Animal Train Happening would like to thank all of those whom made our final party one of the best ever! Stay tuned as Jonathan throws New York Night Train Happenings around the world (first one, co-presented by Todd P and Panache Booking is June 20 indoors/outdoors at 979 Broadway 8pm then across the street at 5 Stuyvesant Ave w/Health (LA), Awesome Color (Detroit), Kid Congo Powers (DC), DJs Josh Styles and Jonathan Toubin, Anna Copacabana (go go/performance/music), Hula Hoop Harlot Melissa Anne (hula hoop), and Lone Wolf and Cub (trapeze), go go dancing/performance by Anna Copa Cabanna, Mighty Robot AV Squad (visuals) and Spencer Bewley (visuals)) and Vashti and her Monster Island brethren, Secret Project Robot, have similar multi-media events every few nights!

Below you will find footage (as taken by Marti from Beaut – pictured below tending the popcorn/cotton candy booth) of Hula Hoop Harlot Melissa Anne doing her act while Mr Jonathan Toubin and Jon Spencer look on in amazement from the DJ booth.





for anybody who missed it, here’s the deal with the party….



Saturday, May 30, 2009, Animal Train Happening presents, our final party ever: The Circus: DJ sets by Mr. Jonathan Toubin and special guest Jon Spencer, live music by Preacher and the Knife, live music/performance by Raul de Nieves’ Try Cry, performance by Hula Hoop Harlot Melissa Anne, escape and contortion acts by Jared the Conjurer, go go dancing by The Marmaladies, visuals by Mighty Robot AV Squad, décor by Live With Animals, Glasslands Gallery (289 Kent btw S. 1st and S. 2nd, Williamsburg, Brooklyn), 10pm – 4am, $7:

Now its time to say goodbye. Animal Train, a collaboration between New York Night Train and Live With Animals have put on nine wild and revolutionary subcultural multimedia theme dance parties featuring DJs, performance, projections, and dance in an entirely informally formalist environment designed, constructed, and lit entirely by local artists. We’ve taken you deep below the ocean floor, back to prehistoric times, into Warhol’s factory, to the French Revolution, and a number of other fantastic places and times with guests linking many generations of underground culture: legends like Genesis P-Orridge (Throbbing Gristle and Psychic TV), Quintron and Miss Pussycat, Ian Svenonius (Make-Up, Nation of Ulysses, etc), Kid Congo Powers (Cramps, Bad Seeds, Gun Club), and Gibby Haynes (Butthole Surfers), and emerging musical talent like Golden Triangle, Ghost Exits, Pterodactyl, S-S-S-Spectres, and Puddin’ Tang. Jonathan and Vashti, still very much friends, have decided to discontinue the party not because of any ill-will, etc. but rather because this an undertaking of this magnitude requires more time and effort than either of us possess at this point. When we started, Jonathan’s DJ career and Vashti’s lifestyle as a touring and recording musician (Golden Triangle), were not yet even glimmers in either of our eyes, and now, two years down the road, our schedules have become far too busy to pull this off with any kind of frequency. The good news however is that we decided not to go out with a whimper – but, in the grandiose Animal Train fashion, of course, with a bang!

While we regret to inform you of our parting, we are, however, thrilled to announce our tenth and final and best party, The Circus. This theme, selected by Vashti to reflect the fact that this event has been a literal and figurative circus since we began, is not very ambiguous. Expect a big top with lots of cotton candy, balloons, and much more than three rings of action. The dance party will be presided over by Mr. Jonathan Toubin and his extra-special guest DJ Jon Spencer (yes! thee legendary – he of Heavy Trash, Blues Explosion, Boss Hog, Pussy Galore, etc. fame. How often does this sharp-dressed legend DJ?). We will feature live music by NYC’s most darkly dynamic and intensely rhythmic new band Preacher and the Knife and up-and-coming visual/performance artist Raul De Nieves’ new theatrical musical act Try Cry Try and performances by Hula Hoop Harlot Melissa Anne and both an escape and contortion act by the Jared the Conjurer of Vicious Vaudeville and Evil Burlesque, plus, as always go go dancing by the gorgeous Marmaladies (the three lovely ladies of Golden Triangle!), live projections and other visuals by Mighty Robot AV Squad and décor by Live With Animals Gallery. The party stretches from 10pm – 4am (get there early for the bands and stay late for the dance party! The cover is only $7. Step right up, get in the tent, and expect to be amazed!