The Christmas Events Keep on Rolling In.

As I stated in the last post (And So Starts the Christmas Season), Christmas is usually TABOO for me until after Thanksgiving.  I blogged about making an exception for Disney's A Christmas Carol in that last post.  What I forgot to factor in was our concert plans the very next week... (Last Night). 

So I stand corrected... AGAIN.

Last night, I attended my first "Arena" style concert since 1992.  In 1992 I saw "The Cure" during their "Disintegration" Tour.  It was held at the Target Center in Minneapolis.  Last night, I made my triumphant return to "Arena Concerts" at (of all places) the Target Center in Minneapolis! 

The Mother of Five and I saw this year's "Trans-Siberian Orchestra"  Christmas show! 

Who is the Trans-Siberian Orchestra you ask?  Let me show you!

TSO takes classical music (including some classic Christmas music) and uses "artistic license" to create a Rock and Roll sound to the original.  You can usually pick up on the original in the background, but what TSO does to that original piece is nothing short of AMAZING!

First of all, I want to thank my Cousin Bob, who helped me find tickets to this show.  By the time I heard about it, it was almost all but sold out, and I was having a hard time finding tickets.  Bob (being as connected as he is in the music industry) lead me in the right direction for some AWESOME seats!! 

Bob, you ROCK!

We started our day off by a trip to the Mall of America.  We The Mother of Five had some returns to take care of (I HATE returning items... but that is a story for another time) so we took care of our returns, then burned up the better part of three hours shopping.  We wrapped up our Mall excursion with a a delightful dinner at Tony Roma's.  I had a delightful Grilled Asian Chicken Salad, while the Mother of Five enjoyed a Grilled Chicken Sonoma Salad.  After dinner we took the Light Rail from the Mall to the Target Center in Downtown Minneapolis.

Once we arrived we found our seats.  We were surprised to see that our seats were front row, and dead center of the second section back on the main floor.  We were 20 rows back from the center of the main stage, and we had an isle in front of us to stretch our legs out.  At least for a "tall and fat" guy like me, that is nothing less than PERFECT! 

All we could say when we saw the seats was WOW!

I do not remember the Target center being so small.  I had main floor seating for "The Cure" as well, but it seemed (as my memory serves me) that we were so much further back...

The concert itself was AMAZING!  It certainly was not as loud as I remember concerts being (which means I am loosing my hearing, or they were not as loud)...  That was until they played an encore that was a sample from their upcoming "Night Castle" tour set list.  They turned the volume up.... WAY UP... for these songs... and it was AMAZING. 

What TSO does with classical music, and traditional Christmas songs is something to be seen!  The CD's are great, but seeing it preformed live, with fire - and laser displays, and smoke, and sparks, and falling snow, and....  Well - it is (for me) a forgotten way to enjoy music.  Live, loud, and preformed!

Please forgive the quality of these photos.  They were taken with my 1.3mp camera phone, and in the dark - so the quality is less than stellar...

Live Music - Courtesy of IMSOM

After a particularly busy and stressful stretch at work, the time had finally come for the IMSOM event that I had planned on attending.

IMSOM is the acronym for the Indian Music Society of Minnesota.

I have a fondness for Classical Eastern Indian instrumental music.  Particularly the sounds of the Sitar and Tabla.  I have for many years.  I remember in high school, combing through the racks of CD's in one of my local record shops (try and find them nowadays) looking through the "world music" category.  

For several years, my enjoyment of Classical Indian music was limited to my CD collection.  Mainly comprised of Ravi Shankar and a few other miscellaneous MP3 downloads that I have come across.

A couple of years ago I discovered the IMSOM website, and while browsing their website, I noticed an upcoming event.  Pandit Nayan Ghosh was to be featured playing both the Sitar and the Tabla, Sri Arup Chattopadhyay on the Tabla, and Vikas Falnikar on the Harmonium. 

Being a bit nervous / apprehensive about the cultural differences, I contacted one of my closest (and most culturally aware) friend - Lisa (from Many Things Do Not Fly).  We (Lisa, and her Husband, Myself and my wife, the Mother of Five) all went out for dinner before hand.  After dinner (since the Mother of Five had no interest in attending the concert), the three remaining went to the concert. 

The concert was better than I imagined.  The folks at IMSOM were so polite and helpful.  Any apprehension about any cultural differences were quickly extinguished, as the crowd was as culturally diverse as a visit to your local mall.  Then there was the obvious difference between experiencing the music LIVE, and the pre-recorded music that I am familiar with.  I could (and did) close my eyes, and truly FELT the music.  I have already posted this link once, but if you are interested in reading more about this concert, please visit the article from MNDaily HERE.

After the last concert, #3 of 5 told me he would be intrested in going to the next concert.  I also discovered that a high school friend of mine (Dr. Edward (Ted) Ulrich is the Associate Professor of Religious Studies at the University of St. Thomas) was also interested in attending the next concert.

It has been just about two years now, but I finally found another concert that I could attend!  This concert featured dual sitars, and dual tablas!  Purbayan Chatterjee and Partha Chatterjee on the sitars - and Anindo Chatterjee and his son Anubrata Chatterjee on the tablas.

Lisa was unable to attend, but Dr. Ulrich was!  So, #3 of 5, myself and Dr. Ulrich made the arrangements, and met at the concert. 

