Festa Italiano, Milwaukee Sunday July 24th 2016 Sol Invictus
Mar 16, 2017 23:40:20 GMT -5
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Post by agog on Mar 16, 2017 23:40:20 GMT -5
It's a little slow on the site so I thought I'd give a review from a concert that was before this site was up and running.
It's the Festa Italino concert at Milwaukee, Wisconsin last July.
I call this concert Jackie's Sol Invictus show. You've seen pictures from it. The stage and the rest of the venue was covered but there were no walls. Behind Jackie was a mesh of some material. Some pics show airplanes flying behind Jackie.
Why Sol Invictus? Well as every Roman legionnaire knew, the all conquering Sun will rule any day it chooses to. Old Sol chose to reign in Milwaukee this past July 24th. It was HOT! There didn't seem to be a cloud in the sky. Old Sol drove them away.
Several hours before the show I met my chatzy pal, EddieD, on the midway erected for the festival. Eddie says he's a retired truck driver. He's the only person I've ever met who plays the ponies. He goes to an off track facility near his home in Nebraska and does pretty well. His online name EddieD is in honor of a jockey Eddie likes named Eddie Deloussaye. Something doesn't add up about EddieD. I don't think he's a retired trucker. I told him once I thought he was a mafia hit man. Eddie smiled and told me not to mention that again. Anyway, Eddie is crazy 'bout Jackie so we get along fine.
It was still several hours before the gathering. I joined a crowd at some picnic tables near the Lake Michigan shore. There were trees. There was shade. I looked across the water to a causeway that leads to the covered amphitheater Jackie would sing at later. The causeway was roped off, not to be opened till a half hour before the show.
Was I hearing something from across the water? Could it be? I had to rouse myself from the comfort of the shade trees and walk about two hundred yards to the closest point accessible to the sound. Yes! It was Jackie warming up before the show. It reminded me of waiting in line at Longwood. We got to hear Jackie practicing/warming up there, and now I hear her again pre-show. Sweet!
Eddie and his lady friend were close by so I called them to the shoreline. Eddie and I were in heaven. A private concert from Jackie. And it was Mi Mancherai! Jackie was warming up with Mi Mancherai! Bliss. It was just audible, and just audible was fine.
I haven't heard Mi Man in concert ever. It made sense that Jackie would perform it at Italia Fest. Oh this was going to be a concert to remember. Jackie's warm up was short. Maybe it was just for sound levels. But me and Eddie heard Jackie sing Mi Mancherai.
The gathering was small compared to some others. I remember Len, Jack Buckeye, Colin, JamesN, Mike (Colmikey,) Eddie and his guest and yours truly, apologies to anyone left out. I had spaghetti and meatballs since it was an Italian restaurant. Disappointing and left unfinished. They weren't fluffy, they weren't savory. I can get meatballs like that at any Texas truck stop. But the restaurant was out of the sun and the company first rate and the conversation was about Jackie. So the gathering was a smashing success.
Before I get to the concert I should describe the layout of the grounds at the Fest.
The Lake Michigan shoreline ran North and South forming the Eastern border of the grounds and dictated the rest of the layout There was a central roadway, a midway I suppose, with a tramway overhead. I learned that in Milwaukee it is frowned upon to yell Jump! Jump! to the riders on the tramway. Not at all like New York City. Live and learn I suppose. On the Western edge of the grounds there were three stages with uncovered seating. Those stages would host musical performances at the same time Jackie was to perform. They pointed toward the fully covered facility that Jackie would be performing in. What could go wrong? Ha! Tell you in a minute.
I only recall that one of the lesser acts to hold sway on the smaller stages was a Frankie Valli and the four seasons cover band and another group, with a local following, who performed Sixties and Seventies pop/rock songs. The third act was even less memorable.
Eventually the announcement came over the loudspeakers that the causeway to the main stage will open soon for ticket holders. People left the comfort of whatever shade they had managed to find and walked the causeway to Jackie's show.
The Sun was getting low but was still formidable in brightness and heat the air temp was probably mid nineties. We found our seats and I noticed the low sun was quite hot on the back of my head. Jackie and the eight string musicians would be looking straight into it for most of the concert. What could go wrong? Ha! Tell you in a minute.
The string players had taken their seats already when PK came on stage to his piano. The only comforts was a large fan to Jackie's right set to blow on her. What could go wrong? Ha! I'm 'bout to tell you.
Ladies and Gentlemen, Jackie Evancho. Jackie enters and takes her place at the mic center stage. I forget what she was wearing, maybe the water color dress? I do recall we could see her shoulders and the dress was suitably lightweight given the weather.
I also don't recall the setlist, but it was her standard for that time. It was good music. Jackie was singing for us. But... things were happening. Things? Little things. Mostly to poor Peter K.
Peter K is a busy man at a Jackie concert. He plays piano. He conducts the string section. He has an electronic control board on his piano which he plays like a keyboard during some songs. He reads sheet music and turns the pages. That's a great deal for only two hands.
