Post-concert
The Loreena McKennitt show was amazing. A little heavy with the fog machine and the amping (and also not actually at the venue where I thought it was -- good thing the Kimmel and the Academy are right down the street from each other!), but otherwise pretty much brilliant. She had a nine-piece band with her, several members of which were multi-instrumentalists: The keyboard player was also playing viola, accordion and percussion at various points (for one song he was playing keyboard with one hand and bongo with the other!), and meanwhile the guitarist had a chest-height stand that he used for his cittern, so he could keep his electric guitar strapped on and alternate between the two -- when he wasn't playing saz or acoustic guitar. Very impressive!
The hurdy-gurdy player, lyra player and violinist were outstanding, so the pieces that highlighted them were knockouts. "Santiago," "The Highway Man" and "Huron Fire Dance," especially, were just stunning. "Lady of Shalott" I thought was slightly less fabulous, but that may just be because I was feeling so bad for the poor Ladies' Champion, who hasn't been able to stomach that particular song since someone (not me, honest!) made him listen to it something like fifteen times in a row during one long car ride.
I was glad I'd brought opera glasses -- we were high up enough that it was nice to be able to zoom in to see what was going on with the oud or the lyra or the hand drums. I was not glad that I had cash for tomorrow's NY trip in my bag, though, as it was sorely tempting to spend it on the Live from the Alhambra CD/DVD set. *grumble*
The L.C. and I were there with zgwortz, pcbutler, kevinarcher and the FolkBabe. We saw t_bard and tashadandelion on the steps outside as we drove by the first time, too, and a *lot* of folks I'm pretty sure I would have recognized if I saw them in garb or at a contra dance or at the goth club. I think I probably should have known the guy sitting at the end of our row, but my brain (as it is wont to do in such situations) refused to place the face out of context. :( Sorry we didn't run into you, dafyddcyhoeddwr!
Anyway, off to the book fair tomorrow. Is anyone planning on coming by? I'm not sure yet what time I'll get there, as it turns out I have to stop by the shop first and handle a couple of last-minute things; likewise, I'm not sure yet when I'll be headed home on Saturday.
The hurdy-gurdy player, lyra player and violinist were outstanding, so the pieces that highlighted them were knockouts. "Santiago," "The Highway Man" and "Huron Fire Dance," especially, were just stunning. "Lady of Shalott" I thought was slightly less fabulous, but that may just be because I was feeling so bad for the poor Ladies' Champion, who hasn't been able to stomach that particular song since someone (not me, honest!) made him listen to it something like fifteen times in a row during one long car ride.
I was glad I'd brought opera glasses -- we were high up enough that it was nice to be able to zoom in to see what was going on with the oud or the lyra or the hand drums. I was not glad that I had cash for tomorrow's NY trip in my bag, though, as it was sorely tempting to spend it on the Live from the Alhambra CD/DVD set. *grumble*
The L.C. and I were there with zgwortz, pcbutler, kevinarcher and the FolkBabe. We saw t_bard and tashadandelion on the steps outside as we drove by the first time, too, and a *lot* of folks I'm pretty sure I would have recognized if I saw them in garb or at a contra dance or at the goth club. I think I probably should have known the guy sitting at the end of our row, but my brain (as it is wont to do in such situations) refused to place the face out of context. :( Sorry we didn't run into you, dafyddcyhoeddwr!
Anyway, off to the book fair tomorrow. Is anyone planning on coming by? I'm not sure yet what time I'll get there, as it turns out I have to stop by the shop first and handle a couple of last-minute things; likewise, I'm not sure yet when I'll be headed home on Saturday.