For me, New Year’s Eve was between Boston Baroque’s Mozart and Cimarosa double-bill and the Boston Pops concert with Amanda Palmer, because First Night is kind of for the kids, if I saw Dane Cook I don’t think I’d make it to 2010, and I’m not really interested in pretending I’m a celebrity for a night at the Calderwood Pavilion, Liberty Hotel, Cyclorama, et al. I’m actually surprised these latter parties are so popular. This one actually has three different levels of VIP tickets, for $100-$170. The Pops concert strikes me as Boston’s best bet for NYE, where quality performance meets an evening-long program of genuine entertainment.
For the sake of full disclosure and the FTC’s new rules, I did score press tickets, but if I hadn’t and if I had a $160 dollars to spend on New Year’s Eve, this is where I’d want to be anyways. I’m not crazy about the Pops, because I find their usual repertoire a little square. Barbara Cook, Ben Folds, Tony Bennett, and the Harry Potter score aren’t really up my alley. Even though Palmer and the Pops have collaborated before, this is a big leap for the them and, although it might displease some the retirees that get bussed in and as un-Fielder-like as it may be, is the kind of thing I like to see and probably is the kind of thing that could propel them towards a little more national prominence. Maybe next year they’ll get Aphex Twin.
Anyone who has been to Holiday Pops knows what a cool space Symphony Hall becomes with some creative lighting and multimedia. I’m not crazy about Keith Lockhart’s sing-alongs, but this year’s The Gifts of Great Meadows was a treat, with the gorgeous projection of photos of natural ice formations at the Great Meadows National Wildlife Refuge. I’m excited to see how they’ll transform the Hall for this massive show, with two hours of pre-concert entertainment at several locations around the building. Australian cabaret artists Tom Dickins and Jennifer Kingwell will perform something called the “Coin-Operated Cabaret” (a reference to the single off Palmer’s Dresden Dolls’ first album?) in the lobby, Vanessa White of The Slutcracker will make an appearance, there will be “an interactive fortune-telling installation,” and the list goes on and on. Two short films will premiere; one set to Björk’s Overture from the Dancer in the Dark score by Michael Pope, as well as Statuesque by Neil Gaiman and starring Palmer, which aired Christmas Day on Sky TV’s 10 Minute Tales (don’t you just wish you could get British cable sometimes?). I just had a look at it and I won’t offer any spoilers, but I’ll say that it’s a throwback to Palmer’s pre-Dresden Dolls Harvard Square street performer days.
The BSO seems to be having a little trouble selling out. They did take a gamble in pushing for a younger audience that might have pushed away some of those older Pops patrons, who are a little older and perhaps a little more stubborn in their musical tastes than your average BSO regular. After all, if you don’t like the Dresden Dolls or Palmer’s solo stuff and you don’t really like classical music anyways, you’re probably not going to like Palmer meets the Pops. And even though the Pops’ kitchen sells a $25 bottle of Cava, it might be difficult to convince young people to fork over a $110 or $160 for a table seat, when they could be texting away to a Top 40 playlist somewhere.
Below is one of the podcasts the BSO produced in anticipation for the event, something I think they’ve been doing a wonderful job of lately. And you might want to have a look at Jim Sullivan‘s post on the show. I’ve been excited for this for months and even though I don’t know how much of it will be Palmer and how much of it will be Lockhart, I’m sure it will be a great way to ring in the new year.
