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Nov. 10th, 2013 07:10 pmI can now cross "See John Williams conduct a symphony orchestra" off my bucket list.
Ages ago I had the opportunity to get some cheap-ass tickets to see "John Williams At The Movies", a Sunday matinee of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra with John Williams conducting a series of movie scores he composed. I bought two tickets intending to fly Mum out for the weekend and take her to the show, because she loves John Williams and she imparted that love to me. Motherfucking HORNS AND VIOLINS okay.
But it turns out of course that due to Knee Surgery she couldn't come, so I asked R if he'd like to come instead. And we had what he calls a Friendate where we got dressed up (okay, he got dressed up, I wore tweed pants and a t-shirt and looked a lot more punk than I intended) and went to the symphony and --
Well, it's a good thing Mum didn't come because she's afraid of heights, and we were on the FOURTH BALCONY which not only is six floors off the ground but has super-steep stairs of death and she would not have been able to enjoy the concert at all. But R and I are both fine with heights and if I tripped I would just have tumbled into him, and he's a pretty solid guy, so neither of us were that likely to die. And the view was perfectly adequate, so who cares?
The concert was fantastic; John Williams was great, of course, and they had a really good violin soloist, Gil Shaham, in for much of the first half. Some of the pieces had video accompaniment, which did make me want to see Close Encounters Of The Third Kind.
Film caption: Muncie, Indiana.
Sam: *elbows R, who is from Indiana*
R: I've been there.
Sam: I'm sure.
R: If it was gonna happen, it'd happen in Muncie.
We've made a plan to have a Close Encounters movie night this week or next, before I leave for Austin. But I think my favourite was the Fiddler on the Roof overture, because Shaham just nailed it and kind of danced while he did it. Watching soloists cracks my shit up.
R: *during intermission* This place is swank. They had complimentary cough drops in the lobby.
Sam: Those are because nobody wants to hear us coughing during the performance.
R: That makes sense.
Sam: You smell strongly of menthol.
R: I may have taken a handful.
Sam: Strongly.
R: I may have filled my pockets.
I was surprised Star Wars wasn't on the program, but it kind of made sense -- Superman and Jurassic Park weren't either, and it was obviously a selection of his less well-known cinema work on the whole. But then he got an ovation and did an encore, which was the Star Wars theme, and his second encore was the Imperial March.
Then we went out for sandwiches and discussed a) how R has now decided he wants to date a lady from the symphony and b) whether or not John Williams has a constant horn section playing in his head as he goes about his daily routine.
I really don't think I can leave Chicago -- at least, not for Baltimore. Maybe for Boston, but not Baltimore. Part of it is I couldn't leave R, part of it is I just love this goddamn city too much.
Ages ago I had the opportunity to get some cheap-ass tickets to see "John Williams At The Movies", a Sunday matinee of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra with John Williams conducting a series of movie scores he composed. I bought two tickets intending to fly Mum out for the weekend and take her to the show, because she loves John Williams and she imparted that love to me. Motherfucking HORNS AND VIOLINS okay.
But it turns out of course that due to Knee Surgery she couldn't come, so I asked R if he'd like to come instead. And we had what he calls a Friendate where we got dressed up (okay, he got dressed up, I wore tweed pants and a t-shirt and looked a lot more punk than I intended) and went to the symphony and --
Well, it's a good thing Mum didn't come because she's afraid of heights, and we were on the FOURTH BALCONY which not only is six floors off the ground but has super-steep stairs of death and she would not have been able to enjoy the concert at all. But R and I are both fine with heights and if I tripped I would just have tumbled into him, and he's a pretty solid guy, so neither of us were that likely to die. And the view was perfectly adequate, so who cares?
The concert was fantastic; John Williams was great, of course, and they had a really good violin soloist, Gil Shaham, in for much of the first half. Some of the pieces had video accompaniment, which did make me want to see Close Encounters Of The Third Kind.
Film caption: Muncie, Indiana.
Sam: *elbows R, who is from Indiana*
R: I've been there.
Sam: I'm sure.
R: If it was gonna happen, it'd happen in Muncie.
We've made a plan to have a Close Encounters movie night this week or next, before I leave for Austin. But I think my favourite was the Fiddler on the Roof overture, because Shaham just nailed it and kind of danced while he did it. Watching soloists cracks my shit up.
R: *during intermission* This place is swank. They had complimentary cough drops in the lobby.
Sam: Those are because nobody wants to hear us coughing during the performance.
R: That makes sense.
Sam: You smell strongly of menthol.
R: I may have taken a handful.
Sam: Strongly.
R: I may have filled my pockets.
I was surprised Star Wars wasn't on the program, but it kind of made sense -- Superman and Jurassic Park weren't either, and it was obviously a selection of his less well-known cinema work on the whole. But then he got an ovation and did an encore, which was the Star Wars theme, and his second encore was the Imperial March.
Then we went out for sandwiches and discussed a) how R has now decided he wants to date a lady from the symphony and b) whether or not John Williams has a constant horn section playing in his head as he goes about his daily routine.
I really don't think I can leave Chicago -- at least, not for Baltimore. Maybe for Boston, but not Baltimore. Part of it is I couldn't leave R, part of it is I just love this goddamn city too much.
