Thursday, August 14, 2008
Whatevs Get Classy
Posted by Steve Haruch on Thu, Aug 14, 2008 at 9:10 AM
You may have heard that Ben Folds will be playing at the Schermerhorn with the Nashville Symphony as his back-up band. That's Sept. 7, and tickets are $40-$110. Not that I think it's not a worthwhile event, but the use of quotes in the description is a bit unfortunate:
Nashville's own Ben Folds is widely acclaimed for his musical virtuosity as pianist, composer, songwriter, performer and multi-instrumentalist. This season, Folds brings his quirky, yet thoughtful, brand of music with Elton John-like piano accompaniment as he "rocks" Schermerhorn Symphony Center for this opening gala event.
Early word is that Folds' chauffeur and butler will not be performing.
At any rate, after having lunch with some Symphony people the other day, I've been thinking about what kinds of collaborations might be of interest to people who like to "rock" but also appreciate the rigor and complexity of classical music. Jack Silverman brought up ALIAS, and we were talking about how cool it would be if they got out and played a show at The End or something, and collaborated with, I don't know, Leslie Keffer, Hands Off Cuba or any number of experimental-minded local rock acts.
My question to you, Cream readers, is twofold (so to speak): First, what kind of program would get you to go (or has gotten you to go) to the Schermerhorn? Second, what kind of classical/experimental collaboration would you want to see at a rock club?
Comments (12)
Showing 1-12 of 12
--you say "not that i think it's not a worthwhile event, but..."
--but how about: "i think it's a worthwhile event, but..."
like
dislike
This won't quite match the Placido Domingo/John Denver duet for sheer crappitude, but it could be better.
The Philip Glass Quartet show was amazing. The Schermerhorn sounds great, no matter where you're at, although you do get more of a feel for the room near the middle.
I don't know about that second question. How about Sunn O))) and the Kronos Quartet. Even though it seems logistically impossible.
I'm not really sure why anyone would bother to point out that this isn't "a worthwhile event". What would make it worthwhile for you? I just don't get the cynicism here. Folds is a good songwriter, good performer, etc. Not too pop, not too cool nor uncool. If anything, he's one of those dudes who's made it to that weird void between fame and anonymity that makes him and his music somewhat bulletproof. I just wonder what criteria deems something worthwhile. Maybe save the cynicism for when Saliva comes to the Wildhorse or something.
woops. my bad. totally can't read. misunderstood the post. I really hope my previous comment didn't make it through. I hit back on my browser when I realized I was an idiot. if it didn't post, then you luckily have no idea what I'm talking about. if it did, then you know that I am an idiot.
Steve, it's not that I don't think that what you didn't meant to not say wasn't what it didn't sound like, it's just that I'm not sure that I didn't understand what you didn't mean to not say.
Shawn Phillips no doubt in either venue. Add Paul Buckmaster and J. Peter Robinson and it's really amazing - just saw this show in Minneapolis.
steve and jack, you seem to endorse Pink Floyd's famous double negative:
"We don't need no education"
Vote here for best Band of the Week
Slideshows
Top Commenters
