squirelawrence

but DAMN, that girl can sing. 

SiriusXM radio had an hourlong interview/acoustic set with Evenescence while I was on the road for work (totally worth whatever I paid for Sirius this month).  They opened with Bring Me to Life, of course, and at first, the acoustic set (with piano and cello) sounds pretty much like the album version (which is kind of neat in itself).  Then it hits the point where normally the guitars come snarling in, and the difference hits you.  And then the non-difference hits you - Amy Lee's vocal track sounds exactly the same.  And you realize that amazing, pure, precise, freaking GORGEOUS  voice is all her - she can do this with nothing more than a microphone and an empty room.  

Damn, that girl can sing.  And apparently she plays harp, too, which has got to be amazing to see. 

Translated -  "Bringing light, like the Morningstar before the rising sun."  - Ave cuius conceptio, by Nicholas Ludford.

Adventures in culture!  Attended the British Choir Festival at the National Cathedral.  Lead honors to the Choir of New College, Oxford, along with the Choir of Saint Thomas Church, New York City and the Choir of the National Cathedral.  Lovely, lovely fun.  And a packed house, too, which is impressive in a house the size of National Cathedral. 

Not really up on sacred choral music anymore - been. . . ouch, nearly a quarter century since the Duke Chorale and the choir and chorus at Science and Math.  Even with my limited experience, though, this was a really amazing bunch of singers.  Each choir did a couple of numbers, with the three choirs combining for two numbers.  My favorite (and apparently the choirs', as they used it for the encore, was the Spem in alium numquam habui, by Thomas Tallis.  Like the Ligeti Lux Aeterna (which I got to do with the Chorale), it's a piece for 16 parts, massively complex, wonderful when done correctly.  Very different piece, in that Tallis doesn't appear to have been insane (which was my definite opinion of Ligeti, way back when), but the same sense of magic when all the parts finally meld together and the themes all join and resolve.  

The treble soloist for the Choir of New College on the Christus Vincit was scary, scary good.  High, pure voice just soaring through the Cathedral.  It was. . . amazing. 

All in all?  I love this town.  

Wandered down to the town of my youth, Jacksonville, for the free Saving Jane concert. For those of you who haven't heard (or heard of) the band, check it out. http://www.savingjaneonline.com/

So, some wandering around at first - I may have grown up in Jacksonville, but I haven't been around this section of town since I was in junior high, a. . . well, let's just say a while ago now. And the directions on the website for the concert suck, since it's for the downtown Jacksonvile beautification project, and so they assume that anyone who cares, knows where it is. Not a great marketing ploy, but there you go.

Finally find the place, and spend about an hour with the opening act, a group called Starting Tuesday, from Chapel Hill. Given that I just came from 7 years in Chapel Hill, I'm a little surprised I've never heard of these guys, but they're pretty good. This is also the point where I relearn all the fun of being at a concert with a not really big crowd between you and the speaker towers. *grin* It's actually a lot of fun being near sound so loud you can feel it vibrating the bones in your chest. Sort of . . . soothing. Of course, that may just be me.

And what in the world is it with people and cell phones? I'm ten feet from the speakers, couldn't hear anything but the music if you dropped a grenade at my feet, and there's constantly 3-4 people wandering around in front of me screaming into their cell phones. WTF?

And then Saving Jane comes on. I really should've posted this last night, when I was still bouncing arund with glee, but it was a very subdued bouncing, as I was also very, very sleepy. In sum? They were great. Lead singer, Marti Dodson, is gorgeous, but more importantly has an amazing voice. Sang "Happy Birthday" to the drummer, Dak ("Not Dork, not Dirk, Dak") and it was lovely. If you can be impressive on that song, you have a good voice. They did mostly stuff off of the "Girl Next Door" album, but also did a couple off of their forthcoming album which Marti said would be out next month (YAY!), and a cover of "With or Without You" that was AWESOME! Also did my favorite, "Come Down to Me," with just Marti and the keyboardist, Joe Cochran, who she just called "Handsome Joe." He had his own fan club in the audience, judging from the screams.

A great evening. Gotta do that more often.