Saturday, November 18, 2006
The New Standards at the Fitzgerald
I had been hearing ads on The Current for The New Standards concert at the historic Fitzgerald Theater for a while. I thought it sounded like an interesting show. John Munson of Semisonic, Chan Poling of The Suburbs, and vibraphonist Steve Roehm take "new standards" from the modern era and put their own spin on them. I was listening to The Current on the way to the airport from work yesterday and heard that Dan Wilson would be joining them. That combined with my recent and sudden financial turnaround gave me reason enough to call up my usual concert buddy Mary. I knew she'd be up for it since she's a big fan of Trip Shakespeare, Semisonic, and Dan Wilson.
I first should mention the very pleasant coincidence of seeing my friend Kristina at the show. Not only did she happen to be on the job manning one of the cameras filming the event, but she also happened to be on the same balcony Mary and I were on.
With the exception of one song where Matt Wilson sang and played the electric guitar (I believe it was called "Descender"), the entire evening was acoustic, and at times, downright orchestral. They did a lot of songs I love, including "Under Pressure" by Queen (I have a strong suspicion from, a smattering of initial reactions when John Munson first played the opening bass line that some people honestly thought they were going to bust out some muthafuckin' Vanilla Ice, but maybe I'm giving people less credit than they deserve--wait, no I'm not). I also loved their rendition of Outkast's "Hey Ya" and Beck's "New Pollution." And Mary even got one of her favorites, "Snow Days" from Trip Shakespeare, during the encore (and check out this 25th generation dub of a live performance of that very song that I found on MySpace).
The crowd at the show was a trip in and of themselves. Young kids texting their parents sitting right next to them all the way to translucently white 50+ guys who couldn't clap to the beat of the music to save their lives. T-shirts and jeans to suits and ties. Everyone was pretty well behaved for the most part. It was assigned seating, and this wasn't exactly a headbanging type of show. Though there were a couple of drunken assholes who shouted random nonsense once or twice when one of the performers was introducing a song.
The whole evening was emceed by Mark Wheat. So I've always wondered quite generally--what is this guy's deal? Good radio voice. Check. Pleasant British accent. Check. Ability to speak more than two words without...an awkward...pause...while...he...seems...to search...for...what...to say. BZZZZT! But evidently he's well-liked. He's won several local radio awards. Probably for most non-contiguous dead air in a radio broadcast.
I first should mention the very pleasant coincidence of seeing my friend Kristina at the show. Not only did she happen to be on the job manning one of the cameras filming the event, but she also happened to be on the same balcony Mary and I were on.
With the exception of one song where Matt Wilson sang and played the electric guitar (I believe it was called "Descender"), the entire evening was acoustic, and at times, downright orchestral. They did a lot of songs I love, including "Under Pressure" by Queen (I have a strong suspicion from, a smattering of initial reactions when John Munson first played the opening bass line that some people honestly thought they were going to bust out some muthafuckin' Vanilla Ice, but maybe I'm giving people less credit than they deserve--wait, no I'm not). I also loved their rendition of Outkast's "Hey Ya" and Beck's "New Pollution." And Mary even got one of her favorites, "Snow Days" from Trip Shakespeare, during the encore (and check out this 25th generation dub of a live performance of that very song that I found on MySpace).
The crowd at the show was a trip in and of themselves. Young kids texting their parents sitting right next to them all the way to translucently white 50+ guys who couldn't clap to the beat of the music to save their lives. T-shirts and jeans to suits and ties. Everyone was pretty well behaved for the most part. It was assigned seating, and this wasn't exactly a headbanging type of show. Though there were a couple of drunken assholes who shouted random nonsense once or twice when one of the performers was introducing a song.
The whole evening was emceed by Mark Wheat. So I've always wondered quite generally--what is this guy's deal? Good radio voice. Check. Pleasant British accent. Check. Ability to speak more than two words without...an awkward...pause...while...he...seems...to search...for...what...to say. BZZZZT! But evidently he's well-liked. He's won several local radio awards. Probably for most non-contiguous dead air in a radio broadcast.
"Orchestral." Exactly. I was there--and, inspired by that gorgeous encore, I found the same "Snow Day" video on My Space and have been replaying it all morning.
Vanilla Ice? Never occurred to me. The audience finger snapping kind of threw me, though. Amazing, at my age, that my panicky, is-that-cool reflex hasn't atrophied yet.
I definitely would like to check them out at The Dakota sometime when they play. Unfortunately, it probably won't be their December gig.
My Vanilla Ice suspicion was based on a handful of teens sitting near our seats. I think the older crowd, in which I include myself, knew right away it would be Queen. Though you can't help but get that damned Vanilla Ice song in your head for just a moment.