Laufey in Vancouver in A Matter of Time

Laufey has so many fans in Vancouver they filled an arena

Last night I went to watch the artist Laufey perform in concert live at Rogers Arena in Vancouver. This multi-talented half Chinese, half Icelandic singer, songwriter, cellist, pianist and guitarist knows no bounds.

She has literally had a stratospheric rise in the last few years after she started filming herself while studying at Berklee College of Music in Boston when the Covid-19 pandemic began. She played her cello, and sang jazz numbers which caught my attention. Her fashion sense is "very demure", mostly covered up, long gathered skirts, lace blouses, and flats, the opposite of the stereotypical female singer who reveals a lot of skin.

Fans wearing bows and crowns

I missed Laufey when she performed in Vancouver at the Orpheum Theatre about a year ago, so when she announced her A Matter of Time tour with a Vancouver date, I was compelled to buy a ticket, which was not cheap -- $180 and that was the early bird price too, sitting in the lower level but at the back.

In the afternoon I passed by Rogers Arena on the way to watch a documentary in the Vancouver Film Festival, I saw crowds of people already gathering outside the venue. They were super early for the concert!

After 5pm I got a quick bite of beef pho at the food court in the shopping mall and did a quick five-minute visit to the Michelin event before heading to Rogers Arena. And there were a lot of fans, mostly girls dressed in Laufey-esque outfits, skirts, ankle socks, flats, big bows in their hair, or crowns; at every concert a super fan is chosen for their outfit and is given a Laufey crown by Mei Mei, her giant bunny.

The opening act was the antithesis of Laufey, Suki Waterhouse, a model, actress and singer who wore basically black lacy lingerie with lacy pants so her form fitting shorts were showing through. A fan blew her hair constantly on stage to give her a sultry look.

After about 45 minutes her set ended and the stage was set for Laufey. The wave went around the arena several times which was fun. 

Finally when the lights dimmed people screamed and the show started off with an intro much like a musical. Laufey appeared in a white spaghetti strap dress with a billowing full skirt.

Here's the set list:

This giant arena was almost all filled last nighte

Act I

• “Clockwork”
• “Lover Girl” (extended outro)
• “Dreamer”
• “Falling Behind” (extended outro)
• “Silver Lining”
• “Bored”
• “Too Little, Too Late” (extended outro; contains elements of "Bewitched")

Act II

• “Seems Like Old Times” (Carmen Lombardo cover)
• “Valentine” (Jazz version)
• “Fragile” (Jazz version)
• “While You Were Sleeping” (Jazz version; shortened)
• “Let You Break My Heart Again”

• 

  The sets were creative and elaborate

  Act III

  • “Carousel” (Live debut)
  • “Forget-Me-Not”
  • “Cuckoo Ballet” (Interlude)

  Act IV

• “Mr. Eclectic”
• “Castle in Hollywood” (extended outro)
• “Promise” (extended intro)
• “Goddess”
• “Tough Luck”
• “Snow White”
• "From the Start" (extended outro)

She removed the billowy skirt to reveal a fringy dress, sang a few jazz numbers in her own "jazz club" in the centre mini stage, and played the piano and guitar a few times, and an interlude on her cello. 

The screens showing Laufey were helpful!

During her costume change, a pre-recorded video of her showed a "backstage" back and forth with Laufey and her sister Junia who is her stylist that was quite amusing. Laufey changed into several outfits, including Snow White that got everyone excited, and it was a song she sang towards the end of the show.

One extra song was inspired by Vancouver's rainy weather, and she sang Misty while playing the piano.

Laufey is one talented young woman, and authentic in what she says. At the end she sang From the Start, as a song to inspire everyone in the audience to chase their dreams, because she did, and now she's filling arenas around the world!

Classical Concert in the Church

Zanrosso and Kahn at the front of the church

Before we headed to San Francisco International Airport, we attended a free concert (well donations of US$20 per person) organised by Noontime Concerts. It was held at Old St Mary's Cathedral, which is near Chinatown. 

We arrived early, so we attended the tail end of mass. The father presiding over mass talked about how Americans need to be more humble, using the Olympics as an example. He said at the closing ceremonies, the French tied sports with the arts in a thoughtful presentation and as the next Summer Games are in Los Angeles in 2028, what do the Americans do? Have Tom Cruise jump out of a plane...

Old St Mary's Cathedral

It was an amusing observation from an American!

After mass was over, the baby grand piano was wheeled in from the side and the concert began, featuring Evan Kahn on cello and Amy Zanrosso on piano. Zanrosso has a Canadian connection, as she studied music at the University of Victoria, in British Columbia, and did a Masters degree at McGill University in Montreal. 

