Hah! Did you think I had skipped out without sharing any photos from the U2 concert? Because you see, we were allowed to take a small camera...
Seriously? A-M-A-Z-I-N-G! And we loved it! So much so that we went back to the hotel and Aunt R & I started looking at other concert dates... LOL!
Last minute purchase of four concert tickets: $300.00
3 sodas and a salad: $18.50
Parking: $7.00 (okay so that was a bargain compared to what I was expecting!)
Watching my nieces totally rock out at their first concert: Priceless!
The evening started with a very cool flag show.
The lead-in group wore black. Personally, I think they should have gone for red. and white. and blue. But black's always chic too.
Followed by acrobats with fire. We're talking serious pyromaniac activity here!
Waiting for the main show. Just a little excited.
Seriously. Thrilled to be here.
Um. Yeah. She SCREAMED when she saw...
The Jonas Brothers
And most of the rest of my photos of the nieces came out something like this...
I did manage to get a few photos of the band in action too...
And when the whole stadium was complete pandemonium, singing along to "Sweet Caroline" (right - who would have thought the Jonas Brothers would do a Neil Diamond cover?!)... somehow Rabbit knew every word. And led the dancing on our row.
The crowd around the stage was a mob.
Personally, I think all those cameras 'rightupthereinyourface' are a little frightening -- remember the days, pre-cell phone, when cameras were off-limits at concerts? Then again, I did take a gazillion photos over the evening too. Just from further away.
Here's the real view from our seats... It was a pretty amazing evening, especially with that gigantic flag billowing in the background.
One advantage of these close-up shots is being able to see what's going on backstage. Does anyone else wonder what those 12 people are doing standing around back there?
I can account for the two or three roadies who are tuning instruments & moving that piano around, but the rest? No idea.
Still, all those screaming girls who were singing along didn't seem to give it a second thought.
They were totally focused on the music and the band.
Yep. Screaming, Singing, Dancing. My girls were 'the triple threat'.
And I'll freely admit... I stood there grinning ear-to-ear the whole time!
Seriously. Priceless.
I always think that I don't buy a lot of music... and then I look at the stack of cds that has mysteriously grown next to the stereo and think "oh, well, maybe I do." LOL! They sort of sneak up on you, y'know?
So what kind of music do I buy? A lot of soundtracks, as it happens. You've probably heard me say it before, but personally, I think the best classical music being composed in the last twenty years (possibly thirty, even) is all happening for film. The melodies that captivate, the tone poems that steal your breath, the musical themes that tug at the heart or inspire us to cheer... they're all there.
And sometimes, a piece transcends a film to become a well-loved masterpiece in it's own right. Something you want to listen to just because it's so inspiring, so overwhelmingly beautiful or majestic, so... amazing.
The soaring notes of "Gabriel's Oboe" from 'The Mission', composed by Ennio Morricone.
The heart-stilling drum themes mixed with cello and bass from 'Henry V', composed by Patrick Doyle.
The simple, yet complex piano melodies of 'Pride and Prejudice', composed by Dario Marianelli. (The image downloaded that size - really.)
And pick just about anything by the legendary John Williams and it becomes a Who's Who of famous films. Music you'll recognize within a few notes or bars.
Here's a new one that I'm going to add to the masterpiece list:
The movie is intense. And the soundtrack is simply breathtaking in it's depth and scope. As we watched the climatic scenes of the film unfold, I was overwhelmed by the beauty of Hans Zimmer's score and knew I'd be tracking it down. Have you ever heard of something musically described as 'cathedral' because it just has such height and volume and aspiration to it? That's what this music is. Violin solos by Joshua Bell even. I've been listening to it all weekend, and it's such a beautiful, lyrical masterpiece that it just simply... soars.
It just seems to be the week for music posts! Maybe tomorrow I'll have something to say about Mendelssohn or Joshua Bell, but today, today is all about U2, because.... (drum roll here!)...
The new U2 album, "No Line on the Horizon" drops today, Tuesday, March 3rd! Go on - get excited!
