The Pringle Plan: Music

Showing posts with label Music. Show all posts

Monday, October 1, 2018

Mystery Tour at Camp Oakdale

Mystery Tour (a Beatles Tribute Band)

The Montville Parks and Recreation department hosted Beatles Tribute Band, Mystery Tour, Sunday August 5th at Camp Oakdale. Admission was free, and a game of corn hole was set up for early arrivals. Originally scheduled for Saturday night, the performance was postponed to Sunday due to thunderstorms the day before.

It was a nice surprise to run into friends Francis and Tim

The turnout was surprisingly low, possibly due to 94 degree heat. However, I wasn't the only die-hard Beatles fan willing to go a.c. free for this event. Neighbors and other town folk showed up as well. We all used the old-fashioned type of air conditioning - shade, readily available under the trees at the edges of the football field. As the evening wore on and the field shaded over, we moved up and closer to center!

George and Paul look-alikes?

It was great fun to sing-a-long with all my old favorite songs. My first introduction to the Beatles was when I was about 5 years old. My friend's teenage sister brought home a Beatles album. Her mother wouldn't let her play that music in the house. However, she did let us go out to the garage with a portable record player, and danced with us! Fun memories!

Ringo and John?

Mystery Tour dressed in costume and wigs for most of the show, but when wearing their Sgt. Pepper uniforms became unbearable, the audience was understanding. For more info on Mystery Tour click here.

A change of costume becomes...

...Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band!

They braved the heat.

Fortunately the field shaded over,

and Mystery Tour continued to play!

My husband and I love to dance around the house to music, or I should say - he likes to laugh while I attempt to dance! Below, a young couple doesn't care who is watching, they're dancing and having a great time!

Fans got up and danced!

See books by Laura S. Pringle on Amazon

The Pringle Plan is a series of educational guides.

Monday, March 20, 2017

U.S. Coast Guard Band

One of the best things about living in south eastern Connecticut, is the ability to drive a short distance and see the magnificent U.S. Coast Guard Band's live performances. Stationed in New London, on the campus of the Coast Guard Academy, the band is unique in being the only branch of the military whose band is not stationed in Washington, D.C.

Chief Warrant Officer Richard Wyman, Conductor

My husband and I feel privileged to have attended many of these quality performances. Led by Conductor and Chief Warrant Officer Richard Wyman, the "band" looks more like a symphony orchestra. When I tell people I've been to one of the free concerts at Leamy Hall, they often assume I like marching music. This is not marching music. Yes, they play the Star Spangled Banner, and Semper Paratus, the Coast Guard's official marching song, but that is only the first few minutes of the performance. After that, we have enjoyed jazz, rag, Broadway tunes, and so much more.

MU1 Megan Weikleenget, Soprano

We always look forward to hearing Soprano, MU1 Megan Weikleenget sing. We've heard her sing "Defying Gravity" from Wicked; "Mambo Italiano" by Bob Merrill, and yesterday a moving rendition of "Lua Descolorida" by Osvaldo Golijov. Megan never disappoints! She excels in every genre.

Doc Severinson at Leamy Hall

Another surprise most people don't know about, is that the band sometimes has guest performances. A year ago, we saw Doc Severinson perform with the band. We both remembered him from his days as band leader on the Johnny Carson show. What great fun it was to see him again, hear him play the trumpet as well as he did as a young man, and listen to his stories.

Yesterday's concert theme was "Winter Heat." The band performed seven pieces, beginning with Steve Danyew's "Vermont State Fair." The concert hall was filled with a delightful mix of lilting flutes and reverberating base tones. "Rusty Air in Carolina," by Mason Bates, used electronic sounds controlled from a lap top, to replicate the sounds of katydids and locusts singing. Clarinetist, MUC Chantal Hovendick shined in her performance of Scott McAllister's "Black Dog: Rhapsody for Clarinet."

Attending a Coast Guard Band performance is a great way to show support for our troops. In addition to enjoying their concert performance, audience members become privileged witnesses of the awards presented to the elite band members for their service. Upcoming performances at Leamy Hall include: Chamber Players Recital on April 2nd; Captain Lews J. Buckley Guest Conductor Concert on April 23rd; and Guardians Big Band on May 7th. All are Sunday performances at 2:00 p.m. At Fort Trumbull, where you will sit in your lawn chair overlooking the Thames River and Gold Star Memorial Bridge, there will be a Memorial Day concert on May 28th at 1:00 p.m.

I hope you find time to fit New London's U.S. Coast Guard Band in to your busy schedule. You'll be glad you did.

Laura S. Pringle is the author of The Pringle Plan, a series of educational guides.

See books by Laura S. Pringle on Amazon

Tuesday, November 29, 2016

Time for Music

This time of year finds me spending more time indoors. I still feel the need to get out and wander, but in a more cerebral way. Music takes me places I would otherwise not experience. Whether I’m on my treadmill, with headphones on and dancing to Pharrell Williams’ Happy (makes me feel like a room without a roof), or sitting in my recliner enjoying the sounds of 2 Cellos streaming from Pandora. This morning I put on Bruno Mars because I can’t help but get moving when he’s on. Other times I watch, entranced as The Piano Guys play in a way I never imagined possible. Music has a wide range of emotions and energy. You can rely on the imagery provided in a music video, or let your own imagination wander as you listen. Some songs enlighten, like Jethro Tull or Andy Grammer’s take on homelessness. Other songs make you feel good to be alive - The Beatles’ Good Day Sunshine. Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue has me imagining I know how to dance, while Vaughn Williams’ Fantasia on Greensleeves feeds that part of my soul that senses its ancestral roots. My list of favorites goes on and on, and is always evolving. Here are some YouTube links: