When was the last concert you went in 2017

Third & Final Night at the Mt. Angel Bach Festival

6 PM Abbey Church

Male Ensemble Northwest

In the years since its inception, MEN has appeared in concerts from local churches and auditoriums to regional and national audiences, always remembering to spread the message of male singing. They have performed at national conventions of the American Choral Directors Association in Washington, D. C., and San Antonio; and several Northwest regional conventions. They have appeared at the leadership conference of ACDA in Lawton, OK, and several state conventions, most recently in Oshkosh, WI.

Program

Selections from their repertoire - may include:

Dan Davison - Praise Ye the Lord

Jacob Handl - Confirma hoc, Deus

Any Marshall - Invictus

David Childs - Weep No More

Susan Brumfield - No Time

Reginald Unterseher - The Steady Light

8 PM Damian Center

Fr. Sean Duggan, OSB  

Sean Duggan, OSB, pianist, is a monk of St. Joseph Abbey in Covington, Louisiana. He obtained his music degrees from Loyola University in New Orleans and Carnegie Mellon University, and received a Master’s degree in theology from Notre Dame Seminary in New Orleans.

In September, 1983 he won first prize in the Johann Sebastian Bach International Competition for Pianists in Washington, D.C., and again in August, 1991. Having a special affinity for the music of Bach, in 2000 he performed the complete cycle of Bach’s keyboard works eight times in various American and European cities. For seven years he hosted a weekly program on the New Orleans NPR station entitled “Bach on Sunday.” He is presently in the midst of recording the complete cycle of Bach’s keyboard (piano) music which will comprise 24 CDs.

Program

Johann Sebastian Bach - English Suite No. 6 in D minor, BWV 811

Ludwig Beethoven - Sonata in B Flat, Op. 106 (Hammerklavier)

Into the third day of my first ever Cambridge Folk Festival. I won't bore everone with a set list (look up on line if interested), but on the whole having a great time with lots of fantastic live music.

Stand outs so far are: Mawkin, Amythyst Kiah, Wildwood Kin, Cara Dillon, Fantastic Negrito and Jon Boden. Lots more to come.

The festival is really well organized, and excellent value for money. It has a really relaxed, family friendly vibe. Highly recommended.

Tim

Went to see the Monaco Philharmonic last night - actually playing within the palace courtyard. The price of entry to which was having to wear a jacket and tie (well, his sereneness was in attendance). The Monaco Philharmonic is a good orchestra and was conducted by Kazuki Yamada last night with Daishin Kashimoto as solo violinist. However, being in the open air doesn't seem to do a great deal for the acoustics. Some of this music was very loud, but the orchestra wasn't especially. Very nice to see a bit of the palace that is normally very off limits though.

Saint-Saëns

Bacchanale, extrait de l’opéra Samson et Dalila, opus 47

Concerto pour violon n°3 en si mineur, opus 61

Roussel

Bacchus et Ariane, opus 43 : Suites n°1 et 2

(Cheap seats (€20), behind the bass, but very close, and got an orchestra's eye view of the conductor's face, which was interesting. Wasn't supposed to take photos. Bad dobby!)

Thanks for posting this. I knew nothing of this young Japanese conductor. Apparently he's now appointed as a music director for Monte Carlo Philharmonic.

He's a bit Ozawa-esque.

Thanks for posting those Kuma.

He seems like a genuinely enthusiastic conductor, and the musicians appeared to like and respect him (I wonder how good his French is?)

I have seen the orchestra several times, and the Auditorium Ranier (their normal home) is a very nice venue (and works well acoustically). The best thing is the sheer value (maybe it's subsidised -  they do have plenty of cash after all). 

You can't say that very much in Monaco constitutes great value, although the price of going to watch a football match puts the Premier League to shame...

rodwsmith posted:

I have seen the orchestra several times, and the Auditorium Ranier (their normal home) is a very nice venue (and works well acoustically). The best thing is the sheer value (maybe it's subsidised -  they do have plenty of cash after all). 

You can't say that very much in Monaco constitutes great value, although the price of going to watch a football match puts the Premier League to shame...

It looks very nice indeed. How many seating in the auditorium?

