Ben-Hur, Groundhog Day and An Inconvenient Truth - movies for every occasion

7/3/16 Ben-Hur, Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Supporting Actor, Best Art Direction - Color, Best Cinematography - Color, Best Costume Design - Color, Best Special Effects, Best Film Editing, Best Music, Scoring of a Drama or Comedy, Best Sound Recording, 1959, #100 AFI, National Film Registry

A remake of Ben-Hur is coming out soon. I don't know why, I would imagine the comparisons to the 1959 Oscar-winning movie (11 wins), and Charlton Heston as Ben-Hur are going to be inevitable. It's possible that the only knowledge that young movie goers have of Ben-Hur is from the famous chariot racing scene which always seems to be included in any montage tribute to classic films. I have classified Ben-Hur as a 'religious' film in my tags, but it's not as religious (to me) as The Greatest Story Ever Told or  Jesus of Nazareth, in fact the religious awakening/awareness don't come until the last 20-30 minutes of the film. Charlton Heston had himself one helluva a career in just two movies with The Ten Commandments and Ben-Hur (I mean, he did more than that, obviously, but if he only made two, I would have picked these two). Heston plays Judah Ben-Hur, a wealthy Jewish merchant in Judea. Judah's childhood friend, Messala (Stephen Boyd), a Roman, returns to Judea as a tribune. Messala wants to use his friendship with Judah, and Judah's influence, to calm the Jews and get them to tow the line. Judah cannot bring himself to do this, and through a series of events, Judah is sent as a slave on a galley ship. Roman Consul Quintus Arrias (English actor Jack Hawkins) takes an interest in this slave who seems determined and focused and unbent by the extreme physical exertion of rowing. Arrias eventually adopts Ben-Hur (this was actually not uncommon in Roman culture) and trains him as a charioteer. The opportunity arises for Ben-Hur to race against Messala, who has since imprisoned Ben-Hur's mother and sister, and is his mortal enemy. This is the scene I referenced above, and I'm not sure how to describe it, or if I even could in a way that would do it justice. After the race, Judah discovers that his mother and sister are no longer imprisoned, but in a leper colony. Around this same time, Jesus is traveling and preaching through Jerusalem, ultimately being put on trial by Pontius Pilate. The scene of Jesus walking through the streets of Jerusalem, carrying the crucifix does not focus on Jesus, but on Judah watching Jesus, even trying to give him a drink of water. Judah's family experiences a miracle after the Crucifixion, and the anger and hate that Judah had been feeling dissipate. As you faithful readers know, I generally dislike long movies on principle, and while I think this movie could have been a little shorter, I didn't mind because it was so well-done. William Wyler directed (Roman Holiday, The Best Years of Our Lives,  Mrs. Miniver, Wuthering Heights to name a few) and he did a spectacular job, combining the action of battle scenes and chariot races with gorgeous sets and magnificent cinematography, plus getting wonderful performances from the actors. The movie won Best Picture and Wyler won Best Director. Heston won Best Actor. It also won several other Oscars and is #100 on the AFI list and on the national film registry. There is an earlier, silent version of Ben-Hur which is also on the national film registry, and that disk was included in the set from the library, but I ran out of time and had to return it. Also, my brother was coming for a visit and love is not making your 22 year old brother watch a two hour silent movie. I don't know if I will see the new version coming out, perhaps if it's nominated.


7/23/16 An Inconvenient Truth, Best Documentary, Best Original Song, 2006

After all these years, I do not understand how anyone with a critical thinking brain cell can deny climate change and the impact that humans have on this planet. After watching An Inconvenient Truth, I feel even more strongly about that. This is really Al Gore's movie, he presents to audiences around the world on global warming, using powerful graphics, his Southern accent and facts that seem to have been burned into his brain. He is as comfortable talking and explaining the science behind global warming as if he was chatting to friends around a picnic table. Around the scenes of his actual presentation, former Vice President Gore talks about certain events in his life that have had a long lasting impact on his life: his sister's death from cancer brought on by a lifetime of smoking, his son's accident that helped him refocus his priorities, and teachers who influenced him. Gore is not a recent convert to environmental issues, he has been an advocate since he was a congressman from Tennessee in the late 1970s. The movie is ten years old, which is hard to believe, but it's probably more relevant and important today than even when it was released. Gore isn't all doom and gloom, he points out that if we all make incremental changes, the affect can still be felt. It's not too late, but we have to act now. The movie was written by Al Gore and directed by Davis Guggenheim (He Named Her Malala); it also won the Oscar for Best Original Song, "I Need to Wake Up" by Melissa Etheridge. I encourage you to watch this movie as well as a few others about our planet: Racing Extinction, Merchants of Doubt, which requires you to wear your critical thinking cap, and Chasing Ice. These are just a few, but they are powerful in the how they portray what is happening to this planet. For crying out loud, if we can bring Earth to the very brink of destruction in less than 200 years, what hope do we have on some future home, whether it's Mars or some undiscovered sphere?

