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Archive for the ‘Princeton, NJ’ Category

I’m With Her / Ye Vagabonds (McCarter Theatre, Princeton, NJ, November 7, 2025)

Posted in Aoife O'Donovan, I'm With Her, McCarter Theatre, Princeton, NJ, Sara Watkins, Sarah Jarosz, Ye Vagabonds on November 7, 2025| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: November 7, 2025] I’m With Her

We saw I’m with Her in 2019 at McCarter.  Billy Strings opened for them and look where he is now!

I’m with Her is something of a folk and bluegrass supergroup made up of Aoife O’Donovan, Sarah Jarosz and Sara Watkins.  But on to the music.  The women sing in absolutely gorgeous harmony.  Individually, their voices are wonderful, but as they add one and then a second harmony…swoon.  They also switch instruments constantly–fiddle, mandolin, ukulele, guitar, banjo.

But I wasn’t really feeling this show.  And I’m glad I didn’t get tickets because Rocket announced a show tonight and I enjoyed that show immensely.

Ye Vagabonds are a folk duo from Ireland. They are the Carlow-based brothers Diarmuid and Brían Mac Gloinn. They have been described as “being at the fore of a new wave of Irish folk.”  The song I heard had full instrumentation and their voices are lovely together.  They had a vibe of early Darlingside, which I liked quite a lot.

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An evening with Dawes (McCarter Theatre, Princeton, NJ, April 13, 2025)

Posted in Dawes, McCarter Theatre, Parenthood, Princeton, NJ on April 13, 2025| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: April 13, 2025] An evening with Dawes

My wife and I first encountered Dawes in 2013 when they (inexplicably) appeared on Parenthood, a show we watched pretty regularly.  I thought they were a fictional band, but indeed they are not and had two albums out at the time.  I can’t recall at all what their plot line had to do with anything, but Dawes became something of a punchline for us.  The AV Club (who loves Dawes and the episode) jokes that the main character says the word Dawes so much it’s like he wants to be in the band.

And yet, over the years, we heard more and more songs of their that we liked.  It seemed like every new album brought at least one or two songs that we thought were really catchy.  I hadn’t really considered seeing them live until they announced that they were playing at McCarter.  I mean, a show that close to my house?  Sign me up!

So I got us tickets and wondered who the opener would be.  Well, it turned out there was no opener.  So we were given two full sets (20 songs… evidently the typical how on this tour got 17 songs, so I guess it wasn’t a huge difference (except that we got to go home earlier).

This show also happened a few months after the band announced that everyone except the two brothers: Taylor (vocals, guitar) and Griffin Goldsmith (drums) was out of the band.  I had actually wondered if they were going to play just the two of them.  But they didn’t–it was a full band, and they sounded great.

I think we were both a little surprised at what the band looked like, since I clearly never looked at them (since Parenthood).  This tour was for their new album Oh Brother, which I didn’t really know, although I did know and like the song Still Strangers Sometimes–a perfect catchy song from them.  But they started with The Game, a deep cut that I didn’t know but which I thought was quite good.

But I was really psyched when they played Living in the Future, and even though When the Tequila Runs Out is kinda goofy, it was really fun live.  Speaking of fun, this crowd was really really rowdy.  More so than the band, I’d say,  I had no idea that Dawes had such a devoted fan base (one guy was overheard saying he’d seen them a dozen or so times).

And the crowd went nuts for songs that I didn’t know.  I knew a few songs from Good Luck with Whatever, but I didn’t know Me Especially or Didn’t Fix Me.  Nor did I know Right on Time from the album All Your Favorite Bands (which I think we owned).

But that was just a few songs I didn’t know before they played Most People, a ubiquitous song that sounded great live.  They ended the with the mellow A Little Bit of Everything and then finished up the set with  Someone Else’s Café/Doomscroller Tries to Relax from Misadventures of a Doomscroller.  I felt like I knew the song, but it seems like an unlikely radio song–but that guitar riff was really cool.

After a little break, Tyler came out by himself and played a pretty, acoustic Moon in the Water. (more…)

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Richard Thompson: Ship to Shore Tour – Solo Show (McCarter Theatre, Princeton, NJ, February 22, 2025)

Posted in Fairport Convention, Linda Thompson, McCarter Theatre, Princeton, NJ, Richard Thompson on February 23, 2025| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: February 22, 2025] Richard Thompson

This is my 12th time seeing Richard Thompson and my sixth time seeing him at McCarter Theater.  For a while it seemed like he was playing McCarter annually.  But we last saw him there in 2020 (he did play in 2023 but we didn’t go).  I was really hoping to see Richard with a full band, as most of the time that I’ve seen him it’s been him solo.  He was playing with a full band on this tour, but I missed those dates.  And, somewhat sadly (in context, but not actuality), this show was a solo.

