Bowfire DVD is a winner
Bowfire, which I have written about here before, has released a DVD of a ‘made for TV’ performance in Kitchener, Ontario’s “Centre in the Square” priced at about $30 and it is worth every dime.
The (mostly) string troupe puts on an electrifying live performance from first curtain until last. I most recently (01-15-2008) saw them at the Ruth Eckerd Hall in Clearwater, FL. (west side of Tampa Bay). Their incredible performance was ably captured by the video crew in Kitchener and makes for a great excuse to gather friends around for some snacks and amazement.
I don’t have time to waste on ‘iffy’ entertainment. So it means something when I say that Bowfire truly delivers with a virtuoso ensemble of entertainers. They play with the skill that you would normally expect of world-class musicians (which they individually are), but have added motion, lighting and interplay between performers that is seldom seen in the realm of music. In fact, I have NEVER seen anything like it.
Strings? Choreography? Virtuoso? Don’t virtuoso string players all sit down in tuxes and play boring tunes? Not this crew: they rock!
In fact, I enjoyed the Dearborn performance enough that I flew down to Florida to see them again. I used my son’s wedding anniversary as an excuse for going. As anniversary presents go, it wasn’t too awful … just about 3 months overdue. <grin>
This season, they have changed the play-list around a bit and changed the choreography. And they added a glissando effect that sounds for all the world like an aurora borealis looks. Breathtaking and, to me, new. I call it ‘effect’ because a glissando involves sound from only a single instrument, while they use most of the violins to achieve this effect. This is a level of coordination of effort only achieved by master musicians.
Gentle Reader, if you didn’t get out to see them in person during the 2007 season, do not allow the 2008 season to also escape you. If you buy their CD or DVD at the show, they are only too happy to autograph the case for you. But if you buy them online, you can enjoy their performance while you wait your turn to see them live.
del.icio.us Tags: bowfire.com,bowfire,Clearwater,FL,virtuoso,CD,DVD,electric,glissando,Florida,violin,cello,erhu
Bill @ February 6, 2008