Relative Something

We were out on the town with our friends Barb and Mike in St. Paul last night to see a “Classic Albums Live” performance at the Ordway Theater. Why didn’t I know about this organization that’s been around for more than 20 years? Cyndie found this event when looking for something to do and added a reservation at Kincaid’s Fish, Chop & Steakhouse within walking distance of the theater for dinner before the show.

Irish Whiskey Seared Salmon for me and Prime Rib for Cyndie. Yum!

The classic album that we saw performed was The Beatles’ Abbey Road. The musicians admit to being nerds for the sounds of the albums, note for note, cut for cut. They don’t dress in costumes or strive to imitate the original artists. Instead, they put all their focus on performing live renditions of the recorded songs of classic albums from the period of music I grew up listening to. They don’t talk between cuts but just roll from one song to the next, the way my brain is used to hearing it.

What a trip!

Watching the effort they put into reproducing each effect of the recordings was particularly entertaining. On “Octopus’s Garden,” the horn players appeared on stage for the first time, holding cups with straws, to join the violinist and cellist in blowing bubbles in a way that worked perfectly to replicate the recorded version.

Of course, “Maxwell’s Silver Hammer” had the violinist striking metal with a hammer. From hand claps to harmonies and impressively precise musicianship, the artists brought the album to life in front of a full theater of passionate fans.

The Abbey Road album is only 47 minutes in length, so the musicians took a break after completing “Her Majesty” and then came out for a second set of Beatles’ songs from a variety of albums.

They closed the show with a rousing performance of “Twist and Shout” that had the audience on its feet, singing and dancing along. A good time was had by all.

On the drive home, Cyndie was checking the Classic Albums Live website for albums we might want to catch in the future. In just two weeks, they will be back at the Ordway to perform U2’s Joshua Tree. The Ordway announced they would be releasing their 2025-26 performance schedule soon, which will include more CAL shows, so we will be watching for that to see if there isn’t another nostalgic opportunity that strikes our fancy.

As I wound down from the excitement last night, I found myself thinking that I should do more listening to my music library by entire album instead of the usual random shuffle of every song in my collection that I most often choose. I think the first one I will pick might be Abbey Road since the live concert version is still fresh in my mind.

Since my library is digital, no flipping of vinyl will need to occur half way through.

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