7/30/16 Boy & the World, nominated Best Animated Feature, 2015 

Watching Boy & the World turned into a 'list exercise' meaning I finished watching it because it was on the list of nominated films for 2015 and, in fact, was the last film on the list. It was nominated for Best Animated Feature, Inside Out was the winner. I'm not going to lie, the movie did not hold my interest at all, I can't even give you a synopsis, except to say that it would have made a good short film, but 90 minutes was too long for me. There was virtually no dialogue, and perhaps that added to its appeal, I don't know. I didn't hate it, I just didn't care. Sorry.

7/30/16 Groundhog Day, 1993, National Film Registry, #71 BBC

Since watching the Ghostbusters remake last week, I  have yet to watch the original, but in an effort to make up for that, I did watch Groundhog Day starring Bill Murray and directed by Harold Ramis. That kind of counts for something, doesn't it? Groundhog Day did not win any Oscars, but it did land a place on the National Film Registry as well as on the BBC's list of the top 100 American films. It has also landed a place in our lexicon when people find themselves doing the same thing over and over (or it feels like it), they say something like, "It's like Groundhog Day." I know I have. Bill Murray plays Phil Connors, an snide, arrogant weatherman in Pittsburgh, who goes to Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania, to wait for the groundhog to come up and see his shadow. Along for the fun are his producer Rite (Andie McDowell) and cameraman Larry (Chris Elliott). After watching the groundhog come out and see his shadow, the crew try to head back to Pittsburgh, but are deterred by a snowstorm that Phil failed to predict. They head back to town where Phil finds himself in a time loop, and in a twist worthy of a Greek tragedy, Phil has to relive Groundhog Day over and over and over. He goes through a period of despair and tries to kill himself; normally I would not use 'suicide' and 'funny' in the same review, but his attempts and the results, are pretty funny. Eventually he learns to use it to his advantage since he knows exactly what's going to happen next, like answering Jeopardy questions before Alex Trebek can answer them. There's no question that this is Bill Murray's movie, but he does have a good partner in McDowell, who does the only thing you can do and that's play it straight. I don't think we know how or what created this time loop, but I think that's totally okay and is really irrelevant. I enjoyed the humor and the way the story did progress, so even though it was the same day, we see different aspects of that day. I didn't laugh out loud, but I did like it quite a bit and was laughing on the inside.

