Concerts and Live Music!

The only concert I have ever attended in my life....when I was a graduate student at the U of M, Ann Arbor.... Man, came back with my ears ringing.....guys round me were stoned....my buddy David vowed never to indulge my requests ever again

 

The last time I went to the Houston Symphony was whenever they had the Distant Worlds concert. I thought about seeing the Pokemon: Symphonic Evolutions concert but in the end didn't save my money to go. One day I will go to hear some proper classical music...
I went to see Sweeney Todd at the Houston Opera this past Spring and that was pretty brilliant. It was my first time seeing the musical and being at the venue.

 

Wow sounds cool Ship, the Barber violin concerto is an amazingly beautiful piece

 

Last night I went to the San Francisco Symphony where Daniil Trifinov performed Chopin's f-minor concerto, this kid is amazing, one of the few new pianists I am really interested in. While he is well known for his amazing technique, technique was not prioritized in this reading. He was very well received, so much that he got to do an encore (Liszt Tranny Etude), and I rarely see soloists get to do encores with the egomaniac MTT in charge. Here was my first introduction to this pianist:




For the second half they played some Rossini bullshit overture and closed with Respighi's Fountains of Rome. Great showpiece for brass and percussion, SF's brass was on fire last night and Tilson Thomas (who I think takes too many liberties with some more serious pieces) was his usual self and it worked here, I've never heard a more exciting rendition before. If they record this it may be the definitive version to get.

 

You should let me reintroduce you to your heritage one day!

Attended this function/concert last week...



Did not attend this particular concert, but for any Southern Indians who think that nadaswaram is just for making noise at weddings, watch this guy. I particularly enjoy the inovation of playing with violin and mridangam instead of thavil





.

 

Duh...I should have said Western rock concert....Thad, I have had M S Subbalakshmi and M L Vasantakumari sing at my wedding reception !!

 

Oh god yes... I remember being so impressed when you told me that! And then I forgot! <embarrassed>

 

Got to see the Taj Mahal Trio tonight. Pretty f'ing great. He's still got a great voice. Here's a crappy pic I took.

c

 

Back after over a month of illness ! Wish I had been at this concert... What a group

 

I most recently heard Krishna Bhatt on sitar and Anindo Chatterjee on tabla at the Rubin Museum for himalayan art. Very nice, you could hear the influence of Krishna Bhatt's teachers, Ravi Shankar and Nikhil Bannerjee.

 

Best Halloween...ever.

 

I'll be damned, only 12 posts to a very important thread. Sometimes this hobby gets waaaaaay too gear orientated and live music gets forgotten.

Couple of my all time favorite gigs:

1) Roger Waters / The Wall
It was almost spiritual experience for me. The level of intoxication was honed to perfection, I had one of my best friends with me, music was flowing through me, setup and visuals were top notch. I get goosebumps by just remembering the very night. Even bouncers were nice and my better half did not end up nagging when I came really late back home.
And oh yeah - Dave Gilmour dropped by for one song. 10+



2) Muse 2012
Really intimate experience overall, kinda f**k nwo raise-my-fist all the way. Props and visuals were a tad too overwhelming, I found myself awwing the non-music stuff although the band was playing flawlessly and furiously. Powerful gig anyways. Map of Problematique was outstanding.



3) Faith No More 2015

Being a long time Patton / FNM fan I welcomed their comeback tour with great eagerness. I sang through the whole set which was first for me. During I started a joke a bursted to tears of happiness. Again first for me. The gig itself was technically lamer than the earlier I participated but emotionally it really got me. The hangover has never felt so good than after that very gig. I was just a man.

 

I was at this one last Sunday afternoon.

Hindustani Music House concert. Only stayed for the first part, the Dhrupad. It made such an impression on me that I wanted to keep that flavour...



Carnatic music yesterday. I went to the wedding of the singer and the mridangam player on Jan 1st. This is the first time that I've seen them play together since then



Back to Hindustandi again tonight. Twice in one week: that is unusual at this end of India. A recital by Ashwini Bhide Deshpande and one of her students.

But it is that amazing Dhrupad which is my number-one experience of the week

 

This have been a good concert year for me.
Top concerts:
1. Royksopp - This was just extremly cool, they put EDM artists to shame really.
2. Moderat - Extremly cool and euphoric, excellent live.
3. Axwell Ingrosso - Very exiting set they played, it was 110% fun

Ive been to 2 festivals this year and 1 concert.
At the festivals I saw Axwell Ingrosso, Martin Garrix, Dmitri Vegas & Like mike, Royksopp etc.
Here's a pic from Royksopp!

 

Wonderful Carnatic concert this evening by Ms K Dharini. It was a long drive to the other side of the town, but she is in USA most of the year and I don't want to miss here.

Here she is, singing about five months ago. I was at this one too..

 

On wednesday I'll be heading to hear and celebrate Ennio Morricone (60 years of music tour). Really looking forward to hear live version of C'era una volta il West.

 

Last Tuesday went and saw the Berlin Philharmonic do Mahler 7 conducted by Simon Rattle. It was fantastic.

 

If some you folks ever make it to Cape Town, this is one fabulous venue for concerts, Kirstenbosch gardens.