Tag Archive | concerts

Meeting Itzhak Perlman

Sep9

Last night was kind of a bucket-list sort of night for me. For years, I’ve loved listening to Itzhak Perlman play his violin. He’s truly amazing. I love music in general; so many different kinds speak to me in different ways, but his music…I don’t know how to explain it. I *feel* things when he plays. Living in the KC area, I’ve seen him come to town several times and thought, Oh, I wish I could go…and then I never did. Then I saw he was coming again, this time with the pianist Emanuel Ax, and it was a few days before my birthday and I didn’t want to skip it this time. We took both kids with us and it was Amazing with a capital A.

It was held in Helzberg Hall in the Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts, which is a gorgeous building. I can’t describe it so here’s the photo I took from our high-up, way-back seats. IMG_3262We were all dressed up, and I was wearing a new birthday dress, and I felt so grown-up and fancy. The crowd was silent during the performance, which was strange at first, since most of my outings are pop/rock concerts or ball games. But this was a high-class crowd, and they clearly all appreciated the special event we were part of. And the music, oh it was beautiful. I didn’t recognize it, but that didn’t matter. Toward the end, they interacted with the audience a bit and Mr. Perlman was the funny guy and Mr. Ax was the straight man. We got to sing Happy Birthday to Mr. Perlman, who had recently turned 70. Then after, after this marvelous concert, it got even better.

They held a short Q&A, and those who stayed were invited to move closer to the stage. We fought our way through the crowd, most of whom were leaving, and found seats nice and close. They were lovely and well-spoken and witty. And after THAT? Yes, truly, the highlight of the night: we got to go onstage and get autographs. There wasn’t time for chit-chat, just enough time to thank them and offer my meager praise, but I spoke to Itzhak Perlman and he signed our program. Amazing. It made my heart happy.

We made it home by 10:30 and the dogs had chewed up the girl’s shoes and they needed to go out and the girl had algebra homework and oh god the dog peed on our bed seriously OMG we have to strip the bed and clean the mattress before we can go to sleep. It kind of took the shine of the evening but today, looking back on it, I can still feel the magic of the night.

An evening with Ray LaMontagne

Jun25

Last night was date night for me and my husband, and we got to see Ray LaMontagne in concert. It was our second time seeing him. The first time we went mostly because Brandi Carlile was opening for him, and she’s one of my all-time favorite artists. At that time, I’d heard a few Ray songs and liked them, but that was it. After that concert, though, I bought all his albums and listened to them often, so this concert was even better than the first. His performances focus solely on the music: he doesn’t talk between songs besides a soft “thank you” here and there. There’s no banter or chatter, just music. The lights aren’t overpowering, and often the spotlight goes off him completely and highlights someone in his band. There’s a lot of emotion and honesty in his music to begin with, but the live performances are infused with extra energy. I felt sorry for all the people who left early, because they missed a rousing encore performance of “Hey Me, Hey Mama”. Anyway, long story short, I’m tired after our late night and this is the only blog topic I can come up with right now. If you haven’t heard Ray before, please check him out. Watch him perform one of his new songs here, or one of his older classics here.