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A collection of virtual postcards from the Big Apple.







Sunday, August 8, 2010

Music In Manhattan

As you might expect the choices for music entertainment in New York are endless. There is simply not enough time or money to get to all the acts we would like to see. Here are some things we have seen recently and some that we are going to down the road and some that we missed out on.

A week ago we saw Raul Malo, not a household name, he better known as the lead singer in the Mavericks. We have not seen him since the mid-nineties with the Mavericks at a bar in Westport and we have never seen Malo as a solo artist. We had tickets for a show a couple of years ago but the show was cancelled at the last minute. His next stop in KC came the week after we moved away. When we got to NYC he was playing but it was when we were still at the hotel and we just had too much going on at that time. So, when we saw he had yet another date here we jumped on it, especially since he would be performing on one of the Circle Line cruise boats and a two hour evening tour of the Lower Manhattan Harbor was part of the “Rockin’ The River” package.


In my head I had an image of Malo serenading us under the starlit sky and the New York skyline behind him. However, when we boarded I could see that something totally different was going to play out. First there was no stage, just an area roped off with those ribbon and pole setups like you see in a bank queue. Within the roped off area were all the trappings of a full electric band. The band area was about midship and facing one side of the boat. Four or five feet in front of the band were three rows of twelve or so chairs and we were lucky enough to snag a pair. The rest of the chairs were lined up on either side of the band and practically none of them had any kind of line of sight. This was also a covered part of the boat with a seven foot ceiling.

The Circle Line oversold this as all the seats were filled and there was hardly room for the others to stand. We had a great view for about three songs or so and then a few people started dancing in front of us and then more and more until we couldn’t see past them any longer. I can’t blame them as they paid the same as we did and deserved to get to see it rather than just hear it. As that part of the boat became more and more compressed we wound our way out and down to the lower deck where we could still enjoy the music and get the cool breeze and take in the panoramic views of the Statue of Liberty on one side and Manhattan and bridges on the other.




Although the evening was not exactly like my vision we really did have a really good time. We managed to get in a good mix of concert and sight seeing. After the show ended Malo and the rest of the band came to the lower deck and took time to meet with everyone and sign autographs.

The next day we went to a free show at an outdoor venue at Lincoln Center as part of their “Out Of Doors” summer series. This was at the Damrosch Park Band Shell just west of Central Park. The venue was set up with 1,000 or so chairs fanning out from the stage. We opted to sit back beyond the seats in a treed plaza area away from the crowd. The weather was just perfect especially as the sun retreated behind the buildings. The evening’s program was the second part of “The Detroit Breakdown”, a day long program featuring music originating in Detroit from different eras and genres. We had never heard of the first two acts, Death, a punk band from the 70s sounding a bit like Iggy Pop, and the Gories, a pop band from the eighties that were a little like White Stripes. Next up was Question Mark and the Mysterians, known for the song and garage band classic, “96 Tears”. They actually managed a nice set despite the fact that they only had the one major hit a couple of minor hits to work with…they still had the great one left. The highlight was when they finally got to perform their hit and Ronnie Spector joined the band on stage unannounced. Closing out the show was Mitch Ryder & the Detroit Wheels who had many hits to work with. He started off strong with many of his hits, Jenny Take A Ride, Sock It To Me Baby, and Little Latin Lupe Lu. However, he left the stage to the band for a planned break to rest his voice and the band carried on with some lackluster generic rock and even a drum solo. He still had yet to play Too Many Fish In The Sea and Devil With A Blue Dress/Good Golly Miss Molly but he was dragging the show out too long for us and we quietly slipped away back home.



96 Tears with Ronnie Spector's surprise appearance.



The upper plaza area at Lincoln Center
? and the Mysterians

Recently there have been a couple of shows we seriously considered going to but we didn’t for various reasons. One was Alejandro Escovedo at City Winery. He played just the day before Malo and it was a weeknight. I found out after the fact that Ian Hunter joined him on stage for the final song of his encore, a Mott The Hoople track, “I Wish I Was Your Mother”. Another was a few weeks ago at Radio City Music Hall where Ringo Starr was performing as well as celebrating his 70th birthday. And for his encore he was joined on stage by Paul McCartney. Of course that seems totally predictable in hindsight. Today there is a free concert on Governors Island and one of the acts is Steve Earle’s son, Justin Townes Earle. Steve lives in NYC now and it is hard for me to think he won’t be joining his son on stage for a song or two. We won’t be making it to this one either so we will wait to find out tomorrow if I am right.

So, looking to the future we are going to see Ray Wylie Hubbard on Tuesday at Joe’s Pub. In early September we plan to see Dave Alvin with Eilen Jewell opening at City Winery. Then we have tickets for September 25th to see The Fab Faux at Radio City Music Hall. Now this requires a little bit of explaining. They are, as the name may suggest, a Beatles tribute band. But they are not like others out there. They make no attempt to do impersonations or even dress like the Beatles. They are just about the music and replicating it perfectly. The only musician most would be familiar with is Will Lee who is part of the band on Late Show with David Letterman. Check the video and see/hear for yourself as they run through most of side two of Abbey Road without a break… essentially in one take. For the show we are attending they are performing a tribute to John Lennon for what would have been his seventieth birthday and will be playing his songs as a solo artist and with the Beatles. Normally I would not go in for a tribute band but this is different especially being in the city that Lennon loved so much. I have to think there will be a surprise guest or two. It is New York so we should be ready for anything.





There is something for every taste and budget here…from free buskers at Washington Square Park to the big names at Madison Square Garden.


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