The podcast episode features Jesse Rifkin, the owner of Walk on the Wildside Tours NYC, a music history walking tour company in New York City, and the author of the book ‘This Must Be the Place: Music, Community, and Vanishing Spaces in New York City.’ Rifkin shares his background, including his consultancy roles as a pop music historian and his 12 years as a touring musician. They discuss his first concert experience, watching Bob Dylan with Ani DiFranco as the opening act at the Filene Center in Vienna, Virginia, and the interesting intersections his life has had with notable music historians like Alan Lomax.<\/p>\n
Rifkin recounts his experience attending a unique U2 concert at the Apollo Theater in Harlem, highlighting how seeing a globally famous band in an intimate venue was a surreal and memorable experience. He emphasizes the different dimensions of enjoying massive arena shows versus small, underground music scenes. He talks about his favorite bands, particularly Akron Family and other experimental groups, often performing at DIY venues like Silent Barn and emphasizing how these experiences felt more personal and impactful.<\/p>\n
The conversation shifts to Jesse\u2019s walking tours, which often focus on the punk and post-punk scenes in NYC, featuring iconic sites like CBGB. He discusses the importance of understanding the human and local context behind legendary music and bands, offering a more tangible and relatable connection to this history. His tours aim to demystify the grandiosity of famous musicians by highlighting their humble beginnings in intimate settings.<\/p>\n
Finally, Jesse talks about his book and its evolution from his extensive tours and Instagram presence, which caught the attention of his editor in 2019. He details the content of the book, which spans 60 years of music history, categorizing different NYC music scenes, and offers practical insights into creating community-driven music venues. Jesse\u2019s mission is to show that music and performance spaces can be accessible and transformative, urging people to see the possibility within DIY approaches to music and community building.<\/p>\n
BANDS: Akron Family, Bad Brains, Beastie Boys, Blondie, Bob Dylan, Castanets, The Cure, Elephant 6 Recording Company, Grateful Dead, Lynyrd Skynard, Neutral Milk Hotel, New York Dolls, Olivia Tremor Control, Patti Smith, Ramones, Sonic Youth, Talking Heads, U2, Velvet Underground, Wooden Wand and the Vanishing Voice, Woods.<\/p>\n
VENUES: 171A, Apollo Theater, Bowery Ballroom, CBGB, Death by Audio, Jelly NYC, Silent Barn, Tonic, Uncle Paulie’s, Wolf Trap.<\/p>\n
PATREON:<\/strong> Please help us defer the cost of producing this podcast by making a donation on Patreon.<\/p>\n WEBSITE:<\/strong> Visit the Seeing Them Live website for bonus materials including the show blog, resource links for concert buffs, photos, materials related to our episodes, and our Ticket Stub Museum.<\/p>\n INSTAGRAM:<\/strong> FACEBOOK:<\/strong> In this episode of Seeing Them Live, the host interviews Jesse Rifkin, the owner of Walk on the Wild Side Tours NYC and author of ‘This Must Be the Place: Music, Community, and Vanishing Spaces in New York City.’ Jesse shares his journey from a touring musician to a music historian and tour guide in New York City. The discussion covers Jesse’s early concert experiences, his views on the uniqueness of small music venues, and how these intimate settings differ from large arena shows. Jesse also talks about the inspiration behind his tours and book, detailing the rise and fall of various music scenes and clubs in NYC. He emphasizes the DIY nature of fostering music communities and how anyone can be a part of them. The episode is a deep dive into the cultural and historical significance of NYC’s music scenes and the ever-changing landscape of its venues<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_regular_price":[],"currency_symbol":[],"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"episode_type":"","audio_file":"https:\/\/cdn.simplecast.com\/audio\/6fba452e-d913-428f-890c-05100e781825\/episodes\/ae0d120f-8a6b-417d-95d1-92465d7e1b03\/audio\/03212e7d-91a7-4ac2-9d8f-36c2691d7468\/default_tc.mp3","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"00:43:25","filesize":"39.75M","filesize_raw":"","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":"","itunes_episode_number":"","itunes_title":"","itunes_season_number":"","itunes_episode_type":""},"tags":[],"series":[69],"class_list":["post-4072","podcast","type-podcast","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","series-seeing-them-live"],"post_slider_layout_featured_media_urls":{"thumbnail":"","post_slider_layout_landscape_large":"","post_slider_layout_portrait_large":"","post_slider_layout_square_large":"","post_slider_layout_landscape":"","post_slider_layout_portrait":"","post_slider_layout_square":"","full":""},"episode_featured_image":false,"episode_player_image":"https:\/\/seeingthemlive.com\/wp-content\/plugins\/seriously-simple-podcasting\/assets\/images\/no-album-art.png","download_link":"https:\/\/seeingthemlive.com\/podcast-download\/4072\/s03e08-a-walk-on-the-wild-side-with-author-jesse-rifkin","player_link":"https:\/\/seeingthemlive.com\/podcast-player\/4072\/s03e08-a-walk-on-the-wild-side-with-author-jesse-rifkin","audio_player":"https:\/\/seeingthemlive.com\/podcast-player\/4072\/s03e08-a-walk-on-the-wild-side-with-author-jesse-rifkin<\/a>","episode_data":{"playerMode":"dark","subscribeUrls":{"apple_podcasts":{"key":"apple_podcasts","url":"https:\/\/podcasts.apple.com\/us\/podcast\/seeing-them-live\/id1666439746","label":"Apple Podcasts","class":"apple_podcasts","icon":"apple-podcasts.png"},"google_podcasts":{"key":"google_podcasts","url":"https:\/\/podcasts.google.com\/feed\/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5zaW1wbGVjYXN0LmNvbS9FcDlfN2pGVQ","label":"Google Podcasts","class":"google_podcasts","icon":"google-podcasts.png"},"spotify":{"key":"spotify","url":"https:\/\/open.spotify.com\/episode\/0N5twIpQAhq7Zg4VTNUHly","label":"Spotify","class":"spotify","icon":"spotify.png"}},"rssFeedUrl":"https:\/\/seeingthemlive.com\/feed\/podcast\/seeing-them-live","embedCode":"
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