This one’s a bit of a flash back, but it was just too amazing a show to keep the photographs in a file forever. It was a show Urban Brother and I hit when he was in town last May at the Blue Plate Special. It was a day to be very proud of our little radio station (which is having its fundraiser now – drop them a few dollars) and our downtown.
If you don’t know Dave Eggar, you really should. He’s been featured at Rhythm n’ Blooms and I saw him do a fabulous set at Scruffy City Hall. I’ve been known to tell people I don’t care for stage shows because if the music is good enough, all the other is extraneous. I still feel that way, but Dave is one of the exceptions.
As for his musical cred, check out the beginning of his Wikipedia entry, “Eggar was a musical prodigy as a child, beginning to play the cello and piano at age three and performing as a singer and actor on Broadway and at the Metropolitan Opera at age seven. He trained as a classical cellist at the Juilliard School, and later graduated from Harvard University and the Juilliard School’s Doctoral Program.[1] He debuted in Carnegie Hall at 15 as the youngest winner in the history of the Artists International competition.[2] He has appeared throughout the world as a classical soloist, including concerto appearances at Avery Fisher Hall, Carnegie Hall, London’s Barbican Center, the Paris Opera, and the Hollywood Bowl. In fact, that is Dave’s cello leading the way at the top of Coldplay’s “Viva La Vida”. He is the winner of the prestigious SONY Elevated Standards Awards for Excellence in the area of Classical Music.”
In other words, he’s extremely, deeply and singularly talented. His musical range is amazing with his concerts featuring everything from classical to R&B and all points in between. The music is serious, but he never takes himself seriously, which I think is obvious from the photographs here. It’s a mini-version of what you might expect if you saw the full show.
It started with Dave, playing barefoot on stage and then off. A bit eccentric, but not totally crazy. Then he sat on the floor in front of the audience, while continuing to play, eventually reclining all the way to lie down while never missing a stroke on his cello. After springing back to his feet, he resumed his spot on the stage, thus freeing up the area on the floor for – what goes better with classical music? – a break dancer.
Naturally, the next song featured a Chinese ribbon dancer. The classical music flowed interspersed with rapid-fire musical references in every direction before settling into gospel with a chill-bump inducing version of Amazing Grace featuring two very soulful singers. Obviously, that would call for a martial arts demonstration, which duly ensued.
A pretty crazy performance in the space of about thirty minutes in a crowded radio studio, right? But it really hadn’t gone over the top, just yet. That happened when the Chinese dragon appeared facing off alternately with Dave and the break dancer. As Red Hickey said at the end of the segment, “Our listeners at home have no idea what just happened here.” It was as awesome as it sounds. When he comes back through, you really owe it to yourself to check it out. As usual, I’ll have a couple dozen more pictures later on the Inside of Knoxville Facebook Page.
