Sparks from the Fire

Show #2
Neither rain nor hail nor flash floods kept ‘em away.

An overflow audience showed up following a tremendous storm here in NYC last Thursday night for the second installment of the WFM Listening Room house concert.  New Yorkers are a hearty and determined people when it comes to their inspirational entertainment.  They got back plenty for their efforts.

Julia Wade and Megan Neale

Megan Neale, a young newcomer to the scene and hugely promising singer – songwriter opened the evening with a four-song set of her own compositions.  The songs, mostly ranging on the variations of lost love, totally captured the audience because of their in-depth lyrics and original and most compelling melodies.  (more…)

WFM Listening Room Opens in NYC
A Howling Success!

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaooooooooooooooooooooooohhhhhhhh!

Pardon me if I howl a trifle, but occasionally things go even better than one dreams.  The Watchfire Music Listening Room debuted this past week to a sold out audience and by the end of the evening clearly became a dream defined.

Here is an idea whose time has truly come.  A place where one could come and spend an evening in intimate and elegant surroundings, Jenkins House Concerts just off of Central Park on the West Side of Manhattan, and do little else than simply listen to great “live” music in an un-mic’d setting.

Here was music at its natural best, parlor performed by two multi-talented ladies.  The audience was a wild mix of melting-pot New Yorkers – young and old, professionals and fans, black and white, and all went home full of good food and rich blessings – and only for a $15 ticket.  Such a deal! (more…)

In the last 2 weeks I’ve been to two house concerts here in NYC.  Perhaps I should call them “Apartment Concerts”, but I’m seeing a real trend here in people getting back to the idea of pure inspirational music listening.

I love this concept and I love this trend in music.  I’ve felt for far too long now that audiences are slowly losing the ability to simply sit and listen to music and enjoy it for what it is.  Instead, more and more hoopla seems to be needed to stimulate the listener.  I enjoyed the novelty of Pink this last year at the Grammys singing upside-down while hanging from a trapeze, but c’mon now really…

I fear that the real basic problem here lately has been that there is a diminishing quality of music to listen to and so artists have to add additional value to their live acts in order to hold their audiences who have grown to expect light shows, ridiculous costumes, gargantuan sets and fireworks to stay interested.

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