I am Malala - Malala Yousafzai at the Target Center, Minneapolis

This July has been great for live performances, not so great for movie reviews. Oh well. July started with The Jayhawks, continued with Adele and then Peter Gabriel and Sting in Chicago. Well, I was fortunate enough to see Nobel Peace Prize winner, Malala Yousafzai, speak in Minneapolis last night. She spoke to a very diverse and enthusiastic crowd made up of Girl Scouts, parents with their kids - boys and girls, teenagers, people of all colors and ages. Malala was introduced by Twin Cities journalist and broadcaster, Vineeta Sawkar, who interviewed Malala after her opening remarks. As Malala walked onto the stage she received a warm standing ovation. She spoke for about 30 minutes, talking about herself, the work that she has been doing the past several years, work that included visiting refugee camps around the world: Kenya, Jordan, Rwanda. Earlier in the day she visited with a group of Somali girls, refugees in Minneapolis. Malala spoke to them about the importance of education, which is a message she shares whenever possible. She got a laugh form the crowd when she said, "You really are nice. (paraphrasing)You're nice because you let them come here to live." Malala introduced her father, who was sitting up in the front row (how did he get those tickets?), and she has made it very clear that her father has been the biggest support for her (in terms of her thirst for education) by allowing her to go to school, encouraging her to question, contribute her ideas, even when she was a young girl of 11, even risking his life to educate the girls of their village; he received a huge round of applause. She showed her mischievous side when she said all of her love and forgiveness does not apply to her two younger brothers, and also when she said she was sure her best friend was wrong when they argued (you could see the twinkle in her eye). After speaking by herself, Vineeta Sawkar came back on stage and engage Malala in a wide ranging discussion, which included talking about the day she was shot by the Taliban on the way home from school; what it felt like to win the Nobel Peace Prize; what she loved and missed about the Swat Valley, her home in Pakistan; and her conflicting feelings when she a)learned that the WWE was fake and b) when she had to choose between Jon Stewart and John Cena when they wrestled. Malala very often directed her comments to the young people in the audience, encouraging them to take small steps in their own communities to make a difference, empowering them to make changes, to extend small kindnesses to others. She also spoke to parents, asking them to allow, encourage, support their children when they ask questions, challenge the status quo. I liked and respected Malala for her ability at her age (too many full grown adults can't do this) to poke fun at herself, but also to realize that she still has more to learn. She spoke about Islam and how important it is to her, but also that it was all she grew up with, but moving to England (well, she had to for her safety and medical care) she learned about different religions, and how much they have in common. She wasn't sure what a Christian or Jew would look like until she met them. Malala plans to continue to work for better education for children in developing countries, especially for girls, while she continues her own education. After seeing the documentary about her advocacy and activism, He Named Her Malala and reading her autobiography, I Am Malala (it was great to see so many of the kids there carrying copies of her book), I felt so lucky to have heard her in person. At the end she said she hoped we weren't bored. Not a chance. I'm not sure I'll get that opportunity again. My seat was in section 104, better than I've had for concerts, but not great for my pictures, but here are a few anyway.

I love how my photos of empty stages always come out great

Who ya gonna call? Ghostbusters, duh

7/24/16 Ghostbusters, 2016, not yet nominated

What do you do when you are woefully behind on blogging the over 1200 movies on your list? Why you go see another movie in the theater and blog about that. Which is exactly what I'm going to do. Since I'm feeling confessional, I will also tell you I have never seen the original Ghostbusters either (save your judgement, I already got a dirty look from my movie companion today). I went to see the movie for a couple of reasons, mainly I love Melissa McCarthy and Kristen Wiig, and the more I see of Leslie Jones and Kate McKinnon, the more I like them; I like Paul Feig's movies, especially with Melissa McCarthy; and I wanted to support a movie that featured four female leads, especially after the nonsense from the trolls who still live in their parents' basements. In this telling of the Ghostbusters franchise, Kristen Wiig is Dr. Erin Gilbert a physicist who is going for tenure at Columbia University; Dr. Abby Yates is played by Melissa McCarthy, and she is also a physicist, but at a lesser known university, the two were high school friends and co-authored a book about the paranormal which has found new life on Amazon (I should be so lucky); Dr. Jillian Holtzmann (Kate McKinnon) is an engineer and has been working with Abby on her new projects; and last, but not least is MTA worker, Patty Tolan (Leslie Jones), who had the misfortune to see a paranormal being in the depths of the New York subway. The four of them start up an organization to find and scientifically prove the existence of paranormal life, despite the skepticism from the media, the government and supernatural debunker, Martin Heiss (Bill Murray). They hire Kevin (Chris Hemsworth in possibly his most dorky role) who is a male version of the stereotypical 'blonde bimbo'; hey, turnabout is fair play. As more ghosts are being sighted around the city, the Ghostbusters realize that there is a bigger plot going on to release more ghosts from the great beyond. The movie culminates in a great battle between the Ghostbusters and Rowan, a creepy evil genius who inhabits Kevin's body and later becomes the Ghostbusters' logo. Telling you too much more will spoil it. So, you are wondering, did I like it? I did, as did my companions, one of them seeing it for the second time. I laughed out loud several times; even though I did not see the original, I did appreciate some of the special things done to link the two movies. The four leads are fearless comedians, not afraid of being silly, absurd, self-mocking or physical in their comedy. You can tell they have worked together before (Wiig, Jones and McKinnon being regulars on Saturday Night Live and McCarthy being a five time guest host [also from SNL, Cecily Strong plays the mayor's assistant]) and they just put it out there. I don't understand the hate that has been showered on the movie way before it was released; if you aren't interested, don't see it (it's still a free country). It's nice to see a movie with female leads who don't need to be rescued by a man, they're smart characters (there's a knock on Leslie Jones's character because she isn't a scientist, but she does have a knowledge of the history of New York City AND she gets them a car to haul their gear); they're loyal to each other; and in an age when we're trying to get girls interested in math and science, how can a movie like this be bad? Will this win any Oscars? I doubt it, but I don't think it deserves any Razzies either. The audience laughed, my friends laughed, I laughed. It was a nice Sunday morning.


