Music Ward > Live Shows
Josh Grobin
richidoo:
This birthday present to my wife went over BIG TIME. She loved it. I had to sit there to make her evening complete. She humored my suffering by pretending to be in same state as all other 40 something females in there, snuggling up to their hubbies. Pretending or not, that was my highlight. While I was there, I figured what the hell, I might as well listen to the guy, even if he got his big breaks on Ally McBeal and Oprah, and looks like, well.... nevermind.
Guys, this guy has PIPES. His voice was many times bigger than any other instrument on that stage, including cello, synths, and electric bass, which of course was tastelessly too loud. I couldn't detect any weird processing on his voice other than the usual sugar and preservatives added to a live show. He was in tune mostly all the time, except for occasional a cappela with band entering behind him. His interpretation of the sappy tunes was sappy but believable. It seemed very contrived at the beginning before I was in a mood to play along, but towards the end it seemed sincere. The show was packed, of course. The sound coming out of him is other worldly. Closeups of his face projected onto 30 foot screens either side of the stage showed his face while howling is not very pretty. His nostrils open up to the size of a quarter, but the result is stunning. Few other singers have a voice like that nowadays. Maybe Domingo and Andrea Bocelli. Of course Grobin couldn't sing an opera if his life depended on it, but he has the larynx if not the training.
An incredible freak of nature, this guy is completely useless in everyway except when he is singing. His stage manner was childish and boring. He mostly talked to himself about nothing, and little girls screamed out, "I love you Josh!" "I love you too" shot back, then more screaming, etc... 5 agonizing minutes were spent with him sitting on the front edge of the stage while about twenty 10 yo girls were brought into the DMZ by bouncers to swarm around him for a flirting and touching session. They gave him candy, toys and hugs all the while no music, no singing, just pain. It was like he was a guest on sesame street sitting on oscars steps swarmed by brats and loving it. He sang a song sitting there with them. Even sitting he sounded incredible. But I was close to throwing up by then. We were both bored by 3/4 through the concert. Same song over and over. We didn't stay for the encore, more important to beat the traffic for us.
The traveling band was excellent, even though the music was easy. The guitarist played some nice flamenco on acoustic 6 string and played a nice Les Paul on his rock solos. The violinist was the rocky balboa showoff of rock n roll violin. Barefoot in a long black evening dress with a big slice up the side, she was like Mik Jagger up there moving around like a karate champion. But she showed signs of a previous career as a serious solo violinist, so that was fun.
Local musicians made up string section, french horns, and last tune had local bone, tpt and tenor sax. The sax player is a friend who repaired my wife's clarinet last fall, and we see him around town at jam sessions.
Overall it was a good experience. The guy really can sing like nothing you have ever heard, even in the bad acoustics of a hockey rink stadium. If you like male vocals, don't let your life pass without at least listening to free samples on Amazon. Was it worth $195 for two tickets sitting halfway back to the nosebleed section? Ahh, errrr, let me get back to you on that...
WEEZ:
I thought the write-up was good. My wife didn't. :lol:
WEEZ
richidoo:
Next time I will write family friendly version. Sorry to your wife for me being childish and boring.... :oops:
Carlman:
Great write-up! Glad you had a tolerable time.. I too have sat through some shows trying to find the good in them. Glad you found some with Josh's vocal talents. I don't know the guy but I'll take a listen soon.
I had a similar experience when I went to see Tori Amos as a gift to my wife.. and I got into it a little... but overall the eery effect she does on her voice had me visiting the bathroom a lot... The show had 'clammoring loudness' which eventually got the best of me... I was done.
Leaving early has become a common thing for both of us... We left Rusted Root, Dave Matthews, etc.. just to beat the crowd and because we were tired of abusing our eardrums. I've realized over and over again that over-amplified rock shows are just out of the question for us. I'd rather sit around a guitarist and a bongo player in a 200 sq. ft. room than get beat up by hard electronics for 2 hours in a 200-acre super-mega-profit-arena. The ONLY time it's been great was a visit to see Elvis Costello and Steve Naive doing an all-acoustic show at Wolftrap in Virginia. THAT was an awesome performance and we stayed for both encores and loved it all.
BTW, I didn't see anything in your post to be embarrased about... ?
-C
richidoo:
Just teezin WEEZ. I will never make it in standup..
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