(Photo from U2.com)
Even though the first single "Get Your Boots On" was released weeks ago, I've put off downloading or listening to it, preferring to wait for the full album. U2 is just known for crafting and building each album to create a specific experience, so that each song works together as part of a collection and not just a four minute sound bite. Knowing that, I really want to hear the entire new album for the first time before listening to individual pieces. And the tantalizing wait is over! Early reviews are definitely positive... and interesting to read! They've been popping up all over for the last week...
And, pardon me for hyperventilating, but... Concert Dates evidently to be posted at U2.com on March 9th. Read more here.
Have. passport. Must. travel. Who's coming with me?
Album Cover, No Line On The Horizon
Photo by Hiroshi Sugimoto
(from U2.com)
And, P.S., how cool is this?? You can buy this album in a vinyl LP format too!
P.P.S. You know that U2 is guesting on David Letterman all this week, right?
Saturday afternoon matinee - Jonas Brothers 3-D Concert movie, with Sweetie and Bugaboo. A great concert! Bugaboo, another fan of the Jonas Brothers' music, definitely wants to see it again, so we just might.
I wasn't planning on doing a full blown write-up about it, but it's been interesting to read the reviews and see ticket tallies for the weekend... The film hasn't been the immediate blockbuster many film industry peeps predicted, which opens the door for constructive conversation. So here's my own review and comments for you...
On 3-D. Bugaboo and Sweetie loved the 3-D. They loved the 3-D glasses. They loved the 3-D effects. They just loved the 3-D experience! However,... if you've seen the U2 3D concert film -- which was AMAZING, by the way -- well, this film, admittedly, just isn't on that same 3D level. It is good 3-D, don't get me wrong, but its not the 'Oh. WOW' 3D of U2. Then again, well... U2 is U2, and they already had a lot of their digital effects framed out from their concert tour. J
Though, I will say, seeing the new Disney castle intro in 3-D... well it sounds funny to say it, but that was pretty cool 3D! (Not $10 cool, but still - cool!)
On the reviews. In interesting mix. There are critics who reviewed this film as basically a Disney-product and those who reviewed it like they would have any other musical group. Those who reviewed it as a Disney-product were curiously ignorant of the band's background - describing them as just another 'output of the Disney factory' - and they consistently gave the film tepid reviews. However, there were several reviewers who actually knew something about the Jonas Brothers origin and music, and they reviewed the film just like they would have any other band... and those reviewers all gave the film a good review! They consistently said it was a great concert. So I thought that was interesting, and made sense in a wierd way. If you knew nothing about them and thought it was just another manufactured boy band... well, yeh, that would definitely influence your perspective! I guess that's something I like about the Jonas Brothers music -- they're not a manufactured boy band put together by a studio. And as one reviewer noted, this film isn't the make-or-break for them that it is for so many Disney acts. (Hannah Montana, anyone?) So when it comes to reviews, I'm going with the critics who actually know something about the band... and they gave good reviews. Me too - I liked it! It is a good concert and shows that the group definitely puts on a good show!
On the tallies. For a Saturday afternoon matinee, I was expecting a packed theater. Seriously - wouldn't you? So I was very surprised that our theater was half empty! More especially considering the theater we went to is actually known in major Hollywood studios for being a record breaker. So if we had a half-empty theater... well. I wonder... I definitely thought the $10 ticket price (because of the 3-D) was pretty steep for a matinee. Even I thought twice before deciding 'whatever...'. So if the auntie thought twice about it before spending the big bucks, I'm sure a lot of parents are going to back off because of it. That's just today's economics. Then there's the whole Miley Cyrus / Cheetah Girls comparison -- if its just another manufactured Disney group, why bother? And if you aren't familiar with the group, don't listen to their music and knew nothing about it, wouldn't that be your reaction? Which leads us to...
Should you or Shouldn't you? If you're at all tempted: Yes, do! Personally, I'm hoping the movie picks up steam and does well. It's a great concert - very entertaining - very enjoyable - and just good fun! So if you enjoy the Jonas Brothers music... dive in and see the film! It's a good show and, considering the cost of live concert tickets these days, it's a great deal! So how's that for economics? LOL!
J
