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]

 

M3 at Carnegie Oct 15, 2024

Last night, Yannick and his Philadelphia Orchestra performed Mahler’s 3rd Symphony to over-whelming heights for an appreciative New York crowd at Carnegie. It’s a concert I’ve seen several times live, but was rendered into blissful silence nonetheless. Since he’s also performing Mahler’s 9th and 6th at Carnegie later this season, I’m guessing that he’s probably recording the complete Mahler cycle for his new label, DGG . Since there were no microphones on stage, my guess is that they will record these at Verizon Hall in Philadelphia, where they generally play a week or so before the Orchestra tours in NYC (as was true for M7 last spring).

Hearing this orchestra perform at Carnegie is always a treat as NYC is sort of his second home (as he is the conductor at the Metropolitan Opera as well). What makes Yannick exceptional is anyone’s guess. But what makes the orchestra exceptional is the musicians.

This year was saw an extraordinary coup d’etat for the Philly as Esteban Battalan is now the permanent 1st Trumpet, a position that has been vacant for quite a while. What astonished the classical music world is that he was appointed the 1st Trumpet at the Chicago only a short time ago. But apparently he defected to the Philly in large part because he greatly admired the playing of Jennifer Montone, the 1st French Horn. Such musical attractions are often what cause the leading players of the world to change teams! Batallan's off-stage trumpet playing in the third movement was a highlight for me- so sweet and beautiful. Very appropriate for a movement Mahler called "What the creatures in the forest tell me". You can hear an excerpt (another performance entirely by Bernstein and the NY Phil) here:

Stopping Time—Mahler 3rd Posthorn Solo — RUSSELL STEINBERG

Smack in the center of the mighty sonic sprawl of the six movements of Mahler’s 3rd symphony is a moment that arrests time. We hear an offstage “post horn” solo sounding completely foreign to anything we heard previously in the symphony. It establishes its own world, and note by note hypnotizes us

www.russellsteinberg.com

Last evening, the great Joyce DiDonato was the featured soloist, and she was wonderful, as were the choirs. The Philly also has an abundance of other top world class musicians, such as Ricardo Morales, the 1st clarinet, who many consider to be the finest orchestral player playing today (on any instrument). The list of superlatives go on but the bottom line is this is one hell of a band. Their playing is just extraordinary and always a treat to hear. I would like to think Mahler himself would have given them a big thumb’s up if he were in attendance last night!

No small measure of their greatness is due to their maestro, who is always a revelation to watch as he conducts. As he said, he always ends up crying when he conducts M3, and many in the audience joined him after the last movement (the adagio) which just took my breath away with its beauty and grace in typical Mahler fashion. What makes Carnegie special, like many halls around the world, is that it hosts several of the world’s great ensembles throughout the year. But the Philadelphia Orchestra series there is always one of the season highlights and welcomed with great anticipation.

 

I always imagined what it would have been like to be as lucky as my dad and see the greatest opera singers of his time such as Maria Callas and Joan Sutherland live at the Metropolitan opera. Well, you can't turn back time, but the next best thing is seeing future legends now. That's why we went to see Rigoletto tonight at the Met. Nadine Sierra was just spectacular as Gilda in Verdi's tragedy (I know what you're thinking. It's an opera- of course she dies!), but her aria "Caro Nome" in Act I left me in tears two acts before she died. Due credit goes to Quinn Kelsey, the outstanding baritone seen below, who played Rigoletto. The creative production was also novel in that the setting was moved from a medieval 16th century Italian court to the Wiemar Republic of 1935.

Nadine is not just a supremely gifted singer, but a superb actress (and beautiful) which is why she has legions of fans. It's the second time we've seen her, becoming addicted after being mesmerized by her performance in Donizetti's Lucia di Lammermoor in 2022 at the Met. Her most famous role however is playing Violetta in Verdi's La Traviata. I guess you might say I'm a Nadine groupie now. My granddaughter can have Taylor Swift. We're going to Barcelona just to see Nadine in La Traviata in January.

 

Every year on or about the Saturday nearest Veterans Day (in the US), The Country Music Hall of Fame (in Nashville) hosts a program called “ Blue Grass and Beyond.” This annual day long set of concerts is part of the legacy gift that George and Marjorie Crump gave to endow the CMHF. It is held in the Ford Thester and is open to the public.

