Here’s a couple of reviews of the taping that were posted right after it happened from Austin 360 and TwoFeetThick along with an outtakes addendum from Austin360 as well.

Speaking of ACL tapings, if you’re a fan of Pearl Jam, set your calendars for February 13th when the Them Crooked Vultures taping will air.

faux arc de triomphe

For once, Musetta did not steal the show from Mimi. For once, the pink bonnet that figures in the plot was not a ridiculous-appearing and completely unbecoming item. The orchestra and chorus continue to sound better and better. The chorus of children was delightfully costumed and sang most professionally. The lighting was unremarkable. Alcindoro and Perpignol (Holton Johnson, who has been the juvenile star of so many Gilbert & Sullivan productions) were as fine as it’s possible to be.

Among the surprises of the evening was a return to singing the national anthem, but in a much snappier and expeditious arrangement, without lagging and grandiosity. For those who love singing in large groups (and I do), it was inspiriting, especially because words were not projected on the supertitle screens and the verse was over before the slower-witted even caught on. Another surprise was that our mayor, Lee Leffingwell, was unmasked as a uniformed bandsman during the Momus scene.

This is a excellent standard production of the opera, with singers who are agile and who sound fine. For me, the first scene is always tedious, and I always love the Cafe Momus scene entertaining no matter how it’s staged and am much more moved by the scenes preceding it than by the final scene itself. That was true last night, as well.

I don’t want to spoil the performance for those attending a performance of La Bohème for the first time, lured by the promotional allusions to Rent. It’s obvious that there were many in the audience who may not even be accustomed to going to the movies, let along a live theatrical performance. Evidence included late arrivals by people who expected to be seated at that time anyhow rather than wait, talking after the lights went down, kicking of seatbacks, applause in odd places, and a considerable exodus between the first scene and the second even though the hall was dark and there was no intermission listed in the program (they were kindly set straight by the ushers and returned to their seats).

This production is an excellent introduction to a stage standard. As always, there’s nothing to beat a performance that incorporates, acting, full costuming and staging, singing, and a complete orchestra, delighting the ears and right before your very eyes, in a hall that seems to have no bad sightlines. Remaining performances are this coming Wednesday at 7:30 pm; Friday, Novemer 13, at 7:30 pm; and Sunday, November 15, at 3 pm. There was valet parking available for $16 and people were actually using it.

I found my answers and the cartridge, stylus, and proper calibration thanks to the tactful and knowledgable and speedy artists of sound and all-knowing oracles at Audio Systems courtesy of a referral from a kind person who answered the telephone at Waterloo Records.

I was so happy not to be met with ridicule, but with understanding and kindness, and even more pleased by the results unexpectedly found at what I suspected would turn out to be a den of impossibly high-end equipment where people would have no use and no time for assisting me with my modest and antique turntable.

So, yes; some record stores here in town do stock and will sell a cartridge and stylus. I had planned to find replacements, install them myself, and carry on, but this was by far the better course of action. I’m so sorry that I took no names, but I certainly plan to return to Audio Systems when it’s time for an upgrade. The well organized workspace reinforces the confidence inspired by the Audio Systems people.

What’s spinning? It’s Maverick LP-001 (1980, entitled “For the Record”), featuring Marcia Ball and the Misery Brothers, Augie Meyers and the Western Head Band, Doug Sahm, Bobby Earl Smith, Joe Gracey, and more. The exact song at this minute? “Meet Me in Seguin (Once Again).” This album is in close to mint condition and it sounds just like new, thanks to Audio Systems. Look for the blue awning at 1102 West Koenig, telephone 451-5736.

I’d guess there will be a lot of hand wringing over this years Austin City Limits, the bands, the venue, the environmental impact and of course the grass. I’d bet that right now, over at  C3 Presents , a member of staff will be working on a press release extolling the virtues of the recycling effort, etc. etc.

I only did ACL Friday this year, the music wasn’t really my “scene”. Anyway, to the point of my post. Saturday evening I found myself downtown for dinner at La Condesa on 2nd St. What stunned me was between 7:15pm and about 9pm, the sheer number of Cap Metro shuttle buses streaming past the restaurant completely empty.

Tonight I stopped off on the way home around 7:30pm and counted the empty buses on their way back to Republic park. Again, mostly for the 30-minutes I waited there were a dozen or more buses, travelling back completely empty. As far as I could see, none of these were Cap Metro’s fleet of Gas powered buses, they were the older stock diesel buses. On my way along Caesar Chavez doing the regulation 35MPH, I was overtaken by a bus doing at least 5MPH faster.

For a city that makes a big deal of it’s environmental efforts this needs addressing for next year. Sure, C3 contracts with Cap Metro to run a bus every so many minutes. At peak times, I’m sure that is not enough and a backlog of passengers builds-up. However, there has got to be a better way than shuttling back and forwards all these empty buses.

Next headline: Zilker Park becomes private entertainment complex, fenced off again for 2010!

ACL Okkervil River Program

The past year for Okkervil River has been full of some pretty big milestones. They released their latest album The Stand Ins only a few weeks before playing the Austin City Limits Festival last September. They played The Late Show with David Letterman this past January and were at both the Coachella and Bonnaroo (where they apparently “killed”) festivals this summer. Their latest achievement is an Austin City Limits taping last night for Season 35 to air later this year.