Turns out he didn't need to worry about turning the pages of the sheet music. The fan for Jackie's comfort was doing that quite well for him. You'd think he would be happy to have one less chore to handle during a concert but I got the impression he was rather perturbed. A bit of fan breeze and two or three pages would flip over PK would not break stride with his conducting and playing, he'd get the pages back to their rightful place. But the fan was still there, still being helpful, perhaps a dozen or more times in the concert.
As for his conducting, it was great as usual. I did spot a wee bit of a problem when I noticed the poor string players who were dressed in heat absorbing black, seemed to be dazzled by the low, bright sunlight directly in their eyes. Lol they couldn't see what PK was instructing them to do. They carried on like troupers and played the music straight.
I was beginning to enjoy this concert in ways I hadn't enjoyed a Jackie concert before.
Now and then, when Jackie was singing softly, I could catch a hint of She eh eh ry Bay ay bee in a fairly good approximation of Frankie Valli. I can't say it added to the musicality of the show, but as I said I was beginning to enjoy this particular concert for other things.
Once, when PK and the string players were holding a chord in the intro of a song there wafted from across the grounds some other extended notes. The combination became a greenish brown foghorn mud of a sound. I don't feel bad about not having the vocabulary to describe it better, No one has the vocabulary to describe that sound.
Oh, the fan, not satisfied to merely help with the page turning, blew poor PK's music right off the piano onto the floor. Did that happen between songs? No way! Lol PK did what he had to do. He bent over, picked it up, found his place, and played on.
Jackie mentioned the music between the music once in her patter to the crowd.
I thought Jackie had a sheen of perspiration even with the fan affording her a bit of respite from the withering heat, but another fan at chatzy explained that ladies don't perspire, they "glow." Well Jackie was glowing in Milwaukee.
Should I mention the jet airplanes flying behind Jackie? Nah, I'll leave something for another slow day review.
When the show and the encore was over we hadn't heard Mi Mancherai. Jackie and PK were walking offstage to the rear and our left. I've never called out at a Jackie concert before then and I expect to never do it again, but I had to call out in my most plaintive voice: MI Mancherai Jackie! Mi Mancherai! Good old Eddie joined me in begging for Mi Man. Well Jackie came to a near stop. She looked at PK. He shook his head no. He shook his head definitely no. Jackie resumed her departure from the stage. As much as i wanted to hear Mi Man, I couldn't blame poor PK one bit. Not the least little bit. That poor guy. Lol
There were times in the Milwaukee concert I was reminded of Charlie Chaplin trying to perform some simple task and the most mundane things would seemingly conspire to thwart him. Well it wasn't a mundane thing that made Jackie's Milwaukee concert so memorable for me. It was the Sun. Sol Invictus visited the Festa Italia that day in Milwaukee. The legionnaires would have understood. Hopefully the many people of Italian descent who were there knew that also.
It's the Festa Italino concert at Milwaukee, Wisconsin last July.
I call this concert Jackie's Sol Invictus show. You've seen pictures from it. The stage and the rest of the venue was covered but there were no walls. Behind Jackie was a mesh of some material. Some pics show airplanes flying behind Jackie.
Why Sol Invictus? Well as every Roman legionnaire knew, the all conquering Sun will rule any day it chooses to. Old Sol chose to reign in Milwaukee this past July 24th. It was HOT! There didn't seem to be a cloud in the sky. Old Sol drove them away.
Several hours before the show I met my chatzy pal, EddieD, on the midway erected for the festival. Eddie says he's a retired truck driver. He's the only person I've ever met who plays the ponies. He goes to an off track facility near his home in Nebraska and does pretty well. His online name EddieD is in honor of a jockey Eddie likes named Eddie Deloussaye. Something doesn't add up about EddieD. I don't think he's a retired trucker. I told him once I thought he was a mafia hit man. Eddie smiled and told me not to mention that again. Anyway, Eddie is crazy 'bout Jackie so we get along fine.
It was still several hours before the gathering. I joined a crowd at some picnic tables near the Lake Michigan shore. There were trees. There was shade. I looked across the water to a causeway that leads to the covered amphitheater Jackie would sing at later. The causeway was roped off, not to be opened till a half hour before the show.
Was I hearing something from across the water? Could it be? I had to rouse myself from the comfort of the shade trees and walk about two hundred yards to the closest point accessible to the sound. Yes! It was Jackie warming up before the show. It reminded me of waiting in line at Longwood. We got to hear Jackie practicing/warming up there, and now I hear her again pre-show. Sweet!
Eddie and his lady friend were close by so I called them to the shoreline. Eddie and I were in heaven. A private concert from Jackie. And it was Mi Mancherai! Jackie was warming up with Mi Mancherai! Bliss. It was just audible, and just audible was fine.
I haven't heard Mi Man in concert ever. It made sense that Jackie would perform it at Italia Fest. Oh this was going to be a concert to remember. Jackie's warm up was short. Maybe it was just for sound levels. But me and Eddie heard Jackie sing Mi Mancherai.
The gathering was small compared to some others. I remember Len, Jack Buckeye, Colin, JamesN, Mike (Colmikey,) Eddie and his guest and yours truly, apologies to anyone left out. I had spaghetti and meatballs since it was an Italian restaurant. Disappointing and left unfinished. They weren't fluffy, they weren't savory. I can get meatballs like that at any Texas truck stop. But the restaurant was out of the sun and the company first rate and the conversation was about Jackie. So the gathering was a smashing success.
