What a pleasure, what an afterglow...
I know I'm blessed, I've had many pleasures and really only a few deep travails. I've been afforded excellent opportunities in my life - to travel and to experience other places and peoples and cultures. To be interested and to have the ability to indulge that curiosity through study and experience.
Many years ago, in those early 4AD days, I discovered Dead Can Dance.... those were great days, back when Goth ruled (the first time) and music got really downbeat, somber, and self-indulgent. The kind of stuff you wanted to play on a drizzly and cold gray day, while cuddled up on your mouldering victorian settee, reading Sylvia Plath, and smoking bad cigarettes and drinking coffee as black as your cat, and nearly as bitter as you. Or, that was the girl you dated.
I dug them, for their otherworldliness, but I also dug them because I had a little background in ethnomusicology and could clearly tell this music was timeless, ancient and yet relevant. Most of the earlier work was actually music from hundreds of years ago, in other languages, or in glossolalia - haunting, emotional, primordial.
Been a fan, ever since. Great music for many experience, but in my yoga teaching career, I can say that it is some of the most evocative and resonant music for some practices - from the deep tribal beats and jungle-thrums, to the eerie cantaras, to the incredible laments, to Lisa's "Sacrifice", perhaps the best Savasana song, ever.
DCD played last night, here in the ATX. It's been years; I'd seen Brendan, et al, in Detroit, about a decade ago. He was excellent, but it was half of a whole. Then, years later we saw Lisa in Chicago - I'll tell that tale another day. To have this experience to unite those two, and to have them collaborate - each ceding to the other, each highlighting the other - was a glory.
ACL is such a great venue - the sound quality is so crisp, and that was appreciated for music that goes from one ping of finger-cymbals, to Lisa's highest range, to Brendan's deepest growl. The opener was one of their traveling percussionists and he was fantastic. He opened on three hang drums and did a beautiful piece. Then, gave a really lovely overview of the instrument and it's qualities, and then played again.
Thought that was great - it was - then he stands up, goes to this little round case and pulls out a tambourine. Let me suffice to say, he ripped that instrument apart over the course of 5-6 minutes, only hitting the cymbals after he was halfway through.
The brother solo'd on a tambourine, in a hall, and not only kept us enraptured, but multiple times set the room on fire - I daresay it was the first city on tour that screamed our love out to him as he riffed. You could tell he dug it, and he dug in and shook that thang! A new standard for percussionists.
The show itself was great - plenty of range through the archives and some newer works. Brendan was chatty, Lisa was poised as ever. I have bad eyes for far vision, so I kept thinking "Is that Meryl Streep playing LIsa?". I love her poise and grace, and she owns Diva like none other!
This was the last show on the North American tour - ATX is a music town, we've got our Goths, our hippies, our yogis and metaphysicals, so we were out and out for a good time. We approved, vocally and loudly - and we treated by 5 encores!!
Yes, 5! They gave us the traditional two songs, we didn't take that as it - they came back out, did introductions and thanks, did two more songs, and then left. We weren't done. So Lisa and the keyboardist came out and sealed the deal.
The last encore was a beautiful aria, ending with Lisa simply going from the exquisitely held last note right into "You all are so fantastic, thank you." Took the words right out of my mouth...
So pleased to be there, to hear and to feel it. To share with friends and strangers, to feel and dream and explore the depths and soar to the heights... now, via FB, I see how many friends were there, and I missed you, in my bliss!
Enjoy, be well, give thanks and praise, carry a song in your being!
I know I'm blessed, I've had many pleasures and really only a few deep travails. I've been afforded excellent opportunities in my life - to travel and to experience other places and peoples and cultures. To be interested and to have the ability to indulge that curiosity through study and experience.
Many years ago, in those early 4AD days, I discovered Dead Can Dance.... those were great days, back when Goth ruled (the first time) and music got really downbeat, somber, and self-indulgent. The kind of stuff you wanted to play on a drizzly and cold gray day, while cuddled up on your mouldering victorian settee, reading Sylvia Plath, and smoking bad cigarettes and drinking coffee as black as your cat, and nearly as bitter as you. Or, that was the girl you dated.
I dug them, for their otherworldliness, but I also dug them because I had a little background in ethnomusicology and could clearly tell this music was timeless, ancient and yet relevant. Most of the earlier work was actually music from hundreds of years ago, in other languages, or in glossolalia - haunting, emotional, primordial.
Been a fan, ever since. Great music for many experience, but in my yoga teaching career, I can say that it is some of the most evocative and resonant music for some practices - from the deep tribal beats and jungle-thrums, to the eerie cantaras, to the incredible laments, to Lisa's "Sacrifice", perhaps the best Savasana song, ever.
DCD played last night, here in the ATX. It's been years; I'd seen Brendan, et al, in Detroit, about a decade ago. He was excellent, but it was half of a whole. Then, years later we saw Lisa in Chicago - I'll tell that tale another day. To have this experience to unite those two, and to have them collaborate - each ceding to the other, each highlighting the other - was a glory.
ACL is such a great venue - the sound quality is so crisp, and that was appreciated for music that goes from one ping of finger-cymbals, to Lisa's highest range, to Brendan's deepest growl. The opener was one of their traveling percussionists and he was fantastic. He opened on three hang drums and did a beautiful piece. Then, gave a really lovely overview of the instrument and it's qualities, and then played again.
Thought that was great - it was - then he stands up, goes to this little round case and pulls out a tambourine. Let me suffice to say, he ripped that instrument apart over the course of 5-6 minutes, only hitting the cymbals after he was halfway through.
The brother solo'd on a tambourine, in a hall, and not only kept us enraptured, but multiple times set the room on fire - I daresay it was the first city on tour that screamed our love out to him as he riffed. You could tell he dug it, and he dug in and shook that thang! A new standard for percussionists.
The show itself was great - plenty of range through the archives and some newer works. Brendan was chatty, Lisa was poised as ever. I have bad eyes for far vision, so I kept thinking "Is that Meryl Streep playing LIsa?". I love her poise and grace, and she owns Diva like none other!
This was the last show on the North American tour - ATX is a music town, we've got our Goths, our hippies, our yogis and metaphysicals, so we were out and out for a good time. We approved, vocally and loudly - and we treated by 5 encores!!
Yes, 5! They gave us the traditional two songs, we didn't take that as it - they came back out, did introductions and thanks, did two more songs, and then left. We weren't done. So Lisa and the keyboardist came out and sealed the deal.
The last encore was a beautiful aria, ending with Lisa simply going from the exquisitely held last note right into "You all are so fantastic, thank you." Took the words right out of my mouth...
So pleased to be there, to hear and to feel it. To share with friends and strangers, to feel and dream and explore the depths and soar to the heights... now, via FB, I see how many friends were there, and I missed you, in my bliss!
Enjoy, be well, give thanks and praise, carry a song in your being!
