Posts Tagged ‘concert’
Fabulous Show
Last night, Cyndie and I met our friends, Pam and John, for dinner and a show in Minneapolis. We picked them up at their house after feeding the horses and Asher a little earlier than usual in the afternoon. We ate downtown at the Clay Oven restaurant for Indian food. They offer a huge selection of freshly prepared options, and luckily for us, they ask what level of spiciness you prefer for each choice. Delicious eats!
It was just a short drive away to the Orpheum theater to see David Byrne’s first of two nights on his “Who Is the Sky Tour.”
The show was fabulous. The dramatic stage projection images were really powerful. Their opening song was “Heaven,” and it looked like they were performing on the moon. Much to my liking, he performed a good number of popular Talking Heads songs throughout the set.
The visual imagery was striking. Seeing the show from the balcony allowed for a great view of the floor scenes as they changed from the lunar surface to grass, then a dirty city street, a rooftop, and even a shot of his actual apartment in New York City.
The thirteen members of the ensemble backing him up were completely mobile and moved around the whole time like a precision marching band. During the song with their names, the words followed them around wherever they went.
The packed house gave him many rousing ovations, particularly after one impressive visual extravaganza. When he stepped forward to speak after the song, the roar of the crowd picked up and was sustained for a minute or two before he could say anything.
It was a wonderful night, and the fabulous spectacle put a smile on everyone we saw leaving the theater. We had purchased our tickets late, so we were seated individually across the balcony. Waiting to meet up again after the show allowed us to stand and observe most of the folks on their way out.
David Byrne’s artistry is a welcome balm for what ails the country these days. In addition to all the smiles, it seemed like everyone had a little more hop in their step, too.
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Ani Concert
We were out on the town again last night, hustling to downtown Minneapolis after feeding the dog and horses to see Ani DiFranco performing at First Avenue.
Cyndie purchased the tickets last September and then choreographed getting us there in perfect timing to select a spot where we wouldn’t have tall people standing in front of us. I just had to show up and enjoy the show.
Ani was in fine form and the crowd showered her with love.
It made for a very pleasant night. I’m a bit out of practice for a concert performance that requires standing for the entire night and for a venue where the volume makes earplugs advisable. I had no hearing protection and regretted it.
We are fans of Ani’s earlier albums, having discovered her at an outdoor music festival at Hyland Lake Park Reserve in the early to mid-90s. It was obvious that the crowd last night shared a similar appreciation for Ani’s music from that period and we were all treated to a variety of our old favorites.
Ani mentioned a recent interviewer asked if she was still singing protest songs. Not appreciating being labeled a protest singer, Ani said she performs to bring people joy. She certainly achieved that last night, and from the look on her face, I think the warm responses from the audience returned the joy right back to her.
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Other Ventures
Yesterday I wrote about the horses venturing out but they aren’t the only ones around here who’ve been on excursions. To make December a little more festive, Monday night Cyndie and I took a little drive to Minneapolis and picked up our daughter to meet Cyndie’s brother and mom for dinner at Giulia restaurant followed by a George Winston concert at Orchestra Hall.
The food was delightful (I ordered salmon) and the concert was… interesting. I’m embarrassed to admit that I never considered that George would have aged since the last time I paid any attention to him, which was so long ago I don’t actually remember. I think it was when we lived in the rented double bungalow on Cedar Avenue which would make it over 40 years ago. His command of the keys was still remarkable. He played a few Vince Guaraldi tunes that are always a treat to hear among selections of his other compositions.
The evening was only slightly more challenging an outing due to accumulating snowfall and Cyndie being confined to crutches.
The week before, I was on my own excursion, driving out to Eden Prairie for an annual December gathering of old high school buddies. In a wonderful serendipity of experience, I ended up finding more than twice the number of friendly old faces than I was expecting.
Much to my surprise, at the same restaurant, there was a gathering of folks from Physical Electronics, many of whom I haven’t seen since I left that company in 1999, after 18 years of employment. I was torn between socializing with the roughly 30 former coworkers and my group of about 15 former classmates.
As tough as it was to cut the coworker greetings short, I was there for the EP guys, so I returned to mingle with them, but it was a thrilling surprise to have stumbled unexpectedly upon a reunion of friendly faces from the best years of my working life.
We don’t expect to be doing any venturing out for the next few days. Snowfall is due to begin this afternoon and then tomorrow and Friday the snow will be blowing around in winds that could hit 50 mph. Wind chill temperatures will be extreme.
I took a picture of our horses modeling their blankets in advance of the wild weather. Yesterday was very much the calm before a storm. They soaked up the sunshine and napped most of the day.