OpEd: Since I'm spouting about trolling, whiny fans, I feel compelled to write about the actor and role that we're going to miss: Idris Elba as James Bond. When the idea was floated in the media about Elba being the next James Bond, there was all kinds of bloviation from armchair directors about how he 'wouldn't be right' in the role. That was code for 'he's too black'. Are you kidding me right now? 'M' was originally a man, but Judi Dench took over that role, and now Ralph Fiennes. Done. There have been six Bonds and everyone has their favorite, least favorite, whatever; it's an evolving role. I think Elba would have been excellent as a suave, strong, smooth Bond; it could have opened up some different plot lines. But, it's not to be; Elba himself has said that he is probably past playing Bond. Damn.

Trolls belong under a bridge, not on the internet.

The AFI and National Film Registry featured: The French Connection, American Graffiti and Swing Time

6/11/16 The French Connection, Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Film Editing, Best Adapted Screenplay, 1971  #93 AFI, National Film Registry 


The French Connection won five Oscars, including three of the top awards: Best Picture, Best Director (Williams Friedkin) and Best Actor (Gene Hackman) and may have one of the most well-known car chases. The French Connection is definitely a movie of its time, taking us through a gritty, crime-riddled, drug infested New York City. Hackman and Roy Scheider play two New York City detectives who stumble onto an international drug ring moving into New York. Popeye Doyle (Hackman) and Buddy "Cloudy"Russo are partners, Doyle being more hot-headed and impetuous, and Cloudy trying to rein him in. A mysterious man from Marseilles, France, is planning to smuggle in a lot of heroin to the US, involving local Mafia connections to do so. Doyle and Russo spend a lot of time chasing around, fighting with the FBI, taking us on a tour of New York City (Ward's Island, Brooklyn, Manhattan).  Alain Charnier (Fernando Rey) is the smooth criminal who leads Popeye and Cloudy on the wild goose chase. The French Connection is full of iconic movie moments: the car chase and the way the drugs are smuggled in (hint: it's a method often referenced in other crime dramas). I definitely enjoyed the movie, seeing 1970s New York, and finding those iconic moments; I always like watching Gene Hackman, a great American actor. It won five Oscars in a year that I think was full of fabulous movies, many of which won Oscars in other categories. Winning Best Picture, it beat out Fiddler on the Roof, A Clockwork Orange, The Last Picture Show and Nicholas and Alexander (the only nominee I have not seen); Friedkin won Best Director over Peter Bogdanovich, Stanley Kubrick, Norman Jewison and John Schlesinger (not a small feat); I'm less familiar with the films from the Best Actor category, but I am familiar with the actors, and they are no slouches: Walter Matthau, Chaim Topol, George C. Scott and Peter Finch; I have only seen Topol's performance in Fiddler on the Roof, and they are such different movies, I'm not sure I could have judged. Without a doubt, this is an American classic.


6/11/16 American Graffiti, 1973 #62 AFI, National Film Registry

I have this very vague recollection that when the television show Happy Days came out, American Graffiti was mentioned as being an influence; I would have been only 9 or 10, so please forgive me if I am totally making that up. Anyway, I guess I was trying to say that the shadow of American Graffiti has followed me and I finally watched it. Directed by George Lucas and produced by Francis Ford Coppola, the movie takes place over one night in 1962 Modesto, California, with a group of friends having adventures together and separately. There are a lot of young actors who went on to have long acting careers, some a little more famous than others (Ron Howard, Harrison Ford, Richard Dreyfuss). Cars and music are as important to the movie as the characters and stories.  There is young love, new love, making out, dancing, young people on the cusp of adulthood, some of them looking to get away from their little town and see the world. A coming of age movie, it is a time capsule of that era, when people listened to their favorite DJ, went to the drive-in for a malt and burger, before the Civil Rights movement was fully mobilized and there are virtually no African Americans in the movie. The music is a wonderful primer of the 1950s and 1960s, including music from Bill Haley and the Comets, Del Shannon, The Beach Boys, The Platters and more. I know very little about cars, but it was fun to see the cars from that time: a yellow deuce coupe, Ford Thunderbird, and the others. It was nominated for five Oscars, including Best Picture and Best Director, but lost to The Sting in both categories.

