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A blend of symphony and haunting melody

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The sound of a Lindsey Stirling’s violin echoed throughout the crowd paired with the haunting vocals of the lead singer of Evanescence, Amy Lee at the Isleta Amphitheater on Aug. 28.

By Nichole Harwood

With gates opening at 7 p.m. together Evanescence and Stirling delivered a dynamic show introducing a variety of music that ranged from highly energetic and joyful to soothing and melodic.

Stirling first took to the stage dancing with her iconic violin in hand as she was joined with a live orchestra and her dancers. Each songs tone rang true as she performed a variety of favorite melodies ranging from “Roundtable Rival” to “Shatter Me” in which she was joined by Amy Lee for the vocals in the latter.

Likewise in fitting with the themes Stirling and her dancers showcased a variety of costumes and dance styles often telling a story on stage as reflected by the songs.

One particularly moving performance featured one of the dancers dressed as a ballerina attempting to dance only to be shoved and belittled by her fellow dancers when she tried to match their movements. Despite the discouragement the lone dancer persists throughout the song causing attendees of the concert to watch eagerly to see how her fate would unfold by the end of the melody.

Stirling who hails from Arizona said she felt at home among the New Mexican terrain and was excited to perform in New Mexico for the first time. She thanked a cheering crowd as she revealed she grew up as a fan of the band she was sharing a stage with. Stirling expressed her appreciation in sharing the stage with Evanescence even showcasing an old video of her lip syncing the popular song by the group “Bring me to Life”.

Stirling joked about her younger self good naturedly and then spread a message of hope to crowd as she recounted her experiences and the trials she went through to get where she is today.

“I am living proof because I am standing on the stage in front of you tonight I am living proof that it doesn’t matter if someone else sees it in you or not,” Stirling said. “What matters is if you can see it in yourself.”

After encouraging the cheering crowd to follow their dreams and believe in themselves Stirling launched into her song “Take Flight” telling the crowd that the emotions in the song were the closest she can come to describing the feeling of flying.

Stirling also took a moment to share her personal feelings on subjects of depression and anorexia encouraging attendees to understand the importance of positivity and recognizing the steps many take to reach it.

“Rather than focusing on the things I want to take out of myself I focus on the things I want to add to my life,” Stirling said to the crowd.

Following Stirling’s energetic performance was Evanescence who drew cheers from attendees as Lee launched into a mix of both older and newer music. Like with Stirling the addition of the orchestra added a new element to many of Evanescence’s songs.

Many of these tracks were amplified with the emotions of old hits such as “Lithium” and “Imaginary” standing out in particular.

In true fashion to many of Evanescence’s songs the sound of the keys of the piano accompanied lead singer Lee’s voice with the singer herself playing the instrument as well for many segments. Just as with Stirling’s performance Lee was joined on stage by the violinist for a short time.  

Lee thanked the attendees with vigor as she expressed her appreciation of her fans calling the audience awesome. As the evening continued both fans of Stirling and Evanescence watched excitedly as the night’s performances unfolded.   

“One of the most incredible things about music is its ability to completely transport us to another place, another time, to a precious memory,” Lee told a cheering crowd.

 

Photography by ABQ Live photographer Michael Griego Jr

River Whyless’ Serenades Albuquerque

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River Whyless’ serenaded Albuquerque on Monday, July 30 at the Launchpad along with opener native New Mexican Adam Torres.

The two created a calming and energetic atmosphere as they played their unique blend of music to the crowd Monday night.

Adam Torres first took to the stage around 8 p.m. establishing a tranquil atmosphere for River Whyless’ as he played what he calls psychedelic folk music to the audience. Despite being a native New Mexican born in Albuquerque the artist who has been playing professionally for four years  had never before played in his hometown. His journey to becoming the opener for River Whyless’ began during a past performance where member of River Whyless’ Daniel Shearin’s band opened in Asheville, California for Torres. After staying in touch Torres later agreed to be the opening artist for River Whyless’ a road that eventually brought him to perform in Albuquerque for the first time.

It’s awesome, I’ve never actually played in Albuquerque strangely enough as I grew up mostly in other places but my extended family lives here,” said Torres. “I hope I get to meet people that haven’t heard of my stuff and hopefully they like it.”

The crowd welcomed Torres warmly as he performed first alone with guitar and vocals and later joined by his friend on cello.

I love Albuquerque, I love this town and I am happy to be here,” Torres said.

River Whyless began their performance at 9 p.m. playing a variety of tracks from older albums as well as their newest “Kindness, A Rebel.”

“So far I love it (Albuquerque) this is actually one of the rare days where we had time to cruise around and explore the scenery,” said drummer for River Whyless’ Alex McWalters commenting that the band enjoyed the venue at Space Coffee earlier that day. Having played in Santa Fe a year prior and enjoyed the state the band had wanted to return to New Mexico and chose to play in Albuquerque for the first time, McWalters said.

It was on route and so we figured it was high time we found out what Albuquerque’s got going on,” McWalters said.

River Whyless’ presents a unique addition to the American folk genre with three vocalist who play other instruments in addition to singing often in harmony. For McWalters his motivations as an artist are not something he can give consciously.

I think it (playing music) is more of a unconscious desire, to be creative and play my drums,” McWalters said. “There is nothing specific or exact about my motivations it’s just about creating things with people I love.”

As people filled the Launchpad McWalters said the turnout was great considering the band had never played in Albuquerque taking to the stage with his fellow bandmates.

The audience at the Launchpad embraced the rippling violin of Halli Anderson and rhythmic drumming of McWalters as they listened to the powerful harmonization of the three lead vocalist and their instruments. Near the end of the performance the band left the stage opting to instead join the crowd below as the three vocalist Halli Anderson, Ryan O’Keefe and Daniel Shearin performed songs with only the assistance of a acoustic guitar.

The band thanked the audience after the performance and met with fans after at their merchandise table.

This is an enchanted city,” Anderson said. “We had an amazing time riding bikes and eating delicious food and drinking coffee. The weather was great it was dry and breezy. It was one one of those days that from the beginning to the end it was just a good time.”

By ABQ-Live reporter Nichole Harwood | Photography by Naomi Romero

Big message and big sound as Imagine Dragons took over Isleta Amphitheater this week

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Sweeping into the Albuquerque Isleta Amphitheater on July 18, American pop rock band from Las Vegas, Nevada, Imagine Dragons played to a cheering crowd for their Evolve Tour.

With the show beginning at 7 p.m. the 14-year-old musician who won America’s Got Talent in 2016, Grace VanderWaal opened for Imagine Dragons creating a soothing atmosphere while fans shuffled in. Lines were still packed to get into the venue long after VanderWaal’s opening act took to the stage as attendees adjusted to new rules set at the Isleta Amphitheater barring bags longer than six inches as well as items such as lawn chairs and large umbrellas. Attendees of the concert were offered the option of purchasing rental lawn chairs or see through bags in the cases of purses. Alternatively a ziplock bag was provided for people to carry there positions in if they declined to purchase the see through totes.

Despite the long lines seats were quickly filled and the lawn was flooded with excited onlookers. After finishing up with her new song “Clearly”  a reimagining of Johnny Nash’s “I Can See Clearly Now” Grace VanderWaal thanked the cheering crowd as she introduced Imagine Dragons.

Smoke flooded the stage at 8:20 p.m. and the band erupted with popular 2012 hit “Radioactive”. After the song lead singer Dan Reynolds addressed the cheering crowd asking if they were ready to let go along with the band.

“Work, school, politics, leave it, leave it, leave it. This is a place of safety,” Reynolds said. “This is a place of equality. This is a place of no judgement of anyone, where you can be yourself unabashedly and I will be mine.”  

The crowd cheered as Reynolds and the band began 2012 hit “It’s Time,” stopping at parts to allow audience members to sing the words. The band’s segment included drumming solos, guitar solos and confetti shooting into the air. At one point Reynolds himself disappeared from stage only to be seen running through the crowd with security guards close to him. Fans cheered and many ran towards him as he made his way back towards the stage.

During the concert Reynolds shifted the tone as he took a moment to address depression along with the stigma connected to it. He urged concert goers to realize that acknowledging depression was not a weakness but a strength.

