| Author | Message | ||
     Steveford |
I worked on Ishai's Cyclone over the summer and as I was beating away on his bike with The Magic Hammer (and cursing up a storm, as usual) he asked me what kind of music I liked. I said pretty much rock 'n' roll and he mentioned that his job was doing the sound at the Warner Theater in Washington, D.C. which is a pretty cool way to make a living in my opinion. He got me two tickets to see The Brian Setzer Orchestra last night and the show was just tremendous! The opening act was an Australian trio, The Firebirds, who were a Stray Cats-type band and while they were pretty good Brian Setzer and his band were just stellar. 13 horn players, two female vocalists, a really good drummer and a great stand up acoustic bass player made up the orchestra. He played for two hours and you could tell the whole crew was just having so much fun in their matching outfits and it was a mix of revved up Christmas music, rock and roll, rockabilly and big band led by a guitar. They opened with the theme from the TV show, The Munsters, if that gives you any idea of what the night was like. The line up was the entire orchestra, a portion with just a bass and stand up drummer (Stray Cats-style) and then the stand up bass player from the Firebirds came out for a double bass duel. It was just great. If you get a chance to see these guys, go do it, you'll have a blast. I saw Brian Setzer twice during the early 80s with The Stray Cats and he's one of those people who just continued to get better as the years went by. On the way home I was telling Lynda that I see why Jeff Beck chose to include him in his Tribute To Les Paul Rock and Roll Party DVD and her comment was Brian Setzer is better than Jeff Beck (she's now seen them both play live). When people are at that level I'm not sure if there is a "better" but he's in that category on those wild Gretsch guitars he played. It pains me to admit that after having center seats in the balcony I'm afraid that my Maggies aren't as dynamic as one could hope. The kick drums during a drum solo at that show sounded like the closing salvos during fireworks. It was that hits you in the chest feeling. I need to do some serious upgrades - I'm going to find out later today just how much power they were using to drive everything. Thank you so much, Ishai, that was a great night out for myself and the missus! | ||
| Two_seasons |
Nice read...thanks  | ||
| Ishai |
Glad you enjoyed the show , and sorry I could not spend time with you guys...yes, it was a different type of christmass show- much more fun than most of them. The highlight for me was the Nutcrcker suite as I am about to embark on a month long Nutcracker show with the Washington ballet, where the music is going to be "Slightly" different version to what was played last night... | ||
| Ishai |
And BTW- I have about 40,000 watts available, and we didn't even tickle the amps, so yes, we certainly can do some damage.... We got a wonderful PA system in the theatre . I did not mix the show- they have their own soundman. To note- there was no electronic keyboard or any prerecorded or "augmented" portion of the show- It is a totaly live show with 53(!) open microphones so it is not an easy one... | ||
| Steveford |
Ballet? Ugh. Time to take your medicine as Mr. Setzer put it! I'm going to take Lynda to see Dweezil do the Zappa Plays Zappa Roxy tour next. She never saw Frank play so that will be as close as she'll ever get. 40,000 Watts - no wonder you got that bass output there. That theater sounds really good. (Message edited by SteveFord on November 30, 2013) |
