Review: Live Performance from Rokia Traoré to Yes

A Year of Music

 

by Lezlie Kinyon, Ph.D.  ed.

 

This has been a year and some of live music for me. It began in cruise to Alaska and back where I heard some dreadful on-board tunes, but was remedied when home again to see Robert Plant and the Sensational Space Shifters at the beautiful Greek Theatre on the UC Berkeley Campus, in October I caught The Moody Blues, as the year passed into winter, I was suddenly gifted with tickets to see the amazing Rokia Traoré, and into spring with Indy artists Diana Rowan and Pezhham Akhavass in a house concert to remember, then on to summer 2014: perennial favorites, SJ Tucker and Sharon Knight in Boulder Creek and finally to Yes in San Jose, and in full circle: The Annual Christmas Revels. This will be a roundup of the music I have been privileged to witness this past year and some…

 

June 29, 2013

Robert Plant and the Sensational Space Shifters Berkeley, CA: Greek Theatre

The legendary Mr. Plant showed a packed theatre, on a perfect summer night, why he is a true master of performance: he walked on to the stage and owned the theatre.

A year later, a new CD has been released featuring this line-up: Lullaby and The Ceaseless Roar on Nonesuch Records. (http://robertplant.warnerreprise.com/) While live, the line up rocked the venue with new and old favorites, the CD shows the softer, even romantic side of Plant.  His vocal range is as strong as ever and he continues to stretch himself as an artist, never failing to delight and surprise.

 

October 25 2013

Moody Blues, San Francisco, CA, Nob Hill Masonic Center

It was an evening full of magic.  The music was all we expected: pure Moody Blues with favorites from the early days, new releases and some solo hits from Justin Hayward.

The “Moodies” themselves were in full voice and spot on and gave full measure in a 2-hour concert.

The Masonic Center is a  lovely venue with a wide stage and roomy seats.  Unfortunately, We had to leave our seats during the first set. Seats which the theater should never have sold: behind the PA where no music could be heard. They also were not the seats we bought through the venue webpage.  After a complaint to the staff, we were offered no recompense or alternate seating.  This was a serious failing on the part of the box office.

 

November 22, 2013

Rokia Traoré San Francisco, CA: Nourse Theatre

Gifted suddenly with front row center seats for Malian musician, Rokia Traoré, to say that I jumped up and down with delight is an understatement. Rewarded with an evening of music from the 2013 release Beautiful Africa, Ms. Traoré allowed the music to flow and develop with perfect grace as she brought her presence and her depth of musicianship to a packed theater of fans.

Rokia Traoré and her band, in a word: rocked.

 

May 25 2014

CD Release: The Sky at Dawn with Diana Rowan and Pezhham Akhavass, house concert, Berkeley, CA

Tombak & Harp Duo

A musical  journey from Iran to Ireland combining Celtic harp and Persian tombak. A beautiful afternoon with two exemplary musicians.  Diana Rowan, accompanied by Persian tombak player, Pezhham Akhavass, delighted the audience with new works on harp and their stories of musical travels.

 

July 12, 2014  

Sharon Knight, Winter & S.J. Tucker Full Moon Concert

 

On a beautiful full moon night in the tiny burg of Boulder Creek, CA, known mostly as a jump off point for hiking and touring the Santa Cruz mountains, Sharon Knight, Winter and SJ Tucker rocked the night with songs and stories.

 

Always a treat, these Indy performers presented new material and past favorites. The crowd danced, laughed, sang along and the show was over far too soon.

 

August 19, 2014

Yes: Summer US Tour – City National Civic, San Jose, CA

 

With friends who love this band in all its incarnations, we ventured down the freeway through rush hour traffic to the South Bay city of San Jose. We were well rewarded: this was one of the very best showings of this iconic band in years. Reminiscent in energy and musicianship, of the halcyon years when Yes filled stadiums:   The current members rocked the place with old favorites from Close to the Edge and Fragile, and new material from Heaven and Earth. Ending the evening with an encore of All Good People and Owner of a Lonely Heart the enthusiastic audience sang and danced along with the band.  The highlight of the evening was South Side of the Sky.

Front man Jon Davison brought a spirited performance to the stage with competent, lyrical interpretations of both the classic material and the new works (which he has had major input into composing).  His enormous talent, enthusiasm, and obvious love for Yes’ music made him a true delight to watch. Bassist Chris Squire continues to enchant audiences with his masterful musicianship, and, on this night, his sense of humor as he winked, smiled, and even flirted with the audience. His solo work literally rumbled the building with the power of The Famous Rickenbacker.  Steve Howe proved once again that the guitar is, in his hands, a magical instrument that will ever soar to new heights and explore new territories: be it a 12 string acoustic, electric, a slide – or, in fact, a mandolin.  Geoff Downes has settled into the ensemble with his own brand of keyboard interpretations and his influence is felt, like all the keyboard players who took this position before him, in the works presented.  Alan White continues his steady, grounding presence with the – often difficult and demanding – percussion. A wonderful evening for all.

This concert was streamed live and  a replay was available on Yahoo! Screen for 24 hours only, on 20 August 2014. (more: http://yesworld.com/2014/08/yahoo-live-yes-san-jose-civic/). Unfortunately, while the sound mix in the venue was well done, it was not done correctly by the Yahoo! technicians, who relied heavily on the vocals while under-presenting the instrumentals. This unfortunate mistake was particularly noticeable in the “classic” pieces where the vocals are arranged as an instrument in the mix rather than as the focus of the composition. This was a failure on the part of the Yahoo! technicians.

 

September 17, 2014

Ian Anderson, Fox Theatre, Oakland, CA.

 

The first set featured Anderson’s new work.  It resembled an evening lecture on the history of the British Isles and lacked much of the energy of his earlier works.

The second set featured classic Tull. The band rocked and the house danced, clapped, and sang along. Anderson can no longer reach the higher range of his early work (alas – it happens to the best as the years commence) and with grace, … and, intelligence, a younger singer with a strong voice and feel for the music stepped in many times during the concert. Anderson is to be commended for this choice.

For this reviewer, this performance was fundamentally flawed: the tight sync between the re-mastered video and the vocals were over-rehearsed and lacked the spontaneity and passion that one expects in a live performance.

… to be continued next issue ….