Great American Music Hall - San Francisco - 12/23/10

[Noreen]

Didn't she do "Radio"? LOL...

[jayminers]

I'm Jay, a rather new VT fan!

Thanks attenders for the feedback! The show sounded amazing! Any pics/vids? Or funny banter stories?

[Noreen]

Uhh yeah so Erik pointed out I was wrong hee hee. I blame the tequila I drank.

[aaparallel]

And Stray Italian Greyhound had a beautiful little intro, a sort of re-composition of its sound.

I knew the intro Vienna played for Stray Italian Greyhound was from an actual song. Couldn't put my finger on it, but had a gut feeling it's "Sail Away" by Enya. I didn't get a video of SIG, but I just listened to "Sail Away," and I'm pretty sure I'm right. Hopefully someone got video.

[tanthalas]

You get like 3 seconds of the intro in this vid:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1c90ZYhk7nE

[W. Ericsson]

Awesome!! I'm glad to hear that little piece again!

And great videos! I always get terrible withdrawals and need to get a Vienna Teng fix (ie, videos/music ).

You guys are all awesome .

[Erik]

And Stray Italian Greyhound had a beautiful little intro, a sort of re-composition of its sound.

I knew the intro Vienna played for Stray Italian Greyhound was from an actual song. Couldn't put my finger on it, but had a gut feeling it's "Sail Away" by Enya. I didn't get a video of SIG, but I just listened to "Sail Away," and I'm pretty sure I'm right. Hopefully someone got video.

The song you are referring to is "Orinoco Flow" and no, that's not what Vienna played in the intro to Stray. I'm pretty sure she just reworked the intro to Stray... no hidden cover tune.

[aaparallel]

The song you are referring to is "Orinoco Flow" and no, that's not what Vienna played in the intro to Stray. I'm pretty sure she just reworked the intro to Stray... no hidden cover tune.

Oh oops. "Orinoco Flow."
Aw, really? I was so sure I'd heard it before. The rhythm, the way the chords moved...I need to listen to it again. Why didn't I get video of it. Ahhhhh!

------------------------------------EDIT-------------------------------------

I did get a recording. Ha! OK, no real Enya cover in there, but the second half of the intro sounded like it could have the Orinoco Flow influence...

[Michele]

Pics. Finally. Sheesh. Well, maybe now that I remember how to process them, I'll put more up. Maybe not. Heh.

Let me see what I can remember...

In response to being asked how school was going, Vienna said it's making her bipolar.

Joey brought the self-deprecating humor and Kenneth brought the admirable guitar playing. They alternated playing their own songs, which worked as a cohesive little set.

Rewind brought the house down.

I think I never got around to writing about the shows from earlier in the year, so I want to talk a little bit about Paul. He has a wild energetic presence on stage that belies his introspective songwriting. That said, given an all-ages crowd, he gets somewhat disarmed. He kept his mouth clean for his set, but made the most of the short time.

Paul and Alex have been collaborating this year, and the result is a new project called Bellows. The site had just gone live with some early song mixes earlier in the day, and the show was the live debut for two of those songs.

Alex has been playing solo shows around New York, but not San Francisco yet, and certainly not for such a big crowd. No Animators songs to fill the set this time; this was all newer stuff. Some of it really really new stuff; "The Fighter" had just been written with Alex Berger, "Make It Home" had just been written with Rachel Platten. The latter song is available to download for a donation to City Harvest. Motion Sickness had the audience doing backing parts that rivaled a Ben Folds show setup. The last song would have a more descriptive song title of "Can You Hear This Sound." It's a reminder song to feel less disconnected, and get back to the source of things. The answer to the question is certainly a resounding Yeah, and I am looking forward to hearing more next year from everything that Alex is doing.

It's getting late so I'll have to get back to Vienna's set later. The other thing is that the show absolutely flew by for me, despite the two long chunks of music with just one intermission in between.

[Sneefomaster]

Amazing performance. Unfortunately, I was stuck on the left side of the second floor, so I was unable to see Vienna Teng herself most of the time =(. I really liked how the performers collaborated with one another and how the spotlight wasn't solely on Vienna Teng. VT sounds even better live. Great performances by all the other singers as well.

[intenseinca]

I really enjoyed the show and I think Vienna gets better and better as a performer. However, I have the same complaint I had about the Noe Valley Ministry show -- most of the audience is there to see Vienna Teng, not the other acts.

