Miscellany of a Cheshire Cat

I went up to NY last weekend to hang with lisaf and see Loreena McKennitt at Radio City Music Hall. We saw her there on her last tour 9 years ago so it seemed like a great idea to see her there again. For the record, it was an AWESOME idea. I don’t go to a lot of concerts and quite honestly live music isn’t my thing, but Loreena McKennitt and her ensemble live? It’s an amazing experience.

My favorite part of the concert remains the ensemble itself. There were 10 musicians on stage including herself. Most of them played more than one instrument through the course of the concert. Actually, many of them played more than two instruments or even switched between two in a given song. I love watching musicians play, I just can’t help myself. Every ensemble should have a hurdy gurdy player too, and hurdy gurdy solos for hurdy gurdy players to rock out on! The cellist was mesmerizing. Really, all the musicians were incredible. Every moment there was something interesting going on - someone switched instruments, a solo/duet, and the extended jamming sections of some of the songs…

I love my IS lens too. It really made it possible for me to get good photos. I’m just not cool enough yet to manipulate all my settings (mostly because I’m still figuring out what buttons do that on this camera). Since there were flashes going off unpunished, I threw on the IS lens so I could get some decent shots without being a jerk and using my flash. It’s kind of a big lens but I love it. I hadn’t even intended to take photos at the concert, honestly, but I had fun doing it!

I don’t usually go to concerts so describing concerts isn’t something I’m good at. Instead, I give you a selection of the photos. The glory of concert photos is that they can be a little blurry… in fact, they’re not blurry, they’re artistic! Right! Click here for the handful of photos I uploaded.

But back to the concert… because even a week later I’m not done gushing about it apparently.

They performed many of my favorite songs. I got goosebumps, as usual, during “The Highwayan.” I spent the whole concert just surrounded by the rich tapestry of their music. In some small part, it could be the venue since I’ve never seen Loreena McKennitt anywhere else. But I suspect it’s mostly that this group has a lot of fun playing together and being on stage is secondary to the music. The audience ends up experiencing the music of the hearts of these musicians rather than a rehearsed set list. Perhaps I’m too much of a romantic but Loreena McKennitt is a concert experience like no other I’ve had. (Feel free to chime in with other groups you think I might enjoy who provide similar concert experiences.)

The rest of the weekend up with Lisa was fun too - we shopped, dined, imbibed, wandered and generally had a lovely time.

tags: concerts, loreena mckennitt, music, radio city music hall, weekend