Although Please Take Me Off the Guest List may seem like an uninviting title for a book, those who attended the Wednesday evening book-related event agree it was worthy of a larger audience.
Yeah Yeah Yeahs guitarist Nick Zinner, writer and musician Zachary Lipez and designer Stacy Wakefield gathered at the Penn Bookstore to promote their latest collaboration, entitled Please Take Me Off the Guest List. The book brings together Zinner’s photography, Lipez’s writing and Wakefield’s design work.
Combining musical performance and spoken word, the event featured live guitar, synthesizer and even a typewriter — played by Zinner and Wakefield — underneath a selection of Lipez’s works. The presentation was accompanied by a photography slideshow.
College freshman Juliana Kulik admitted she did not know what to expect of the performance. “I came because I’m a big fan of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs,” she said.
The event was postponed for several minutes in the hope of a larger turnout. As the audience members barely numbered 10, the trio eventually agreed to perform a truncated version of their original show.
“Once we started I had a great time doing it,” Lipez said afterward.
Lipez began the night by introducing himself to each member of the audience with a handshake, making light of the meager turnout.
“We get to go to bookstores and read,” Lipez said. “How much can you bitch about it?”
Kulik believes the small numbers may have added to the quality of experience. “I liked how personal it was,” she said. “I think more people should have known about it.”
Please Take Me Off the Guest List was officially released this month, though Zinner, Lipez and Wakefield did an early West Coast tour in September. A reading in Washington, D.C. is next for the group, followed by a visit to Miami in November.
Zinner, Lipez and Wakefield met on the New York City music scene and have been collaborating for about 10 years. This is their fourth book together.
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