghost town. At this past Tuesday night's Session, one of the real pros of art damage Gavin Russom flew in from Berlin where he lives and put on a stellar one-man show that was totally mesmerizing. Then this band called Palms played. In between sets, prismatic artist Christian Holstad manned the DJ booth and played some funky jams. The night was curated by Nicolas Vernhes.

Next Sessions (April 7) will be curated by the ever-youthful and -angstful Thurston Moore. He'll also be one of the performers along with Okkyung Lee, Ikue Mori, Fat Worm and Noise Nomads. Don't be a square, be there!