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Archive for the ‘Set in New Jersey!’ Category

The Smithereens–Live at Duke Island Park, Bridgewater, NJ (August 25, 2013)

Posted in Set in New Jersey!, The Smithereens on August 26, 2013| 5 Comments »

[ATTENDED: August 25, 2013] The Smithereens

smither

Photo credit: Maryanne Mistretta (see below for link to her blog)

I’ve liked a number of Smithereens songs for many years.  I even bought their greatest hits.  But I never really think about them.  And yet, the opening bass line to “Blood and Roses” is one of the best opening bass lines in rock music.  It’s so deep and groovy.

But so imagine my surprise to see that The Smithereens were playing a free concert at Duke Island Park, about ten minutes from my house.  What was especially weird is that most of the free concerts are oldies singers (The Duprees) and cover bands (Tusk, THE B STREET BAND).  But here was the honest to God Smithereens.  Now, I realize they’re not remotely as popular as they were, but it was really them.  They’re from Carteret and Scotch Plains, NJ, so they were playing to a happy local crowd.  They also told some very funny stories about growing up in Somerset County (and going to the Blue Star).

They sounded amazing and Pat DiNizio’s voice hasn’t changed a bit in thirty some years.  (more…)

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Last Summer on Earth: Guster, Ben Folds Five and Barenaked Ladies (PNC Bank Center, Holmdel NJ, July 20, 2013)

Posted in Barenaked Ladies, Ben Folds Five, Boothby Graffoe, Guster, Set in New Jersey!, Talking Heads, The Conjuring, Violent Femmes on July 31, 2013| 1 Comment »

[ATTENDED: July 20, 2013] Last Summer on Earth

lsoeWhen I heard that three bands who I like very much were playing, it was an obvious decision to get tickets.  And thanks to Sarah’s cousin, Kate who lives nearby, we were able to avoid the assholian $9/ticket fee from Ticketmaster.  $9 a ticket??  Assholes.  Interestingly, we got very good seats (thanks again, Kate), but for one reason or another, they were upgrading lawn seat tickets for an extra $10.  I read online that for the price of a lawn seat and $10, they got sixth row.  SIXTH ROW!  Damn.

We arrived at the show just in time to hear Ed Robertson introducing the opening act (an opening act when there are three bands!).  The opening act was a guy named Boothby Graffoe.  What?  Well, Graffoe is an English comedian and singer/songwriter.  Most of his songs are funny.  And so were these in the five song set: (more…)

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Cirque Zuma Zuma (RVCC Arts, Branchburg NJ, May 3, 2013)

Posted in Acrobats, Big Apple Circus, Branchburg, NJ, C., Cirque Zuma Zuma, Futurama, Peking Acrobats, RVCC Arts, Set in New Jersey!, T. on May 5, 2013| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: March 3, 2013] Cirque Zuma Zuma

zumaCirque Zuma Zuma was the final theater show of our 2012-2013 season.  When I bought tickets for this I didn’t realize that it was designed as an all ages show (hint, shows that start at 7PM are for families, shows that start at 7:30 are for adults only).  So I felt a little bad that the kids didn’t come as there were so many kids there.  And they would have enjoyed this, although it’s probably just as well that they had a nice night with their grandma.

So Cirque Zuma Zuma is an African-based show of dance and acrobatics.  There was a large banner that said that Cirque Zuma Zuma had been on America’s Got Talent.  Now, I don’t quite understand this as the announcer of the show seemed to say that the performers were from countries in Africa.  How could they be on America’s Got Talent if they are not American?  I don’t get it.

zuma2Anyway, the show got off to a rousing start with drumming.  Lots of drumming.  There was a man with two drums (big bass drum sounding drums) and then two drummers who were playing what I thought of as an African bongo but which I believe is called a Djembe.  And, man, they pounded the hell out of these things.  It was amazing how musical three (or four) drums can sound.  They played lead drum parts while the bass drum kept a steady rhythm.  And then the dancers came out.  Two women and a man dressed in what I assume is a traditional outfit.  And they danced.  Ecstatically.  Nonstop.  For about eight minutes.  And what frenetic and crazy dances they were.  They moved with such force and power.  It was really amazing and it looked exhausting.

Then came the acrobatics.  And was surprised at just how many of the acrobatic pieces were the same as ones done by the Chinese acrobats.  It strikes me as odd that two very distinct cultures would do the same kinds of things.  Are these just standard feats that contemporary performers learn?

