Last Weekend for April 6-April 8: Home Opener, CIFF, Crystal Method, John Williams
Well, that was a busy weekend. Let's recap.
1. Baseball:
Friday was the home opener, which I elaborated upon at length yesterday.
2. Film:
On Saturday I had my first two movies of the Cleveland International Film Festival.
The King attempted to use Elvis's Rolls Royce as a metaphor for the decline of America. This provided an excuse to show a lot of good musicians performing in the backseat of the big car. There were also a number of talking heads including Mike Myers and most memorably Chuck D. On the whole, the idea was sound but the execution was lacking something, or perhaps the metaphor was weak. the closest they get to insight is a comparison of Muhammad Ali's stance on the draft versus Elvis's stance, and as someone says in the film, if it's supposed to be about America, why not use Elvis's Cadillac? They never do explain how they got Elvis's Rolls Royce, or if it's a replica. I enjoyed it, I'm glad I saw it, but I was being generous rating it as "GOOD" on the CIFF scale.
I then met up with M for Fail State, which chronicles the rise of For Profit colleges. Since I've worked a number of career fairs for my employer where I had to listen to people who thought an ITT Tech or University of Phoenix degree in computer programming erroneously meant something, I was not shocked to learn that the vast majority if not all of the For Profits were there only to get their cut of the Federal student loans available, and have rigged the political system to keep the money coming. Both parties were complicit in letting this happen, and the Trump administration is going out of its way to roll back what few protections were in place. The director of the film appeared in a Q&A after, and provided additional context to make people even angrier. "EXCELLENT", and anger inducing.
3. Concerts
Saturday night, I went to see The Crystal Method, or more accurately just Scott Kirkland as Ken Jordan retired last year. I arrived during a DJ set by my friend and WRUW colleague Stout XTC, who got a lot of support from locals in the electronic scene. Then Kirkland took over as the DJ and the already energized crowd took it into a new gear. I was there from 9:30 to 1am, the party was in full swing when I left, and Stout told me that it was still going when he ducked out after 2am. I'm glad I went, especially on a free staff ticket.
I moved to Cleveland in August 1996 for school, and the very first time I was in Severance Hall was the next month the Cleveland Orchestra premiered a trumpet concerto by John Williams. Mr. Williams was in attendance that night as part of the audience. More than 21 years later he was on the podium conducting the Orchestra as it played some of his many film scores. Guaranteeing my seats for this show was the reason I bought a season pass this year, and it was worth every penny. Over two sets Williams led the Orchestra through pieces famous (Close Encounters, E.T.) and less so (Sabrina, the BFG). Naturally, it was all closed out with the Star Wars Main Title. Three encores brought Leia's Theme, Indiana Jones and the Imperial March.
Given the breadth of his catalog, they weren't able to play everything I wanted to hear (notable omissions: Superman, Jurassic Park), but this lack was covered by the amusing stories he told between pieces. Based on some of his comments before they went into music from Harry Potter (Hedwig's Theme FTW), I rather got the impression that Williams may not remember clearly all of the movies he's scored over the years, which is probably understandable given how many of them there have been; he's got more Oscar nominations than anyone but Walt Disney, and that doesn't even begin to cover the entire list.
Williams was having a great time. He'd conducted the Orchestra at Blossom in the past, but this was his first time in Severance Hall, which he described as a "personal bucket list item". I'm very glad I went. This may not be show of the year, but it will be right up there.
These two shows bring my totals to 8 gigs and 11 bands for the year.
1. Baseball:
Friday was the home opener, which I elaborated upon at length yesterday.
2. Film:
On Saturday I had my first two movies of the Cleveland International Film Festival.
The King attempted to use Elvis's Rolls Royce as a metaphor for the decline of America. This provided an excuse to show a lot of good musicians performing in the backseat of the big car. There were also a number of talking heads including Mike Myers and most memorably Chuck D. On the whole, the idea was sound but the execution was lacking something, or perhaps the metaphor was weak. the closest they get to insight is a comparison of Muhammad Ali's stance on the draft versus Elvis's stance, and as someone says in the film, if it's supposed to be about America, why not use Elvis's Cadillac? They never do explain how they got Elvis's Rolls Royce, or if it's a replica. I enjoyed it, I'm glad I saw it, but I was being generous rating it as "GOOD" on the CIFF scale.
I then met up with M for Fail State, which chronicles the rise of For Profit colleges. Since I've worked a number of career fairs for my employer where I had to listen to people who thought an ITT Tech or University of Phoenix degree in computer programming erroneously meant something, I was not shocked to learn that the vast majority if not all of the For Profits were there only to get their cut of the Federal student loans available, and have rigged the political system to keep the money coming. Both parties were complicit in letting this happen, and the Trump administration is going out of its way to roll back what few protections were in place. The director of the film appeared in a Q&A after, and provided additional context to make people even angrier. "EXCELLENT", and anger inducing.
3. Concerts
Saturday night, I went to see The Crystal Method, or more accurately just Scott Kirkland as Ken Jordan retired last year. I arrived during a DJ set by my friend and WRUW colleague Stout XTC, who got a lot of support from locals in the electronic scene. Then Kirkland took over as the DJ and the already energized crowd took it into a new gear. I was there from 9:30 to 1am, the party was in full swing when I left, and Stout told me that it was still going when he ducked out after 2am. I'm glad I went, especially on a free staff ticket.
I moved to Cleveland in August 1996 for school, and the very first time I was in Severance Hall was the next month the Cleveland Orchestra premiered a trumpet concerto by John Williams. Mr. Williams was in attendance that night as part of the audience. More than 21 years later he was on the podium conducting the Orchestra as it played some of his many film scores. Guaranteeing my seats for this show was the reason I bought a season pass this year, and it was worth every penny. Over two sets Williams led the Orchestra through pieces famous (Close Encounters, E.T.) and less so (Sabrina, the BFG). Naturally, it was all closed out with the Star Wars Main Title. Three encores brought Leia's Theme, Indiana Jones and the Imperial March.
Given the breadth of his catalog, they weren't able to play everything I wanted to hear (notable omissions: Superman, Jurassic Park), but this lack was covered by the amusing stories he told between pieces. Based on some of his comments before they went into music from Harry Potter (Hedwig's Theme FTW), I rather got the impression that Williams may not remember clearly all of the movies he's scored over the years, which is probably understandable given how many of them there have been; he's got more Oscar nominations than anyone but Walt Disney, and that doesn't even begin to cover the entire list.
Williams was having a great time. He'd conducted the Orchestra at Blossom in the past, but this was his first time in Severance Hall, which he described as a "personal bucket list item". I'm very glad I went. This may not be show of the year, but it will be right up there.
These two shows bring my totals to 8 gigs and 11 bands for the year.