 7/2/16 Swing Time, Best Original Song, 1937, #91 AFI, National Film Registry

After watching Swing Time, I don't think it it is on the AFI and National Film Registry because of the plot or the acting, but because of the incredible dancing by Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers and the music by Jerome Kern and Dorothy Fields. The story was inane and I didn't pay too much attention except when Astaire and Rogers were dancing. My favorite dance numbers were "Pick Yourself Up" and "Never Gonna Dance" which Rogers and Astaire did together, and "Bojangles of Harlem", which Astaire did solo. Sadly (watching in the 21st century), he did it in blackface, according to Wikipedia as a tribute Bill "Bojangles" Robinson, whom Astaire admired. Trying to ignore the blackface, I really enjoyed the dance, which was fun to watch. The movie also featured the song "The Way You Look Tonight"which won the Oscar for Best Original Song. If you are a fan of dance films, Astaire and Rogers, Jerome Kern, then you should definitely check out this movie, and you can probably just fast forward between numbers. That's what I should have done.

My brother is running in the Susan Komen Breast Cancer run in Cleveland in honor of our mom. Please consider supporting him: Cris's page

Peter Gabriel and Sting - Rock, Paper, Scissors at the United Center 2016

From Section 309 at the United Center - the friendly skies

If you've been following along, you will recall that this was my third concert in 8 days (kind of like Hanukah in July), starting with The Jayhawks and Folk Uke, then Adele and now Peter Gabriel and Sting in Chicago. I have to say that seeing anyone, even one of my favorites, Peter Gabriel, so close to that amazing Adele concert probably wasn't fair, because Adele was so magical. I had mixed feelings about this concert because I have seen Sting at least four times in the 1980s and 1990s and I was good, but you never know when someone is going to tour again. After our little adventure getting to the arena, my brother and I settled into our seats. I last saw Peter Gabriel in this exact arena, but a little closer to the ground, and he had an opening act, Jennie Abrahamson with Linnea Olsson. Sting and Gabriel did not have an opening act, but Jennie and Linnea were part of Peter's backing band. This concert wasn't a split set, with Sting doing songs and then Peter; they alternated songs, sometimes both bands playing together, sometimes Sting singing Peter's songs, sometimes Peter singing Sting's songs. They started with "The Rhythm of the Heat" the first of three song's from Gabriel's fourth solo album Security; the bands then played Sting's song "If I Ever Lose My Faith In You". Sting and Gabriel then explained how the night was going to go, with some friendly banter
between them. There was very little interaction with the audience, mostly straight ahead music. My preference and interest was more in Gabriel's songs, and I had several I was hoping for, especially from his earlier albums, and he did play one of my favorites "Shock the Monkey" which was played fairly early in the set. I could have done without "Big Time", I mean if you don't have the goofy suit, what's the point? Peter and Jennie sang "Don't Give Up", which was originally done with the ethereal Kate Bush on So, but he has sung it over the years with Sinead O'Connor, Tracy Chapman and Ane Brun. Abrahamson matches the emotion, gravitas and love that the song deserves. The evening would not have been complete without "Solsbury Hill", which still gives me goosebumps. Speaking of goosebumps, they didn't do ""Biko" and given all the events in the country right now, I think it would have been powerful. I really wanted my brother to have the experience of that song; if you've heard it live, you know exactly what I mean. My favorite Sting songs were from The Police era: "Message in A Bottle", "Roxanne" and "Every Little Thing She Does is Magic". The respective bands had great musicians, but with so much going on onstage, and being so high up, I only saw what the cameras wanted me to see, so I didn't get to watch Tony Levin play bass as much or David Rhodes on guitar; I did LOVE that Sting's band had a violinist, Peter Tickell, and Peter's band had Linnea Olsson on cello. Sting's back up singer, Jo Lawry (you may remember her from Twenty Feet From Stardom), and the three singers were terrific together, and they all got a moment to shine. I had read in previous reviews that Sting does a little bit of "Dancing with the Moonlit Knight" from Genesis's Selling England By the Pound (one of my favorite Genesis albums), and that was a real treat to hear. I guess at the end of the day, I liked the show, but I did not love it. Maybe I was tired; a little let down in the song selection; and missing the love and enthusiasm from the Adele crowd. I am glad that my brother did get to hear and see two of the most important singer/songwriters/humanitarians my generation has known.

