{"id":1493,"date":"2015-03-05T00:13:00","date_gmt":"2015-03-05T00:13:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/acloserlookmedia.com\/?p=1493"},"modified":"2024-04-13T00:13:48","modified_gmt":"2024-04-13T00:13:48","slug":"all-hail-the-queen","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/acloserlookmedia.com\/?p=1493","title":{"rendered":"All hail the queen"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><strong>Royal treatment<\/strong>: Last Thursday\u2019s opera recital at the Mondavi Center was probably unlike any performance that its audience members had seen to date. Instead of the crowd watching from the seats, those fortunate to snag one of the $125 or $250 tickets sat at tables on stage with the artist mere feet away\u2014a \u201c<strong>stage cabaret<\/strong>\u201d style of seating inside Jackson Hall.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The artist? Internationally renowned mezzo-soprano&nbsp;<strong>Susan Graham<\/strong>. Dressed in a beautiful multicolored dress, the opera singer looked like true royalty the minute she set foot on stage, adorned in elaborate jewelry that worked wonders with her curvy figure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Graham gave herself a vocal workout singing more than 30 compositions in over eight different languages. From Poulenc to Tchaikovsky, Schumann to Berlioz, the themes explored love and misfortune.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Meanwhile, the audience enjoyed wine, coffee, tea, fruits, hors d\u2019oeuvres, pastries and desserts\u2014all on the custom drapery-accented stage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>A five-star performance, indeed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Swedish metal<\/strong>: Even with its 11 p.m. curfew, there was no shortage of enthusiasm and unbridled mayhem at last Sunday\u2019s Ace of Spades show. The capacity bill included&nbsp;<strong>All That Remains<\/strong>,&nbsp;<strong>Wovenwar<\/strong>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<strong>In Flames<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Unlike most Ace Of Spades national shows that feature a bevy of opening acts, this was a well-oiled package tour with three touring bands. Gothenburg, Sweden\u2019s In Flames hit the stage right on time without any intro tape or additional fanfare.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Frontman Anders Frid\u00e9n immediately got the crowd going berserk with the opening number, \u201cEmbody the Invisible,\u201d from the band\u2019s 1999 breakthrough record&nbsp;<em>Colony<\/em>. The group followed up with the title track from its following record&nbsp;<em>Clayman<\/em>, which had everyone headbanging in unison.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In Flames played straight through to the last number, \u201cMy Sweet Shadow,\u201d sans an encore, yet even the most hardcore metal fans left with smiles on their faces.<br>(SN&amp;R)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Royal treatment: Last Thursday\u2019s opera recital at the Mondavi Center was probably unlike any performance that its audience members had seen to date. Instead of the crowd watching from the seats, those fortunate to snag one of the $125 or $250 tickets sat at tables on stage with the artist mere feet away\u2014a \u201cstage cabaret\u201d [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1493","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-media"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/acloserlookmedia.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1493","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/acloserlookmedia.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/acloserlookmedia.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/acloserlookmedia.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/acloserlookmedia.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1493"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/acloserlookmedia.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1493\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1494,"href":"https:\/\/acloserlookmedia.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1493\/revisions\/1494"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/acloserlookmedia.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1493"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/acloserlookmedia.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1493"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/acloserlookmedia.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1493"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}