I read a long time ago Monaco is one of the richest country with very little debt. no doubt the venue is paid by the state I think? ( Aren't the most European concert venues and orchestra paid by the government or State? )

Regina Spektor - Sheffield City Hall - Tues 1st August.

First time seeing her live - absolutely fabulous.  Inventive, great voice and musicianship.

https://www.setlist.fm/setlist...england-be5d15a.html

Attended 'Madam Butterfly' at McCaw Hall in Seattle this afternoon.

A wonderful production, the performers, the orchestra, the lighting and set were fantastic. 

2/8/17, The Hawth, Crawley.

Wall of Floyd, saw this advertised  and took a punt. Enjoyable gig it was too, the support act cried off so they did the full 2.5 hours.  A good mix of eras covered. Not as good as Aussie Pink Floyd show, but better than some others we have seen.  All £18.50 each.

Back from 3 days at the Cropredy Festival, this year celebrating Fairport Convention's 50 year history. All round an excellent 3 days in a field with good friends, music, wine, cider and food, and quite a bit of sun.

Musical Highs

Trevor Horn Band - Trevor Horn and Lol Creme with a tight band playing some of the many hits they write/produced/played on, major high being a guest appearance from Russ Ballard singing Since You've Been Gone and God Gave Rock and Roll to You.

Divine Comedy, typically eccentric performance from Neil Hannon, I love the songs, so a great set for me.

Pierce Brothers - Young Aussie duo, twin brothers Pat and Jack played the festival last year and blew the audience away, this year they excelled even that. Barnstorming guitar/percussion/didgeridoo with great hooks, bravura performance, obvious sincerity and tons of charisma, songs that can rock a field. The whole audience on its feet, which given the demographic is heavy on the 50s-70s takes doing, fantastic festival act.

Petula Clark, amazing voice for 84, no backing singers to hide behind, wouldn't have gone to see her in another setting, but very polished show, very enjoyable.

Richard Thompson, one of England's great singer-songwriters and great guitarists. Showcased some of his finest songs from his 50 year career, first half of the set solo acoustic, then joined by some of his old Fairport bandmates and Christine Collister, for a run through of Fairport, Linda and 80s band songs. Stunning musicianship and music.

Dougie Maclean - possibly Scotland's greatest singer-songwriter. Dougie on solo acoustic, songs to die for, brilliantly played and sung,.

Fairport Convention - 3 hour set, the first 2 hours or so with pretty much every surviving ex-member, the 1st hour and a half covering the great albums of their 1st 3 years. Rather than the later albums, pretty much everything came from the great period, and it was a fantastic performance.

About two weeks ago.

Kikagaku Moya at the Hare and Hounds, Kings Heath, Birmingham, Thursday 17th August.

This is a Japanese 5 piece psychedelic rock band (bass, rythmn, lead guitars, drums and electric sitar!). I bought a ticket on the strength of a couple of tracks I had heard but I have to say I went with not great expectations, just fancied seeing something different.

After a 1 and 1/4 hour set I left blown away by these guys. Great structures to their songs, speed changes, variety, and the songs really build. Great energy too.

I think they were a little underwhelmed by the small venue (maybe first time playing in Brum I think) but it was amazing to see them up close and personal. The next day they played the Green Man festival and got a great reception by all accounts.

'Smoke & Mirrors' is a personal fave track of mine, check them out if you fancy a bit of something different, live most definitely worth it!

Been to only two gigs this year.

Primal Scream at the Villa Marina, Douglas, Isle of Man on 19th July.

They were fantastic. I was jumping around like a loon for most of it, even though I only knew the songs they performed off Screamadelica and "Rocks".

KT Tunstall at the Gaiety Theatre, Douglas on 23rd August.

Her show was very enjoyable, too. Again I only knew her songs off Eye to the Telescope, but she had a way of getting us to sing along to songs that we'd never heard before.

The Sisters of Mercy at London Roundhouse last night.

Shockingly bad. Andrew Eldritch clearly has no voice left and had to sing so softly that his voice was way way down in the mix and barely audible. With the result that the sole remaining defining feature of this once-iconic band was largely absent.

