Didg ya know Xavier?
Mike took me to the Xavier Rudd concert last night at The Orpheum and it was amazing. We had a great vantage point of the stage, sitting second row in the dress circle.
The opening act was fantastic. Her name was Ndidi Onukwulu (yeah, I can't pronounce that either...), she sang the blues, and she's originally from Vancouver. She made me believe-with only herself, her guitar player, Madagascar Slim, and her tambourine-that maybe I was watching a show at The Cotton Club back in the day. That girl had soul and confidence that I've rarely seen the likes of. She had us all clapping and singing and snapping (Magnificant M, I think you would have loved her). One of the best parts of the set came when she asked us all to snap and warned the first 5 rows that she could see them. That was followed by, "If you don't snap, I will come and sit on you and sing in your face." At this point some males in the audience let out whoops of joy. She quickly proceeded to, "It will be intense, and you will probably cry." That's what I'm talking 'bout.
Xavier himself was a sight to behold. He played the digeridoo, acoustic 6-string, 12-string, bass, lap guitar, harmonica, ethnic drums, and sang. He had a stand that held 3 digeridoos and a "didg tech" who swaped a new one in a few times. His set-up also included 2 gongs. For a pic of the set-up, hit Mike's blog. He did things that I doubted were humanly possible. At various points he played the didg and each of the guitars, and the didg and drums at the same time. Wow.
At another juncture, a couple of wahoos jumped up on stage and started "dancing" (I use that term loosely folks). Security let this carry on until about another 30 people decided to join them. They all crowded around Xavier and danced like drunken wild animals. A member of security, dressed like a bell hop, worked himself into a frenzy, trying to keep the innocent dancers away from Mr. Rudd while the rest of security held off the other stoners. And the band played on. Xavier's comment after he finished that portion, "It feels beautiful in here, beautiful energy." He was to repeat that phrase several times throughout the show.
His show also involved a rotund aboriginal man in traditional dress and paint, donning a Santa hat and grande Starbucks beverage, along with a beautiful didg. I can't pronounce his name either, but he was hilarious. And some Vancouver children joined him for a song during the encore...too cute.
While walking out of the show Mike said, "Hey! We know those people!" Turned out it was our friends Mike and Christina and their friends Shannon and Cara. Random but so good!
Definately one of the better concerts I've seen.
The opening act was fantastic. Her name was Ndidi Onukwulu (yeah, I can't pronounce that either...), she sang the blues, and she's originally from Vancouver. She made me believe-with only herself, her guitar player, Madagascar Slim, and her tambourine-that maybe I was watching a show at The Cotton Club back in the day. That girl had soul and confidence that I've rarely seen the likes of. She had us all clapping and singing and snapping (Magnificant M, I think you would have loved her). One of the best parts of the set came when she asked us all to snap and warned the first 5 rows that she could see them. That was followed by, "If you don't snap, I will come and sit on you and sing in your face." At this point some males in the audience let out whoops of joy. She quickly proceeded to, "It will be intense, and you will probably cry." That's what I'm talking 'bout.
Xavier himself was a sight to behold. He played the digeridoo, acoustic 6-string, 12-string, bass, lap guitar, harmonica, ethnic drums, and sang. He had a stand that held 3 digeridoos and a "didg tech" who swaped a new one in a few times. His set-up also included 2 gongs. For a pic of the set-up, hit Mike's blog. He did things that I doubted were humanly possible. At various points he played the didg and each of the guitars, and the didg and drums at the same time. Wow.
At another juncture, a couple of wahoos jumped up on stage and started "dancing" (I use that term loosely folks). Security let this carry on until about another 30 people decided to join them. They all crowded around Xavier and danced like drunken wild animals. A member of security, dressed like a bell hop, worked himself into a frenzy, trying to keep the innocent dancers away from Mr. Rudd while the rest of security held off the other stoners. And the band played on. Xavier's comment after he finished that portion, "It feels beautiful in here, beautiful energy." He was to repeat that phrase several times throughout the show.
His show also involved a rotund aboriginal man in traditional dress and paint, donning a Santa hat and grande Starbucks beverage, along with a beautiful didg. I can't pronounce his name either, but he was hilarious. And some Vancouver children joined him for a song during the encore...too cute.
While walking out of the show Mike said, "Hey! We know those people!" Turned out it was our friends Mike and Christina and their friends Shannon and Cara. Random but so good!
Definately one of the better concerts I've seen.
posted by Lindsey and Mike at 3:24 p.m.
3 Comments:
Sounds like a great time. Glad you enjoyed it.
On Ndidi's website you can download some of her songs. Unfortunately, they're only 2 minute samples of each. But they're still really good. It gives a good idea of what she sounds like.
Matt and I have seen Holly Cole at the Orpheum a few times at Christmas. We love her! She's here this year too, but we're not going this time.
Deanna
PS My Grandma used to work at the Orpheum! and I worked at the Bay on Granville down there - oh for the days when I was young . . .
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