Friday night we went to Prospect Park in Brooklyn for a free program under the stars by the Metropolitan Opera featuring two of its stars, real-life couple Angela Gheorghiu and Robert Alagna. They were supported by a chorus and a full orchestra. I am certainly no opera buff, but have enjoyed a performance here and there, even at the big house. The outdoors program was wonderful in that (a) it was free!, (b) we had assembled a nice group of friends, (c) we brought yummy treats, (d) we could stretch out on blankets as opposed to sitting in stuffy small seats, and (e) they sang a lot of recognizable tunes (thanks, Bugs Bunny!).
Below is a solo by each that I captured on my crappy little camera of the projection screen next to the stage. The first is one of my favorite arias from Puccini's Madama Butterfly -- "Un bel dì vedremo" (One fine day we shall see) -- sung by the soprano Gheorghiu.
This next one is a solo by the tenor Alagna -- "Nessun dorma" (None shall sleep) from Turandot also by Puccini. I first became familiar with this song watching the recently deceased Pavarotti sing it on TV, but Alagna does a pretty bang up job here:
For two hours, this ultra-talented couple charmed the crowd with their playfulness and fantastic ability to emote. Gheorghiu, with her three costume changes, was absolutely stunning to behold. Here is a video I took of the two of them together -- "Te iubebc!" from Gherase Dendrino's operetta Lasati-ma sa cânt:
Luckily, the rain held off till well after the show too. A perfect evening!
I heard an interesting interview with British band The Get Out Clause on The Takeaway on WNYC last week. Not that their music is especially noteworthy (kinda along the lines of Coldplay and Snow Patrol, methinks), but they talked about the band's inventive method of putting together a video for their first single "Paper."
As Wired explained about a month ago, the British government has installed security cameras all over town in attempt to curb scofflaws. Citizens are able to request any footage in which they appear within 30 days, however. And so, The Get Out Clause used this policy to their advantage, playing as a band in front of numerous security cameras, and eventually requesting and splicing said footage to form a video on a shoestring budget.
Gotta love the DIY attitude! On the Takeaway the guys intimated that they were yet to be signed by a record label, but in this day and age of the Internet, and YouTube and overall cleverness, is it really necessary?
Happy Birthday, ladies! Kim and Kelly Deal brought me back to my college years as they tore through a quick 75 minute or so set based mainly off their latest album, as well as a handful from Last Splash and a few Amps covers. It was thrilling seeing "Cannonball" played live, as the crowd shook the floor. I YouTubed "Here No More" down below. Can't wait to see The Breeders again when they come back for a free pool party at McCarren Pool on Sunday, July 13th (with Matt & Kim)!
Encouraged by a post I recently read on The Music Slut, I signed up for a free early show at the Mercury Lounge by the San Francisco treat, Birdmonster (which actually has a somewhat well-written blog). Prior to tonight's performance, which promoted the band's upcoming sophomore release, From The Mountain To The Sea, due out on August 5th, I knew little of the band other than its cute name and a cursory listen of songs from MySpace. They proved to be a fun and talented live band, and definitely merit a closer listening. The guys were full of stage energy (reminding Shana of the time we saw Cold War Kids opening for Tapes 'N Tapes a few years ago) but managed to still put out some tight melodies and lyrics (unlike the trainwreck performances I witnessed by Team Robespierre and The Teenagers a few weeks ago).
Here is a cut from the new album entitled,"Born To Be Your Man" (sorry for the boominess of the audio):
And the opportunity to follow a free show with a pastrami sandwich at nearby Katz's is always a good thing, in my book!
(Sorry it's been so friggin' long since I should have posted this review! Today, a friend sent me the bootleg of this show, which I'm listening to now, and it has reminded me how awesome it was to be there, and that I should POST! Thanks, M.!)
Sometime in early February I was IMing with Wawa about the latest Wilco contest -- a pair of tickets to one of their sold-out 5-night residency at their hometown Riviera Theatre during which they supposedly would cover a majority of songs off all their albums. He declined to enter since he had a wedding that President's Day Weekend, but I figured I had no real plans, so why not? Well, lo and behold, on Valentine's Day, Thursday the 14th, I got a call from Wilco's management that I had won the contest, and would I be able to join them in Chicago two days from then? You betcha!