 

Zootopia (redux) and a guest review of Finding Dory

6/25/16 Zootopia, 2016 not yet nominated

A few months ago I had some young friends review Zootopia because I knew I wouldn't get to it for a while and I wanted to get something out in a timely fashion, so I do what large companies do - I outsourced it. I did finally get around to seeing it, and I have to say, I did enjoy it. I love when they get the right actor with the right voice for an animated character, and I am partial to anthropomorphic animals. Ginnifer Goodwin is Judy Hopps, a bunny on the Zootopia Police force. Not everyone has the faith in Judy's abilities that she does, but Chief Bogo (Idris Elba), a cape buffalo, gives her one chance to prove herself. Judy meets up with Nick Wilde (Jason Bateman), a red fox, who is also a con-artist. One of my favorite scenes, and the trailer that I saw in the theater, was Nick and Judy at the Department of Mammal Vehicles (DMV) trying to get information out of Flash, a three-toed sloth who moves and talks in slow motion. I loved it when Flash was reacting to a joke that Nick told to slow Judy down. Something bad is happening in Zootopia, and Judy is on the case, even as it takes her into the dark corners of Zootopia, including a meeting with Mr. Big, ironic because he is an arctic shrew, which are very tiny animals. The scene is a takeoff from The Godfather and Don Corleone's daughter's wedding scene. There are a few big-named actors voicing some of the characters (J.K. Simmons, Octavia Spencer, Kristen Bell), but there are many lesser-known voices (this doesn't diminish anything, but I wanted to mention it because so many movies are bursting with stars that it can be distracting). If you have kids, you have probably already seen it, but if you haven't seen (with or without kids), it would be a good summer time movie.

Coincidentally, Mr. Price makes a return visit as a guest reviewer, again, until I can get to the theater. Please enjoy his review of Finding Dory.
Guest Review by Connor Price
Finding Dory, 2016 not yet nominated 

Finding Dory was, in a word, adorable. It not only included fun characters and an interesting setting,but it created a very smooth plot. The story itself picks up only a year after the first ended off. Marlin, Nemo,and Dory still live together in their small corner of the ocean among the sea ameno..... aneno.......aneme......sea anemones. 😀However, Dory remembers that she does have a family and that she must find them. The three friends go on an amazing journey to find her parents. Along the way, Dory receives hints that allow her to recall little memories of her childhood and how her parents would attempt to battle her frustrating short-term memory loss. Dory meets many memorable characters along the way; including Hank the Octopus, a very near-sighted whale shark, and a big beluga who claims his echo-location is damaged. Come along on Dory's adventure to regain her parents and remember herself in a wonderfully exciting and hilarious film, Finding Dory!

Adele at the Xcel Energy Center, St. Paul, Minnesota

"Hello" photo by Cruz_Pompeii

As I mentioned in my last entry, this is the week for concerts; last Friday I saw The Jayhawks at the Zoo, which was awesome. A nice intimate venue. Last night at the Xcel Energy Center with Adele was not quite as up close and intimate, but it was still one of the most amazing concerts I have seen. I have not attended a concert at 'The X' before, but I was worried the sound would be similar to Target Center, which would mean muddy sound. Cross that worry off of my list; the sound was really good. Then, I thought we would be late; traffic getting through St. Paul to meet my friends for dinner. We (my brother Cris and I) made it fine, and then had the most challenging dinner with the most inept server who actually called my friend "unprofessional" when she told him to just give us the checks (he would not stop talking about why he messed up). I thought, an unprofessional what? We finally made it to the parking ramp and it was about 7:17, and then show was set to start at 7:30. Ugh! Would we all make it? We did. The show started around 8:15, and I'm thinking they held it because it was taking a while for people to get settled. And, then, it started. Adele came up through the stage set up in the middle of the floor (we think we saw her being rolled in inside a case, seriously, but I just can't believe she would do that, but, perhaps) and the sounds of "Hello" came on and the crowd went Minnesota Wild. She was all alone on the stage, with the band hidden behind a screen/curtain back on the main stage. She walked back to main stage, through the crowd and did a couple more songs before starting to engage the crowd. Adele launched into "Hometown Glory" with scenes of London behind her, and THEN, it changed to scenes of the Mississippi River and St. Paul and the we went nuts. St. Paul is often neglected in favor of Minneapolis, so it was really nice to see those photos.

