The Arts
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Concert Review: The David Bromberg Quintet
When David Bromberg comes to New England, the question usually isn’t whether to go see him play, but rather which venue to see him at. This time through, David played a pair of dates in Massachusetts, first at Fall River and then in Rockport, and then he wound up the New England leg of his tour in Plymouth, New Hampshire. We chose to see him at the Shalin Liu Performing Arts Center in Rockport because with its unique architecture and siting, it is perhaps our favorite music venue in all of New England. David Bromberg is touring primarily with his quintet these days, which consists of bassist Butch Amiot, who has been playing…
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Concert Review: Inti Illimani
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Concert Review: Inti Illimani
For a couple of years now we have wanted to go to a concert at Rockport’s beautiful new Shalin Liu Performance Center. Finally we made it earlier this month to see the famous Chilean music group Inti Illimani perform there on October 14. My wife first saw Inti Illimani perform back in the 1970s in Italy, where the band spent much of their time while in exile from Chile during the time Pinochet was in power, and she took me to see them back in the 1980s in Somerville, Massachusetts. I remember at the time that the music I listened to was absolutely captivating, so I was very much looking forward to…
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Concert Review: The David Bromberg Quintet
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Concert Review: Doc Watson
At eighty-seven years of age, legendary guitarist Doc Watson still maintains a touring schedule. Usually when a musician of his stature continues to perform this late into his career, he begins to be described as a “musical treasure.” Often, those are code words for “lost his chops.” I tell you what, Doc has certainly not lost his chops, although to be fair, his playing does not have the same sureness or consistency as it once had. Elisa and I saw Doc play in Albany, New York at The Egg on Sunday, August 1. It was the fourth time I’ve seen Doc perform. Unfortunately, Albany, a little over three hours by car…
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Day Trip to the Berkshires: The Clark & Tanglewood
Elisa decided that our Mother’s Day gift to her mother would be to take her on a day trip to the Berkshires, a part of Massachusetts that my mother-in-law, who was visiting from her home in Italy, had never visited. So after a date was settled on (Sunday, June 27), we got to work looking for some fun things to do that she would enjoy. The wonderful thing about visiting the Berkshires is that you could spend a week there and not see everything. But that also means that if you only have a day trip in front of you, there is a wealth of attractions from which to choose. We’d…
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Concert Review: Leo Kottke and Jerry Douglas
My wife Elisa and I had decided to treat ourselves to a concert for Valentine’s Day, and while this show was two months removed, it was the one that we picked. It was our first visit to the Stockbridge Theatre in Derry, and we both thought the venue was great. Seating just under 900, there really isn’t a bad seat in the house, and every aspect of the place was very well thought out. Jerry Douglas, well known these days as a sideman in the band Alison Krauss and Union Station, opened the show with an amazing display of virtuosity on the dobro. I’m completely unfamiliar with Jerry’s solo repertoire and…
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Concert Review: David Bromberg Quartet
Thanks to a great Christmas present from my Son Adam, Elisa and I went to see David Bromberg perform on Friday, February 26 at the First Parish Church in Cambridge, Massachusetts. We’ve both seen Bromberg several times over the years, but since he started touring the northeast with his Big Band, we have been going to see that show when it comes to The Egg in Albany New York. We were both looking forward to seeing him in a more intimate setting. Bromberg opened with one of my favorites tunes from 1973’s Midnight on the Water, Summer Wages. The tune, penned by Ian Tyson (of Ian and Sylvia fame), included an…
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Last Night in Twisted River, by John Irving
Last Night in Twisted River, John Irving’s twelfth novel, structurally shares a quite a bit with his more iconic novels, such as The World According to Garp, The Cider House Rules, and A Prayer for Owen Meany. Like these earlier works the main character is a man; we are introduced to him very early in his life; a majority of the novel is set in New England; really bad stuff happens to otherwise ordinary characters; and female characters are always present and often rather two dimensional. Readers who are drawn to these aspects of Irving’s books will no doubt feel right at home with this one, after enduring Irving’s fifteen-year side…
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Concert Review: Loudon Wainwright III & Richard Thompson
For my birthday this year, Elisa bought me tickets to the opening night of ‘Loud and Rich,’ a multi-city concert tour pairing Loudon Wainwright II with Richard Thompson. It was my first time seeing Loudon Wainwright, so I didn’t really have any particular expectations, although I always look forward to seeing someone in concert that I haven’t seen before. I’ve seen Richard Thompson once before, around the time Rumor and Sigh was released, and I was looking forward to seeing him again. The venue was the Lebanon Opera House in Lebanon, New Hampshire. While I’d never been there before, mostly because it is almost a two-hour drive from my home, I…