Before I get to the concert I should describe the layout of the grounds at the Fest.
The Lake Michigan shoreline ran North and South forming the Eastern border of the grounds and dictated the rest of the layout There was a central roadway, a midway I suppose, with a tramway overhead. I learned that in Milwaukee it is frowned upon to yell Jump! Jump! to the riders on the tramway. Not at all like New York City. Live and learn I suppose. On the Western edge of the grounds there were three stages with uncovered seating. Those stages would host musical performances at the same time Jackie was to perform. They pointed toward the fully covered facility that Jackie would be performing in. What could go wrong? Ha! Tell you in a minute.
I only recall that one of the lesser acts to hold sway on the smaller stages was a Frankie Valli and the four seasons cover band and another group, with a local following, who performed Sixties and Seventies pop/rock songs. The third act was even less memorable.
Eventually the announcement came over the loudspeakers that the causeway to the main stage will open soon for ticket holders. People left the comfort of whatever shade they had managed to find and walked the causeway to Jackie's show.
The Sun was getting low but was still formidable in brightness and heat the air temp was probably mid nineties. We found our seats and I noticed the low sun was quite hot on the back of my head. Jackie and the eight string musicians would be looking straight into it for most of the concert. What could go wrong? Ha! Tell you in a minute.
The string players had taken their seats already when PK came on stage to his piano. The only comforts was a large fan to Jackie's right set to blow on her. What could go wrong? Ha! I'm 'bout to tell you.
Ladies and Gentlemen, Jackie Evancho. Jackie enters and takes her place at the mic center stage. I forget what she was wearing, maybe the water color dress? I do recall we could see her shoulders and the dress was suitably lightweight given the weather.
I also don't recall the setlist, but it was her standard for that time. It was good music. Jackie was singing for us. But... things were happening. Things? Little things. Mostly to poor Peter K.
Peter K is a busy man at a Jackie concert. He plays piano. He conducts the string section. He has an electronic control board on his piano which he plays like a keyboard during some songs. He reads sheet music and turns the pages. That's a great deal for only two hands.
Turns out he didn't need to worry about turning the pages of the sheet music. The fan for Jackie's comfort was doing that quite well for him. You'd think he would be happy to have one less chore to handle during a concert but I got the impression he was rather perturbed. A bit of fan breeze and two or three pages would flip over PK would not break stride with his conducting and playing, he'd get the pages back to their rightful place. But the fan was still there, still being helpful, perhaps a dozen or more times in the concert.
As for his conducting, it was great as usual. I did spot a wee bit of a problem when I noticed the poor string players who were dressed in heat absorbing black, seemed to be dazzled by the low, bright sunlight directly in their eyes. Lol they couldn't see what PK was instructing them to do. They carried on like troupers and played the music straight.
I was beginning to enjoy this concert in ways I hadn't enjoyed a Jackie concert before.
Now and then, when Jackie was singing softly, I could catch a hint of She eh eh ry Bay ay bee in a fairly good approximation of Frankie Valli. I can't say it added to the musicality of the show, but as I said I was beginning to enjoy this particular concert for other things.
Once, when PK and the string players were holding a chord in the intro of a song there wafted from across the grounds some other extended notes. The combination became a greenish brown foghorn mud of a sound. I don't feel bad about not having the vocabulary to describe it better, No one has the vocabulary to describe that sound.
Oh, the fan, not satisfied to merely help with the page turning, blew poor PK's music right off the piano onto the floor. Did that happen between songs? No way! Lol PK did what he had to do. He bent over, picked it up, found his place, and played on.
Jackie mentioned the music between the music once in her patter to the crowd.
I thought Jackie had a sheen of perspiration even with the fan affording her a bit of respite from the withering heat, but another fan at chatzy explained that ladies don't perspire, they "glow." Well Jackie was glowing in Milwaukee.
Should I mention the jet airplanes flying behind Jackie? Nah, I'll leave something for another slow day review.
When the show and the encore was over we hadn't heard Mi Mancherai. Jackie and PK were walking offstage to the rear and our left. I've never called out at a Jackie concert before then and I expect to never do it again, but I had to call out in my most plaintive voice: MI Mancherai Jackie! Mi Mancherai! Good old Eddie joined me in begging for Mi Man. Well Jackie came to a near stop. She looked at PK. He shook his head no. He shook his head definitely no. Jackie resumed her departure from the stage. As much as i wanted to hear Mi Man, I couldn't blame poor PK one bit. Not the least little bit. That poor guy. Lol
There were times in the Milwaukee concert I was reminded of Charlie Chaplin trying to perform some simple task and the most mundane things would seemingly conspire to thwart him. Well it wasn't a mundane thing that made Jackie's Milwaukee concert so memorable for me. It was the Sun. Sol Invictus visited the Festa Italia that day in Milwaukee. The legionnaires would have understood. Hopefully the many people of Italian descent who were there knew that also.