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Peter Himmelman on 6/8/01Jun 22 '01 Write an essay on this topic.
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The Bottom Line Peter Himmelman is always a great entertainer. I would never miss a show if I could help it.
I had the opportunity to attend the show at The Hopkins Center for the Arts on 6/8/01. It was presented by the Minneapolis Jewish Federation. I called the Box Office and they said that the Federation was going to do the ticketing, but I think that they had some problems with it. I had a hard time getting any phone calls to the ticket rep at the Federation returned, but it all ended up all right. I got a call telling me to call the Center of the Arts, as they would be ticketing the show. So, I called them up, and was told that tickets were $25, $50, and $100, which shocked me. I had a chat with the woman who said that since "Judging Amy," Peter had gotten "big" -- hence the increased prices. Apparently, the original prices were going to be $50, $75, and $100. But Peter said that was too expensive, and they needed to have more affordable tickets. So, I bought my $25 tickets and was ready to go. As you entered the auditorium, they had a slide show going. The pictures were out of focus and backwards in the projector, but other than that it was a nice collection of pictures. A representative of the Federation came and did a little talk about the mission of their group. After that there was a guest speaker who told a very moving story about how the Federation helped her and her family come to America from Poland, and then they had a video presentation. The speaker and the video were both interesting, and it was cool to learn about the Federation, as I had never even heard of it. Then they dimmed the lights, and Peter was introduced. I can't remember the exact set list, and I have no idea in which order the songs were done. So, here's a partial set list from my memory..... Mission of my Soul Shilo Closer 7 Circles Untitled Impermanent Things I Still Don't Know What It Is You Want From Me Only Innocent A Fish Song done with a Scandinavian accent A Yiddish song that his Grandma used to sing Been Set Free Beneath Your Watching Eyes.... ...and more that I just can't remember right now. I heard the beginnings of "Mission of My Soul" but couldn't tell where they were coming from. Then he and Jeff Victor sauntered in from the rear of the auditorium... Peter on guitar, and Jeff on accordion. Then Kristin Mooney joined them on stage. Next Jeff disappeared behind the curtain, and Peter tried to finish with a bang, but Jeff was missing. Jeff reappeared and they proceeded to finish the song. I guess the stage people forgot to do the water thing, so Jeff went to get some. Then all the monitor problems began. Jeff couldn't hear Peter. Peter couldn't hear Kris, and she couldn't hear herself or anyone else. This all led to unhappy musicians. This went on for a bit with all of them continually asking to get more sound from their monitors. Next, Peter said something along the lines of "excuse me for 15 seconds while I drop the polite, professional appearance you are all used to". Then he pointed to the balcony and hollered "Hey! Get this fixed! NOW!!!" "And now, back to the Peter you all love." I don't think that it got all the way fixed though as they never seemed quite happy with the levels they were hearing. Again, I don't remember the sequence in which the songs were played, because I forgot to bring a pencil. :( Anyway, here are a few stories from the show. Peter went to whisper the next song to Kristin, and told Jeff to guess. He said that out of all the people in the world, he should be the one to know -- except for his mother, but she wasn't there. Jeff guessed one song. Then a light popped on, and he said "I know...Shilo!!!" Kristin had a look of amazement on her face, and Peter squealed like a little kid "How did you KNOW that?! Wow!" The song was wonderful...I've seen 9 shows now, both with a band and without, and this was my favorite rendition of the song. It was very emotional and quite beautiful. At some point in the show, Peter told Jeff and Kristin to go sit in the audience. There were two empty seats in the third row. So off they went, and Peter went to play the piano. He played Been Set Free, which is always one of my favorites live. With hardly a hesitation, he rolled into "Beneath Your Watching Eyes", which I'd always wanted to hear live, but never had. It was well worth the wait -- very soulful and moving. He explained how "7 Circles" came into being...He wrote it 12 years ago as a first anniversary gift to his wife. He also gave her a ring as he felt that writing her a song was kinda "cheap." But, he said that she never wears the ring, and he still sings the song. So it all worked out all right. Jeff accompanied on the organ and the piano. I always love seeing this song performed... It is always done with so much passion, and last night was no exception. He prefaced "Josiah" by telling us that this song was for his second son, his fourth child. He also said that he realized that a song about someone's kid could go either way...be a really cool experience to listen to, or be a really boring, trite experience. He hoped that it was the former...and it was. You could hear the love in his voice as he sang about his son. He also told us about his grandmother and how she would sing him the same song over and over again when he was little. One day when he was 14, he was just struck by the inherent beauty his grandmother possessed, and asked her to teach him the song. It's Yiddish, so I have no idea what's it's called or what it was about. But it was a very pretty song. When his grandmother was elderly and senile, he would sing it to her, and if just for that minute, the song would bring her back. It was a rather touching story. However, the most emotional part of the evening, at least for me, was when he sang "Untitled". I had never heard it live before, and had heard a rumor that he had retired the song from his "performance catalog". He told us that he quit singing it for a few years because it began to lose the meaning each time he sang it. While singing it, he'd think of where his car keys were, or what he had for dinner the night before. Obviously, the song is better than that. So, he went into the song, which I've heard on the CD a million times. I've always been moved by it, but never like last night. I cried like a baby. The intensity of the song totally got to me. One bad moment was when some moron's cell phone started ringing really loudly when he was about halfway through the song. It was incredibly inconsiderate and for me, kinda ruined the sanctity of the song. Maybe others didn't mind, but it really bugged me. Anyway, it's an incredibly powerful song, and I feel almost privileged to have heard it. For his encore, he came back out and got a girl from the audience to help him sing "A World Where You Only Eat Candy". Her name was Hannah. She was wearing a yellow bandanna, and she was very good. She basically provided an echo, and she did a very good job. After the song, he improv'd a song about her: Hannah with the Banana Bandanna, a very cute little song for a very cute little girl. Overall, I thought the show was great. The crowd was way more timid than I'm used to. There was no dancing, not much singing along, and it was sorta quiet. It worked though. It was just a different experience. As always, my husband and I had a great time, and the show was lots of fun.  |
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