caracolina

Some time ago I told John, “Two people I’d really like to see live some day are Laurie Anderson and Lisa Gerrard.” An hour later he let me know “I got the tickets!” Turns out Laurie Anderson was going to perform with Lou Reed at the Chandler Center for the Arts as part of a concert benefiting the local Yongey Peace Prevails Center, which specializes in meditation training. I’m no fan of Laurie Anderson, but know enough about her to be interested in seeing her perform, and the concert turned out to be a real treat. I really didn’t care that much about Lou Reed (I didn’t know until today that the two are married, so the pairing didn’t make much sense to me at first) but the two of them did well together, creating a collaborative atmosphere that felt original and “in the moment” to use a somewhat tired, yet fitting metaphor. At some point during the performance, Steve Hunter joined Laurie and Lou on guitar for a few songs. While I am not running out to buy Laurie Anderson’s music on iTunes, I’d definitely consider seeing her perform again. What struck John and I as very curious is how many people left during their performance – what did they expect? Lou to break out Walk on the Wild Side?

Another highlight was the Phoenix Chinese Art Music Ensemble. They were part of several opening performers and John and I enjoyed their music a lot. We’ll definitely keep an eye out for them in the future.

Now if we could only persuade Lisa Gerrard to make a trip to Phoenix (or at least L.A.), soon!