Hi


I have one Ludovico Einaudi ticket for sale which is about to go on ebay (12pm BST).

This is his only UK performance: Wed 1st Oct 7.30pm

This is Row A - Right in the centre of the Circle

Anyone interested: pls call Mark 07798 671 665

[Waves hand] Me!

However, I'm not arriving until late Wed. (and would probably be too tired from the travel to do much, if anything), and departing VERRRRYYY early Friday morning, so I won't really have time for parties. I'd be more than happy to meet for up lunch on Thursday with anybody who's around, and I also would like to scout around and try some Steingraebers.

BDB, I have a burning female-type question I hope you can answer. How dressy are these concerts? What do women there normally wear? thanks!

700, huh? I think I *will* get in line early. I'll be happy to serve as the designated queue person to nab a good table location for PW folks.

I wish all of you who are going to the concert...great fun!

But, you must realize that you now will fall into the same category in which a poster put me. Namely, that of "blind groupie." Of course, this was in reference to my deep and abiding love for Chopin and his music. It's rather cool to be called a "groupie" at the age of 69.

Just last spring, I was this close to buying a ticket to San Diego for a performance by Hershey Felder. He was premiering his one-man show about Beethoven. However, I talked myself out of it because I can be such a stupid conservative at times. And now...I could kick myself in every place my foot will reach. There are times in our lives when we just have to do what our heart bids us to.

Therefore, I am so happy for all of you. Enjoy your adventure to the fullest, and I can promise that you will never regret it.

My best,
Kathleen

, I had no idea!. That's a lot of tickets to sell for a special interest type of audience.

I just had this image of a small, intimate setting kind of like a piano bar or a lounge. Still, I'm sure most of the seats are good ones but I would'nt show up late just in case.

It is San Francisco. Dress eclectically. Do not feel that you have to get tattoos or piercings especially for the occasion.

I doubt there will be that many people that evening. That makes it very crowded, like when the dance floor is so tight you can barely move, and people trade off the chairs. I have been there when it is like that, but I suspect that the tickets will be limited to less than that.

Ludovico's main site has been updated with two other dates besides the San Francisco concert.

+ 18/11/2008 - LOS ANGELES
+ 20/11/2008 - SAN FRANCISCO
+ 25/11/2008 - NEW YORK

I could not find ticket info for the other venues at this time.

Still nothing for the middle part of the country. Maybe Ludovico likes to stay near oceans or something.

Oh man. NY would probably be cheaper for me to get to, but it's too late now--I already booked the airfare.

Not to mention the 25th is pretty close to Thanksgiving. My hubby is a tolerant man, but he probably wouldn't take it too well if I told him I couldn't prepare Thanksgiving dinner because I wanted to go to an Einaudi concert....

Hi Monica,

It's wonderful that you will be able to visit the bay area to attend one of the live performances of one of your favorite idol. While I don't live in San Francisco, I welcome this wonderful opportunity to meet you and some of our other PW forum members, and would've loved to play host with you for a day but I have to work on that day, at least until early afternoon if all goes well.

I'm not even sure what time I'll be heading up but with commute traffic, and all, GRRRR... I certainly would appreciate some reserved seatings. Thanks for offering to be our designated queue person, but hopefully it won't be sold out.

I hope you'll enjoy your visit no matter how brief.

Key Notes

Gosh...too bad I don't have any vacation time left, otherwise this would be a trip I would not want to have pass.

Monica, I hope you have fun when you go. Do tell all after the concert.

That's really too bad, I wish both of you ladies, Loveschopintoomuch and Kawaigirl1, could attend as well. The more the merrier.

One thing I should add: Einaudi has an interesting way of finishing songs.

Sometimes he will bow his head and remain silent for a long pause. Then he will relax, have another moment of contemplation, and then start the next piece (no applause)

Other times, he has the moment of silence at the end of the piece, then he will get up and allow the audience to applaud.

I'm sure he wouldn't mind being applauded after every piece, but certainly at the concert I was at he had control over the audience!

It's going to be hard for me to refrain from applauding after every piece! I wonder why he does that... or if it's even intentional and/or he's sitting there thinking "why is nobody clapping?"

BDB, I am probably wearing your patience thin with all these questions, but I'm hoping you'll indulge me with one more: How far is the Bimbo from the airport? I'm going to priceline a hotel room, and I'm wondering whether I should try to stay close to the airport (my return flight is at the ungodly hour of 7:00 am) or the club. I'd probably prefer the latter, unless it would be a gruesome commute in the morning.

Kawaigirl, I have way too much integrity to suggest faking an illness in order to attend this concert, but it sure would be nice if you came down with some short-acting, noncommunicable disease on the 20th. Just sayin'.

Lol, it's definately intentional - he knows exactly what he is doing! My guess is that it is to create a mood of peace, by not having the applause every 5 minutes or so.

I just read a review of a recent concert on the official Einaudi board. Seems he did lots of medleys of pieces stitched together. In fact the reviewer was struggling to identify each piece before he was moving onto another!

Wonder if he will continue this idea into the USA, or will he play a straight-up concert of his most well-known pieces? I hope it's the latter

Thanks Euan for the heads-up in regards to his performance styles and preferences. We certainly wouldn't want to disturb the master's performance or concentrations in any way.