I admit to not being as excited for this show as I tend to be for bands that I like a lot.  I feared that I had seen his solo show so much that I would be annoyed at how samey it was to other shows.

But, as soon as he started playing I was blown away at his mastery and at how great his voice sounds (at 75!).  We had great seats–row K, center stage–and I could clearly watch his hands as he did…everything.  I was amazed at the way he played the low sting perfectly in time with the beat as the rest of his fingers played intricate melodies and solos.  I was really quite in awe once again.

It’s interesting the way he seems to play certain era songs a bunch (I tend to see the same songs like three times in a row).  So he opened with If I Could Live My Life Again which came out in 2020.  But then he moved back to Walking on a Wire.  I’ve seen him play it 8 times and I never get tired of it.

Same with Beeswing.  I have a hard time believing there were four shows I’ve seen where he didn’t play it!  But hearing it so clean and perfect and watching his fingers play those gorgeous chords was like hearing it for the first time again.

I Feel So Good is one of my early favorites by him.  I haven’t seen him play it since 2013 and it was fantastic.  I guess someone in the front requested Matty Groves, and old Fairport Convention song and he played it–he is sometimes amenable to requests.  Later in the show someone shouted a song and he said.  Maybe later–much later.

Then he played a song that he said he wrote yesterday.  Most of Richard’s properly released songs are serious and intense.  But live he tends to play these goofy songs that are hilarious.  Maybe someday he’ll release an album of funny songs like You Love Me Like It’s 1969. (more…)

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An evening with Neko Case (McCarter Theatre, Princeton, NJ, January 29, 2025) [DID NOT ATTEND]

Posted in A.M. Homes, McCarter Theatre, Neko Case, Princeton, NJ on January 29, 2025| Leave a Comment »

[DID NOT ATTEND: January 29, 2025] An evening with Neko Case

I’ve been wanting to see Neko Case’s solo show for a while and when this show was announced–in Princeton!–I was psyched to grab a ticket.

Then I saw that it was for her book tour, and  that there would be no music, but rather an hour of conversation with Princeton University’s A.M. Homes, Author and Professor of the Practice in the Lewis Center for the Arts’ Program in Creative Writing.

I love A.M. Homes’ work and would 100% love to hear her talk to someone I was really interested in.

But to be honest, I wasn’t interested in her memoir.  I don’t really like musician memoirs all that much (most of the time) and while this one might be interesting, the description

a memoir that traces her evolution from an invisible girl “raised by two dogs and a space heater” in rural Washington state to her improbable emergence as an internationally-acclaimed talent.

just doesn’t appeal to me.

I follow her on Instagram and feel like I know a bunch about her and I don’t know that I need to know more about her.

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The Mountain Goats / Tift Merritt (McCarter Theatre, Princeton, NJ, October 20, 2024) [DID NOT ATTEND]

Posted in McCarter Theatre, Princeton, NJ, The Mountain Goats, Tift Merritt on October 20, 2024| Leave a Comment »

[DID NOT ATTEND: October 20, 2024] The Mountain Goats / Tift Merritt

Back in 2021 I wrote:

I’ve enjoyed a lot of The Mountain Goats’ music and I’d like to see them live, but their timing always seems to be terrible.

This year they played McCarter Theater in Princeton–an amazing venue and super close to my house.  I was just about to grab tickets when I realized that it was the same day as a birthday in my family.  So, yes, their timing is terrible.

I thought I knew Tift Merritt, but I guess I have just heard of her.  She is a singer-songwriter in the alt country vein.  I’m sure she would have been a pleasant opening act, although it would have been cooler if it was only The Mountain Goats.

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Rodrigo y Gabriela (McCarter Theatre, Princeton, NJ, April 28, 2024) [DID NOT ATTEND]

Posted in McCarter Theatre, Princeton, NJ, Rodrigo y Gabriela on April 28, 2024| Leave a Comment »

[DID NOT ATTEND: April 28, 2024] Rodrigo y Gabriela

I’m not sure why it feels like some shows just recently happened and other feels so long ago.

I can’t believe that it has been seven years since we last saw Rodrigo y Gabriela.  That show was amazing and we were right up front so we could see everything they did.

I’d always felt that I’d want to see them whenever I could, but when they announced a show at McCarter Theater (practically in my backyard) I should have snatched up tickets instantly.  But I didn’t and then the only tickets available were pretty far back.  And that last show was SO GOOD, that it felt like this could only be a letdown.

Our friends who have seen them twice with us did wind up going (McCarter is even closer to them).  They told us that it was amazing to see them again and even more so to be home and ready for bed by 9:30.

Well, we got invited to a Passover dinner, so we couldn’t have gone anyway.  So there.

