November 2017 Concert Capsules
I went to four shows in November in one glorious ten day span. That brings my total to 29 concerts and 50 bands. I don't currently have anything else slated for the rest of December so those may end up as my final totals, but I've already got a bunch lined up for 2018.
26. Peelander-Z had been on my "see list" for quite a few years, so when jackofmany agreed with me that we should go to a punk show on November 1, this one fit the "loud energetic" checklists for punk. Of course, as we quickly learned that night at the Beachland Tavern, Peelander-Z is less punk and more "insane Japanese performing artists on a budget." The night we saw them there were three members of band - Peelanders Yellow, Pink and Red (I think, it was chaotic). Of course, this didn't stop them from dragooning a member of the audience to wear the full Purple uniform for their entrance, or from randomly grabbing concertgoers and throwing them on stage to play an instrument, or from wrestling the crowd, or really just going nut.
So, if the question is "Is Peelander-Z that Japanese punk band that dresses as superheroes?" the answer is "Yes, but that's not the half of it." Labels like "Good" and "Bad" are not applicable to a band like this. If you like rock and roll performance art, you should check them out. I don't know that I need to see them again, and certainly not any time soon, but I'm sure glad I saw them once.
Local band Half an Animal opened, and was very well suited to the headliners aesthetic. Of course, they weren't nearly as insane as Peelander-Z, but they were fun as a warm up.
27. In the next six days I would see three bands with M. The first of them was actually on a work night for her; Ben Folds played an early show at the House of Blues on Sunday, November 5. This is the third time I've seen Ben Folds, once in 2003 and once in 2004. I gather he's television celebrity now, and his long ago fans are older and have some money, so despite the comparatively expensive tickets the House of Blues was completely packed for this show.
There were two sets. The first was him playing an assortment of material from across his career, mostly more recent stuff. It ended with the roadies building a drum kit around him as he played it for the last song of the set, which is the only time that he wasn't on piano. The second set had him playing audience requests. He had everybody write their request on a paper airplane and throw it on to the stage at the beginning of the set. Then he would wander around, grab an airplane at random from the hundreds that descended on stage, and play the song. To his credit, he played rejected very few airplanes, and to the audiences credit, most of the requests were well thought out and not just "the hits". Throughout Folds entertained the crowd with stories about the songs, jokes, and general hilarity. It was a fun show.
Opener Tall Heights played a serviceable set, and supported Folds on stage for a few songs. I've seen far worse.
Edit this setlist | More Ben Folds setlists
28. Thursday, November 9 was a red letter date for my relationship with M. It marks the first time we went to a show where I had never heard of the band and she was a fan. The band in question was Luna, who despite apparently being well known from the late 1990s were not someone I knew at all. I did run into a fair number of people I know at the Grog Shop that night, including onabus and Helen's father and Neal Dare Waves, and apparently some other people I knew were also present. I obviously did not know the material, but I really enjoyed the show. In particular, there were a lot of interesting guitar parts that sounded both really unique and totally fitting the set. More importantly, M had a good time. It certainly helped that she had Friday off for Veteran's Day so she could stay out late.
Support was provided by Eleanor Friedberger. She was fine, but not, in my opinion, as good as her old band The Fiery Furnaces was.
29. I bought a small season pass (five concerts) to the Cleveland Orchestra so I can go see John Williams conduct them in April. The first concert up was on Friday, November 10 at Severance Hall. Concertmaster William Preucil led them through a number of pieces, most notably to my taste Mendelssohn's Scottish Symphony. It sounded great our seats in the lower part of the balcony on the right side.
I wish I had the musical knowledge to really break down the orchestra's performance in a more useful manner, but I don't as of yet, so instead I'll tell you that the woman sitting next to us had a magnificent fur coat (one hopes an heirloom item she inherited) that she wore over a beautiful gold dress that seemed to have been intentionally chosen because of how it set off against the interior of Severance Hall. M and I both commented on how nice it was. Well done, mysterious lady in our row.
26. Peelander-Z had been on my "see list" for quite a few years, so when jackofmany agreed with me that we should go to a punk show on November 1, this one fit the "loud energetic" checklists for punk. Of course, as we quickly learned that night at the Beachland Tavern, Peelander-Z is less punk and more "insane Japanese performing artists on a budget." The night we saw them there were three members of band - Peelanders Yellow, Pink and Red (I think, it was chaotic). Of course, this didn't stop them from dragooning a member of the audience to wear the full Purple uniform for their entrance, or from randomly grabbing concertgoers and throwing them on stage to play an instrument, or from wrestling the crowd, or really just going nut.
So, if the question is "Is Peelander-Z that Japanese punk band that dresses as superheroes?" the answer is "Yes, but that's not the half of it." Labels like "Good" and "Bad" are not applicable to a band like this. If you like rock and roll performance art, you should check them out. I don't know that I need to see them again, and certainly not any time soon, but I'm sure glad I saw them once.
Local band Half an Animal opened, and was very well suited to the headliners aesthetic. Of course, they weren't nearly as insane as Peelander-Z, but they were fun as a warm up.
27. In the next six days I would see three bands with M. The first of them was actually on a work night for her; Ben Folds played an early show at the House of Blues on Sunday, November 5. This is the third time I've seen Ben Folds, once in 2003 and once in 2004. I gather he's television celebrity now, and his long ago fans are older and have some money, so despite the comparatively expensive tickets the House of Blues was completely packed for this show.
There were two sets. The first was him playing an assortment of material from across his career, mostly more recent stuff. It ended with the roadies building a drum kit around him as he played it for the last song of the set, which is the only time that he wasn't on piano. The second set had him playing audience requests. He had everybody write their request on a paper airplane and throw it on to the stage at the beginning of the set. Then he would wander around, grab an airplane at random from the hundreds that descended on stage, and play the song. To his credit, he played rejected very few airplanes, and to the audiences credit, most of the requests were well thought out and not just "the hits". Throughout Folds entertained the crowd with stories about the songs, jokes, and general hilarity. It was a fun show.
Opener Tall Heights played a serviceable set, and supported Folds on stage for a few songs. I've seen far worse.
Edit this setlist | More Ben Folds setlists
28. Thursday, November 9 was a red letter date for my relationship with M. It marks the first time we went to a show where I had never heard of the band and she was a fan. The band in question was Luna, who despite apparently being well known from the late 1990s were not someone I knew at all. I did run into a fair number of people I know at the Grog Shop that night, including onabus and Helen's father and Neal Dare Waves, and apparently some other people I knew were also present. I obviously did not know the material, but I really enjoyed the show. In particular, there were a lot of interesting guitar parts that sounded both really unique and totally fitting the set. More importantly, M had a good time. It certainly helped that she had Friday off for Veteran's Day so she could stay out late.
Support was provided by Eleanor Friedberger. She was fine, but not, in my opinion, as good as her old band The Fiery Furnaces was.
29. I bought a small season pass (five concerts) to the Cleveland Orchestra so I can go see John Williams conduct them in April. The first concert up was on Friday, November 10 at Severance Hall. Concertmaster William Preucil led them through a number of pieces, most notably to my taste Mendelssohn's Scottish Symphony. It sounded great our seats in the lower part of the balcony on the right side.
I wish I had the musical knowledge to really break down the orchestra's performance in a more useful manner, but I don't as of yet, so instead I'll tell you that the woman sitting next to us had a magnificent fur coat (one hopes an heirloom item she inherited) that she wore over a beautiful gold dress that seemed to have been intentionally chosen because of how it set off against the interior of Severance Hall. M and I both commented on how nice it was. Well done, mysterious lady in our row.