The first was the climbing of and doing handstands on a stack of chairs.  The big difference here was that these chairs were very large (as opposed to the many tiny ones the Chinese acrobats use).  It was still impressive, and the chairs looked quite wobbly, but it was weird to open with a show stopper from another Cirque.

Other things that they did which we had already seen were jumping through hoops, spinning hula hoops, foot juggling and hat juggling.  It was very strange to see these same things.  The big difference was the music, which was African as opposed to Asian. (more…)

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MOMIX: Botanica (McCartre Theater, Princeton, NJ, April 25, 2013)

Posted in Dance, McCarter Theatre, Momix, Moses Pendelton, Princeton, NJ, Set in New Jersey! on April 27, 2013| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: April 25, 2013] MOMIX Botancia

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I didn’t realize that we attended a Momix show almost exactly one year ago.  But that’s when it was.  That show was called Remix, and it was a collection of great bits from Momix shows.  This year’s show, Botanica, is an older show and there were bits of it in Remix.  This gave me the most unique (for me) experience of seeing a dance troupe perform things that I had already seen!  What was fun was that the dancers were (I believe) different and, it felt like perhaps the pieces were performed a little bit differently too.

One of the fun things about the show was how the pieces segued into one another–most routines didn’t end so much as meld into the next one (and you can see how picking pieces out for a Greatest Hits might require some restructuring).

We saw this show at the McCarter Theatre, where, once again we had the $20 seats (knocked down to $18 with a AAA discount!).  For this show the seats were a bit of a hindrance because Momix is definitely about spectacle, and there were a few pieces where the spectacle was lost from our angle (which was a little below the stage and off to the right).  On the plus side, being able to see the dancers up close (we were literally three rows from the stage) brought a new level of experience to the show that you don’t get when the performers are interchangeable (hey, that’s the sweaty guy, that’s the blonde lady, that’s the guy with the amazing muscles).

The show opened with a waving sheet which looked like snow.  As the sheet began rippling dancers revealed themselves underneath and starting popping up, like flowers or dolphins or gravity defying skiers.  It was very cool.   Then a giant flower-like item came out on stage and women danced around it.  There followed a wonderful sequence with black light paint as three performers with neon arms and legs made wonderful shapes–animals, faces, bodies–using their limbs.  Our cheap seats hindered this piece somewhat. (more…)

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C!rca: Wunderkammer (RVCC Arts, Branchburg NJ, March 16, 2013)

Posted in Acrobats, Barry Adamson, Branchburg, NJ, C!rca: Wunderkammer, DJ Yoda, Einstürzende Neubauten, Jeri Southern, Kate Bush, Laibach, RVCC Arts, Set in New Jersey!, Susanna And The Magical Orchestra on March 23, 2013| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: March 16, 2013] C!rca: Wunderkammer

circa1 As part of our theater-going experience, I bought Sarah and I tickets to C!rca’s Wonderkammer show.  I wasn’t entirely sure what to expect (but we’ve has such good luck with shows that we didn’t know anything about that  I wasn’t worried).  The blurb about C!rca reads:

In this exquisite cabaret of the senses, a diva melts into a rope, balloons and bubble wrap discover their artistic souls while bodies twist and fly.  Seven performers of unbelievable ability bend the very fabric of reality.  Sexy, funny and explosive, Circa presents a breathless cocktail of new circus, cabaret and vaudeville.  Control and abandon, skill and humour, lyricism and anarchy all meld into a sinuous fugue of profound beauty.

So, you sort of think you know what you’re going to get, but in many ways that descriptions is kind of meaningless.  It may help to say that C!rca are from Australia (meaning it’s unconventional).  But really nothing prepared me for what we saw. (more…)

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Big Apple Circus: Legendarium (TD Bank Ballpark, Bridgewater, NJ, March 9, 2013)

Posted in Acrobats, Big Apple Circus, Bridgewater, NJ, C., Circus, Illusion, Magic, Peking Acrobats, Set in New Jersey!, T. on March 11, 2013| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: March 9, 2013] The Big Apple Circus

bigappC.s Cub Scout pack got tickets to the Big Apple Circus again this year and we decided to go.  Once again the Circus came right on the heels of Chinese acrobats, so I didn’t think I would be impressed, but once again, the circus did a very good job.  I’ll get my one gripe out of the way first.  Our seats were awful.  Not the circus’ fault obviously, but they claim that there are no bad seats.  And while ours weren’t bad (we were to the back right of the circus floor), all of the action is played to the front, so we missed a lot of the most dramatic poses, we missed the backdrops that they put up and clearly missed the overall feel of the show.  And given how many seats were empty in the good section, I was a little bummed.  Because the show itself was spectacular.

