The Heart Album Release Party - NYC, 7/20/10

Last Tuesday, I got the opportunity to be a part of an incredible event – I was invited to Jimmy Gnecco’s album release party for The Heart at the Cooper Square Hotel in NYC, thrown by Bright Antenna. Never in my wildest dreams did I ever expect this – but it was an absolute privilege to have been invited. I found out about this about 2 weeks ago, and my first thought was what the hell do I wear?! I ended up wearing jeans and heels with a cute top and it was fine. I could have worn black pants or a dress because people were that dressed up, but I was comfortable and confident and that's all that mattered. The party was a blast. Erin and I arrived at the hotel a little after 7, and were cleared upstairs to the penthouse. As soon as the doors to the elevator opened, it was a little overwhelming – people everywhere and floor to ceiling glass windows providing stunning views of the New York skyline.

I saw Jolie (a friend of mine from Baltimore and fellow Jimmy/Ours fan) and immediately went and said hi to her, and I realized I actually knew way more people there then I thought. There were maybe 80-100 people there and it was all family and fans. I went around and said hi to the people I knew, met some new friends, met Tiffanie and Scott from Bright Antenna, and took it all in. When I got there, I immediately saw Jimmy and after I had said hi to some people, wandered over to say hi to him. When he saw me standing there he gave me this huge grin, and held out his arm to me. He pulled me into a hug and kissed me and we chatted for a minute. I thanked him for inviting me and congratulated him on the album, and said how much I enjoyed the web chat the night before. He said that he'd been wanting to do it for years and just now the technology is there. So I'm hoping there'll be more forthcoming.

Prior to arriving, I wasn’t sure what to expect, but I did see a lot of people who I knew. It was funny actually – I talked to these people every day, but not once did this party get mentioned because everyone was told to keep it quiet. There was a lot of “I had no idea that you were going to be here, but its great to see you” going on. I also ran into Static (Jimmy’s guitarist from Ours) and proceeded to give him crap about being dressed like a homeless man at such a swanky event. He took it in stride.

About halfway through the evening, Jimmy performed six songs (Light On the Grave, Mystery, The Heart, Bring You Home, Darling and The Bells) and it was surreal to stand about 5 feet from him in a space overlooking the NYC skyline. It somehow made it that much more special. After he sang, a cake was brought out as a surprise, which had the Heart logo and Congratulations Jimmy on it. Champagne was passed along with the cake and more mingling was had, as we wandered outside. It was really quite a nice night – not too hot and humid, and not freezing at all.

Security ended up kicking us out of the penthouse around 10, and we ended up downstairs in front of the hotel trying to figure out what to do – if we were going to go somewhere and get food/drinks and recap the evening. The next thing I knew, Jimmy was leading the way down the street, and we ended up in a bar a few blocks down for drinks. We hung out there for a couple of hours, and finally said goodnight to everyone. All in all it was an AMAZING night, so much love and I was so privileged to have been invited. It wouldn't have been right to celebrate the release of this album in any other manner. It also bears mentioning that I was so happy to be able to see Jimmy outside of 'Jimmy the artist' and just as “Just Jimmy". 

All photos are here. Please credit if used: Jimmy Gnecco Heart Album Release Party