Scott Bush

After seeing Andre Rieu this evening, I’ve broken with my rare-if-ever concert-going tradition. I’ve now seen two events at the Key Arena this year (the first being The Police reunion).

I went with my wife and her friend, filling in for the absent original third member of their party. His music—classical and operatic—is not really my thing, but I went. Overall it was a pretty good show. There were more antics than I expected, which helped break up the monotony, though it did get old. Rieu actually seemed pretty nice, though he did call out one older lady when she arrived late. The cameras turned on her and he stood there, waiting. He said “We’re European; we’re never late.” Laughs all around, even from the scapegoated woman.

The ensemble was actually more than European, however. Besides the orchestra, the three male tenors were from Australia, Hungary, and Germany. There were two featured woman singers, one of whom was another Aussie (20 and quite pretty!); the other was from Chile. The music was primarily by Strauss, though there were selections from other composers, one Phantom of the Opera tune, and some classics like Amazing Grace and God Bless America during the several encores (six is too many in my book).