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KT Tunstall / Shawn Colvin (McCarter Theater, Princeton, NJ, April 20, 2024) [DID NOT ATTEND]

Posted in KT Tunstall, McCarter Theatre, Princeton, NJ, Shawn Colvin on April 20, 2024| Leave a Comment »

[DID NOT ATTEND: April 20, 2024] KT Tunstall / Shawn Colvin

All through the pandemic, I enjoyed watching as the various KT Tunstall shows were cancelled and then rescheduled and then cancelled again.  I was sad that they were cancelled, but I loved how doggedly she persisted in getting those shows on the calendar.

I have yet to see her live, but when I saw her Tiny Desk around the same time, I was really impressed.

So this show, in the very close by McCarter Theater seemed like a great opportunity to check her out.

I also kind of like (or at least liked) Shawn Colvin.  I haven’t given her any thought this century, though, and I was pleased to see that she’s still performing.

But I didn’t want to see the two of  them together on stage.  It worked amazingly for Juana Molina and Madison Cunningham and it probably worked really well for this show too, but it’s not what I wanted to see.

Plus, I was going to go see a crazy noise show with Metz that night anyway.

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Richard Thompson (McCarter Theatre, Princeton, NJ, May 18, 2023) [DID NOT ATTEND]

Posted in McCarter Theatre, Princeton, NJ, Richard Thompson on May 18, 2023| Leave a Comment »

[DID NOT ATTEND: May 18, 2023] Richard Thompson

I’ve seen Richard Thompson more than almost anyone else.

I had wanted to move him to my 2nd place list with one more show.

I love seeing him at McCarter, which is a great venue and has a lot of long time fans.  I’ve seen him there more than anywhere else.

But this show was on May 18, a night that I’d already had tickets for The New Pornographers and Acid Mothers Temple had announced a show for the same night.  And so did Kevin Devine.

So Richard would have to wait.  And since he lives in Montclair, I’m sure he’ll be playing again nearby soon.

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Jean Hanff Korelitz–Admission (2009)

Posted in Abortion, Adoption, Babies, Books about writers, College, Jean Hanff Korelitz, Parenting, Pregnancy, Princeton, NJ on March 23, 2022| Leave a Comment »

SOUNDTRACK: hiatus

[READ: March 20, 2022] Admission

I had vaguely heard of this book when it came out.  My understanding of it was that a woman who worked in the Princeton Admissions office tried to get her kid into the school.

That is not what the story is about exactly.  I feel like I’ve conflated this story with the real-life admission scandal that happened in 2019 (because I didn’t really care about it and don’t really know any details thee either).

Rather, what we get is a story of a woman who works at Princeton University’s Admissions and who has a pretty hard time of things in her personal life.

When the book opens we see her on a road trip.  She is canvassing the New England area to drop in at schools who are likely to have Princeton applicants.  We see some of these visits and get a pretty good idea of how her job works–get the kids excited to go there, but don’t raise their hopes too much since acceptance levels are so low.

One of the schools she goes to is a new school–a kind of alternative program.  This year is the first year that someone will be graduating from the school.  She stops in and the school is very different from what she is used to.  The kids aren’t grist for the college mill.  Indeed one of them argues with her about the very point of going to college.

And then there’s the boy, Jeremiah. He is a school nightmare–clearly a genius, and yet nearly failed out of every class he was in because he’d rather read books than do class.  And yet, once he got to this new school, he was able to focus a bit.  He took AP tests without having taken any AP classes and aced them all.  He was a diamond in a very rough package.  And the narrator, Portia, believes that Princeton would be a great environment for him. (more…)

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Avi Avital and MILOŠ (Richardson Auditorium, Princeton, NJ, November 16, 2021)

Posted in Avi Avital, Isaac Albeniz, Johann Sebastian Bach, Manuel de Falla, Mathias Duplessy, Miloš, Philip Glass, Princeton, NJ, Richardson Auditorium, Set in New Jersey! on November 16, 2021| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: March 13, 2016] Avi Avital and MILOŠ

Five years ago, S. and I went to see Avi Avital at a tiny theater on the Princeton University campus.  And now, here he was returning, but this time with a partner!  MILOŠ, an incredible guitarist whom I’d also learned about through a Tiny Desk Concert.

Israeli musician Avi Avital has taken the mandolin to new heights, earning a GRAMMY nomination as the first mandolin soloist in history…. He returns to Princeton University Concerts joined by an exciting PUC debut: Montenegrin phenomenon MILOŠ, who is described as “the hottest guitarist in the world” and renowned for his deeply emotive playing. Together, they bring us a kaleidoscopic program of arrangements and transcriptions for mandolin and guitar.   “POD SEATING” — Patrons will be seated on stage only with members of their party, as determined by the ticket quantity in your order.

So we could see these two terrific musicians and be right on the stage with them? Sign me up!

S. and I both went and we were maybe twenty feet from the musicians.  They were charming and funny as they introduced themselves and each other and then they blew us away with their amazing finger and fret work.

They played a truly wide ranging repertoire and explained the origins and context of each song.  Who would have guessed that Bach and Philip Glass could work together so well? (more…)

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