Okay, here is a working example of what I'm talking about:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6vbE-7kjT6M

at 3min 46 or so, he finishes Nefeli and pauses. At this point, the natural reaction is to clap, but he isn't looking for applause as he leads into the next piece from the silence.

It's difficult to explain without seeing him, but you *know* when he wants the applause and when to stay quiet!

Two new concerts now on the US trip still West and East coast locations:

+ 18/11/2008 - LOS ANGELES
+ 20/11/2008 - SAN FRANCISCO
+ 22/11/2008 - BOSTON
+ 23/11/2008 - BOSTON
+ 25/11/2008 - NEW YORK

The two new shows are the Boston shows on November 22 and 23

Nice example Euan.

I hope you'll be able to make it to one of his show sometime soon Anthony.

So I was googling the Club Bimbo to see what else I could find about it (I'm still worrying over the eternal female question of What To Wear), and I came across this one review:

"If you want to actually see the artist, don't get a table on the floor because it's standing room only, in front of the best tables. Either sit at a higher table in the back or stand in the crowd."

hmmm... maybe it won't be so crowded and nobody will be standing? Or maybe I'll have to bring an umbrella with me and fight my way through the crowd if anybody tries to block my view. :p

I do not think that this will be a standing room show. You should be able to see him from anywhere in the room. The normal configuration of the stage puts the piano pretty high up.

I guess I did not answer questions about the airport and where to stay. You have your choice of airports, San Francisco or Oakland. They are both about equally as far from Bimbo's. If you do not want to rent a car, you can stay at one of the hotels/motels near Fisherman's Wharf, which is within easy walking distance from the club. There are shuttle services that can get you to and from the airport, and they know how long it takes. You can reserve your seat in a shuttle on-line. If you rent a car, there should not be too much traffic when you will have to leave, and you would mostly be going against the commute.

This would probably make it a much nicer trip than staying at the airport. You could do a bay cruise, walk to Coit Tower, take a tour of the city, do all that touristy stuff.

So check Mapquest or Google Maps, decide on things you would like to do, and make your choices.

I guess I'll dig up the thread to mention that I purchased a ticket to the San Francisco show and purchased hotel and airfare. Airline prices were similar to what I could have gone to Boston for but I've never been to San Francisco and the weather will no doubt be nicer than Boston that time of year.

Yeah! That's fabulous Anthony. Glad you can make it. Yes, of course I look forward to meeting you and the others. Hopefully we'll be able to regconize each other.

Key Notes

Well, I'll be the one at the front of the line wearing the "Einaudi I want your baby!" t-shirt. :p (Er, just kidding, I hope it's obvious.) Hmmm.... maybe I'll tape a card with the letters "PW" discretely on my purse. And I'll be carrying my Einaudi sheet music book. Euan got his autographed so I'm hoping there will be a similar session here.

The radio station that is sponsoring this show is now announcing it on air. But you heard it here first!

"Well, I'll be the one at the front of the line wearing the "Einaudi I want your baby!" t-shirt."



BDB, We certainly did. Thanks again! Will you be attending?

BDB: Yeah, I suppose they would likely begin announcing it. I think that was the only one I saw that mentioned it was being "sponsored" by a station, but I wonder if they are limiting themselves to stops where at least one local station will play his music.

I feel a bit conflicted that while I want Ludovico to sell a lot of tickets I would also like to see him in a concert without loads of people to get in the way. But, that's the way it goes I guess.

You should try to come if you can BDB. Of course, I don't think we can afford to have too many more people in the group because if we're all at a table then nobody is going to want to face away from the stage.

"I don't think we can afford to have too many more people in the group because if we're all at a table then nobody is going to want to face away from the stage."

Perhaps without visual distractions, we may better listen and absorb the nuances of sounds(?) I'll volunteer to face away, with hopes that I won't be distracted by all of the other faces.

It may also be the case that people in the area planning on attending the concert may wish to attend with significant others or loved ones, *not* random strangers from the internet, especially random strangers who might be prone to throwing their bras up on the stage. :p And that's perfectly understandable.

Tell you what: I'm going to be at the concert, and I will be in line early (maybe not HOURS early, but I will plan to get there promptly when or slightly before the doors open, which I think is 6 or 6:30) to get a good location. (Where "good location" = a table with a good view of the keyboard, as my middle-aged knees won't take standing up the whole evening) Anybody who would like like to join me should send me a PM so I know how big a table, or table(s), to stake out.

I pricelined my hotel room, have my plane tickets, got the babysitter lined up, so midlife indulgence adventure is all set.

I can guarantee that I won't have a bra to toss up on stage. Well, unless I can convince some other audience member to give me one. (I was going to include some mention of the proper gender but then I did realize that this is San Francisco we're talking about.)

They do server drinks but somehow I still don't think it will happen.

And who would want to spend an evening with a significant other rather than complete strangers from the internet?

I'm even planning on meeting someone else from the internet on Wednesday at some point.

The last time I was there for a show, there were a number of bras being tossed around, but that was for another show.

I would expect that drinks will be served.

In case you were wondering, I am still waiting to hear whether my attendance is mandatory or optional.