A Feast in Orange

Twenty years ago, we celebrated The Gates at Central Park. This massive installation by the late artist couple Christo and Jean-Claude was a celebration and a welcomed and celebrated boost in post-September 11 New York.

In 2005, many of our friends from different corners of the world traveled to the city to see the exhibition. Elke and I spent every free day in the park, shooting hundreds of photos with our new digital SLR. The weather played nicely, too: sunshine, rain, and snow provided varying backdrops for the orange gates throughout the park.

Christo and Jean-Claude had planned the project since the 80s but faced political resistance, like with so many of their other projects. Finally, they received the green light in the early 2000s, again with many predicting dire consequences.

Like often, the naysayers were proven wrong. The project was a tremendous success for the city and an inspiration for many visitors. Elke and I still remember fondly when NYC buzzed with excitement during those two weeks. It was magic dipped in orange!

Check out a few photos here:

Unfortunately, there haven’t been installations on that scale in the city since then. Maybe only Olafur Eliasson’s New York City Waterfalls on the East River were comparable.

But scale is not everything. We just wrapped the New Colossus Festival at the Lower East Side, and you could find a lot of artistic spirit there. This year’s edition was the best yet, with an international lineup, an excited audience, and much buzz passing around the streets of the Lower East Side. We will definitely be back next year!

YouTube has passed 125 million paying subscribers for YouTube Music and YouTube Premium – 25 million more than in February last year. That means music streaming is still growing fast, and YouTube is a platform worth engaging with. We already embed YouTube streams – video and audio – in most of our posts. Also, all of our playlists are available on YouTube and YouTube Music.

glamglare favorites

Listen to glamglare favorites on Spotify, Apple Music, or below on YouTube.

Here’s the second round of songs that excited us at The New Colossus Festival:

1. “The Best is Yet To Come” by London singer/songwriter Wyldest from her 2022 album Feed The Flowers Nightmares.
2. “Carme” by Sardinian electronic musician Daniela Pes from her 2023 album “Spira.”
3. “Mountain” by Brooklyn indie rock band Amiture Music.
4. “Parc De Beauvoir” by Montreal duo Bibi Club from their 2024 album Feu De Garde.
5. “High Beams” by Ohio band The Laughing Chimes from their 2025 album Whispers In The Speech Machine.

Song Pick of the Day

Song Pick cover photo here

Listen to/watch all seven songs on YouTube. Follow our daily updated playlists on YouTube, Apple Music, or Spotify for the 50 latest Song Pick of the Day features, or subscribe here to receive them in your mailbox in real-time. Thank you for following us and sharing the excitement.

"If you’ve ever questioned the past, yearned for another shot, or felt the bittersweet sting of 'what if,'” this song is for you," Good to have Bryan Adams back with a new song, "Make Up Your Mind.” "Too Bad" is a bouncy, bright pop song by Utah singer/songwriter Maz. More of such goodness is on her debut EP, out on April 4. According to London duo French Nancy, a mistake with the drum machine programming turned "The Wow" into a driving, energy-laden post-punk gem. The Seattle Band Deep Sea Diver released their fourth album, and we cannot get enough of their latest single, "What Do I Know." LA artist Sophia Kaloustian illuminates the effects of a breakup from a new angle in "Used to Breath.” The London singer/songwriter Ella Jinks just released her new EP, “The In Between.” It closes with a simply gorgeous track, “Just Another Day.” Photo booths can be catalysts for special moments - particularly late at night. Avery Friedman has a story to tell about that in her new song "Photo Booth." An album is coming in April.

Nine Photos of Our New Colossus Festival Highlights

We saw many fantastic bands and we snapped photos at each of these shows. For this newsletter, we focus on portraying the entire band -if they were in a band setting- rather than singling out one member. More to follow soon. Please enjoy photos of these amazing up-and-coming artists!

(1) Scattered Ashes (Ireland)
(2) Sodakill (Sweden)
(3) Hachiku (Australia)
(4) Flame Parade (Italy)
(5) wyldest (UK)
(6) The Laughing Chimes (USA)
(7) Yndling (Norway)
(8) Bibi Club (Canada)
(9) twst (UK)