My Hometown, St. Paul Skyline, Cruz_Pompeii

Adele brought out "Rumour Has It" early on, and the curtain was up on the band. I couldn't see the whole set up, but it looked like she had a string section, horn section, piano, percussionist, drummer, guitars, bass and back up singers. Adele drew heavily from her new album, "25", but was generous with the favorites from "19" and "21". She was even more generous with the stories behind the songs, whether it was about being a new mum, "Sweetest Devotion", the story about how she initially turned downed the opportunity to write the theme song for that certain James Bond movie "Skyfall". Adele two of the songs ("Don't You Remember" and "Someone Like You") that were co-written by Minneapolis native and the cheers were pretty loud, but honestly, that could have just been because of the songs and not the Minnesota connection. 

Throughout the performance, Adele would launch into explanations of her songs or talk about what she did in the Twin Cities (she's a fan of Target, but not so much of our fried foods, but she did like the Mall of America), that she's a fan of Alison Krauss, to bringing four kids (I'm old, anyone under 30 is a kid) onstage just to chat and take selfies; in fact, Adele was so generous with posing for selfies, moving around the center stage so everyone could take a photo. I loved that she could crack herself up, and she is very self-aware, and by that I mean she knows who she is, she knows her fans paid a lot of money to see her and she is very appreciative of that, and she is aware that most of her songs are sad and depressing, but she laughed as she said it. I have been to a lot of concerts, big and small, and very few performers have interacted with their audience the way she did; Dar Williams comes to mind (they could write some good songs together, by the way).  I read a review from an older performance that she really doesn't do much on stage, and even Adele has said she's not a real dancer/mover, and while that is true, the video clips and the lights and the background screen were the perfect complements to the songs. The best effects were saved for the end, the last song of the set was "Set Fire to the Rain", one of my favorite songs. She was on the middle stage, started singing and real water started coming down. 

Set Fire To the Rain, Cruz_Pompeii

She disappeared down through the stage and shortly after, Prince's "Raspberry Beret" video played on the screen. The whole place was singing along. After, Adele came back on stage for a three song encore, ending with "Rolling in the Deep" and a burst of lyric-filled confetti and another singalong. As she ended the night, Adele again thanked the audience for making the kickoff of her US tour so fun and successful. She was a gracious and funny hostess for over 10,000 of her closest friends.

There is so much more, and more photos and more videos; I will try to post more in the upcoming days, but also check out my brother's Instagram account (@cruz_pompeii) since these are all of his pictures and videos. It was truly one of the most incredible concert experiences I have had. Next up: Peter Gabriel and Sting in Chicago (Adele will be in Chicago, so maybe we'll see her there).

Folk Uke and The Jayhawks at the Minnesota Zoo

Friday night kicked off a busy month of July of music for me: The Jayhawks, Adele, and Peter Gabriel and Sting. I do have very high expectations and I was not disappointed with the way it started. You may recall from previous entries that I have seen The Jayhawks a couple of times over the past couple of years, most recently at The Arcada in St. Charles, Illinois. That was probably one of my least favorite concert experiences, the venue's sound was less than stellar and the audience was remarkably obnoxious. The Minnesota Zoo's Weesner Family Amphitheater is a fabulously intimate location, conveniently located near my house, and I had the best seats I have ever had, right up front with an unobstructed view of the whole stage. The show was sold out and I went by myself as I usually do, but two seats away was a friend I didn't know was going to be there, and behind me, two other friends. Hugs for everybody.

