Chris Botti is coming to Baltimore next weekend, which I didn't know until it popped up on my facebook feed. I thought, "what the hell let's see how extravagant the prices are..." and clicked on the link. Well wouldn't you know it, there were two fourth row center seats, just screaming out "BUY ME!" and they actually weren't all that bad - $50 each. Not dirt cheap but for someone of Botti's calibre, not terrible. So more or less on impulse, I bought them. I'm a big fan of Botti's, his Boston concert is one of my favorite music vids. I have no idea what sort of group he's currently touring with or what they'll be playing - jazz, pop, (probably) some mix.
I'm actually really stoked about this. It's been quite some time since I been to any sort of live music performance.
WOW WOW WOW this was one of the best concerts experiences I've had in a long LONG time. First, the venue - Baltimore's Meyerhoff, a full size and beautiful concert hall:
Our seats were amazing, turns out there's no row A so our seats (row D) were actually the third row, almost dead center; the view:
Sorry these are just crappy cell phone pics, I only took a few (trying as Flint has said to just enjoy the concert and not worry about photos), this is about the best I got:
At one point Chris came down between the stage and the front row, could just about reach out and touch him (sorry that sounds kinky):
Wife ran up to the stage after it was over and got to shake his hand. (I missed my chance because I went back for her bloody purse... oh well.)
Overall the basic format of the concert was a lot like his concert videos. No orchestra though, just his band. Very much a jazz foundation, though some of the music tended more towards pop and even classical. The core of the band was Chris on trumpet, pianist/keyboardist, string/electric bassist, drummer, and electric guitarist. He also had a number of guests - a violinist, saxophonist, a female (black) jazz/gospel style singer, and an amazing young tenor (his Nessun Dorma was awesome). Sorry I don't remember all their names at the moment, nobody I knew by name before-hand but that's not saying much. The drummer, Lee Pearson (just looked it up), has been with Spyro Gyra. He and the tenor were my favorites aside from Chris himself, who of course was awesome.
Chris really knows how to put on a good show. He's really involved with the audience, much more so than you get from the concert blu-rays. Talks, jokes, and what impresses me most is how he shares the spotlight with the other band members and guests. He's definitely not putting himself front and center all the time. In fact many songs he's not on stage at all, or standing off to the side in the dark. He gives everyone their moment to shine. A big highlight was the drummer's solo; his grandmother had recently (like within the past few days) passed away, AND he grew up in Baltimore, so he dedicated it to her. Great solo, very jazz style (so you know it was good
) and at one point he was playing with his hands only which I thought was cool. He also noticeably broke several sticks over the course of the evening. I've said before how much I love Billy Kilson's playing (he's on Botti's Boston vid), and Pearson is right up there in comparison, maybe 98%. (In my humble evaluation.)
I am so thankful we got to experience this, especially given the almost random last-minute-ness of it.
Funny though, we were about the youngest people I saw in the audience... (you can see this in that first pic). Not sure what the many gray-haired ladies thought of the more intense jazz/rock numbers.
A few more pictures here:
https://chemicalgraphics.smugmug.com/Events/Chris-Botti-2018/
