December 23, 2024
Walt Disney Concert Hall
Well, that was fun. We saw this concert last year from orchestra view seats and that would have definitely worked if we were there to see Dudamel because he would have been facing us. But Arturo Sandoval faced away from us most of the evening. Granted, it was fun watching the percussionist because it’s ALWAYS fun to watch the percussionist. Don’t believe me? Watch this video about the percussionist for Wicked. Anyway, last year’s show was so much fun that we decided to see it again from an audience view seat. The dress code as assigned during the Tres Souls concert was “festive”. We were both festive. I was wearing my plaid pants and Julie was wearing her plaid blouse. Together we made an entire plaid outfit. We got there with time to spare, as the traffic gods were on our sides, so we took a few moments to have our pictures taken in front of the Walt Disney Concert Hall Christmas tree. Our seats turned out to be very good. We were not in the orchestra, but we were in the front row of our mezzanine seats. I’m sure I chose those seats, so I should not be surprised by how good they were.
Last year’s show opened with a mariachi. There was no mariachi this year. Honestly, I got the feeling that Arturo Sandoval may have had some trouble putting this show together. He had just been presented with a Kennedy Award, so maybe that’s where his focus was. Andy Garcia was there again this year and several of the musicians were the same as last year. But last year’s musicians were a very seasoned group. This year, the band seemed to have a lot of younger musicians – like I was ready to text my daughter and ask her if she knew the trombone section from her high school or college bands. Not that they weren’t good, but maybe they weren’t as good. Last year he had several really good singers. One of those singers, Lia Booth returned this year and she was fantastic. I would happily see a show where she’s the headliner. The other featured performer listed in the program was Dayren Santamaria and she absolutely killed on her violin. So good! If you get a chance to see her, do it! There was a third featured performer who sang, but was not listed in the program and I cannot find his name anywhere in internet land. If you know his name, please let me know…but don’t go out of your way. He was not that good. It seemed like he was trying really hard to be Michael Bublé, but having recently seen Michael Bublé, I can tell you with authority that this guy was not Michael Bublé.
In the end, it was a fun evening and I’m glad I went, but next year, we’re going to try to find a mariachi Christmas show instead.