Folk Uke with Marc Perlman

Folk Uke with Karen Grotberg

You never know what you're going to get with an opening act, I've seen my share hits (Mouths of Babes, Marlee MacLeod, Roisin O) and misses - I can't remember their names to be honest, so I was not sure how it was going to go with Folk Uke. Folk Uke is Cathy Guthrie and Amy Nelson (I found out after they are the daughters of Arlo Guthrie and Willie Nelson); Cathy plays the ukulele and Amy plays the guitar. Vocally they reminded me of Nancy Griffith. Do NOT be fooled by their diminutive stature and their sweet voices; these women have a fondness for the F-word and bawdy lyrics with double entendres (or no hidden meanings whatsoever). They were able to engage the audience with their humor and great vocal work. They played several songs, including "Shit Makes the Flowers Grow", an optimistic turn on a crappy boyfriend/girlfriend; "Knock Me Up"; "BJ to a DJ" which featured Jayhawk Marc Perlman on bass;"Motherf*ker got F*cked Up" which was recently featured on Orange is the New Black and they were joined by Karen Grotberg for this song. They may have upset some people with their language, although they did give fair warning that parents might not like their kids hearing the songs, but as Amy mentioned, they have to learn the words at some point. I loved them, and my friend next to me, loved them as well. Put them in the "hit"column. They also joined the band, and Gary, during the show as well.

The Jayhawks, Waiting for the Sun

I was so excited for this show, a beautiful July night seeing one of my favorite bands (to be fair, two of my top favorite bands don't play anymore). I love The Jayhawks' new album, Paging Mr. Proust, it has such a great collection of songs. It was a pretty good mix of old and new, and it seemed like the audience was familiar with the new stuff, which is a good sign. You can find the whole set list HERE because I am terrible with remembering all of the songs and the order they were played. The band opened with "Waiting for the Sun" from Hollywood Town Hall and moved right into "Leaving the Monsters Behind" from the new release (this and "Quiet Corners and Empty Spaces" are often on 'repeat' for me when I listen to the CD). They pretty much played all the songs I wanted to hear (of course they couldn't play everything :( ), but they did include "Save It for a Rainy Day", "Blue", "Tampa to Tulsa" with Folk Uke on backing vocals, and they ended the set with "I'd Run Away". Of course, they came back on for an encore, except it was just Gary and guitar doing "Settled Down Like Rain" (I really liked this arrangement, it gave the song a fresh sound) and then Folk Uke came out to join Gary on "Angelyne". The rest of the band came out and did a couple more songs, ending with "Tailspin" and the audience was on their feet (and had been for the last few songs). This seems to be where most concerts ended, but this was the last show for a hometown crowd who clearly wanted more. And we were not disappointed (you'd kind of have to be a total Eeyore to be disappointed at this point), they came back and did "Tomorrow the Green Grass" which I do not recall hearing live before and THEN they did "Bad Time" which is a Grand Funk Railroad cover. Marc Perlman switched from bass to guitar and Chet Lyster moved to bass. Marc usually hangs in the background playing a thumping bass, so it was fun to see him move up front and actually shred it on electric guitar, and my phone had died so I couldn't snap a photo, so I just enjoyed it. I love Grand Funk's version (have it on cassette), but The Jayhawks do a fabulous version. The band is great, made up of great musicians and they are great vocalists. Gary Louris is the leader of the band on guitars and lead vocals; he wasn't as chatty as he was at the First Avenue show I went to a couple years ago, but maybe he was just saving room for more songs. Tim O'Reagan on drums and vocals got the spotlight on "Tampa to Tulsa" and "Bottomless Cup" (on the latter I could not hear his vocals very well); he doesn't sit behind a large drumkit and he isn't overly flashy, but he plays what the songs require and he sounds great when singing with Gary and Karen Grotberg. Karen made an early appearance with Folk Uke which I was really happy to see; I love Karen's voice and keyboard playing, and she seems to have a strong following of fans. The band did a jam when they played "Ace" from Mr. Proust and Karen got in a nice little solo. The one song that I really wanted to hear was "Last Cigarette" which they band has done live before, but none of the shows I have been to and it features Karen on lead vocals. Chet Lyster is the newest addition to the band, playing guitars and pedal steel. He had a good energy and was interacting with Marc; they kind of had a duet going when Marc was on guitar for "Bad Time" and Chet was helping with the guitar pedals. I had a problem with the vocal mix for both Folk Uke and The Jayhawks, it just didn't seem to be as strong and clear as I would have liked. Sometimes I couldn't hear Gary, Karen or Tim, especially on softer songs. But, other than that, the band played great, they played what I really wanted to hear, the crowd was really into it and I didn't get one mosquito bite. I hope to see them on the promised concert in the fall. I probably won't have as great of a seat, but I don't care. They are going to be heading west at the end of July, and you should see them. And check out Folk Uke (if you don't have a sense of humor, then nevermind).