Brad Mehldau - Three Pieces after Bach

Turns out to be his most interesting and intense performance so far.


Score: 5/5
Buddy: Jakob
Merch: nope
Again? Anytime, anyplace

Jazz and Classical performances are hardest to review. First there is always a lot of history behind this music to embrace Second the level of Classical performances, in particular in Konzerthaus Wien, rather leaves it to the experts than to the occasional listener to express an opinion. Bearing that in mind and not having that much knowledge of musical history, it's typically very hard for me to judge. A subjective moment.

Not in this case - at least to a significantly lesser degree. When Brad Mehldau plays Bach, this is fundamentally different.

As I learnt from the  Konzerthaus Wien website, Brad Mehldau is originally trained as a classical musician. His initial approach to Bach seems classical first. I admire his strict and precise Legato, which is so important in Bach (compared to the masters of Bach, he plays more Legato, which I really like). Some seconds later, there is this groove that changes everything. Far away from any metronomesqhe precision, his interpretations imply rhythmical flexibility I have never heard before - in Bach. 

Brad Mehldau goes further by introducing his improvisation after every piece - and this is where the sun starts to shine. Yes, the sun because now very impressionistic themes erase the remaining heavy touch that Bach so often can have. Much lighter and far more enjoyable, at the same time fascinating.

His programme on this evening:

Johann Sebastian Bach

Präludium 3 Cis-Dur BWV 848 (Das wohltemperierte Klavier, Band I) (1722)

Brad Mehldau

After Bach 1: Rondo (Three Pieces After Bach) (2015) (EA)

Johann Sebastian Bach

Präludium C-Dur BWV 870 (Das wohltemperierte Klavier, Band II) (1738-1742)

Fuge 16 g-moll BWV 885 (Das wohltemperierte Klavier, Band II) (1738-1742)

Brad Mehldau

After Bach 2: Ostinato (Three Pieces After Bach) (2015) (EA)

***

Johann Sebastian Bach

Präludium 6 d-moll BWV 851 (Das wohltemperierte Klavier, Band I) (1722)

Brad Mehldau

After Bach 3: Toccata (Three Pieces After Bach) (2015) (EA)

Johann Sebastian Bach

Allemande (aus Partita Nr. 4 D-Dur BWV 828) (1726-1731)

Brad Mehldau

Improvisation on Bach I

Johann Sebastian Bach

Präludium und Fuge 12 f-moll BWV 857 (Das wohltemperierte Klavier, Band I) (1722)

Brad Mehldau

Improvisation on Bach II

-----------------------------------------

Encore:

Radiohead

Little By Little

George Gershwin

How Long Has This Been Going On (Rosalie) (1927)

Frank Loesser

The Inch Worm

 

Opeth

Simply the best band in the world


Buddies: Stolli, David

Rating: 5 out of 5

Merch: none

Again? anytime

Volbeat (Airbourne)

The very first gig of my son became one of my loudest ever.


Score: 4/5
Buddies: my son, Herb (downstairs)
Merch: just popcorn
Again? Hopefully (with my son)





If you wanna do a gig with your children, I am quite sure that you need to be fast. Otherwise 'being on a gig with your child' means that you drop her/him off the place in order to pick her/him up later again (while not being seen, cause that would be uncool for them). The Wacken experience told me that it's about time to head for my son's first gig. He is now (nearly) ten, and @Wacken there were considerably younger kids with their parents.

Step 1 - Choosing the right band: Despite my son's preference of rather electronic acts such as Skrillex, I chose Volbeat. It was a rather spontaneous choice, they are big enough to be in Wiener Stadthalle, so they provide seated places as well. They are melodic enough, and there would not be any advanced things, such as Circle Pits (Volbeat actually asked for a Circle Pit, but got none) or Walls of Death etc. And the date just fit.

Step 2 - Preparing the right equipment: What I learnt from Wacken was that you have to take great care of ear protection for the young headbangers. DIY superstores are best for getting workers' ear protection, and I ended up with a two layer solution, i.e. in-ear and over the ear protection.


Since the gig ended up being very loud, this was the exact right thing to do - we used both protection layers simultaneously. So this will be the standard equipment for further gigs.










Step 3 - Going there, Experience: I admit that I was a bit unsure about how this will turn out. My son hardly knew any of Volbeat's music, and I expected him to be one of the very youngest there, so I was unsure about whether there will be questions about his age. None of these concerns were grounded. While he definitely was one of the youngest, there were also other kids there, and the personnel of Wiener Stadthalle was particularly friendly to us. Probably also because my son already had the full ear protection attached outside of the venue - just to be on the safe side. That was nice.

(more to follow)

Animals As Leaders/Plini

Just after Wacken the opposite - a prog metal gig at (szene) Wien. As it turns out, the support acts were the real thing for us.

Buddy: Tom (great that you could step in   or Stolli)

Rating: 4 out of 5

Merch: signed Plini Trilogy CD

Again? yes, anytime

 

The "Sold Out" sign at the entrance surprises us for the first time. I do not remember to see (szene) Wien so packed like this evening. However, the real surprise is Plini, the first support act. It seemed that we were the only guys in the room that did not know them - and they were incredibly good. I immediately bought the fabulous 'Trilogy' CD during the gig and even got a signature on it - many thanks! Compared to Plini, Animals As Leaders, though being the main act, sounded this little bit too complex and the sound seemed muddy. I do not remember any gig, in which I liked the support act that much better like at this evening. Don't get me wrong, AAL were not bad at all, but Plini just rocked the place tonight. This is why I close this post with a YouTube version of Plini's brilliant 'Selenium Forest'. Cheers!

Wacken 2016 - An Apprentice's Perspective

It all began during the At The Drive In Gig: Stolli got hold of two tickets for Wacken 2016 and asked me to join. Seriously? Through all the years, I have been avoiding festivals, and although Stolli knew this, he asked me. So Hell, yes, let's do it!

My ticket survived ;-)

Buddies: Stolli - we also met Richard and Rudi (real heroes in a tiny tent)
Score: 6 out of 5 (seriously, see Final Words)
Merch: official T-Shirt in green (at these very reasonable prices, you are tempted to buy even much more)
Again? This is it, for sure. Also no Wacken Cruise or Wacken Winter Event.

Special thanks go to Richard for the tickets, in which we could step in (as of writing these words, Wacken 2017 is again nearly sold out with just some 10.000 tickets left).


And of course, very special thanks go to Stolli, who was so persistent and made me going there. 

Muthspiel - Scofield/Mehldau/Guliana

As so often in live Jazz music, this event turns out quite differently than expected.

Buddies: Birgit, Täubchen, Jakob

Score: 4 out of 5

Merch: nope

Again? Mehldau definitely, and Guiliana is the future

We have very high expectations when we arrive at our seats. The stage is built beyond the orchestra pit of the Vienna Opera, thus we are very close to the artists, and the view is perfect. Since I expect not to take any photos during the session, I take one of the empty stage.