Recent Concerts You've Enjoyed

Thought this might be a fun thread and a way to find out about acts on tour.

My wife and I saw the Smoke Fairies at the Tractor Tavern last evening as the opening act for Rasputina. The Smoke Fairies are a 'folk blues' duo from Wales and have been described as "Bob Dylan's dream." I thought that their debut release "Through Low Light and Trees" was one of last year's best. It was just the two principles singing and playing guitar. Really terrific concert with excellent acoustics and thankfully not too loud.

If you are ever in Seattle, the Tractor Tavern is a great venue in the Ballard neighborhood. Very fun people watching...I think my wife and I were the only ones without tattoos! I got to chat with them after their set and had my LP signed. I love the lilting Welsh accents!

Here's a video of "Hotel Room" from their debut LP:

[video]

 

Some classical jazz tonight in Giaveno (Northwest Italy) location: Chiesa dei Batu' (a small double-spaced Church from XVI/XVIII Century with only 100-110 seats). Guitarist Luigi Tessarollo and his sextet.
A pleasant evening of good live music!

 

I used to go to Wigi a lot, not so much since covid, but I did hear Uchida play there when it was still socially distanced. I will look into it as I'm home alone that weekend.

The Friday evening after Donizetti I'm going to see Lonnie Holley at Church of Sound in Stoke Newington, tickets £20. A great venue. One of those gigs that with no expectations can't be disappointed and often amazing.

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St. James church on murder mile, just around the corner from me on Stokey Rd. I may pop along.
Sampha also playing St. John’s. 13/14th

 

St. James church on murder mile, just around the corner from me on Stokey Rd. I may pop along.
Sampha also playing St. John’s. 13/14th

I didn't know the Murder Mile bit.

Always good gigs. One to the best was Ezra Collective with an added brass section, doing a Fela Kuti evening. I think it was this Cookers gig that put the place on the map. It was quite amazing. Not a bad brass section - Billie Harper, Dave Weiss, Eddie Henderson and Donald Harrison. If that wasn't enough, Shabaka Hutchings joined in for the last 45 minutes.

 

Well @bonzo75 , a good night out even with Terfel off sick.

L’elisir d’amore, an ideal pick-me-up, the main interest was the Covent Garden debut of the star soprano Nadine Sierra, all the way from Florida. Her signing was effortless, she can act and she’s very pretty (helps as the love interest). Having been blown away by Lisette Oropesa in recent years (Lucia, Rigoletto, Alcina), her compatriot from New Orleans, difficult not to make comparisons.

Sat next to the biographer of Dame Joan Sutherland and her husband, who were very opinionated about the ice cream, and a couple who I’d been very close to until tragedy struck them 40 years ago And hadn’t seen since.

 

 

My wife took me to KISS. great fun night!!

 

Neil Young and Crazy Horse at the Roxy Theater in West Hollywood. 50 year anniversary of the Roxy. Young and Crazy Horse played at the opening 50 years ago. Concert played two complete Young and Crazy horse albums

 

Saw blues rock guitarist extraordinaire Joanne Shaw Taylor last night at Lafayett's Music Room in Memphis. The lady can play, with anyone!

 

Wednesday night (10/11/2023) at Dazzle in Denver, the Jonathan Kreisberg Quartet. Last leg of US tour and then off to the UK. Catch them if you can.

 

It's been a good week for music in Denver. My son and I had the pleasure of witnessing Pat Metheny's tour de force Dream Box solo performance at the Paramount Theater this evening. Simply incredible.

 

Had a great weekend in Milan with my wife. Attended the Scala (Teatro alla Scala) to watch Figaro – the acoustics were the best I heard in opera halls as was the depth of the stage. The stage is massive. Great performance.

Trivia: Unlike the Royal Opera House where the Royal Booth is in the front corner (close view at an angle but assumes the royal family is not into sitting in the sweet spot) the Royal Booth at the Scala is bang opposite the stage with the best seat and well spotlit.

Further trivia: Next to the Scala is the Campari bar, which has been there since ancient times, a bar where the composers met after the first opening night to throw a party. Next to it is one of the first malls in the world.

Had meals at and can recommend Langosteria, a top rated Milan restaurant (excellent starters and Tiramisu, the mains were so-so), Identite Golose (brilliant pasta and great different risotto, so-so mains), and Trattoria Medonnina (very traditional homely food).


Tuna carpaccio with aubergine in the middle of it


Lobster linguini

 

Many other dishes went by without having time to whip the camera out. But as per audiophile demands, here is a video

Tiramisu at Langosteria

youtube.com

 

Tower of Power

Went to see Tower of Power last night at the MAYO- a 1500 seat theater in nearby Morristown, NJ . It was just wonderful. Funkadelic Soul that was indeed welcome food for the soul in the most fkd up world we have known for quite a long time.

To begin, if you saw any of these guys on the street and you were kind, you would offer to take them back to the nursing home they escaped from. It was very hard to find anyone in the audience under 50, but don't let that fool you. This mostly sold out, geriatric crowd rocked. When they said get up and dance, I'm telling you they got their asses up and danced! And not reluctantly like when the band says to do that at a wedding or Bar Mitzvah. This white haired/no haired, gummied-up crowd was into it!

