Ken_P
Nov-29-2018, 5:28pm
I was lucky enough to get to see Chris Thile in the ~250 seat Weill Recital Hall last night where he performed for about an hour and a half totally totally solo. Here's the set list, which I was able to get a picture of from the stage:
Attaboy
Silver Dagger
True Love Waits (Radiohead)
Corrente (Bach Partita no. 2 in D minor, BWV 1004)
This is the Song (listed as Balboa on his set list, not sure why)
Ookpik Waltz
New Piece in three movements
Jessamyn's Reel
Rabbit in a Log
Sarabanda (Bach Partita no. 2 in D minor, BWV 1004)
Another New World
Raining at Sunset (by audience request)
Giga (Bach Partita no. 2 in D minor, BWV 1004)
Here and Heaven
Encore: Doubting Thomas
Chris was fantastic, of course. He was clearly having a great time and the audience was very much into it. I'd say there was a good mix of hardcore fans (like me) and regular subscribers who didn't necessarily know what they were going to see. His playing, I think keeps getting better and better. Not necessarily faster, I don't know how much faster you could go, but in terms of variety of tone and expression, I don't think he's ever sounded so good. The command is what really impressed me. Several times during the show he would be playing something incredibly fast and complex and then out of nowhere drop into a completely different mood and texture without warning. It was very effective in a musical sense and tremendously impressive technically.
One potentially controversial opinion, I'm still not sure I'm that impressed with the Loar. Sure it sounded great but part of me still prefers the tone he got out of the Dude that he played for so many years. This being a tiny hall, he played completely acoustic, no amplification at all (and I was sitting very close to the stage) so I really got to hear it as well as I'll ever be able to and while he sounded great, I didn't get the impression that the instrument is all that special.
Some musical standouts that I can remember include the transition from both the Corrente and the Sarabanda into songs of his - all were in D minor, which helps but I found those to be very effective, particularly from the Sarabande into Another New World. Anybody who has seen Punch Brothers in recent years will know how much of a crowd favorite that one is, and it's somehow no less effective solo. The really striking part about it, to me, was that he started the first line of Another New World ("Leading lights of the age...") over the last few notes of the Sarabande, essentially replacing the intro of that song with the end of the Bach.
I'll have to hear the new piece a few more times before I can say much about it. I can compare it to The Blind Leaving the Blind in structure, but not content, in that the three movements go through what seem to be a few different song ideas each weaving in and out of instrumental sections that bind the piece together.
One final part that was really fun for me is that somewhere early in the show (I think during True Love Waits), Chris' pick broke in half right in the middle of the song. Naturally, he finished with his fingers as if nothing had happened but the front third of the pick (I think the point that was actually hitting the strings) flew onto the front of the stage and was left there for the rest of the show and when he left the stage for the last time, I walked up and grabbed it. I know there was some discussion a while back about what kind of pick he's using these days so from examining it on my desk in front of me, I can tell you it's definitely some kind of faux tortoise. There's nothing on it to identify it more precisely than that. It apparently had holes drilled in it because I can see part of one where it broke off. It has what I would consider a pretty standard bevel and is comparable in thickness to my Bluechip CT 55 which would put it at 1.3 or 1.4 mm.
This part is doubly funny to me because the last time I was in Weill Hall, I was there to see Avi Avital, who also dropped a pick on stage that I retrieved after he was done with it. I should go there more often.
All in all, it was a fantastic evening and while I'd say don't miss him if you get the chance, I'm not sure if there will be another chance to see him like this in a solo acoustic setting. I'm just glad I was able to be there for it when it happened.
Attaboy
Silver Dagger
True Love Waits (Radiohead)
Corrente (Bach Partita no. 2 in D minor, BWV 1004)
This is the Song (listed as Balboa on his set list, not sure why)
Ookpik Waltz
New Piece in three movements
Jessamyn's Reel
Rabbit in a Log
Sarabanda (Bach Partita no. 2 in D minor, BWV 1004)
Another New World
Raining at Sunset (by audience request)
Giga (Bach Partita no. 2 in D minor, BWV 1004)
Here and Heaven
Encore: Doubting Thomas
Chris was fantastic, of course. He was clearly having a great time and the audience was very much into it. I'd say there was a good mix of hardcore fans (like me) and regular subscribers who didn't necessarily know what they were going to see. His playing, I think keeps getting better and better. Not necessarily faster, I don't know how much faster you could go, but in terms of variety of tone and expression, I don't think he's ever sounded so good. The command is what really impressed me. Several times during the show he would be playing something incredibly fast and complex and then out of nowhere drop into a completely different mood and texture without warning. It was very effective in a musical sense and tremendously impressive technically.
One potentially controversial opinion, I'm still not sure I'm that impressed with the Loar. Sure it sounded great but part of me still prefers the tone he got out of the Dude that he played for so many years. This being a tiny hall, he played completely acoustic, no amplification at all (and I was sitting very close to the stage) so I really got to hear it as well as I'll ever be able to and while he sounded great, I didn't get the impression that the instrument is all that special.
Some musical standouts that I can remember include the transition from both the Corrente and the Sarabanda into songs of his - all were in D minor, which helps but I found those to be very effective, particularly from the Sarabande into Another New World. Anybody who has seen Punch Brothers in recent years will know how much of a crowd favorite that one is, and it's somehow no less effective solo. The really striking part about it, to me, was that he started the first line of Another New World ("Leading lights of the age...") over the last few notes of the Sarabande, essentially replacing the intro of that song with the end of the Bach.
I'll have to hear the new piece a few more times before I can say much about it. I can compare it to The Blind Leaving the Blind in structure, but not content, in that the three movements go through what seem to be a few different song ideas each weaving in and out of instrumental sections that bind the piece together.
One final part that was really fun for me is that somewhere early in the show (I think during True Love Waits), Chris' pick broke in half right in the middle of the song. Naturally, he finished with his fingers as if nothing had happened but the front third of the pick (I think the point that was actually hitting the strings) flew onto the front of the stage and was left there for the rest of the show and when he left the stage for the last time, I walked up and grabbed it. I know there was some discussion a while back about what kind of pick he's using these days so from examining it on my desk in front of me, I can tell you it's definitely some kind of faux tortoise. There's nothing on it to identify it more precisely than that. It apparently had holes drilled in it because I can see part of one where it broke off. It has what I would consider a pretty standard bevel and is comparable in thickness to my Bluechip CT 55 which would put it at 1.3 or 1.4 mm.
This part is doubly funny to me because the last time I was in Weill Hall, I was there to see Avi Avital, who also dropped a pick on stage that I retrieved after he was done with it. I should go there more often.
All in all, it was a fantastic evening and while I'd say don't miss him if you get the chance, I'm not sure if there will be another chance to see him like this in a solo acoustic setting. I'm just glad I was able to be there for it when it happened.