by Harold
UNC’s campus newspaper, the Daily Tar Heel (known as the DTH if you go to UNC, or the Daily Tar Hole if you go to Duke) rates concerts on a five-star system. Although everything I’ve seen has either gotten 4 1/2 or 5 stars, so what’s the point?
I always made fun of the paper for that, but looking back, maybe that’s because everything has been great. I’ve seen some of the best in the world on the sax, banjo and bass, so of course the 20-year-old arts editor at the DTH isn’t going to give them a low rating. In the past 10 days Laura and I hit up all three campuses in the Triangle to see some of the talent.
We started at N.C. State for the U2 concert, where a spaceship-like stage was constructed in the middle of the football field, along with a 360-degree wraparound screen. It was the first time I’d ever been to a stadium show, but the giant stage/screen setup allowed you to see everything and feel like a part it. Bono called it “intimacy on a grand scale.”
Our next performance was back in Durham, where the Pitchforks, the oldest a cappella group at Duke, were having a 30th anniversary concert. As part of the show, the different generations told stories, and I was shocked to hear that the head of the group in 2001-2 (my senior year) called the 2001 freshman orientation show the low point in Pitchforks history. I’m sure I enjoyed it at the time, which goes to show how little I knew about grading the quality of a cappella. I hear the DTH gave it four stars.
Actually, isn’t it weird that a cappella exists only on college campuses, but each college has 10 different groups? And a lot of those groups have big followings? And then once you graduate, that’s it (until you come back to campus 10 years later). So basically you go from never even knowing it exists, to getting into it for four years, and then never hearing it again unless Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego is on.
On Sunday, we headed to UNC for a concert with banjoist Bela Fleck, double bassist Edgar Meyer and Indian tabla player Zakir Hussain. I’ve never had much interest in any of those instruments and had never seen any of them played live, but when you have some of the top musicians out there, they become enjoyable. Yes, even the bass, which before now I only associated with the opening to “Stand By Me.”
Finally, I wrapped up the musical tour earlier tonight back at Duke with the weekly Wednesday night jazz session at the Mary Lou Williams Center in the West Union Building. Who knew there was a jazz club on Duke’s campus? And they provided fruit and vegetable platters? It was a casual vibe, with people scattered on leather couches as different students joined in a jam session in the middle of the room. Considering it’s free, I highly recommend people check this out sometime in the next few Wednesdays.
Laura
Harold
