roseembolism (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
roseembolism) wrote2004-04-28 11:13 pm
roseembolism) wrote2004-04-28 11:13 pm
Seal!
Well, days and days later, I can finally get my seal review out. Damn it all, it was meant for Sunday. Curse my swollen lymph nodes.
Anyway, I went to the Seal concert Saturday night, at the Santa Barbara Bowl which, like most live concerts was a mix of the
The good news: Seal as a performer is incredibly dynamic. Based on his highly dramatic, lyrical music, I was expecting someone wispy, and pretentious- possibly a black Moby. Instead we had an incredibly powerful, forceful, and joyful presence on stage,. I was surprised by how solid and well, present he was- he strongly grounded his music, by being a living contrast to his lyrics. In contrast, the light show was an ethereal play of pink and blue: there was enough mist that the lights almost seemed like solid rays, there were mandalas and sundisks projected on the floor and walls, and when the shimmering blue light projected on the audience, it looked like an ocean. They whole thing was fantastically beautiful, possibly the best produced show as far as use of colors and lights I've seen in the last two decades.
The band by contrast, was almost unobtrusive- they simply did what they were supposed to do- let Seal and the lightshow take center stage. Even the people on the houses above the Bowl agreed- they had their own searchlight which was only noticeable because of the misty air. Later in the show Seal even brought out an acoustic guitar and proved that he could play along with his music. Above all, he seemed to be having tremendous fun with the concert- he did a very moving speech thanking his fans for their devotion, and the people of Santa Barbara for welcoming him. That actually worried me for a moment, because traditionally that's usually a code phrase followed by "the band is breaking up". Fortunately there was no such nasty announcement, and it was actually a well deserved affirmation.
(Note: I have been told by The Management that if I use words like "lithe", "sinewy", or "glistening" in this review, I will be sleeping on the porch because "she saw him first"- whatever that means. So I think this is a good place to stop.)
*sigh*
The bad news: I unfortunately spend a good part of the concert pissed off at the moronic, noisy-drunk sorority girls seated behind us. I don't mind people dancing at a concert- the two girls ahead of us actually made interesting silhouettes against the multicolored lights. However, these sorority girls were something else- they were a rarefied form of idiot. They wouldn’t. Stop. TALKING. And the did more then talk-they screeched and did catcalls at Seal, they laughed during a very introspective guitar solo, they actually called people on their goddamn cell phones. I kid you not. They cackled and screeched through the dense layered melodies, and the lush vocals, like an entire crowd of fangirls at a yaoi AMV showing (If you don't know the terms, look them up.). I ended up wearing ear plugs- not because the music was too loud, but because the high-pitched chatter of a drunken stupid sorority girl could cut through the music like a buzz saw through Play-doh. I found myself wondering just where the hell did they think they were? A club? A rave? Did they even come to listen to the music? Or were they sent here by people unknown expressly to annoy me?
Anyway, this is why Dr. Gonzo thinks that it's truly sad that societies massive paranoia about violence means that people are no longer allowed to bring guns into concerts. Granted I can see how they may be disruptive if used improperly, but if proper controls were used it wouldn't be so bad. Say, if silencers were issued at the gates, then the concert wouldn't be at all disrupted when the average IQ of the audience was raised. And then, with their bodies cooling on the floor, I could forget the sorority girls, and turn my attention to Seal singing about brotherhood and love.
Anyway, if you have a chance, GO SEE THE SEAL.
And bring a taser.
Anyway, I went to the Seal concert Saturday night, at the Santa Barbara Bowl which, like most live concerts was a mix of the
The good news: Seal as a performer is incredibly dynamic. Based on his highly dramatic, lyrical music, I was expecting someone wispy, and pretentious- possibly a black Moby. Instead we had an incredibly powerful, forceful, and joyful presence on stage,. I was surprised by how solid and well, present he was- he strongly grounded his music, by being a living contrast to his lyrics. In contrast, the light show was an ethereal play of pink and blue: there was enough mist that the lights almost seemed like solid rays, there were mandalas and sundisks projected on the floor and walls, and when the shimmering blue light projected on the audience, it looked like an ocean. They whole thing was fantastically beautiful, possibly the best produced show as far as use of colors and lights I've seen in the last two decades.
The band by contrast, was almost unobtrusive- they simply did what they were supposed to do- let Seal and the lightshow take center stage. Even the people on the houses above the Bowl agreed- they had their own searchlight which was only noticeable because of the misty air. Later in the show Seal even brought out an acoustic guitar and proved that he could play along with his music. Above all, he seemed to be having tremendous fun with the concert- he did a very moving speech thanking his fans for their devotion, and the people of Santa Barbara for welcoming him. That actually worried me for a moment, because traditionally that's usually a code phrase followed by "the band is breaking up". Fortunately there was no such nasty announcement, and it was actually a well deserved affirmation.
(Note: I have been told by The Management that if I use words like "lithe", "sinewy", or "glistening" in this review, I will be sleeping on the porch because "she saw him first"- whatever that means. So I think this is a good place to stop.)
*sigh*
The bad news: I unfortunately spend a good part of the concert pissed off at the moronic, noisy-drunk sorority girls seated behind us. I don't mind people dancing at a concert- the two girls ahead of us actually made interesting silhouettes against the multicolored lights. However, these sorority girls were something else- they were a rarefied form of idiot. They wouldn’t. Stop. TALKING. And the did more then talk-they screeched and did catcalls at Seal, they laughed during a very introspective guitar solo, they actually called people on their goddamn cell phones. I kid you not. They cackled and screeched through the dense layered melodies, and the lush vocals, like an entire crowd of fangirls at a yaoi AMV showing (If you don't know the terms, look them up.). I ended up wearing ear plugs- not because the music was too loud, but because the high-pitched chatter of a drunken stupid sorority girl could cut through the music like a buzz saw through Play-doh. I found myself wondering just where the hell did they think they were? A club? A rave? Did they even come to listen to the music? Or were they sent here by people unknown expressly to annoy me?
Anyway, this is why Dr. Gonzo thinks that it's truly sad that societies massive paranoia about violence means that people are no longer allowed to bring guns into concerts. Granted I can see how they may be disruptive if used improperly, but if proper controls were used it wouldn't be so bad. Say, if silencers were issued at the gates, then the concert wouldn't be at all disrupted when the average IQ of the audience was raised. And then, with their bodies cooling on the floor, I could forget the sorority girls, and turn my attention to Seal singing about brotherhood and love.
Anyway, if you have a chance, GO SEE THE SEAL.
And bring a taser.