I’m guessing they will see little reason to venture from the protection of that overhang when those high winds kick up. I wonder if I should tie a guide rope from the house to the barn to help me find my way in a whiteout blizzard.
There is always a possibility it won’t be as bad as the warnings are preparing us to expect. Our fingers are crossed.
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Out Again
Feeling quite the bon vivant event-goers of late, last night we found ourselves out on the town again. We took a chance with our chickens and left their coop access door open long after dark in order to head downtown to Minneapolis for dinner and a concert with Cyndie’s brother, Ben.
Highest accolades shout-out to Mercy restaurant for superb food, great service, and fine ambiance.
Oh my gosh, the salmon and fixings were sublime. Shared bites from Cyndie’s and Ben’s plates revealed their choices were just as good.
Conveniently, the restaurant was just steps away from the State Theater where Ben had tickets for a solo acoustic concert by guitarist, Trey Anastasio. I am most familiar with Trey’s electric guitar artistry on his self-titled album, but I’m sure he is better known for his role in the rock band, Phish.
I’ve seen plenty of performances that were advertised as “acoustic” but stretched the definition to a variety of degrees. Trey’s show held reasonably close to the genre.
Our seats in the balcony placed me appropriately between two levels of interested fans. There were two guys behind me who I assume came with dates who were in love with the guitarist. These guys decided to have a full-voiced conversation about the mundane, …about one of their dads, something down in a basement, how the truck was performing… in the middle of some fascinating finger movement across frets.
Two people in front of us were being moved to the highest levels of euphoria upon hearing the opening notes of every song, unable to keep their hands from floating into the air in joyous rapture, occasionally rising to their feet to dance, as if powerless to resist the bliss unleashed by the connection their minds provided to the Phish song Trey was acoustically covering.
I couldn’t join the Phish faithful in singing along, because I didn’t know the lyrics, but I was thrilled to be witnessing the live-performance virtuosity of such an accomplished musician.
It made it easy for me to overcome the urge to turn around to tell the guys about my deck and the power tools I was learning to use in replacing all the rotting cedar boards with new green-treated two-by-sixes.
As our car barreled east on I94 through St. Paul after the show, a call came in from Ben. He just wanted to let us know he was a few blocks from home already and wondered how we were doing. Funny guy. We had about 40-minutes left to get to Beldenville.
Happily, I found the chickens all safe and sound on their roost, cooing at my arrival to close the door.
Another smashing success of a night out on the town. Thanks, Ben!
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Out Late
Cyndie and I had a night out on the town with her brother, Ben, last night.
Guess what city we were in?
We met for dinner in a historic diner.
Guess who we saw in concert at the Palace Theatre?
Guess who didn’t get enough sleep last night?
Yeah, that’d be me…
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Great Show
Many, many months ago, I bought tickets for a show in downtown Minneapolis at the State Theater on Hennepin Avenue, not really sure why I was picking this concert over so many other more obvious choices for us. Must have been my keen intuition.
Last night, the performance date finally arrived and we headed to the big city to see the TajMo band. Two blues greats, Taj Mahal and Keb’ Mo’, have joined forces to come up with a very pleasing combined version of themselves.
Here is a link to a nice review of their show in Nevada back in June that matches closely with the version we experienced. It does a good job of capturing the essence of the night we had.
The only drawback with our little forays to the Twin Cities on work nights is that it cuts into my sleep, which usually makes for short blog posts, too.
I’ll leave you with a couple of shots taken on my phone from up in the balcony. Did I mention it was a really great show? It truly was.
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Special Privilege
It felt like a special privilege to be in the presence of Brian Wilson performing the Pet Sounds album last night. It was a great experience that brought us a lot of joy.
We have seen a relatively recent rendition of the Beach Boys in concert, with Mike Love and Al Jardine, and now we have this in comparison, a concert by Brian Wilson and an amazing combination of supporting musicians, including again, Al Jardine.
Last night’s show was aimed at an audience that is passionate about the full depth of what goes into a song, performed by artists who share that same passion. The difference was significant. The concert last night was transcendent.
The mental challenges that Brian Wilson has lived through resonate for me. I have always felt an appreciation for his artistry, and feel a morsel of connection with him.
It was thrilling to be able to stand among thousands of others who feel similarly, to thank him with a rousing ovation at the end of Brian’s singing, “God Only Knows.”
It was a privilege.
I couldn’t get myself to interrupt any part of the evening’s performance with the cell phone lifted into someone else’s view for a photo, so all I have is a before and after.
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It’s all I need to remind myself of the magic that took place in between.
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Relative Something 