This Saturday brings not one but two high-octane events starring America’s most beloved radio host.
At 8 pm at Benaroya Hall, Ira Glass presents Reinventing Radio, which he describes thusly:
Basically, it’s me standing onstage talking about what we’re doing on the radio show, how it’s different from other radio shows, and I play examples. Onstage, I’ve got an iPad, and I can play clips and music from the show, and basically re-create the sound of the radio show as I stand there—the scoring, ambient sound, quotes—so as I describe the stories, I can make them appear out of the mist and narrate them live. That’s it. It doesn’t sound like the most emotional or hilarious description, but I swear that in practice that it is!
And at 10 pm at Showbox at the Market, Glass will be engaging in a DJ battle with our very own Dan Savage. Their first battle—a couple years ago at Rebar—was a legendary blowout. Asked about the forthcoming rematch, Glass said:
When we set this up, I was totally going to spend months thinking through what kind of music to play and really do an awesome job. And now I realize I’ve got to do all that in the next week. I was going to make a whole study of this! I was kind of looking forward to spending months working on it, going to friends who listen to a lot of new music, and really thinking it through—and I have done nothing. Fortunately for me, everything Dan plays is infected with a kind of Broadway-show-tune showiness, so even when it’s not a show tune, it is a show tune in its immortal soul. So even with my lax preparation, I believe I will best him.
Full Ira Glass interview here.
