A Pianist, a Cellist and a Violinist Walk Into a Bar...

I went to go see Antony and the Johnsons last night at the Beachland Ballroom. It was such a treat, though a little weird to sit for a concert in the ballroom at the Beachland. The decision to attend the concert was a last minute decision but I am glad I decided to go. It turned out to be a completely different night than what I had expected. I thought it would have had more of a Scissor Sisters feel even though I was told the man sounded like Nina Simone. It was much more of the latter--much, much more. The concert itself was very subdued but poetic and intriguing. Antony was accompanied by the Johnsons which on this particular evening were a violinist and a cellist. Also foreign to me now is to hear the violin and the cello without being plugged into an amp (thanks to Ember Swift and Bitch and Animal). I highly recommend his music to anyone who is willing to listen to something new and provocative. I found a review from a show he did in Massachusetts, which I wish I could claim as my own because of how true it is to how I felt:
“Saturday night's concert by Antony and the Johnsons at Mass MoCA was a bit like a dream -- that is, if your dreams are directed by David Lynch, with his typical undercurrent of subterranean, sublimated anxiety, sexual or otherwise. Singer Antony, who writes most of his own material, cut an exotic figure with his heavenly heartbreaking tenor and his effeminate mien. He sang of the pain of love (and vice versa) in an inordinately heightened, emotional state intended to resolve itself through a kind of soulful transcendence or catharsis. If you closed your eyes, you could have been fooled into thinking you were hearing the voice of a black soul singer a Smokey Robinson or Otis Redding, say, suddenly struck with an exaggerated vibrato and a plaintive streak."

http://www.antonyandthejohnsons.com/

I must thank Terry, Maura and Tim for a laughter-filled drive to the Beachland. Sorry we made you get off at four different exits Terry—you would think one of us would have remembered what exit to get off at for a venue in our own city, which we have all frequented over the past two years (five times for me so I may be the most guilty).