I’ve heard a lot about the band (pronounced “awk”-ervil not “oak”-ervil as ACL producer Terry Lickona did introducing them last night) over the past few years both in the media and from friends. Their sound is somewhere between folk and pop and they’re often lumped in with bands like The Decemberists and Arcade Fire. It was a decidedly local crowd last night. We ended up sitting next to bassist Patrick Pestorious’s mother and father. Jonathan Meiberg, former Okkervil member who left to focus on his band Shearwater which started out as a side project for both he and Okkervil frontman Will Sheff, was on hand for “Lost Coastlines”, a songn they had to do twice for the taping due to some mistakes in the first attempt. They also added a horn section and a string section to the normal 6 member line-up. Okkervil River have backed Roky Erickson, another local performer and recent Austin City Limits artist, and are slated to go into the studio with him later this year.

I wasn’t able to get the song list before posting this, but I’ll update with it later. In addition to “Lost Coastlines”, they definitely played “For Real”, “Our List is Not a Movie (Or Maybe)”, “The War Criminal Rises and Speaks”, “John Allyn Smith Sails” with its segue into The Beach Boys’ “Sloop John B.” and “Unless It Kicks”. You can find mp3s for a few of these songs linked from Ultra8201’s spotlight post prior to their ACL 2008 appearance. They’re pretty catchy. I can’t get a couple of them out of my head as I write this.

Update – here’s the official set list via a pic from one of the producers:

1. “A Girl In Port”
2. “A Hand To Take Hold of the Scene”
3. “The Latest Toughs”
4. “Starry Stairs”
5. “A King and a Queen”
6. “The War Criminal Rises and Speaks”
7. “John Allyn Smith”
8. “A Stone”
9. “So Come Back, I Am Waiting”
10. “Lost Coastlines”
11. “Our Life Is Not a Movie…”
12. “Unless It’s Kicks”
13. “For Real” (Encore)

The Season 35 line up is pretty impressive. Once again this year, the ACL Festival is drawing in several bands for tapings, including Dave Matthews Band, Beastie Boys, Pearl Jam and Sonic Youth. There’s an encore presentation of the Bettye LaVette and Pinetop Perkins show tomorrow night. I saw that one live last year and it’s not to be missed. LaVette and her backing band are amazing. Since that taping, LaVette has received accolades for her performance of a Who cover at the Kennedy Honors and for her rendition of “Change is Gonna Come” at the Presidential Inauguration this year. She recently released a six song EP with that track on Anti Records. It’s available for $5.94 on iTunes.

Yesterday’s children’s matinee was so delightful that I hope to attend another performance of Iolanthe before the run ends. Performances are Thursday, Friday, and Saturday (June 18, 19, and 20) at 8 pm and on Sunday (June 21) at 3 pm. There will be supertitle captioning on Thursday and Friday.

H.M.S. Pinafore, Pirates of Penzance, and The Mikado are performed more often, and the opportunity to see a fully produced and laugh-out-loud production of Iolanthe is a precious one. When the peers of the realm (who are threatened by the possibility of competitive examination), along with other, lesser mortals, meet the fairy sprites of the woodland, merriment ensues. And so does beautiful music, vocal and instrumental.

Iolanthe is a true labor of love. I think that only in Austin is to be found the combination of multifaceted talent and concerted volunteer effort required to mount performances of such excellence.

The annual conjunto festival began at Parque Zaragoza in July all those years ago and was successful from the beginning, despite the small venue, biting insects, the heat of the height of summer, and the unshaded dance floor. These days, there’s more comfort at Fiesta Gardens than could ever have been imagined way back then. I’ve never missed a single one, even though it hasn’t always been possible to be there from start to finish.

I was afraid that the scantness of publicity, the weather forecast, and fears of the H1N1 influenza might keep people away, but they just kept on arriving. As always, this was a wonderful event for those of all ages. A great crowd favorite that most of us were hearing for the first time was the group Leti y El Conjunto Central, from Corpus Christi. Leti has charisma and a rich alto voice. I’m sorry that I forgot to ask where any unsold posters or t-shirts will be available, although it did appear that they were going fast. Many thanks go out to organizer Johnny Degollado and the sponsors of this wonderful event.

My Bloody Valentine at the Austin Music Hall

You can view the whole set here.

The stage was raked, and I think that all action was visible from every seat. I’ve seen a performance of this work only once, and I had completely forgotten the first scene. The production’s sung in French, for the most part with a clarity of diction that allows every word to be distinguished. There was a time or two when the projected English translation fell a bit behind. It’s probably just something about the perspective, but to me the prop wood-range appeared to be miniature to the point of laughability.

The reggae fest was gearing up for the evening and had been in session all afternoon. The opera people sent special e-mails and recorded telephone messages to ticketholders, where possible, disseminating parking information and asking people to arrive early. I think that we were among the few who did arrive well before curtain time. It was beginning to look as though there’d be a lot of empty seats, but last-minute arrivals filled them.

The program, which I always read after the performance and never before or during (I like as much as possible to be a surprise), contained an insert informing us that several of those who performed in Dialogues will be on stage for the Gilbert & Sullivan Society performances of Iolanthe in June.

There’s seldom a chance to hear this work performed, and so well. I’m very glad that I was there and would advise any lover of excellent music to look into the availability of tickets. Thank you, Austin Lyric Opera!