Rick and Kit Crump are the presiding hosts, and Jim Hurst, a well known bluegrass musician and radio personality is the MC. Rick and Kit have generously included me as a guest every year since 2014, and there have been some incredible musicians participating in every year. Although these solo and group artists are usually firmly in the bluegrass genre, some of them have demonstrated exceptional ability to contribute a strong “beyond” element to their set.

The 2024 event was yesterday, and as usual, one of the bands included a stunning “beyond” performance. The band I want to highlight is The Wood Box Heroes.

Official Home of the Wood Box Heroes-American Acoustic Music

Home of the newest American acoustic band, the Wood Box Heroes, made up of Josh Martin, Jenee Fleenor, Barry Bales, Seth Taylor and Matt Menefee.

woodboxheroes.com

“Wood Box Heroes, the newly formed American acoustic super-group, is hardly anything like the bluegrass music you used to find in the cassette player of your grandad’s old chevy pickup truck. Deeply rooted in tradition while melding together an eclectic-array of sounds from the country, bluegrass, blues, jazz, rock, and classical varieties, paired with crafty and authentic songwriting, the band delivers a piercing listening experience that plunges deep into the caverns of the soul. Bringing together some of the world’s most highly lauded musicians in Matt Menefee (banjo-Mumford & Sons, Cadillac Sky, Warren Haynes), Seth Taylor (mandolin-Mountain Heart, Dailey & Vincent) and Barry Bales (bassAlison Krauss & Union Station) backing up the vocal magic of Jenee Fleenor (fiddle-Blake Shelton, Larry Cordle) and Josh Martin (singer/songwriter/guitarist), this unit has over a century of musical seasoning between them. Yet, it is quite astonishing that the years spent on separate roads, accompanying a spectrum of incredible artists and receiving some of the most sought-after honors and awards in the business, has led to this enigmatic musical intersection.”



The energy and musical synergism was palpable. It is literally the true definition of a “super group.”

I came home after the evening dinner and jam session for the invited guests and thought I would stream their latest album with Amazon Prime. Although the stream was very good, it did not convey the excitement of the live performance or its live excursions away from the studio sessions.

If you get a chance to hear this group live, I highly recommend that you take advantage.

All of the band’s members are accomplished in their own rite … but together, their exceptional musicianship gels into a unique experience that I would rank among the very top acts ever to grace the Ford Theater’s intimate stage.

 

Concert that was awesome was Def Leppard, Journey, and The Steve Miller Band at City Field in NY. Joe Elliot of Def Leppard stole the show!

 

hello and new to this Forum. How about going to see Jane Siberry tonight in Boston. Does that count?

 

At a friend's thanksgiving dinner on Thursday, a few people played guitar and sang around the dinner table (mostly 70-80s pop tunes). Two of them are talented recording artists. That counts as a concert, just all improvised. No autotune in sight.

 

Eagles at The Sphere, Las Vegas, Dec 13, 2024

I just returned from Las Vegas where we saw the Eagles at the Sphere. Words are inadequate. It is a unique must see and hear event. It is not an exaggeration to say it is a genuine major leap forward in visual and musical entertainment and indeed human artistic accomplishment. I'm lost for words. I’m just glad I lived long enough to experience it. It is well worth a visit just to see this singular combination of artist and venue. The sound system is an extraordinary accomplishment. The sound system uses over 1000 speakers and we are told that it is apparently perfectly EQ’d no matter where you sit in the theater. In fact, it is the first concert I’ve been to in decades that I didn’t have to wear ear plugs (I generally use light tissue to attenuate the sound). As far as the music, there’s not much to say. These guys can still play and sing in rich and beautiful harmony. You will know every song they performed. Henley is in fine form, Joe Walsh is a legend for a reason and Glen Frey’s son, Deacon, sounds like he always belonged there as his dad’s replacement. But the real surprise for me was the addition of Vince Gill, whose extraordinary talent makes the band even greater than the sum of its parts. Don’t miss this. Make the pilgrimage. There’s nothing like it on earth. The Eagles are there through April. The next group to have a residency at the Sphere will be Dead and Company and there will surely be others. But the Eagles are a definite “wow” and “OMG”. The Sphere will blow your mind as an immersive experience like no other.

5 minutes before showtime:

Vimeo

vimeo.com