• Intelligencer
  • The Cut
  • Vulture
  • The Strategist
  • Curbed
  • Grub Street
  • Subscribe to the Magazine Give a Gift Subscription Buy Back Issues Current Issue Contents
    Subscribe to New York Magazine
  • Subscribe
  • Profile
    Sign Out
The Cut
  • Style
  • Self
  • Culture
  • Power
Style
  • Fashion
  • Beauty
  • Parties & Red Carpet
  • Fashion Shows
  • Cathy Horyn
  • The Cut Shop
Self
  • Health & Wellness
  • The State of the Uterus
  • Parenting
  • Advice
  • Sex & Relationships
  • Horoscopes
Culture
  • Books
  • Television
  • Movies
  • Music
  • Celebrity
Power
  • Politics
  • Work
  • Money
  • Rebecca Traister
More
  • Latest Stories
  • Video
  • About Us
  • nymag.com
  • New York Magazine
  • Intelligencer
  • Vulture
  • The Cut
  • The Strategist
  • Grub Street
  • Curbed
party lines
May 11, 2016

Remembering David Bowie and Prince at the Moth’s Glam-Rock Gala

By the Cut

Share

  • Share
  • Tweet
Photo: Bianca Bourgeois

Last night, celebrities and storytellers gathered for the Moth’s annual star-studded gala, the Moth Ball. Celebrating all things glam and rock at Capitale, an elegant venue housed in the old Bowery Savings Bank building, the Moth hosted an array of celebrity guests, including guest of honor Carrie Brownstein, Abbi Jacobson and Ilana Glazer, Jenna Lyons, and Zadie Smith, as well as Molly Ringwald and Salman Rushdie, both Moth storytellers.

Colored lights bathed the room, and partygoers admired table centerpieces made of sunglasses and cassette tapes, spray-painted silver. The spirit of David Bowie hung in the air, right down to one woman’s Aladdin Sane face paint. The gala opened with a guitar performance by Jon Spurney of Bowie’s “Rebel Rebel”; later, Moth storyteller Suzy Ronson shared her experience as Bowie’s hairstylist (she went on to marry Bowie’s band member Mick Ronson).

Broad City ladies Abbi Jacobson and Ilana Glazer introduced honoree Carrie Brownstein, with Jacobson gushing that Sleater-Kinney’s live shows have “this raw powerful energy that makes you want to live your life more passionately, where you’re like, ‘Fuck, I gotta fucking do shit.’” The pair presented Brownstein with the Moth Award – a giant white finger designed by Jonathan Adler.

As the Cut roamed the party, another late, great rocker was a topic of conversation: Prince. Zadie Smith told us about the time she and her best friend sneaked into the O2 Arena for a Prince concert. “He came to check out the stage and he stood right in front of us, and he had a tiny butt. Me and my friend Sarah reached out and took a picture,” she said. She did not reach for his butt. “I didn’t touch it. If I was more rock and roll, I would have squeezed it.” Molly Ringwald recalled seeing Prince on his Purple Rain tour.

Jenna Lyons, considering what she might perform for the Moth, imagined being ridiculous to lighten the mood. “Maybe [it would be] about my obsession with ice cream, all forms of ice cream,” she said. “I really, really like coffee ice cream. I like my ice cream to taste like coffee and my coffee to taste like ice cream.”

Salman Rushdie on the most rock-and-roll moment of his life? “That’s easy. I was onstage at Wembley stadium with U2, so that’ll do it.”

Carrie Brownstein told us why she could never do a Portlandia sketch about the Moth, revealing why most people love the Moth: “Portlandia is often about things I love,” she said. “But there’s something so sweetly earnest about the Moth, and I hold it dear, and there’s so many wonderful and moving stories that come from this show and the podcast that I’d just rather cherish it.”

Contrary to the theme of the night (the dress code encouraged looks inspired by Ziggy Stardust, Iggy Pop, and Candy Darling), Brownstein gloriously “prepared for this event by going into a CVS today and just buying eye shadow that didn’t have brown in it.”

While performing with Sleater-Kinney, she goes business-casual: “I just wore saggy-ass slacks from Banana Republic and if I didn’t have dyed-black hair and [wasn’t] shouting angry lyrics, you would have thought, ‘Oh, that’s weird that my bank teller’s onstage right now.’” Her most glamorous piece of clothing? She once won an off-the-shoulder, lavender-lace crop top that Cher wore in an exercise video. Goals.

Click ahead for a look at last night’s guests.

Reported by Madeline Raynor. Photographs by Bianca Bourgeois.

