House of Wonder

I’m one of these folks who came in late to the game. I got 69 Love Songs a couple of years ago and realized The Magnetic Fields was a great band. I never really expected to see the band live anywhere. I thought they’d broken up. Fortunately for me, they went on tour this year, and though they didn’t play any of the songs I was hoping to hear - songs I’m familiar with - they put on a great show.

The Atlanta Symphony Hall is a good venue to see a show like this. With this band, there is no drum kit, no distorted guitars…just acoustic instruments, microphones and the necessary amps for those instruments. The sound was superb. I’d heard other reviews mention the “recital” quality of the shows and I’d agree with that description. What was most impressive was how well everyone’s voices sounded. The depth and character of Stephen Merritt’s voice was captured perfectly. Having seen a lot of shows, I’m always impressed when a singer’s voice matches or exceeds what is heard on the recordings, and The Magnetic Fields achieved this. I’d go so far as to say they put on a flawless show.

My only disappointment was that they didn’t play some of the tunes I was hoping to hear. At one point during the show, someone in the audience called out a request and the band announced they weren’t doing any requests. Just what was on the paper.

There is no smoking or drinking in the theater. However, there were 2 drink stands just outside the theater in the lobby where drinking was permitted. They had beer in bottles, wine and some mixed drinks…the typical theater fare. Prices were decent.

GENERAL ADMISSION
US $23.50

General Admission Floor
US $45.50

Lower or Concourse Level
US $38.50

Club Level
US $29.50

Tickets: $12.50 / $15 day of show

GENERAL ADMISSION
US $25.00

Not sure if I like this band or not…I like some of the songs, but it’s hard to get that Outback Steakhouse commercial leaves a very deep stain on their reputation…

GENERAL ADMISSION
US $19.00

Wow, never thought I’d see this band…

PIT SEATS ARE CLOSEST TO THE STAGE
US $30.00

ORCHESTRA IS THE MAIN LEVEL-ROWS A-Y
US $30.00

LOGE IS FRONT OF 1ST BALCONY-ROWS A-G
US $30.00

DRESS CIRCLE IS THE REAR OF
US $30.00

BALCONY IS UPPERMOST LEVEL-ROWS A-K
US $26.00

Danzig and others…

GENERAL ADMISSION
US $26.00

GENERAL ADMISSION
US $25.00

Wow, definitely won’t be going to this show unless I magically score some tix…besides, I saw them back in their prime…

RESERVED SEATS
US $66.00

GENERAL ADMISSION ON THE LAWN
US $45.00

I should have seen these guys from Akron, OH when I was in Cleveland…

GENERAL ADMISSION
US $25.00

Another one too pricey for the band…

GENERAL ADMISSION
US $38.50

Good to see HR isn’t sticking it too us too much…but we’re really at the ceiling here.

GENERAL ADMISSION
US $25.00

“Gypsy punk”?

GENERAL ADMISSION
US $25.00

Probably won’t see this band since ticket prices are too expensive…

GENERAL ADMISSION
US $35.00

Not sure if I’ll catch this one or not…I’ve seen Anton solo, missed Jonestown completely…wonder what this would be like?

GENERAL ADMISSION
US $22.00

Ticket prices:

ROW NUMBER INDICATES THE TABLE NUMBER
US $48.50

ORCHESTRA OR TERRACE SEATS
US $38.50 - US $48.50

RESVD SEATS DIRECTLY IN FRONT OF TERRACES-ROWS A-E
US $48.50

GENERAL ADMISSION ON LAWN-IGNORE SEAT NUMBERS
US $28.50

Ticket Prices:

PIT IS FRONT OF MAIN LEVEL-ROWS AAA-EEE
US $36.00

ORCHESTRA IS THE MAIN LEVEL-ROWS A-RR
US $36.00

LOGE IS FRONT OF UPPER LEVEL-ROWS AA-FF
US $36.00

DRESS IS MIDDLE OF UPPER LEVEL-ROWS A-Q
US $31.00 - US $36.00

GALLERY IS TOP OF UPPER LEVEL-ROWS R-U
US $31.00

Ticket prices are:

LOWER OR CONCOURSE LEVEL

US $53.50 - US $56.50

GENERAL ADMISSION STANDING ROOM ON THE FLOOR

US $56.50

MEZZANINE LEVEL

US $39.50

CLUB LEVEL

US $39.50

So, I can now cross-off on my list of things to do in life, “See Tom Waits live!” Living in Ohio for most of my life, I really didn’t think it would happen. I had the unfortunate luck of missing Tom at House of Blues Cleveland last year. I had simply forgotten to check one of my throw-away email accounts that was getting Ticketmaster updates and missed the pre-sale. So, of course, all the tickets were gone by the time I figured out what was going on (basically, I missed the pre-sale, logged-on to Ticketmaster the morning tickets went on sale publicly and was ready to go at 10am but my one attempt at exactly 10am was not good enough to get a single ticket!) And they were sold out from then on…unless you had $400 to shell out on eBay.

(more…)

<a href=”http://www.ticketmaster.com/event/0E004064B49280FD” target=new>Cat Power @ The Tabernacle, $26.50</a>

<a href=”http://www.ticketmaster.com/event/0E00406DB0857975″ target=new>An Evening w/ Yes @ Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre, $35 - $149.50</a>

<a href=”http://www.ticketmaster.com/event/0E003F86EF239492″ target=new>C U LaTouR: Ministry’s Final World @ Masquerade, $35 & $100 (VIP Tix)</a>

<a href=”http://www.ticketmaster.com/event/0E004066B5557BEC” target=new>True Colors: Cyndi Lauper, The B-52s, and Very Special Guests! @ Chastain Park, $39.50 - $79.50</a>

<a href=”http://www.ticketmaster.com/event/0E00406DADE276BA” target=new>ZZ Top @ Chastain Park, $38 & $63<

<a href=”http://www.ticketmaster.com/event/0E00406CCCF494A7″ target=new>Duran Duran @ Chastain Park, $38 - $88</a>

<a href=”http://www.ticketmaster.com/event/0E00406CBA5B7BF1″ target=new>Santana @ Chastain Park, $34 - $89</a>

<a href=”http://www.ticketmaster.com/event/0E00406CF94AB642″ target=new>James Taylor @ Chastain Park, $38.50 - $75</a>

<a href=”http://www.ticketmaster.com/event/0E004071F0E1C4F4″ target=new>Mark Knopfler @ Chastain Park, $41.50 - $81.50</a>

<a href=”http://www.ticketmaster.com/event/0E0040447E9C35B9″ target=new>Feist @ The Tabernacle, $25</a>