the Vinyl Cafe
Feb. 27th, 2011 05:17 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
eorFriday night ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
derien and I went to see The Vinyl Cafe show in Portland. It was a really fun time.
I can't say enough about the storytelling that I regularly hear on the Vinyl Cafe. The pacing and delivery are spot on. But what I appreciate most of all is that the humor isn't about making fun of people, it's about enjoying and exploring how utterly human we all are. You laugh because, well, haven't you really done almost the same thing, or thought about it at least? It's a humor that shows a deep love of humans. Getting to see it performed live was a treat.
I was surprised at how small the crew for the show actually was. On stage there was Stuart McLean, the host and storyteller, John Sheard, the pianist, and Dennis Pendrith, the bass player. They had two guest musical acts: David Miles and a duo, Madison Violet. Stuart's taste in music doesn't often line up with mine, but he always seems to be able to find talented performers. Of the two acts I enjoyed Madison Violet more, but David Miles has quite a voice so give him a listen and see if he suits your musical taste.
The sound was really good, the voices and instruments rang and had a warm texture. The mix was level enough that the instruments and voices could each shine when they needed without becoming strident or harsh. I was really impressed.
They tried a new, at least I think it was new, flash storytelling method: seven stories in eleven minutes. I get the feeling this is a compromise to provide Stuart a bit of challenge and give the audience a chance to encounter their favorite story live. I liked the segment because of the interaction with the band, which was providing theme music. The stories, well, they were more memory teasers to get you to recall that really funny story, they didn't stand on their own. It was fun to see the interaction with the band and to see Stuart try to cram a long, slow, meandering story down to two minutes.
derien and I went to see The Vinyl Cafe show in Portland. It was a really fun time.I can't say enough about the storytelling that I regularly hear on the Vinyl Cafe. The pacing and delivery are spot on. But what I appreciate most of all is that the humor isn't about making fun of people, it's about enjoying and exploring how utterly human we all are. You laugh because, well, haven't you really done almost the same thing, or thought about it at least? It's a humor that shows a deep love of humans. Getting to see it performed live was a treat.
I was surprised at how small the crew for the show actually was. On stage there was Stuart McLean, the host and storyteller, John Sheard, the pianist, and Dennis Pendrith, the bass player. They had two guest musical acts: David Miles and a duo, Madison Violet. Stuart's taste in music doesn't often line up with mine, but he always seems to be able to find talented performers. Of the two acts I enjoyed Madison Violet more, but David Miles has quite a voice so give him a listen and see if he suits your musical taste.
The sound was really good, the voices and instruments rang and had a warm texture. The mix was level enough that the instruments and voices could each shine when they needed without becoming strident or harsh. I was really impressed.
They tried a new, at least I think it was new, flash storytelling method: seven stories in eleven minutes. I get the feeling this is a compromise to provide Stuart a bit of challenge and give the audience a chance to encounter their favorite story live. I liked the segment because of the interaction with the band, which was providing theme music. The stories, well, they were more memory teasers to get you to recall that really funny story, they didn't stand on their own. It was fun to see the interaction with the band and to see Stuart try to cram a long, slow, meandering story down to two minutes.
