Two nights in a row, both extremely Austin in my mind.
Friday Night
Old Coupland Dance Hall in
Coupland, TX (about 30 miles from Austin)
Bob Schneider Band
it was Bob Schneider who was amazing at a venue which could not have been better. It was a proper old-school, classic deep Texas dancehall with creaky floors, wobbly stools, heavy-pouring sassy barmaids, cowboy couples country dancing to anything with a beat, sort of place. I was ecstatic the entire time as it wasn't too loud, wasn't too crowded, and it was the sort of place where women would go dance four or five songs and feel perfectly comfortable leaving their purses, phones, and drinks openly laying on their seats or tables without haven't to worry someone might do something nefarious. LOVED IT!!! Bob and his band were right on point, as well. They even appeared to truly enjoy performing "40 Dogs" to end the show. This is the type of experience used to get when I moved to Austin which is fading away in the city as classic old venues are dying out and any decent show tends to be packed shoulder to shoulder by people who really aren't there for the music.
Here's two photos, one panorama of the Old Coupland Dance Hall from the rear corner, and one of the Bob Schneiber band while they were singing "40 Dogs."
Saturday Night
Dell Hall at the
Long Center, downtown
Austin
Austin Symphony Orchestra
Then, last night I attended the 2018-19 season opener for the Austin Symphony Orchestra with a program titled "The Mighty Russians III". I had attended the first two Russian composer performances, so this was great.
Lise de la Salle, the guest pianist, was lovely, though not as mature a performer as needed for these pieces, the instrument she was playing, and the room she was in. I felt the difficult and dense music demanded clarity and at times she was so muddled it just sounded like she pressed the sustain pedal and proceeded to hammer every key down. I've heard this Rachmaninoff piece performed live several times and listened to it being rehearsed in my home quite a bit, and yet I was a bit lost in her playing too often compared to even students working on it. However, the orchestra was amazing and I loved how some of the uniquely Tchaikovsky moments actually made the audience gasp out loud and burst into applause before the reverb of the last notes had faded away and the amazing conductor and musical director,
Peter Bay, lowered his baton. This was the program:
- Alexander Glazunov Carnaval Overture, Op. 45
- Sergei Rachmaninoff Piano Concerto No. 1 in F-sharp Minor, Op. 1
- Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky Manfred, Op. 58
Sorry, I didn't take any photos, but I put some links to others' photos of the venue, complex, and city location in the title of this section.
So, two great nights of completely different musical pieces.
