Kronos Quartet Concert Review- Lied Center 4/13/10

Last night I saw the Kronos Quartet perform a wonderful concert full of contemporary string music.  Terry Riley was heavily represented, and they also played interesting pieces with ethnic heavy overtones (which I love).  Some pieces were perfect combination of ethic Read more »

Philip Glass Concert Review

I went to the Philip Glass concert on April 7th at KU’s Lied Center. This was one of the best non autechre/squarepusher shows I have ever seen. The concert consisted of 3 performers, Glass-daddy on piano, Wendy Sutter on cello, and Mick Rossi on percussion. There were a combination of piano solos, cello solos, duets and trios. 90 minutes of greatness, and they played 2 encores. Tha Hotness. I am not going to write a very long review of this like a DJ Spooky, cause I can only use the word “awesome” so many times without sounding like a fry head stoner (peanut gallery, please hold comments back).

The cello player, Wendy Sutter, was sick, mad sick. Her motion on stage while performing was amazing, she was doing some very technically complicated things on a cello. It looked like what Jimi Hendrix was seeing when he looked at himself play with his head band on . . . it was quite trippy and impressive.

The percussionist, Mick Rossi, was pretty sick too. He did a few hand drum things (and played a snare drum using his hands as well). He had a marimba and some other melodic type percussion things too. And a gong. And old boy sat down behind the Grand Piano and broke it down. This is what it sounds like when I’m breakin it down.

Glass-daddy was off the chain. He knows the pieces he writes like the back of his hands. It was completely amazing to see him perform.

I only had two negative comments, first one, during one of the songs, the drummer messed up halfway through and never got back on. The only reasons I noticed it were because of the drummer and Glass looked up, and the drummer ended about a beat and a half off. The other thing was that the old dude behind me must have had a circulation problem in his legs and was tapping his foot the WHOLE show. I gave him the look of death, and he apologized very quickly, and then 10 minutes later, was doing it again. Off meter and everything, drove me nutz. But he was old, so I couldn’t get to mad.

Some links to articles about his performance in Kansas-

http://www2.ljworld.com/news/2009/apr/03/tempered-glass-influential-composer-takes-knocks/

http://www.kansascity.com/entertainment/story/1121284.html

and a BFR appropriate you tube video concerning this subject: