The Portland Cello Project and Janet Johnson at the Bing Crosby Theater on Wednesday, July 20th
It was a treat to be inside the Bing Crosby Theater with many of the seats full, and full of people of all ages from kids to adults. Tonight was another magical night of music; I sat in my seat with 100% of my attention focused on the stage and musicians before me.
To get the evening rolling Janet Johnson performed a few songs for us. As soon as she walked out on stage with a big smile she lit up the theater. Her set began with a mandolin number that included some fast pickin and pluckin. After that Janet went on to play songs for us including “Love Float Over Me,” “Rising River,” “Cyber Spaceman,” and she even ended her set with “When You Say Nothing At All,” by Alison Krauss. Her friend Eddie Taylor III joined Janet on a few songs with his flute. It was really good to see her perform again tonight; it has been a while since we last saw her play a show. I loved how tonight she talked about a few of her songs like in “Rising River” how she compared love with the seasons changing in Spokane and how that affects our river. Janet managed to sneak some giggles out of the crowd as well during her quirky writing in “Cyber Spaceman.” I was a little sad I wasn’t in the front when she threw out her custom guitar picks, however I thought it was awesome that she did that. Janet is a great local artist with a lot of personality and she is such a sweetheart, you’ll have to find a chance to see her if you haven’t already!
This was my second time seeing the Portland Cello Project and I was still super excited to watch them perform tonight. There is so much beauty in the sound of a cello alone, yet when you put four together it’s incredible. One of the goals of the Portland Cello Project is to bring cellos to places they normally wouldn’t be heard. They have performed in bars, punk clubs, coffee shops, all the way to gorgeous theaters like the one we were in tonight. The Portland Cello Project is a concert that I believe everyone needs to see and experience. Regardless if you have a knowledge or enjoy classical music they are able to perform their own works, classical works, and popular songs today; in doing so everyone can relate to the music and get a taste of both worlds.
Tonight the Portland Cello Project performed for us songs including “Muppets,” Outkast’s “Hey Ya,” “Denmark,” “Mario Theme Song,” “Robin Hood Changes His Oil,” “Halo Video Game Song,” Britney Spears’ “Toxic,” “Taking a Fall “ an Elliott Smith Piece, “Danza del Fuego” by Manuel de Falla, “All of the Lights” by Kanye West, “Mouth By War” by Pantera, and a few more including a Russians Sailor Dance and a song with Janet Johnson and Eddie Taylor III.
Another mission of the Portland Cello Project is to gather with other musical communities and that is where Janet Johnson came in! After practicing just earlier in the day, I thought they did a great job! It was so cool to see Janet perform with all of the cellos as well as Eddie on the flute.
“Denmark” was stunning and it is actually written by one of the members of the PCP, Gideon Freudmann. Gideon Freudmann also wrote “Robin Hood Changes His Oil.” The music was beautiful, evening hearing a rap or metal song on cellos was stunning and smooth. I love that they bring the pop culture into classical music; calling Kanye and Pantera great contemporary composers. We got to experience the best of both worlds tonight hearing original pieces, covers, classical, top 40… it was mixed perfectly. Also major round of applause to the attentive audience it was so quiet and everyone was so enthralled you could hear every hair of the bow glide on the strings and every pluck. Just thinking about their performance gives me goose bumps.
The PCP received a standing ovation twice, before and after their encore. They blew us all away with their talent and love for cellos. They were thankful to be in Spokane and to perform for us and they mentioned they were going to be in the lobby chatting with everyone and handing out free high-five’s. I can’t wait to see them again, even if it means I have to travel to Portland to do so.
Photos courtesy of Matt Auclair.
Comments
NICE to meet you last night with JULLEEN!!!! hope to see you play soon!! PS. YOUR HOT!!!