Dance Flurry 2008

Hi,

This past weekend I worked at the Dance Flurry in Saratoga Springs. On this weekend in the dead cold of February 4000 dancers descend on the downtown City Center where there are 10 simultaneous dances in various conference rooms and local theatres. It is quite a scene.

I mixed the main hall where there is mostly contra dancing. I mixed acoustic rhythm bands through a D&B line array system for up to 700 dancers! For you tech geeks I was mixing on a Midas Heritage 1000 console.

The bands I mixed were extraordinary! Nightingale, Tidal Wave, Big Bandemonium, Notorious, and Laurie Hart were the some of the bands I mixed.

I had a blast!

Live music

Hi,

Last week I had a potent reminder of the power of a live musical performance. On Monday I traveled to the German House in Rochester to see my longtime hero Todd Rundgren. I've seen Todd many times in many different band configurations and thay all have been great. Last Monday was no exception. Prairie Prince on drums, Kasim Sulton on bass, Jesse Gress and Todd on guitar. The show was a rock show, with deep and wonderful picks from the back catalog. A totally great show.

Last Wednesday I saw another longtime hero Richard Thompson, playing with songstress Judith Owen and percussionist Debra Dobkin doing "1000 Years of Popular Music at the State Theatre. Richard is always great, and his accomplices were terrific as well. After these 2 shows I was feeling like I'd had a pretty special week.

On Friday I mixed the Sim Redmond Band playing at the State Theatre for a "Barack The Vote" event. SRB's positive energy was the perfect match for the hopful vibe in the crown and they played really well. I love mixing this band!

As if that was not enough, Saturday night I went to see Ani DiFranco, also at the State Theatre. Ani and her band, that included drummer Allison Miller (with whom I went to Telluride with the Horseflies in 2003) was perfect for a very mature performance of great songs.

So it's the following week and I'm kind of floating in a post concert bliss. Live music is a truly powerful thing, capable of transforming our lives in positive ways.