The signature character of grandma was gone, replaced by a funny clown couple (Acrobuffos), who did a lot of grandma’s interactions with the crowd, but as more of a jealous couple routine.  They were quite funny and I’m impressed that the woman had some kind of playballs in her pants making her rear enormous–and she was able to actually bounce on them.

I also didn’t realize when we went that there was a story/theme of the history of the circus or the history of New York, or some kind of history (Legendarium!).  Including a penny farthing bicycle!  So there were stories about circuses of old and some story about Broadway and arrowheads.  The ringmaster was decent but nothing special.  But again, you go for the acts, not the ringmaster. (more…)

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The Golden Dragon Acrobats present Cirque Ziva (RVCC Arts, Branchburg NJ, March 3, 2013)

Posted in Acrobats, Branchburg, NJ, C., Golden Dragon Acrobats, RVCC Arts, Set in New Jersey!, T. on March 4, 2013| 1 Comment »

[ATTENDED: March 3, 2013] Cirque Ziva

zivaIt’s Chinese Acrobat time again!  One year ago we saw the Peking Acrobats at RVCC and this year it’s time for the Golden Dragon Acrobats!

The Golden Dragon Acrobats performed a series of exciting and amazing feats on stage.  It was not quite the spectacle of last year’s Peking Acrobats, although there were many similar elements.  The Peking Acrobats were completely over the top.  Cirque Ziva felt a little smaller but with more flash in costumery and sets.

ziva1It opened with a series of…wheels?  Round cage-like apparatus that you climb in and roll around–C. and I actually saw these in a Jackie Chan film recently–they seemed to be a part of Chinese military training (somehow).  But the Golden Dragon Acrobats did much more than Jackie did with them.  With different sizes and numbers of participants they used these wheels to wondrous effect–spinning and rolling and climbing on and off.  It was mesmerizing.

And then it was time for the women to show off.  The first item was called “Thousand Hands.”  Six identically dressed women (with super long golden nails) stood one behind the other and then their arms spread out in a wild and wonderful array.  They worked in beautiful synchronicity and it looked amazing.  For Peking we were upstairs in the balcony, and being able to see all six women from the top spoiled the effect somewhat, it was much more impressive here.  Then they moved onto more, amazing contortions (see the poster above which I don’t even understand even though I saw her do it).  They did both group formations and an individual performance (and we all agreed the woman was mind blowing and a little gross). (more…)

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A John Waters Christmas (RVCC Arts, Branchburg, NJ, December 9, 2012)

Posted in Advice, Branchburg, NJ, Consumerism, Culture Shock, David Schickler, David Sedaris, Funny (ha ha), Holidays, Language, LGBTQ, RVCC Arts, Set in New Jersey!, Sex, Yuck! on December 25, 2012| 1 Comment »

[ATTENDED: December 9, 2012] A John Waters Christmas

watersSarah and I were pretty excited to go see John Waters: gay icon, movie provocateur and all around oddball.  We had no idea what to expect from this show (his Christmas shows have apparently been around a long time although I have no idea how much it changes per year), but we knew it would be peculiar (and damned funny).

What we got was John Waters in a beautiful sparkly suit talking about seemingly whatever came into his mind (although I know from others that  the routine has the same elements in every show, so I it is not extemporaneous).  He had a podium and a bottle of water, but he used neither.  Instead, he walked around the stage, telling stories, telling jokes and being as filthy as he could.

Since this is a Christmas show, he talks a lot about the holiday (he really likes it, mostly because people give him presents), he talks a lot about sex (the more deviant the better), and he talks about himself.