“There is a stigmatization in our society today that is hurting our children, it’s hurting our youth, it’s killing our youth,” Reynolds said. “We must speak openly and honestly about depression.”

The crowd cheered at his words and continued to as he told his story about his own diagnosis and urged those struggling with depression to speak to friends, family and therapist.

“Your life is always worth living,” he told the crowd shortly before launching into the 2012 hit song “Demons.” The song marked a more soothing and calm part of the concert as members of the crowd sang along. Throughout the show the band played songs from both their 2012 album Night Visions as well as their 2017 album Evolve. Long after dark, lights filled the stage as they performed encores of many of there popular songs.

“Thank you for being here tonight,” Reynolds said. “What an incredible thing it is to come out to a new city every night, to feel at home, to feel amongst family. Thank you for providing us with that. It’s not every night that happens.”  

STAND UP: Comedy night at Casablanca inside Hotel Andaluz

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There was not a dry eye in the house last Thursday as Hotel Andaluz hosted their new free Stand Up comedy night inside Casablanca.  ABQ-Live sent out a couple staff members to cover the event and recap all of the hilarious moments for you!

The weekly Comedy show, which features different comedians from all over the country, is a free show that takes place every Thursday from 8-10pm inside Hotel Andaluz and brings diversity to the comedy scene here in the 505.

The night started off with Ron Lamprecht, a comedian from Minnesota, who discussed being “middle-class poor” and explained what exactly that term meant by using a clever analogy of cereals. Having grown up on bagged cereal, Lamprecht hilariously compared generic brands to name brands and how different they actually are. Being bad at sex and guy stuff, Lamprecht joked about his experiences in auto part stores and called it “the Pinterest for men” before explaining the importance of being a good father, so your daughter doesn’t end up giving hand jobs to the entire football team.

Lamprecht set the bar pretty high as an opening act with highly relatable content and audience interaction. It was going to be a tough act to follow, but funny girl Christie Buchele nailed it almost instantly.

Making the best of having a disability, Buchele talked about her cerebral palsy and called herself a “sexy gimp and rag-doll” because of her “not-so-straight walk” and limp legs. She discussed her childhood and what it was like growing up with a disability while being raised by single father, who thought that one day she might “un-cripple herself.” I think the funniest thing about Christie was the fact that she gave zero fucks while discussing topics that some people take too seriously. There were a few comments that were borderline inappropriate in any other setting, but for stand-up material, they were perfect and hit every time; there was not a dry eye in the house. Getting out of DUI’s, being a teacher and “not being able to fuck your students” made for hilarious and vulgar stories as well. Overall, Christie sends a message that if you are a good stand up comedian, you can take something as unfunny as your disability and turn it into gold: clever, hilarious gold.

As the night progressed and the comics continued to deliver endless laughs, headliner and Denver comedian, Nathan Lund took the stage. With a pretty impressive resume, my expectations were pretty high as Lund took the stage. Oddly enough, he immediately called out DJ Nobody special and joked about the importance of low-expectations after calling him “easy dick”. It was hilarious and even the DJ was laughing. Lund talked about 2016 and how people need to calm down when they refer to it as the worst year ever, reminding us that were some positive things that happened last year. A 34-year old with no health insurance and definitely not a go-getter, Lund joked about the lack of 69’ing in your 30s and how cuffed pants are not a good look on a fat dude. Nathan lives in Denver with his girlfriend and does not a have car, but he had to clarify that it was for financial reasons and not environmental reasons. Nathan Lund is a guy that we all know. We all have a Nathan Lund in our life, the funny guy that jokes about his chubbiness or bad health, and I think that’s what made him even more likable. From his stories of fingering and homemade pants to his obsession with Dean Koontz and Tom Hanks, this guy was all over the place. Nothing was off limits for Lund and that’s what made him so great.

Overall, Comedy Night at Hotel Andaluz was a great experience. All three of the comics brought something different and unique to the table and delivered hilarious jokes that had all of us entertained. Join us next Thursday from 8-10pm at Hotel Andaluz for comedy night, featuring a new lineup of comics and a night filled with lots of laughs.

Contact us: info@abq-live.com

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