Hey everybody, I'm writing from the apartment of friends John and Darren in Inwood (north end of Manhattan) in a slightly dopey state, having only just awoke from my first real sleep in two days. The weather was utterly beautiful here yesterday, warm and breezy, so Kelly, D, and I went for a long walk around Fort Tryon Park and had a nice lunch at a mediterranean cafe called Emilou's (after we were denied entrance to Bleu Revolution).
The big plan for the night was to hit Carnegie Hall for the Caetano Veloso and David Byrne concert that I've been looking forward to for weeks, and it was fantastic. We (The Kelly & I) both loved it. I was only able to get us "obstructed view" seating but it turned out to be just fine, and at a measly $35, too! The Hall was sold out with an enthusiastic, though rhythmically retarded, audience; at least three times a good half of the audience clapped along to their own imaginary beat that bore little or no relation to the music on stage. On the other hand, a huge number of people knew the lyrics, which made me feel like such a novice.
Caetano was so quiet he was in danger of being drowned out by the electric hum of the spotlight near us, but he sounded great. I was kind of wishing for some subtitles, but when he played something I recognized just four songs in ("O Leãozinho") I realized it didn't matter. He strums like João Gilberto but possesses a more powerful voice, and I finally grasped just why he's so internationally famous when I saw him fill that room with his songs. Breathtaking.
After a bit, Caetano was joined on stage by longtime collaborator, cellist Jacques Morelenbaum and a great percussionist whose name I never caught. Before David Byrne came out, Caetano and Jacques hit us with a jazzy rendition of Rodgers & Hart's "Manhattan" followed by his own song on the subject, "Manhatã," during which David Byrne wandered onto the stage. Caetano introduced him by crediting him with being the American musician who has done the most to bring Brazilian music to the world, overlooking Stan Getz with an intent, perhaps, to differentiate between understanding Brazilian music and exploiting it (and don't get me wrong, I love the jazz samba/bossa nova stuff, too). I had to applaud when he mentioned Byrne's "resuscitation of the career of Tom Zé."
Byrne played "She Only Sleeps" from his new album Grown Backwards, "Everyone's In Love With You" from Look Into The Eyeball, and surprisingly, some Talking Heads hits: "And She Was," "Life During Wartime," and "Road to Nowhere." I've seen plenty of old legends butcher their back catalog (Bob Dylan, Lou Reed), but Byrne kicked ass, even with the stripped down acoustic guitar and percussion format. It's hard to separate some of those songs from the original arrangements, because part of what made the Talking Heads so great was the EuroFunk rhythm section of Tina Weymouth and Chris Frantz, but Byrne just owned these songs, and has a great frickin' voice, even when he wasn't quite hitting the notes. I was a little disappointed that he didn't play anything from his 1994 self-titled album, which is the one David Byrne solo work that I really, really like, but maybe if I catch him in Minneapolis I'll have that desire met (June 18 at the Sculpture Garden).
Caetano came back out for some duets, and the highlight of the show was a sloppy go at "Nothing But Flowers." I'd love to see a well-rehearsed version, but, y'know, it was great even with all the mistakes: full of heart and joy and warmth and life, and it was funny. We managed to get one encore out of the duo, and David Byrne ended the evening with a solo rendition of "Heaven."
Deliriously happy after such a great show, we wandered across the street to the Redeye Grill, a seafood restaurant that's pretty well-reviewed. I've had only bad experiences with sushi so far, but I'm not closed to the idea so I let Kelly talk me into having a few pieces of sashimi, and I enjoyed the Bluefin and Yellowtail (starting simple). The sushi came with the usual soy sauce, wasabi, and pickled ginger, with the unusual addition of a mango/pineapple salsa. The Redeye didn't seem to have any consistent theme to their cuisine, but everything we had was very good. The clay pot roasted Sea Bass, in particular, is highly recommended, and the porcini-crusted Mahi Mahi with truffle oil was yummy but a bit more bland. We finished with a nice cheescake (which they'd torched like a creme brulee) and a bit of Booker's which blew my brain to pieces in a classy, flavorful way.
We walked around for a bit around Central Park and Lincoln Center and were by that time completely exausted. Unfortunately the train was delayed by a bunch of loud asshole kids from the Bronx and an angry newstand owner. I was so not amused. We got back around 2AM, and I'd been running on three hours of sleep so I just crashed. I still don't feel awake. Tonight we will be bowling, I think, and drinking in celebration of John's birthday, and later to see Sarah Silverman at the Fez.
Stay tuned for updates and maybe pictures.
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