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]

concert3.jpg
 
Last edited by a moderator:
I am watching Igor Levit next week. Not the same piece though, he is accompanying a tenor on a Mozart Schubert song cycle. I love Beethoven's 3rd, though the first movement does remind me of the first movement of Mozart's 20th in terms of suspense. The main Beethoven piano concerto cycle this year here will be performed by Andras Schiff.

I got a kick out of watching Levit play. He plays head down with his face so close to the keys that it looks like he wants to crawl inside the piano. See what you think.
 
I got a kick out of watching Levit play. He plays head down with his face so close to the keys that it looks like he wants to crawl inside the piano. See what you think.

In an interview at wigmore last year he said he prefers digital to LPs. And laughed.
 
You should try some Bela Bartok concertos - perhaps the Concerto for Orchestra. Sections of instruments are treated as soloists in this piece - I know of several people who entered the classic music scene by this piece. Or the fabulous Concerto for Two Pianos, Percussion and Orchestra.

Gershwin masterpiece Rhapsody in Blue also should not be forgotten. Classic music should not make us feel asleep. Considering Scheherazade, perhaps you should forget about the recording quality and get a good russian style interpretation, such as Igor Markevitch or Kondrashin ... ;)
After reading the back and forth between Ron and others, I'd be interested to see his response to your suggestion that he should try more esoteric pieces such as Bartok or fall back to appreciate the versions by prior masters. If we're taking your suggested route to classical appreciation, I want to suggest he try Schoenberg, Berg, and Webern, or maybe Penderecki's "The Devils of Loudun". Guaranteed to send my parents up the wall. How many classical pieces can claim that?


Your response might be "That's seriously F'd up!" but seriously, you should give it a try. Perhaps it is timely for today?

They have all the qualities you describe. Won't put you to sleep, lot's of chamber as well as full orchestra pieces, including Wiemar Berlin period opera. Hell, the Penderecki piece (not from between the wars but from 1969) even features an electric guitar. On the other hand, I have a friend who tells me of studying piano at a conservatory yet reacts coldly to exciting piano works like the Bartok concertos. Music of a particular genre or style either "talks to us" or it doesn't.
 
Last edited:
Last night I managed to check something off my bucket list as my wife and I saw P!nk and her Beautiful Trauma World Tour

First off I enjoy her music but most importantly this woman is a super show person. I have watched her perform at the Grammy's high above the stage dangling upside down from a rope à la Cirque De Soleil style

Last night's performance was superb. Not only was her singing impeccable but her band was terrific esp the lead guitar and drummer. She also had about 10-12 backup singers and dancers to heighten the frenzy

Not only was I impressed with the concert I learned great respect for this woman as a person and a humanitarian. She may look different but she is well grounded and a set of pipes that lit up the Honda Center in Anaheim

The show in parts was every bit as good as any Cirque de Soleil show I have seen and the things she does are gutsy and brave. Her last song was memorable as she was strapped in to a harness with 4 attached lines which like a shot out of a cannon she was transported 100 feet or more into the air and was literally flying in space around the top tiers of Honda Center

The venue was sold out and it was obvious that just like Madonna and Lady Gaga who have their particular type of followers. so also did P!nk.


Two big thumb's up
All in all she sang most of her hit songs as well as many I have never heard. We came away at the end with big smiles as this was a tremendously entertaining concert.

If she comes to a venue near you this is one concert worth seeing
 
  • Like
Reactions: KeithR
Doc, have heard from numerous people she puts a heck of a live show on - that's her specialty apparently. Glad you guys got to take it in!
 
Doc, have heard from numerous people she puts a heck of a live show on - that's her specialty apparently. Glad you guys got to take it in![/QUOTE

I have been wanting to see her for years and the clincher was when I saw her perform at the Grammy's high above the stage singing hanging upside down from a rope with one hand while she sang holding a microphone in the other hand

In her talks to the crowd she came across as a genuine human being who acknowledged that she was bullied for looking funny and acting like a boy. She encouraged everyone to be themselves in order to achieve happiness. Sh]e also had a very heertart rendering story about her young daughter who also has been bullied and told that she looks like a boy

All in all her singing was what made the night and compounded by the Cirque De Soleil atmosphere created a hugely successful conc
 
Last night, we caught Rodney Crowell at The Sheldon in St. Louis. The Sheldon is a great hall for acoustic music, holding about 600 folks and with a low stage, so you're up close with the musicians. Rodney, guitarist Joe Robinson and fiddler Eamon McLoughlin formed the trio, and they were in crack form.

Joe Robinson opened the show. If you're not familiar with him, and are a fan of Tommy Emmanuel, you'll be blown away. Awesome guitarist.

They're touring for a few more months...do yourself a favor and check them out.
 
