He may not play mandolin, but.....

[MSGrady20]

My wife just won us a couple of tickets to see Bela Fleck and Abigail Washburn perform tomorrow night. I know he is a banjo player and a not mandolin player, but you gotta respect the man's phenomenal skill on his instrument. My wife and I were planning a date night tomorrow and what better way to end the evening. Has anyone here watched his performance?

[OldSausage]

Bela is a great musician, and so is Abigail - you will not be disappointed. I've seen him a few times, and always glad I did.

[journeybear]

I've seen Bela Fleck just once, with The Flecktones, some 17 years ago. I was impressed with the technical abilities of all of them, but left somewhat cold emotionally. An hour and a half of instrumental jazz-grass or whatever you want to call it is not going to do it for me; phenomenal chops, all right, but uninvolving.

Of course, this isn't that. It looks like they are playing acoustic banjos, with two other musicians, and Abigail sings, pleasantly enough. There are several videos up on youtube, some pretty lengthy. Just google their names, you'll find them. I'm sure that will give you an idea of what to expect.

[Eric Hanson]

My wife and I wee able to see them do a concert in Bloomington, IN at the IU Auditorium.
Bela was, as always, amazing. He did the first set solo. The second set he performed with his wife. Very cool.
It was great to learn how traveled and well respected she is. She is an oldtime clawhammer banjo player, but wow, is she ever fantastic. She also speaks Chinese, and has traveled to China a few times.
While playing they had a playful loving banter going on between songs. It was wonderful to see the love they hold between them. THe smiles on Bela's face were priceless.
They spoke of their child. They spoke of the challenges they impose on each other to play a little better than before. They laughed happily.
You will not be disappointed. Perfect night out for a husband and wife. Enjoy!

[MSGrady20]

Thanks for the insight. I will keep you posted on how the show went.

[Dave LaBoone]

Enjoy! Bela is the man.

[Toni Schula]

I saw, heard, was amazed by the Flecktones several times. One time I confused the back stage area with a public bar compartment and was very near to Bela and Victor Wooten. But I was too shy to talk to them.

By the way, I hope to make it to the Victor Wooten Band concert end of October here in my town...

[MSGrady20]

Update: The show was phenomenal. The opening act "Roman Street" was a great start. The band consisted of two brothers armed with acoustic guitars playing Latin/Gypsy style music. Towards the end of their set they brought out a violinist that made their set even better. Bela and Abagail's set was amazing. I enjoyed their intimate set with just the two of them and the audience. No special effects, no excessive lighting just them and their banjos. The fact that it wasn't a full house (I would assume there was less than 200 people in the venue) was a big plus. OH! Did I mention that my wife also won a signed set list from last nights performance.

[haggardphunk]

Glad you enjoyed it

I have seen the fleck tones and I dig it. Very talented group of musicians. I have also seen Victor Wooten solo and it seems lifeless to me. Super skilled but trying a little hard to do "tricks" with his bass. Idk if that makes sense but it really left me thinking "less is more"