On the fifth concert of Symphony Under the Sky...
I missed the fourth one; it was the Teddy Bear's picnic this afternoon, the concert designed for kids. My mom and I gave our tickets to a family with young kids who lives two doors down from us. Hopefully, they and everyone else enjoyed that concert.
I however, enjoyed the Classical Mystery Tour! I'll talk about the music in a second... but first I want to mention the egregious evil that happened right next to where I parked my lawn chair.
As we know, the Symphony Under the Sky tickets are sold either for seats in the amphitheatre, or for a spot on the grass further up the hill at a lower price. In the "grass seats", as they're known, the grass is divided into places for people who bring lawn chairs, and places for people who bring blankets to sit on, so as to ensure that nobody's view is unfairly blocked. The rules are more heavily enforced on the blanket side of the amphitheatre, where it's easy to spot those with chairs in the middle of a bunch of people sitting two or three feet lower than them. And usually, it's not a big deal if somebody wants to sit on the chair side with blankets, if they're hanging out with friends and didn't bring chairs for themselves. They just have to know that people with chairs are going to sit in front of them, and that's fine.
The time when this doesn't work, of course, is when the grass seats get sold out, like they did tonight, and the park is full to bursting with people trying to claim a spot for their lawn chairs. It gets really, really crowded, especially in the prime seats just to the left of the path (which, with my mom's insistence at getting there an hour early at a minimum, we're usually able to secure!) So, when a couple to my left decided to park two of the short "folk-fest" chairs - which are usually relegated to the blanket side given the fact that they're so short - and spread two whole blankets over the row in front of them so they could see, I was mad! Of course, taking a picture of the people themselves would have reflected just as poorly on me as taking up that much space reflected poorly on them, but I took a picture of their cosy little setup, which they conveniently vacated during intermission.
See what I mean? At my best guess, there was probably room for another four or five lawn chairs. Nobody even sat on either of those blankets; the couple covered themselves with them during the second half of the show, leaving that huge space completely empty! Note to grass-ticket holders: don't let this be you. We're watching, you see. And even if we don't say anything, we're giving you dirty looks behind your back :P
On to the music. "Classical Mystery Tour" is a Beatles tribute band that does shows with a symphony orchestra. See, I'm only 22 and I sure didn't live the Beatles, but my dad completely loves them, and he definitely lived them. That, added to the fact that I go to a school for contemporary music, means that for someone my age, I have a pretty decent understanding of their music. Not the greatest one, though; my roommates often argue well into the night over which Beatles album is better, Revolver or The White Album, but I don't feel like I know enough to join in.
Anyways, I noticed a few things - some of which I'll share! I've never seen another Beatles tribute band before, but I thought it was really wonderful of these guys to not say "Oh hey, I'm Paul McCartney and that dude is John Lennon". When they referred to each other on stage, they said "And now our bassist is going to come to the piano and play one of his songs", or "Now we're going to feature our drummer in a tune by Ringo Starr". I thought that was fitting. Obviously, they're not the Beatles, but it was easy to tell who was acting as who. They also did a fabulous job of sounding like the Beatles vocally - that's a huge feat. You try to make your voice sound exactly like Paul McCartney's!
I'd like to congratulate the sound crew on working with what they had, as well. If you were in the audience tonight and heard the vocals echoing, that wasn't the fault of the sound guys. Problems like echo usually need to be solved by physically pointing speakers in a different direction. That the crew kept the echo to a minimum, given the speaker setup, was a pretty huge feat. Way to go, guys!
One of the things I love about Pops concerts is that sometimes you get to watch the orchestra clap in time with another band. It's a beautiful sight to see - everyone claps in time and on the right beat and at the right time! Watching the audience, it's usually split half and half between people who have a general idea of where the beats were supposed to be, and people who have no clue. There was a lady in front of me clapping every which way during one of the tunes. I seriously couldn't tell whether she was doing it on purpose or she was just that bad at rhythm; either way, I had a difficult time muffling my giggles. All in good fun, guys.
