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Crossing coasts for the nth time to get my East Coast recharge, delightfully discovered one of my new favorite artists, Miguel, who released his critic and fan well-received “Art Dealer Chic” (ADC) EP trilogy earlier this year, would coincidentally be in NYC while I was here. Having attended his secret MySpace show in LA a few weeks before, I knew there was new music on the horizon. Dropping his second album, “Kaleidoscope Dream” in pieces similar to the ADC approach, with the full album and the “Air Preview” to come, over the next two months, he released the first EP, “Kaleidoscope Dream: Water Preview” a few days before the show which had love ode “Adorn” (which was on ADC Vol 1), werewolf/vampire image inspiring “Don’t Look Back” and addicting “Use Me” on it. Impressed with those three songs, I was ready to hit the show.

Expecting Miguel to be one of the last artists to perform, I arrived at MOMA PS1 in Long Island City around 6:30 PM on this particularly steamy August night, seeing the lines wrap around the block in both directions (they did warn to get there early), with several jumbled lines and a confusing delineation between new patrons, prior patrons with hands stamped and press/guests. I braved the crowd and made it inside to a stone/gravel courtyard (don’t wear open toe shoes!) filled to the brim with hipster folks dancing to the techno/EDM music played by the DJ. Bumped my way through the sweaty crowd to get a decent view of Miguel, performing with hundreds of people a few feet away. Playing a few ADC, “ALL I Want Is You” including his Tupac/LA intro to “Quickie” and “Kaleidoscope Dream” songs for 20 minutes, Miguel played to the crowd and gave them a sample of what he’s all about in the short set. Folks around me were buzzing and saying they needed to check him out online so that’s always a positive sign. Wrapping up the night, it seemed appropriate to view the exhibits in the building behind the stage and see some risqué and thought-provoking pieces after watching Miguel continue my “summer on smash”.