Add in a little blunt insulting of the audience (who had perked up when Walk Away, clearly an old favourite of many present, was played), and a half-hearted, limp-wristed version of Temple of Love, and what you were left with was a systematic and brutal deconstruction of their legacy.

I've only walked out of two gigs early in my life because they were so awful (the other being Baby Bird - so drunk he could barely stand, let alone sing, then he criticised the audience for not being into the gig...) - I managed to stay at this into the ill-deserved encore, but enough was enough when Eldritch confessed/bragged the band had made a mess of one of the songs.

Shameful and disrespectful in equal measure.

Martin and Eliza Carthy, Bury Met, 8th September. Inspiring traditional folk, they played mainly stuff from their recent album. Martin's age is showing a bit, he's in his late 70s and a few times his fingers didn't quite respond fast enough, but despite those rare errors wonderful sensitive guitar playing. Eliza has become one of our finest traditional fiddlers, their voices gel brilliantly, a wonderful gig.

Thursday 13th July - John Schofield and his band at Koko in North London. While technically very impressive, it was all a bit one-paced, and we all would have preferred a change of mood now and again. I was surprised that Koko was absolutely rammed, with a younger, beerier audience than one sees at jazz gigs. Highlight of the night for me was an excellent Japanese meal at the quirky but brilliant Asakusa in Mornington Crescent.

Edit this setlist | More John Scofield Band setlists

Thought it was the menu for a minute?

Hyde Park Radio 2fest. And it's wet!

We saw local lad Julius Cowdrey play last night at the Grey Lady in Tunbridge Wells. He's a talented songwriter (along with his twin brother) with a wonderful voice and a rather lovely fellow too. Definitely someone to keep an eye on for the future. 

CSO kicked off the 2017/18 season last week. This year I did not attend the opening ( not too fond of this year's program ) but I was curious about rarely played Schumann's Symphony No.2.
Anne-Sophie Mutter is no stranger to Chicago periodically appears at the orchestra Hall. The most memorable for me was on 2010 Season opening,  when Muti unexpectedly fell ill to perform, Mutter went on the stage and played the concerto and directed the orchestra. The show must go on!

The Black Angels at The Forum, Kentish Town, on Friday 22nd September.

All very psych-rock, cool and impressive. I liked them the more for playing more quietly than the main support (A Place To Bury Strangers, purveyors of needlessly and aggressively loud music - ignore them).

Saturday, 15th July: The White Hart is a rather cavernous but excellent pub-cum-venue in Crystal Palace, South London.

Ese & The Vooduu People played there that night and ended up doing one of their best-ever shows; it was certainly the longest, and ended up with a mammoth jam session, with all kinds of random people and fans singing or playing along with the band. The epic Chic/Sly & The Family Stone/Prince/Hendrix/Sam Cooke medley will never be forgotten by anyone who saw it!

Kevin-W posted:

Saturday, 15th July: The White Hart is a rather cavernous but excellent pub-cum-venue in Crystal Palace, South London.

Ese & The Vooduu People played there that night and ended up doing one of their best-ever shows; it was certainly the longest, and ended up with a mammoth jam session, with all kinds of random people and fans singing or playing along with the band. The epic Chic/Sly & The Family Stone/Prince/Hendrix/Sam Cooke medley will never be forgotten by anyone who saw it!

Nice to see the picture Kev, it was one of my old haunts way back when

Over to Camberwell, South London on Saturday 22nd July for another Ese gig, this time at the Old Dispensary. A nice raucous crowd for the band to feed off, we ended up getting back at 4am!

Friday 28th July. Went to see The Pretty Things at the excellent 229, just by Great Portland Street tube in Central London.

I think it was the best I've ever seen them: downright dirty and really on fire. Dick remains one of the great (and underrrated) guitarists, while Phil is a superb frontman. The (surprisingly and mostly) young and up for it crowd really spurred them on.

I can't remember the exact setlist, but they did SF Sorrow is Born, Mona, Little Red Rooster, Turn My Head, Big Boss Man, LSD, I See You, The Same Sun, You Can't Judge A Book By The Cover, Midnight To Six Man, etc etc. Fantastic show!