4:14 p.m. - 2005-10-17
see them dance:the little ones
Saturday we played for the little ones (or as Kia calls them, the wee ones) and they seemed to enjoy it. The only casualty was Kia, who wrenched her shoulder and neck leading the wee ones in a big circle dance. After we played, all sorts of very young kids mobbed our little cd display, grabbing big handfuls of cds and taking them back into the audience to show their parents, most of whom promptly put the cds back in the display without buying one. We would have made a lot of money if the little ones were holding the family purse strings. It should be noted, though, that friends of Kia's from out of town were there and THEY bought some cds. I guess some parents, like Mary and Doug, like to create a joyous domestic environment for their children, exciting their young imaginations and showing them bold new horizons. Other parents just appear to have...other priorities.
This was the first time I used the Horamatic 9000 at a show, with rather disappointing results. I made the mistake of running it through the same amp that the theremin went through, and whenever I played the theremin the hora beat disappeared. Luckily Bill could see the apparatus so he was able to stay in sync by using his eyes. Afterward he said it had made him dizzy. The REAL disappointment, though, was the fact that it made playing klezmer MORE work for me than usual, when the whole point of it was to make LESS. Until I can figure out how to use it to replace the drums entirely, I probably won't use it anymore. Sigh. Another bold new idea tossed forthwith upon the rubbish pile of history.
And then later on Saturday we went to see Sonny Rollins. It was a really good show; Saxophone Colossus continues to amaze with his wit, sponaneity and heavy, ass-kicking sound. There's apparently not a goddam thing he can't do with a tenor, and his brain is even more keen than his fingers are agile, his improvs always elegantly proportioned and executed. I only started listening to him seriously in the last year, and so seeing him live for the first time seemed extra fresh and exciting.
So it was a good show and was only slightly marred by my outbreak of misanthropy brought on by being in the audience of the Overture Center, where I often feel claustrophobic and too hot. It turned out Dave and Ann had seats next to ours, but, their excellent company notwithstanding, we seemed to be surrounded by ANNOYING STRANGERS. Also, it was sometimes hard to hear the tenor, which caused me to fixate on the apparent deafness or obliviousness of the soundman or men or women. The make-up of the ensemble, undistorted guitar, trombone, electric bass, drums and congas, no doubt made good balance a challenge, but there WERE mics on everything. Why have mics on everything if you're not going to bring out the legendary tenorman who we all paid lots of money to see? Plus, the armrests are all wrong there, and the people, MY GOD, THE PEOPLE. Luckily, the music made it worth it. Sometimes music can really make the experience of being in a concert hall tolerable, and thank goodness for that.
NEXT: More boring ass plaster talk!
