gypsy tea room
So the show met my expectations. Chris Thile is the MAN. I seriously think he is the best mandolin player on the face of the planet. I love the dry smirk he has on his face while playing, stairing off in the distance at some unseen muse.
His solos. [brittney spears voice] O my gosh, yall. He starts off very nice and melodic, then jumps completely off the tonal map, playing intervals and notes that fit nowhere near the existing key. The rhythm totally goes out as well, leaving the current tempo and rhythmic cadence to be be carried by the other guys. He freely accel. and rit. as he sees fit, ignoring all else. Then just as you've lost your sense of direction with the wacked out thing he just played, he jumps right back into the harmonic structure he left, and plays some impossibly hard 32nd note run that sounds like a scale etude from classical lit. I was drooling.
Sean & Sara aren't slouches, but Chris is the MAN. The most amazing part of the show was during the encore when he stands in front of a mic and plays a Bach violin prelude on mandolin. He didn't drop a single note. That was the quietest that bar got all night. All the glasses clinking and people chating died down for those 3 minutes. If anyone else has seen Nickel Creek live, please leave me a comment describing what Chris looks/sounds like to you when he is playing.
3 comments:
I think he looks like a chump when he's playing. Don't get me wrong, he's an amazing player, charismatic performer, and I love his voice. I just think it's a little affected the way he walks up to the front of the stage and looks like he's making love to the mandolin.
I think "making love to the mandolin" would be a phrase Margo would use. Maybe she will soon.
I also wanted to add that he looks like he is trying to "cough up" his solos. He throws his head back as he plays, and when he gets a good idea his whole body convulses forward as the notes come out.
That is exactly what I said Stephen! He looks like he is doing something naughty with that mandolin. It really ruins the Jude Law thing he has going on.
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