So I think it is great that she has other acts on the bill to expand our musical horizons, but I think the balance is off -- I think it should be a minimum of 50 percent VT but really more like 2/3rds or 3/4th. Especially since she is performing less frequently in the Bay Area and it would be nice to hear more of HER songs, new and old.

Also that venue was very uncomfortable for most of the audience -- I'd say only a 1/3rd or even less of the audience was seated in seats that were comfortable, had decent views, and had decent sound. They should sell specific seats and then sell everyone else standing only at a different price.

[aaparallel]

I really enjoyed the show and I think Vienna gets better and better as a performer. However, I have the same complaint I had about the Noe Valley Ministry show -- most of the audience is there to see Vienna Teng, not the other acts.

So I think it is great that she has other acts on the bill to expand our musical horizons, but I think the balance is off -- I think it should be a minimum of 50 percent VT but really more like 2/3rds or 3/4th. Especially since she is performing less frequently in the Bay Area and it would be nice to hear more of HER songs, new and old.

Also that venue was very uncomfortable for most of the audience -- I'd say only a 1/3rd or even less of the audience was seated in seats that were comfortable, had decent views, and had decent sound. They should sell specific seats and then sell everyone else standing only at a different price.

The Noe Valley show was specifically listed as a Paper Raincoat headlining show, with Vienna making a special appearance. It would not have been right if she played more at that show.

I can understand your complaint with the GAMH though. I don't share it...I knew that mostly new material would be covered, and I expected to hear the performance and song-writing collaborations. It was fun seeing Vienna do different things...accompanying others, co-writing, leading. The show's title was slightly misleading, but I wasn't too shocked.

This show was listed as having "limited seating." I had expected to stand, but I got seats. The view wasn't great all around, but the sound was, from where I was sitting, anyway. I got some video with very good audio. I agree about selling the seated tickets at a separate price though.

[collectingbees]

I really enjoyed the show and I think Vienna gets better and better as a performer. However, I have the same complaint I had about the Noe Valley Ministry show -- most of the audience is there to see Vienna Teng, not the other acts.

So I think it is great that she has other acts on the bill to expand our musical horizons, but I think the balance is off -- I think it should be a minimum of 50 percent VT but really more like 2/3rds or 3/4th. Especially since she is performing less frequently in the Bay Area and it would be nice to hear more of HER songs, new and old.

Also that venue was very uncomfortable for most of the audience -- I'd say only a 1/3rd or even less of the audience was seated in seats that were comfortable, had decent views, and had decent sound. They should sell specific seats and then sell everyone else standing only at a different price.

I agree with this. Especially the last paragraph. Even for those of us who HAD seats there was a great deal of movement restriction which really inhibited our abilities to enjoy the show, despite nearly being the front row. The tables/ chairs/ practically being in someone else's lap was extremely uncomfortable.

[Fred]

I really enjoyed the show and I think Vienna gets better and better as a performer. However, I have the same complaint I had about the Noe Valley Ministry show -- most of the audience is there to see Vienna Teng, not the other acts.

So I think it is great that she has other acts on the bill to expand our musical horizons, but I think the balance is off -- I think it should be a minimum of 50 percent VT but really more like 2/3rds or 3/4th. Especially since she is performing less frequently in the Bay Area and it would be nice to hear more of HER songs, new and old.

Also that venue was very uncomfortable for most of the audience -- I'd say only a 1/3rd or even less of the audience was seated in seats that were comfortable, had decent views, and had decent sound. They should sell specific seats and then sell everyone else standing only at a different price.

I agree with this. Especially the last paragraph. Even for those of us who HAD seats there was a great deal of movement restriction which really inhibited our abilities to enjoy the show, despite nearly being the front row. The tables/ chairs/ practically being in someone else's lap was extremely uncomfortable.

A detailed review of the venue in the Venues section would be helpful to future concertgoers. I've done this for venues I like a lot (Westhampton Beach PAC), others I like a lot less (Le Poisson Rouge), and some that are just unusual (The Beach at Governor's Island). Doesn't even need to be a venue where you saw Vienna.

[collectingbees]

I was pretty disappointed in the whole night. I love Vienna a lot, but I was disappointed. The terrible seating arrangement did not help in the slightest.