And the best part?...No fkng cell phones in your face taping for social media (except for a rare photo such as the one I took)! (I saw the Doobies there a few months ago and it was a constant sea of annoying cell phone tapings)

This music never gets old and did what music does best. The band was as polished as it gets. Great players, great charts, great singer. Just a fabulous show that provided the answer to the eternal question they've been asking for over 50 years: "What is Hip"? Answer: The music of Tower of Power!

 

Many other dishes went by without having time to whip the camera out. But as per audiophile demands, here is a video

Tiramisu at Langosteria

youtube.com

Finally! A Ked video with an absolutely clear purpose!!

 

I didn't know the Murder Mile bit.

Always good gigs. One to the best was Ezra Collective with an added brass section, doing a Fela Kuti evening. I think it was this Cookers gig that put the place on the map. It was quite amazing. Not a bad brass section - Billie Harper, Dave Weiss, Eddie Henderson and Donald Harrison. If that wasn't enough, Shabaka Hutchings joined in for the last 45 minutes.
View attachment 117565

Wow - seeing Ezra Collective tomorrow night at RAH. Have high hopes!

 

Had a great weekend in Milan with my wife. Attended the Scala (Teatro alla Scala) to watch Figaro – the acoustics were the best I heard in opera halls as was the depth of the stage. The stage is massive. Great performance.

Trivia: Unlike the Royal Opera House where the Royal Booth is in the front corner (close view at an angle but assumes the royal family is not into sitting in the sweet spot) the Royal Booth at the Scala is bang opposite the stage with the best seat and well spotlit.

Further trivia: Next to the Scala is the Campari bar, which has been there since ancient times, a bar where the composers met after the first opening night to throw a party. Next to it is one of the first malls in the world.

Had meals at and can recommend Langosteria, a top rated Milan restaurant (excellent starters and Tiramisu, the mains were so-so), Identite Golose (brilliant pasta and great different risotto, so-so mains), and Trattoria Medonnina (very traditional homely food).

View attachment 118286 View attachment 118287
Tuna carpaccio with aubergine in the middle of it

View attachment 118288
Lobster linguini

View attachment 118289 View attachment 118290

We arranged a trip to France/Italy last year around the opening night of the La Scala autumn ballet season (Marienela Nunez and Roberto Bolle in Onegin). I was also extremely impressed by the acoustics, less impressed by the behaviour of the audience - a rowdy lot.

We were also in the presence of royalty - Giorgio Armani - a few rows in front of us. It was very funny, he was in the gangway row in the middle of the stalls and people were literally 'kissing the ring' on bended knee. It was very Marlon Brando.

The service at the bar next to La Scala was terrible! We had three excellent meals, the best nearest the opera house was Il Salumaio di Montenapoleone. https://www.ilsalumaiodimontenapoleone.it/il-ristorante-a-milano Can't go to Milan and not have Costoletta.

Milan seemed to us a very noisy and smelly town, especially having come from a beautifully serene and quiet hotel on Lake Como.

 

Wow - seeing Ezra Collective tomorrow night at RAH. Have high hopes!

Hope you're having fun. Had to look it up, my gig was 5 years ago, it was with the SEED Ensemble.So not exactly recent.

RAH? They've moved up in the world.

 

Thought this might be a fun thread and a way to find out about acts on tour.

My wife and I saw the Smoke Fairies at the Tractor Tavern last evening as the opening act for Rasputina. The Smoke Fairies are a 'folk blues' duo from Wales and have been described as "Bob Dylan's dream." I thought that their debut release "Through Low Light and Trees" was one of last year's best. It was just the two principles singing and playing guitar. Really terrific concert with excellent acoustics and thankfully not too loud.

If you are ever in Seattle, the Tractor Tavern is a great venue in the Ballard neighborhood. Very fun people watching...I think my wife and I were the only ones without tattoos! I got to chat with them after their set and had my LP signed. I love the lilting Welsh accents!

Here's a video of "Hotel Room" from their debut LP:

[video]

View attachment 106186

Christian Mcbride at Ronnie Scott’s, mesmerising , and the quickest 1 1/2 hrs this year.
Christian McBride, eight-time Grammy award winning jazz bassist, will perform his latest project 'New jawn' along with a stellar line up of musicians, Marcus Strickland on tenor sax, Josh Evans on trumpet and Nasheet Waits on drums.

 

Christian Mcbride at Ronnie Scott’s, mesmerising , and the quickest 1 1/2 hrs this year.
Christian McBride, eight-time Grammy award winning jazz bassist, will perform his latest project 'New jawn' along with a stellar line up of musicians, Marcus Strickland on tenor sax, Josh Evans on trumpet and Nasheet Waits on drums.

It had a very good review in the FT, but where's the band? At the bar?

 

It had a very good review in the FT, but where's the band? At the bar?

No photos allowed, however I sneaked this one before they started, BTW the food was very good there too.