We were surprised by the age range in the audience   Aside from a few young people (in punk garb), we were the youngest by far.  And while that certainly makes it seem like the older folks of the Branchburg area are much hipper (and dirtier) than I realized, it also makes some sense.  Waters definitely reached his most prolific peak quite some time ago.  And those earlier film were much raunchier than his more recently releases.  By now, Waters has settled in as kind of an outre celebrity but one who is more than happy taking part in pop culture (The Simpsons for instance–quite a long way from Divine eating poop).  We wondered if half of them knew what they were in for–but I didn’t hear any gasps, so I guess they did.  The older attendees could no doubt also appreciate a number of cultural references that were just too old for me. (more…)

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Trout Fishing in America (RVCC Arts, Branchburg, NJ, October 21, 2012)

Posted in Branchburg, NJ, C., Children's Books, Funny (ha ha), RVCC Arts, Set in New Jersey!, T., Theater, Trout Fishing in America on October 27, 2012| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: October 21, 2012] Trout Fishing in America

Trout Fishing in America is (primarily) a children’s band.  They are a duo comprised of Ezra Idlet (who plays the guitar and is six-foot nine inches tall) and Keith Grimwood (who plays bass and is five foot five inches tall).  When I first encountered them, Ezra had very long hair–although he no longer does.  They are quite a sight onstage (and they play up this height difference a lot).

Trout Fishing is, I assume, a rather successful band.  They have been around since 1979!  Their first big family friendly record came out in 1991.  Amazingly, given their longevity, they are not opposed to playing small venues.  Two years ago, they played my son’s elementary school.  Which was a hoot.

They came back through the area again and this time they played RVCC.  I’ve said before that RVCC gets some pretty major acts, but I’m not sure exactly what went on with this show.  They played at 1PM and 3:30PM and rather than perform to the audience in the normal theater seats, they let the (much smaller) audience sit on stage with them.

They erected a small stage–big enough for  the two of them and their minimal gear.  The audience chairs were arranged around them in three section and my family got front row seats, approximately ten feet from the mini stage.  It was wonderful.   Since it was the day after T.’s birthday  when Keith asked if it was anyone’s birthday  T. was right up front to get singled out (they said it was okay that her birthday was yesterday).

They played about a dozen songs.  And in between songs, their banter was wonderful.  They told jokes (Keith juggles), they did left brain/right brain challenges (draw a square with one hand and a triangle with other) and they explained to the kids about the instruments they use (they also do musical instruction at schools).   (more…)

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Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus: Dragons (Sun National Bank Center, Trenton, NJ, May 18, 2012 )

Posted in Acrobats, Adventure, Aga-Boom, Anachronisms, Animals, Big Apple Circus, Consumerism, Daredevils, Nostalgia, Peking Acrobats, Pets, Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus, Set in New Jersey!, Sun National Bank Center, Supernatural, Trenton, NJ on May 26, 2012| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: May 18, 2012] Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus

The last time I saw Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus was in the mid 70s.  My parents took me two years in a row (and I still have the program books somewhere to prove it).  I didn’t realize that the circus was still around, to be honest.  I knew about all of the other circuses, but RB&B&B (what an awkward name) seemed like maybe it just went away.  Well, that is not the case—apparently once you have kids who are old enough to enjoy it, the circus comes to your town.

Or more specifically, to Trenton.  We thought about going to the show back in March when it was in East Rutherford and Newark but that seemed too far (and pricey).  When it came to Trenton (which was actually further than we anticipated) and I could get tickets for $15/ea, that was all I needed to hear.

If anything was worth $15 it was this circus.  Indeed, the joy we got out of it was worth much more than $15.

If you’ve been following along here, you know we’ve been to a number of circus-type shows over the last few months, so we are jaded circus-goers at this point.  But this show was called Dragons, and that’s hard to pass up, especially if you have a soon to be 7-year-old boy (and you used to play D&D).  When as the show opened and several performers came out with dragons attached to the front of Segways, I knew this was going to be fun.  And that it wasn’t the circus from 1977.

And yet, it kind of was.  Because once the circus proper started, it had all of the elements of circuses of yore:  elephants, tigers, trapeze artists, springboard jumpers, hoops of fire and more.

The theatricality was quite spectacular both old school (the ringmaster and clowns) and new school (remote controlled (I guess) platforms and floating screens to project pictures).  And, yes it was all about Dragons–the ringmaster sang a long over the top song about being a dragon (I think–the sound was really quite poor).  And they explained the four qualities of being a dragon (or maybe the four qualities you needed for the dragon to come out?  That’s what seemed to happen anyhow).  Each of the four qualities (Courage, Strength, Wisdom, Heart) was represented by a color and, tenuously, by the performers in a certain section.

And I cannot keep straight who exemplified which quality so, as my memory allows, here’s what we saw. (more…)

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