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 – 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.

Both acts were listed as co-headliners, but the table was tilted towards Tom Petty, as they got to have an encore, played longer and brought out Eddie Vedder for two songs during their set. That wasn’t necessarily a bad thing by itself, but it meant no encore songs from Pearl Jam and no return appearances from the other Pearl Jam members. There may be more to the story, but I couldn’t believe that “the two Mikes” didn’t have a guitar jam together at some point. Vedder commented that two of the best guitarists in the world were stage right (McCready and Campbell)–it would have been great to hear them play together.

The night was plagued with production issues. First, McCready’s guitar had issues that caused him to just stop playing mid-song and walk off stage. There were also feedback and volume issues early in Pearl Jam’s set that caused Vedder at one point to throw his water bottle (or beer?) towards the side of the stage. Most of the issues during the Pearl Jam set were resolved about a third of the way through, only to reappear during the Petty set. Most annoying moment of the night–Vedder joins Petty to sing the opening verse of The Waiting, only to have a dead mic. Vedder continues to sing passionately throughout the song and we couldn’t hear a word. Thankfully, he returned on the last song of the night (American Girl) and did a quick “check, check” before starting the song–to huge applause.

As for the actual performances, it was a loud, entertaining night. Pearl Jam performed a nice mix of new material, older “minor” hits and just enough mega-hits to keep the crowd happy. Since we’ve seen them a number of times, we really don’t need to hear Jeremy and Daughter again and didn’t have to in this show. They played two of my all-time favorites: Not For You from Vitalogy and Black from Ten. Finishing up with Alive, the set also included Corduroy, Elderly Woman Behind The Counter In A Small Town, Given to Fly, Glorified G (!), Low Light (!!), Life Wasted, State of Love and Trust, World Wide Suicide and Hail, Hail. The only other songs I really wanted to hear (but didn’t) were: Spin the Black Circle, Yellow Ledbetter, Nothingman and Rearviewmirror.

On the Petty side of things, it was like a live performance of the Greatest Hits album with some covers and a new song thrown in. Since I hadn’t seen him before, this was exactly what I wanted to hear. I’ll look for a setlist later, as I don’t know my Petty as well as my Eddie. Don’t Come Around Here No More, Refugee and Runnin’ Down A Dream, though, are a few that stick out mainly because they all caused me to have flashbacks to watching videos on early MTV and listening to WLOL and KDWB growing up. For a 55-year-old, Petty still knows how to shake those old guy jeans…DK

The day before I left town for the Open, my wife and I saw Bruce Springsteen with the Seeger Sessions Band at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul. His new CD doesn’t hold a candle to the live show, which was truly amazing. The 16 member band had an energy level I haven’t seen since Lyle Lovett’s Large Band was in town. The brass section was a special standout–more bands could use a good brass section, methinks.

They played most of the songs from the new album during the 2 1/2-hour show (which started an hour late with no explanation), but for some reason they skipped Froggie Went A-Courtin’ and Shenandoah. There was an incredible version of When the Saints Go Marching In, though, and four re-works of previous Springsteen songs. The reviews in the local papers were both very positive and it was a show I would see again in a heartbeat…DK

Last night we went to see the new Cirque du Soleil musical travelling show, Delirium, at the Xcel Energy Center in downtown Saint Paul. As my Cirque fetish page implies, we are big fans of their other shows. This one was a little different, though, so we didn’t know what to expect.

It started right on time at 7:30 with something unusual–an opening act. Nitza, described by Variety as “Eva Longoria channeling Enya,” has performed with other Cirque shows (KÀ in Las Vegas) and sang during the main show as well. My three-word review of Nitza: better than clowns.

As for the main show, it wasn’t what I thought it would be. I was expecting remixes of previous songs with a focus on the musicians and lots of multimedia effects. The show did have this, but it also had acrobatic performances like their other shows (albeit in smaller bits). Considering the price of the tickets, I didn’t feel it was as good a value, but it was still entertaining.

Several parts reminded me of various Vegas shows (both Cirque and others), with great lighting and vibrant choreography. The sound at the X has always been good and the unusual stage layout for this show didn’t change that. The visual effects on the multiple screens and sheer curtains created some really surreal images, but I wish we were a little further back (we were in the fifth row on the side–people on the floor missed it totally).

Favorite performers:

• Wife – the energenic, sculpted dancer
• Me – the hula hoop woman

Next up: LOVE – Cirque + The Beatles at The Mirage, previews start June 2…DK

Fine Line Music Cafe
CD Release Party
April 8, 2006

Official Band Site
MySpace Profile

Last night my wife and I attended the CD release party for Hanz Erik and the Hims new album, Copay. This was only our second concert we’ve attended at the Fine Line and I’d forgotten how small that space is–especially with the upstairs seating closed. The acoustics were very good and the main floor was crowded.

The lead singer, Hanz Erik, leads a double life as a music facilitator at HSRA. Our students are lucky to have someone so talented on staff. Hanz is a great vocalist, songwriter, keyboardist, guitarist and instructor.

The new album Copay is the second album from the group, but the first released as Hanz Erik and the Hims. Known as HanzSolo until receiving a cease-and-desist letter from George Lucas, the lineup is almost the same as before (drummer George Marich replaces Ollie Bauer). Stein Malvey plays guitar and Erik Naslund plays bass.

Coming on stage at 11pm, the one-hour set included most of the songs from the new album and a few old HanzSolo songs from Closet Pop, including I Wish I Were Your Hair and Friends With Benefits. They played my two favorite songs from the new album towards the end of the set: Girl Up in My Mind and Potential Energy. That latter song is a total rocker with great guitar work and a catchy refrain and is my overall favorite song from both albums. Well worth the $10 just for that song…DK