Chuck took me to a Valentine's Day concert performance by the Mississippi Symphony Orchestra. It was a pops concert augmented by a jazz singer and a Spanish guitar and percussion ensemble. We really had a nice time. The loge seats (I love the loge) were perfect and not too expensive and the music was enjoyable, especially the Spanish guitars.
When I'm sitting in a music concert, there's really nothing else for me to do but study the details of the performers or the performance space so I end up making lots of little, odd observations. Here are a few:
Chuck and I both noticed that the bass guitar player, stationed right in the middle of the orchestra (probably not standard, but needed for a pops performance) was very expressive. Usually I think of bass players as the guy in the corner of the stage with his shoulders slumped strumming some really boring notes with one finger. This guy was really feeling the music. He would close his eyes lift his shoulders and sway to one side or arch his back with each strum. It almost looked to me like he was pretending that the one note he would play every now and then was carrying the rest of the music out to the audience on it's little tiny shoulders. It was almost like he was conducting in his mind. I found it odd, though, that when he wasn't playing (for instance, when the Spanish trio was performing) he didn't even tap a toe to the music. I couldn't help, but sway and bob my head to the peppy Spanish songs, but he just slumped and looked into space as if there was no music playing at all. He perked right back up as soon as the orchestra began their next song. So funny!
It was next to impossible not to notice the gown the jazz singer was wearing when she made her grand entrance before her first number. She was draped in gold sequined fabric from head to toe and wrapped in a kimono-like floor-length silk jacket printed with very large tawny-colored legumes. My first observation was that the many sparkling folds of the cowl neck on the gown only served to increase the presence of her already ample bust. Maybe not the best choice? I also noticed a bit of fabric dangling under the hem of the dress near her left shoe. I noticed it because it was a little drapey piece of the back side of the fabric. If you've ever seen this stretchy sequined fabric in a store, you know that the other side just looks plain and dull. I thought it was odd that she would buy this dress (I was also thinking "Where on earth could you buy this dress?") with an obvious flaw like that. It was all explained in her second appearance. She had gone back stage for a bit after her first set and she returned sans kimono with the addition of a 20's style hat and a 3-4 foot train. A ha! The train had been tucked up inside her dress somehow for the first part and that's what I could see by her left shoe. She also cleared up another question by revealing that she had decided to sew a special dress for herself for this performance. She bought a bolt of gold sequined fabric and came up with that very interesting creation. I really think she should stick with her singing. :)
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