For the rest of that afternoon, I scrambled to find someone to share in my winnings -- people either were already committed to plans or didn't quite jump at the idea of booking a last minute plane ticket to Chicago. Luckily for me and for my old roommate Fer, we both had enough frequent flyer miles to merit a cheap ticket each. So we packed our bags and off we went the very next day!
We got put up in a nice room at the Hard Rock Hotel in Downtown Chicago, and this was our spectacular view:
After a dinner of Chicago-style deep dish pizza, we cabbed our way up to the theater, and were slightly dismayed to find a line already blocks long emanating from the entrance in the freezing cold Chicago temps. I decided to go into the lobby and talk to security and the management, and explained that I had won the contest and was supposed to pick up tickets up front, and miraculously, they told me and Fer to wait right there indoors and to wait for the lady with the guest list. Cool beans! I started getting a little antsy as doors opened, and people streamed by, and the guest list lady was still nowhere to be found. The floor was general admission, and I could sense my chances of being up front like I had been for the last time I saw Wilco diminishing rapidly. Finally she showed up, and instead of handing us tickets, gave us those cool stickers that you see guest list people often wearing:
Fer and I headed towards the floor, but the usher directed us to go upstairs. Crap! I didn't want to be stuck up in the mezzanine. But then the next usher upstairs directed us to go to the very front and center of the mezzanine. Sweet! It was a perfect view of the stage, and was wonderful placement acoustically-speaking, and we were seated as opposed to dealing with the standing crowd below us.
The show itself was utterly amazing. It clocked out at just over 2-1/2 hours, and as promised, the setlist drew from all of Wilco's albums, with about 2/3 of it coming from pre-Yankee Hotel Foxtrot songs, which was good, since the last few times I had seen them, they had focused on their latest release, Sky Blue Sky. From my ideal seat, I was able to record eight of their selections, including the ultra-rare "Dash 7" for which violinist Andrew Bird joined them:
The guys, as always, were a pleasure to watch, and you could tell that Jeff Tweedy was having a good time playing to the folks of Chicago who supported each song, rarity or not, with loud roars. In fact, after the show seemed to be over, the crowd refused to budge and kept chanting for another encore even after the house lights and the back curtain went up and the roadies started putting equipment away. The guys came out after a good amount of coaxing and treated us with a final encore of two more songs, "ELT" and "Hoodoo Voodoo." I felt so happy!
As part of my prize, I also got hooked up with a bunch of merchandise, including a limited edition poster screened specifically for that night. It's the second one from the left:
The next day, I received a pair of tickets in the second row by a goal for the Chicago Blackhawks hockey game, and some merchandise for them as well. I wore this dorky baseball cap, which was a good move because the die-hard Chicago fans around me immediately accepted me as one of their own, and high-fived me as their Hawks skated to victory. I had never had such great seats before, and got to see everything mega-close-up:
including a FIGHT!!! Funny thing is that my Wilco weekend didn't end the night before; the bassist, John Stirratt participated during one of the challenges during an intermission:
How random was that?
All in all, it was a super-amazing weekend, including visits with an old friend and Fer's family, and plenty of good eats:
A Chicago-style dog at the airport. For breakfast. It doesn't get any classier than that, folks!
Welcome to the Hiptarded Parade! Last night, thanks to The Music Slut, I got to witness the spectacles known as The Teenagers and Team Robespierre at the Bowery Ballroom. Each band adroitly employed the finest non-singing/talking methods available to man while backed by throwback '80s synthesizer/drum sounds. They both also used the "let's jump into the crowd and get them going" technique. Whee!
Friday night we went to Prospect Park in Brooklyn for a free program under the stars by the Metropolitan Opera featuring two of its stars, real-life couple Angela Gheorghiu and Robert Alagna. They were supported by a chorus and a full orchestra. I am certainly no opera buff, but have enjoyed a performance here and there, even at the big house. The outdoors program was wonderful in that (a) it was free!, (b) we had assembled a nice group of friends, (c) we brought yummy treats, (d) we could stretch out on blankets as opposed to sitting in stuffy small seats, and (e) they sang a lot of recognizable tunes (thanks, Bugs Bunny!).
Below is a solo by each that I captured on my crappy little camera of the projection screen next to the stage. The first is one of my favorite arias from Puccini's Madama Butterfly -- "Un bel dì vedremo" (One fine day we shall see) -- sung by the soprano Gheorghiu.