Cannons tomorrow. It's my favourite part of the summer!
I however, enjoyed the Classical Mystery Tour! I'll talk about the music in a second... but first I want to mention the egregious evil that happened right next to where I parked my lawn chair.
As we know, the Symphony Under the Sky tickets are sold either for seats in the amphitheatre, or for a spot on the grass further up the hill at a lower price. In the "grass seats", as they're known, the grass is divided into places for people who bring lawn chairs, and places for people who bring blankets to sit on, so as to ensure that nobody's view is unfairly blocked. The rules are more heavily enforced on the blanket side of the amphitheatre, where it's easy to spot those with chairs in the middle of a bunch of people sitting two or three feet lower than them. And usually, it's not a big deal if somebody wants to sit on the chair side with blankets, if they're hanging out with friends and didn't bring chairs for themselves. They just have to know that people with chairs are going to sit in front of them, and that's fine.
The time when this doesn't work, of course, is when the grass seats get sold out, like they did tonight, and the park is full to bursting with people trying to claim a spot for their lawn chairs. It gets really, really crowded, especially in the prime seats just to the left of the path (which, with my mom's insistence at getting there an hour early at a minimum, we're usually able to secure!) So, when a couple to my left decided to park two of the short "folk-fest" chairs - which are usually relegated to the blanket side given the fact that they're so short - and spread two whole blankets over the row in front of them so they could see, I was mad! Of course, taking a picture of the people themselves would have reflected just as poorly on me as taking up that much space reflected poorly on them, but I took a picture of their cosy little setup, which they conveniently vacated during intermission.
See what I mean? At my best guess, there was probably room for another four or five lawn chairs. Nobody even sat on either of those blankets; the couple covered themselves with them during the second half of the show, leaving that huge space completely empty! Note to grass-ticket holders: don't let this be you. We're watching, you see. And even if we don't say anything, we're giving you dirty looks behind your back :P
On to the music. "Classical Mystery Tour" is a Beatles tribute band that does shows with a symphony orchestra. See, I'm only 22 and I sure didn't live the Beatles, but my dad completely loves them, and he definitely lived them. That, added to the fact that I go to a school for contemporary music, means that for someone my age, I have a pretty decent understanding of their music. Not the greatest one, though; my roommates often argue well into the night over which Beatles album is better, Revolver or The White Album, but I don't feel like I know enough to join in.
Anyways, I noticed a few things - some of which I'll share! I've never seen another Beatles tribute band before, but I thought it was really wonderful of these guys to not say "Oh hey, I'm Paul McCartney and that dude is John Lennon". When they referred to each other on stage, they said "And now our bassist is going to come to the piano and play one of his songs", or "Now we're going to feature our drummer in a tune by Ringo Starr". I thought that was fitting. Obviously, they're not the Beatles, but it was easy to tell who was acting as who. They also did a fabulous job of sounding like the Beatles vocally - that's a huge feat. You try to make your voice sound exactly like Paul McCartney's!
I'd like to congratulate the sound crew on working with what they had, as well. If you were in the audience tonight and heard the vocals echoing, that wasn't the fault of the sound guys. Problems like echo usually need to be solved by physically pointing speakers in a different direction. That the crew kept the echo to a minimum, given the speaker setup, was a pretty huge feat. Way to go, guys!
One of the things I love about Pops concerts is that sometimes you get to watch the orchestra clap in time with another band. It's a beautiful sight to see - everyone claps in time and on the right beat and at the right time! Watching the audience, it's usually split half and half between people who have a general idea of where the beats were supposed to be, and people who have no clue. There was a lady in front of me clapping every which way during one of the tunes. I seriously couldn't tell whether she was doing it on purpose or she was just that bad at rhythm; either way, I had a difficult time muffling my giggles. All in good fun, guys.
Cannons tomorrow. It's my favourite part of the summer!