The concert was most memorable.  It started off with Partha Chatterjee and Anindo Chatterjee playing together, then Purbayan Chatterjee and Anubrata Chatterjee came out and played together.  Seeing and hearing the differences between Partha and Purbayan's playing style was very interesting, and was even more noticeable when (after a short intermission) all four musicians were on stage together, and performing.  It was breathtaking at times!

#3 of 5 was all smiles, and although he seemed to like the sitar, when the tablas got to playing... He would turn to look at me (and I turned to look at him) - with one of the biggest smiles I have seen!  It made me feel so good to share something so wonderful with my son!

I'm not sure weather #3 of 5 will become a Classical Indian music enthusiast or not... But I am quite sure he enjoyed himself, and I believe if I attend another IMSOM event, he will be intrested in joining me!

Speaking of #3 of 5... During the intermission, a woman approach me (no, not in THAT way)... anyway.. she approached me and asked me if #3 of 5 was my son, to which I affirmed.  She then introduced her son to us, and we started talking about how nice it was to see our boys at a classical / cultural event like the concert, and how rare it was that they actually wanted to be there instead of home playing video games, etc.  I was very proud of this, and let #3 of 5 know!

Other than #3 of 5, and this woman's son, there was indeed a noticable lack of "younger" folks at the concert (which is why she may have tracked me down, and asked me about #3 of 5.)  Although I did notice a few college aged kids in tie-died clothing and thick long dredlocks who were (no doubt) "expanding their minds" with the music and perhaps the aid of a "mind altering substance".

The concert continued until 10:15 pm, and since I has started work at 3am the day before, and had to be up at 5am the next morning - I was exhausted.  We headed straight home, and straight into bed.

I truly enjoyed the concert, and enjoyed it even more with my boy there with me! 

What's in your MP3 Player?

As promised in The Joy of (Live) Music, here is the alphabetic list of artists that are currently on my MP3 Player. (all links are to Wikipedia)

What's in your MP3 Player???

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Accept - Russian Roulette

Adam & the Ants - Antics in the Forbidden Zone

Black Flag - The First Four Years

Blue Man Group - The Complex

Blue October - Foiled

Cat Stevens - Cat Stevens Greatest Hits

Dave Rabbit - Radio First Termer - Pirate Radio Show from Jan. 1971 in Vietnam.

Dead Kennedys - Bedtime for Democracy, Frankenchrist. Fresh Fruit for Rotting Vegetables, Give Me Convenience or Give Me Death, Plastic Surgery Disasters

Dead or Alive - Mad Bad and Dangerous to Know

Depeche Mode - Music for the Masses, Violator

Eminem - The Slim Shady LP, The Marshall Mathers LP, The Eminem Show, Encore

Enigma - Love, Sensuality and Devotion

Fiddler on the Roof - (Soundtrack to the Motion Picture)

Fleetwood Mac - Rumors, Tango in the Night, Greatest Hits

Hatebreed - Perserverance, Supremacy, The Rise of Brutality

Insane Clown Posse - Bizaar, Bizzar, Forgotten Freshness Volume One (2 disc set), The Amazing Jeckel Borthers, The Great Milenko, The Riddle Box

Jello Biafra - Grow More Pot - (spoken word)

Joy Division - Permanent

Kid Rock - Devil Without a Cause

Lamb of God - Sacrament

Led Zeppelin - Led Zeppelin IV, Mothership Disc 1, Mothership Disc 2

Low - The Great Destroyer

Marilyn Manson - Lest we Forget: The Best of Marilyn Manson

Mötley Crüe (Misc Tracks from...) Shout at the Devil, Girls Girls Girls, Dr. Feelgood, Decade of Decadence

New Order - Substance Disc 1, Substance Disc 2, Technique

Orchestral Maneuvers in the Dark - The Best of OMD

Pure Moods I

Ravi Shankar - The Sounds of India, Mantram: Chants of India, Visions of Peace: The Art of Ravi Shankar Disc 1, Visions of Peace: The Art of Ravi Shankar Disc 2

Tenacious D - Tenacious D, The Pick of Destiny

The Bloodhound Gang - Use Your Fingers, One Fierce Beer Coaster, Hooray for Boobies, Hefty Fine

The Cure - Bloodflowers, Disintegration, Faith, Kiss Me Kiss Me Kiss Me, Mixed Up, Pornography, The Cure, The Head on the Door, Wild Mood Swings, Wish, Fascination Street (E.P. - re-mixes), Love Song (E.P. - re-mixes), Lullaby (E.P. - re-mixes), Pictures of You (E.P. - re-mixes)

The Dead Milkmen - Beelzebubba

The Doors (Misc Tracks from...) The Doors, Strange Days, L.A. Woman, Best of the Doors Disc 1, Best of the Doors Disc 2

Violent Femmes - 3, Add it up (1981-1993) , New Times, Violent Femmes

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

As you can see, some of the selections are played in the MP3 player via headphones ONLY, and are never heard around the house "out loud"... While others...

On my trip to the College of Wilderness Knowledge, I brought along a CD (for in the car) of Creedence Clearwater Revival. I had not listened to that CD in a LONG time - It proved to be a lot of fun!

Seriously folks... I'd love to see a post on your Blog with what's in YOUR MP3 player!!

Thank you.

I just wanted to thank my cousin Bob.

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Hatebreed - Supremacy // Lamb of god - Sacrament // Low - The Great Destroyer

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Can anyone tell me why this is such an odd combination? I will give kudos to the first right answer! I am looking for a couple of specific key words to tell me why this combination of CD's is so.... Diverse

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Post your answer on the "comments" link below...