My favorite classical piece: Mozart Symphony No. 41 (Jupiter)!


8CC06142-E098-4984-B63A-792A79AE59F9.jpeg




1B05C559-A4CF-48A2-A1DB-65DB8760C808.jpeg


I can listen all day long to the last movement of Jupiter symphony.

After the intermission a 40 minute new classical composition, apparently commissioned by patrons of LA Phil, was played. I have yet to like a new classical composition.

Titled Inferno, I found this piece to be a monstrous and incoherent sounding mess. In it I heard an aggressive version of Mars from Holst’s The Planets, background music for the Kentucky Derby, a soundtrack from Barnum & Bailey Circus and music for a merry-go-round.

It is amazing to live only a five minute taxi ride from Walt Disney Concert Hall!
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: DetroitVinylRob
Have you tried to shift downstairs to better seats? ;)

"Not to do so is a tale told by audiophiles, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing. "

"Fair is foul, and foul is fair"
 
  • Like
Reactions: the sound of Tao
Last night I went to one of my regular venues, Rose Hall (the house of swing as Wynton Marsalis calls it) at Jazz at Lincoln Center to hear Joey DeFrancesco with the JALC orchestra (one of today's great big bands). The program was wonderful and consisted of the entire "New Orleans Suite" composed by Duke Ellington, followed by a original composition from one of the band's friends, and concluded with a stunning and rare version of Prokofiev's "Peter and the Wolf" arranged for jazz band by the great Oliver Nelson (The Blues and the Abstract Truth album is a classic from 1960 re-issued by Analogue Productions). It knocked me out. Apparently, Joey DeFrancesco grew up loving Peter and the Wolf as a kid, and not only played the entire score with the band, but had ample opportunity to solo (as did the entire band) which he did with his usual tour-de-force virtuosity. They brought in extra players (French horns, percussion etc) so the band swelled to over 20 for the piece. I've never seen it recorded and am hoping they did so last night. Very special treat.
 
Last edited:
Heard Anat Cohen with her Tentette on Friday evening at the Edmonds Center for the Arts. Spectacular and snagged a copy of the new CD which is highly recommended.
 
Completed the music weekend with the Pittsburgh Philharmonic at Geffen Hall at Lincoln Center. Manfred Honeck conducted Beethoven's 5th Piano Concerto and Mahler 5. Turns out Honeck is a pretty decent Mahlerite. We took some of our best friends who are not classical music lovers so I needed to give them ample prep for Beethoven and Mahler. They appreciated that what they heard spanned nearly a century of music, and got a glimpse of why I talk about Mahler as "the man" a lot! As some of you may know, M5 is one of the high points in classical music and it's no accident that Leonard Bernstein chose to be buried with the score (in nearby Queens, NY). Perhaps my favorite quote for M5 is by Von Karajan who considered it a transcendental piece and said "after you listen to it, you forget how old you were when you started!"!

Good summer ahead: Next up- Billy Joel again at the Garden in July. Queen in Philly in August, Kavakos at Tanglewood in August and Santana/Doobie Brothers at Woodstock (Bethel Woods) also in August.
 
Last edited:
Our summer line up:

Rhiannon Giddens
Little Big Town
Hillary Hahn (twice)
Winton Marcellus & Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra
Bela Fleck and Abigail Washburn
David Zinman

Plus 5 or 6 various classical programs as the summer unfolds....
 
We are waiting for Lewis Capaldi at The Fonda Theater, Hollywood.


2A82750D-2337-4CAB-89F2-BDB0725C7D0F.jpeg

The concert was very fun! He played every song on his first album, which was released three weeks ago.

But he has had such a meteoric rise in such a short period of time that he has already become arrogant and entitled, even at the young age of 22. Tinka and I both were disappointed to see him conducting his teenage fans like a typical former geek or nobody (whether a musician, a Wall Street guy, a professional sports player, etc.) who gets fame or money or both and begins treating people poorly.
 
Last edited:

About us

  • What’s Best Forum is THE forum for high end audio, product reviews, advice and sharing experiences on the best of everything else. This is THE place where audiophiles and audio companies discuss vintage, contemporary and new audio products, music servers, music streamers, computer audio, digital-to-analog converters, turntables, phono stages, cartridges, reel-to-reel tape machines, speakers, headphones and tube and solid-state amplification. Founded in 2010 What’s Best Forum invites intelligent and courteous people of all interests and backgrounds to describe and discuss the best of everything. From beginners to life-long hobbyists to industry professionals, we enjoy learning about new things and meeting new people, and participating in spirited debates.

Quick Navigation

User Menu

Steve Williams
Site Founder | Site Owner | Administrator
Ron Resnick
Site Co-Owner | Administrator
Julian (The Fixer)
Website Build | Marketing Managersing