originally posted: 9/14/01
Brought to you by the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra and Amy 2.0. What is this BLOG you speak of?
Last night Amy and I went to an SPCO concert at the Ordway in downtown St. Paul. (It was part of the Basically Baroque series, incidentally, and if you are forced to pick and choose among the SPCO's many excellent offerings, I suggest you go for Baroque.) We consulted our tickets to find out where we would be sitting, and they said we were in the BLOG section. BLOG? We looked around, but nowhere was there a sign for BLOG. Whispering amongst ourselves, we repeated the word BLOG until it began to sound funny -- which wasn't very long -- and we started to giggle. Finally my intrepid companion had the good sense to inquire of an usher what the BLOG might be. He responded with great dignity that this is the abbreviation for Balcony Loge. In other words, primo seats in the first balcony with a view of the stage so direct that, had I better eyesight, I would have been able to read the conductor's score over his shoulder. We managed to BLOG our way up the stairs and to our seats and snickered only partway through the first number.
Sadly, the conductor was not the guest maestro we were expecting; he had been unable to fly in for rehearsals. The performance was preceded by a moment of silence for Tuesday's events -- and when I say silence, I mean silence. In a concert hall designed to convey every sound to a listener's ear, there were none. None. A profound minute later, the harpsichordist took the lead and the music began. It was riveting, but in a good way, not in the way that so many things have been this long week.
In direct contrast to the measured strains indoors was the proto-American rock 'n roll concert going on in Rice Park just across the street from the Ordway. Local radio station KS95 had set up an outdoor stage where a live band, dressed in as much red white & blue as they could find, cranked through 70s power rock. The crowd waved mini-flags, and one group toted a Perkins-sized Old Glory around the park and into nearby streets that were closed for construction. People were crossing the road to touch that flag. Children danced beneath it. Since this is capitalist America, most of the attendees were sporting the "United We Stand" T-shirts and sweatshirts that were for sale beside the stage -- and all proceeds were designated for the Red Cross.
Amy and I spent a few minutes there before crossing to the concert hall, going from Bachman Turner Overdrive to plain ol' Bach in a few easy steps. The metalheads had packed up and gone home by the time the chamber orchestra finished up, but rock 'n roll will never die. BLOG on, dudes.