View
1 / 40 Photos
Photo: Bianca Bourgeois
Photo: Bianca Bourgeois
Photo: Bianca Bourgeois
Photo: Bianca Bourgeois
Photo: Bianca Bourgeois
Photo: Bianca Bourgeois
Photo: Bianca Bourgeois
Photo: Bianca Bourgeois
Photo: Bianca Bourgeois
Photo: Bianca Bourgeois
Photo: Bianca Bourgeois
Photo: Bianca Bourgeois
Photo: Bianca Bourgeois
Photo: Bianca Bourgeois
Photo: Bianca Bourgeois
Photo: Bianca Bourgeois
Photo: Bianca Bourgeois
Photo: Bianca Bourgeois
Photo: Bianca Bourgeois
Photo: Bianca Bourgeois
Photo: Bianca Bourgeois
Photo: Bianca Bourgeois
Photo: Bianca Bourgeois
Photo: Bianca Bourgeois
Photo: Bianca Bourgeois
Photo: Bianca Bourgeois
Photo: Bianca Bourgeois
Photo: Bianca Bourgeois
Photo: Bianca Bourgeois
Photo: Bianca Bourgeois
Photo: Bianca Bourgeois
Photo: Bianca Bourgeois
Photo: Bianca Bourgeois
Photo: Bianca Bourgeois
Photo: Bianca Bourgeois
Photo: Bianca Bourgeois
Photo: Bianca Bourgeois
Photo: Bianca Bourgeois
Photo: Bianca Bourgeois
Photo: Bianca Bourgeois
1 / 40

Tags:

  • fashions
  • moth ball
  • party pics
  • party lines
  • slideshows
  • jenna lyons
  • carrie brownstein
  • zadie smith
  • salman rushdie
  • More

More Galleries

red carpet June 5, 2022
All the Best Looks at the 2022 MTV Movie and TV Awards  Sydney Sweeney, Vanessa Hudgens, Jay Ellis, and more! 
parties! May 20, 2022
The Bestest Party Looks of the Week  Harry Styles > everyone! 
parties! May 13, 2022
The Bestest Party Looks of the Week  Bury me in Dove Cameron’s Saint Sintra skirt. 
parties! May 6, 2022
The Bestest Party Looks of the Week  Cue the Met Gala after-party FOMO. 
met gala 2022 May 2, 2022
Met Gala 2022: All the Looks [Photos]  Billie Eilish, Kim Kardashian, Michelle Yeoh, Hailey Bieber, Megan Thee Stallion, Cardi B, Blake Lively, and more. 
parties! Apr. 29, 2022
The Bestest Party Looks of the Week  This one goes to Olivia Rodrigo and her sweater vest. 
parties! Apr. 22, 2022
The Bestest Party Looks of the Week  “Fuck those Zoom tops.” 
celebrity style Apr. 18, 2022
The Best Looks From Coachella 2022  From Harry Styles’s sparkling Gucci set to Megan Thee Stallion’s metallic bodysuit. 
style Apr. 13, 2022
A Look Inside the New Museum’s Spring Gala  Featuring all the best looks. 
grammys 2022 Apr. 3, 2022
Grammy Awards 2022 Red Carpet: All the Looks  Lady Gaga, Olivia Rodrigo, Lenny Kravitz, Lil Nas X, Billie Eilish, and more. 
oscars 2022 Mar. 28, 2022
How Were The Oscars After Party Looks Better Than The Actual Award Looks?  Finally, some fun. 
oscars 2022 Mar. 27, 2022
All the Looks From the 2022 Oscars Red Carpet  Zendaya, Regina Hall, Timothée Chalamet, Andrew Garfield, Kristen Stewart, Ariana DeBose, and more. 
style Mar. 22, 2022
Bridgerton Season 2 Premiere: All the Red-Carpet Looks 
style Mar. 13, 2022
BAFTAs 2022: All the Red-Carpet Looks  Florence Pugh, Daniel Kaluuya, Emma Watson, and more! 
celebrity fashion Mar. 6, 2022
Spirit Awards 2022: All the Red-Carpet Looks  Julia Fox, Andrew Garfield, Kristen Stewart, and more! 
Mar. 1, 2022
All of Rihanna’s Maternity Looks  From belly-baring looks to sexy leather dresses. 
Feb. 27, 2022
SAG Awards 2022: All the Red-Carpet Looks  Selena Gomez, Ariana Debose, Daveed Diggs, and more! 
paris couture week 2022 Jan. 27, 2022
Glenn Martens Wows As Guest Couturier for Gaultier Haute Couture It is a sight to behold.
By Vivian Chuang
Dec. 9, 2021
All the Looks From the And Just Like That … Red Carpet  Sarah Jessica Parker, Billy Eichner, Sara Ramirez, and more. 
style Nov. 29, 2021
Gotham Awards 2021: All the Red-Carpet Looks  Tessa Thompson! Kristen Stewart! And more. 
  • Style
  • Self
  • Culture
  • Power
  • Newsletters
  • About Us
  • Contact
  • Help
  • We’re Hiring
  • Press
  • Privacy
  • Terms
  • Ad Choices
  • Do Not Sell My Info
  • Accessibility
The Cut is a Vox Media Network. © 2022 Vox Media, LLC. All rights reserved.