A fan of his Daily Show appearances, I got to see Lewis Black in person this weekend at Mystic Lake Casino in Prior Lake. He’s even funnier live and uncensored. Every golfer needs to hear the rant he did about golfing–hopefully that will be released on a future CD or DVD.

Opener John Bowman was funny also, but he seemed to forget his lines a few times.

The new theater at Mystic was very nice, although the crowd flow after the show was awful. They also need to open up the Meadows Grille on show nights-we couldn’t get in to any of the other sit-down restaurants before the show.

After dining at the lovely Ristorante Luci, we went to see The Police concert at the Xcel Energy Center this week. Couldn’t justify the $225 tickets, but the $50 seats we had weren’t bad.

I had attended the last Twin Cities show of the band–the Synchronicity Tour at the Met Center in 1983. It was the first big concert I got to attend by myself and I remember being blown away by the energy and power of the performers and the great songs.

After reading some of the reviews of the shows from this tour, it sounded like the years had treated the band well and that they were playing with a lot of energy and passion (not just for a big payday). Unfortunately, that wasn’t the show we got to see on Tuesday night.

Two songs into the set, I was laughing at how little Sting and Andy Summers were moving around. When Sting did finally move from his mic stand, he took one leisurely stroll around the stage to wave at the people in back sections. That was about it for stage theatrics.

We watched the facial expressions of all three of them on the big screens and that provided some interesting moments. Stewart looked like he wanted to kill Sting for most of the show and Andy looked like an old English barrister who showed zero emotion–even during his excellent guitar solos. Stewart had all the old guy gear: black headband, wrist guards and what looked like braces on his feet. Sting was extremely pissed–then happy–at the sound board guys during Roxanne (which he sang the same way he’s been doing solo for 20 years).

As the locals papers mentioned in their reviews, the re-working of several songs fell flat. My biggest disappointment was Don’t Stand So Close To Me, which started off as the dark, foreboding song it was meant to be, but degraded when they got to the chorus, switched tempo and made it a happy, Calypso ditty. Bah.

I thought the show got better as it went along and I was happy they did multiple encores, but I would have been really mad if I had paid $450 for the chance to be there.

Set List (from Jon Bream’s Pop Life blog):

1. Message in a Bottle 2. Synchronicity II 3. Walking on the Moon 4. Voices in My Head/When the World Is Running Down… 5. Don’t Stand So Close to Me 6. Driven to Tears 7. Truth Hits Everybody 8. Bed’s Too Big without You 9. Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic 10. Wrapped around Your Finger 11. De Do Do Do, De Da Da Da 12. Invisible Sun 13. Walking in Your Footsteps 14. Can’t Stand Losing You

Encores: 15. Roxanne 16. King of Pain 17. So Lonely 18. Every Breath You Take 19. Next to You

Last night my wife and I attended the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra performance at the Ordway Center in downtown St. Paul. The concert featured violinist Joshua Bell, a favorite of ours. We were a little confused at first by the program, which was the last of their “Jazzed-Up” offerings for the season. After the intermission, you could choose between returning to the hall to hear Beethoven’s Trio in C Minor for Violin, Viola and Cello, Op. 9 No. 3 or stay in the lobby and listen to Chris Brown and Friends play Gershwin tunes from Porgy and Bess.

We thought Mr. Bell was coming back after intermission, so we couldn’t see how anyone would stay in the lobby. I was reading from the day’s earlier concert, however, so he was done after the first two pieces. Both were sensational:

• Mozart’s Symphony No. 38 in D, K.504, “Prague”
• Bruch’s Violin Concerto No. 1 in G Minor, Op. 26

The second piece was my favorite. Mr. Bell was front and center, standing for all three movements. A teenage girl and her mother were sitting next to me and I was fascinated to watch the young girl follow along with the sheet music. I overheard another woman ask them if she played and she said it was a piece she has been practicing, but that it’s so hard to play. She was truly excited to hear it played by a virtuoso on a priceless instrument. That excitement was contagious.

After we figured out the Jazzed-Up options, we went into the lobby and listened to Chris Brown’s band. Prudence Johnson was the singer and we had fun listening while sampling some cheesecake. The lobby was full and my wife was tired of standing, so we decided to leave early.

When we went down the staircase, the lower level only had a dozen or so people standing around. I noticed someone sitting at a table by himself and it was Joshua Bell! The people standing were all in line to buy his CD and he was waiting to sign them after purchase. My wife bought his latest CD (again) and had it signed. I got a coveted “To DK” on my ticket (see above). A very exciting end to a fun evening…

One of my guilty pleasures, Cirque du Soleil, announced a new traveling show today and it’s coming to Minneapolis this fall. Kooza is described as “a return to the origins of Cirque du Soleil: It combines two circus traditions ‚Äì acrobatic performance and the art of clowning.”

I’m a big clown hater, but we’ll still see it, I’m sure…

Tonight my wife and I went to see the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra perform Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony at St. Mary’s Basilica in downtown Minneapolis. The ninth is my favorite classical work to see performed live–the sight of all of those people on stage at the same time is unparalleled. The acoustics in that building were not the greatest, but the beauty of the architecture made up for it.

It boggles my mind that people can’t shut up for 90 minutes. Unless you are saying you need an ambulance, be quiet! Between the people talking, the guy with the repeater cough and the lady flipping through her program during the performance, it was hard to focus on the music. Still, I enjoy attending classical performances and this is a work I think everyone should see at least once in their lifetime. The peak of the chorus in the last movement brings a tear to my eye every time…DK

While up late working on adding items to the First Day Cover database, I stumbled across the lovely Shirley Manson singing with Garbage on the PBS show Soundstage. I really should watch for this program more–they had a great Chris Isaak Christmas show last year.

Garbage is one of the few groups I really wanted to see live, but never did. Since I went to school in Madison, it seems really dumb that I haven’t. I noticed Golden Smog has a new album and is coming to First Avenue later this month. Better get a ticket before I regret that too…DK

As one of only three cities to get the double bill of Pearl Jam and Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, we thought we were getting a great deal with two concerts for the price of one. We’ve seen Pearl Jam a number of times, but this was our first time seeing Petty. The Tuesday evening show was the second in a two-night stand and the newspaper reviews of the Monday concert were positive, so we had high hopes. Unfortunately, we left feeling a little cheated. (more…)