Because we had luggage with us, we sat at the back of the church; that made it hard to focus on the performance with people coming in and out of the church, as the die-hard concertgoers were near the front.

Nevertheless it was nice to hear some classical music in a church where the acoustics are great! The performers got a standing ovation at the end.

Sonata for Cello and Piano in C Major, Op. 102, No. 1 by Beethoven

Melodie for Cello and Piano, Op. 20, No. 1 by Alexander Glazunov

Sonata for Cello and Piano in C Major, Op. 65 by Benjamin Britten

 

Music Festival Brings up Memories

These music competitions help children get used to performing

These last two days I have been volunteering for the Kiwanis Music Festival, where young students get to compete against their peers once a year.

Adjudicators are invited from outside Vancouver to come and judge the budding musicians. I met one adjudicator today from Victoria, BC, who had played professionally in Winnipeg, Manitoba for many years. 

We had a quick chat outside as he soaked in the sunshine (it was overcast yesterday) to kill a bit of time before the competition began.

Cello is a popular instrument

As an ambassador I had to greet the students and their families and direct them to the right place, as the venue had two rooms, one for violinists, the other for cellists.

Most of the kids were mainland Chinese or Korean. One very young Korean boy, about five years old -- very smartly dressed and wore Tod's loafers, was accompanied by his mom and his grandma, who carried the cello as if she was hugging it. It sounded like he did well, as he called his father right after with big cheers.

I learned piano from the age of seven to about 16. Competing in the Kiwanis Music Festival was an annual ritual that frazzled my nerves.

My heart pounded so loudly I wondered if everyone else could hear it and was so relieved when it was all over, but also annoyed if I did not do well.

One time my mom had to drive me to North Vancouver and she was unfamiliar with the area (pre-GPS) and we got lost. Sitting in the back seat I was getting more anxious, lost and late! We finally found the venue and I was allowed to go last to help settle my nerves before performing.

I remember the adjudicator saying I played the piece well, but it was supposed to be played lightly like a bird singing, but instead it sounded like an elephant playing. I was just relieved to get the whole thing over with.

Another time, when I was 16, I was so nervous that when I sat at the keyboard, I completely blanked out and forgot what I was going to play. 

I stared blankly at the keys, unable to play

I lost all my confidence and had to perform with the music, and I almost played it like I had just learned the piece (JS Bach's Prelude No. 1 in C major, or Ave Maria).

The next day I was supposed to play the same piece for my whole school and I freaked out, but my music teacher insisted that I play it. I did and it was an affirmation that I could do it.

Back at this year's festival, while waiting her turn, an accompanist on the piano for one or more of the cellists sat outside and told me these competitions are a frightening experience for children. I remarked that they would put them in good stead later in life when making presentations and speeches.

But she said for some people just playing for a competition was hard enough as it was and I told her about my blanking out experience. That happened to her too.

She said in her 20s and 30s she was so nervous performing in front of people, that it was only in her 40s that she got used to performing in public, it was not something she liked.

Then she talked about how difficult it must be for professional musicians, and how there was so much expectation heaped on them.

I suggested perhaps there were some performers who liked the attention.

However, she thought for a true musician, the end goal was not attention, but their love of music, and they would not enjoy performing in public...

Mind-blowing Cello Concert

German Nicolas Altstaedt performed a cello recital today

This afternoon I went to my first in-person concert in almost a year!

The Vancouver Recital Society brought in German-French cellist Nicholas Altstaedt to perform a solo recital which opened my eyes to the versatility of the cello as well as his virtuosity in playing.

Held at the Vancouver Playhouse, the seats were just under half full -- even though the provincial government allows 100 percent capacity, the VRS only holds concerts that are 50 percent capacity to avoid being caught out by the social-distancing rules constantly changing. And while masks are not mandatory, they are highly recommended and almost everyone who attended complied.

There was less than half capacity at the concert

Altstaedt, 40, from Heidelberg, Germany, came onto the stage wearing the complete opposite of a suit -- loose fitting top and baggy pants -- and socks. His hair is very curly and long, looking like an untamed mass of hair.

Nevertheless he was here to perform and he demonstrated a diverse range of music playing. 

To start, contemporary composer Henri Dutilleux's Trois strophes sur le nom de sacher, followed by going back to the Baroque period with JS Bach's Cello Suite No. 5 in C minor, BWV 1011. To see Altstaedt fluidly move between the two completely different styles was impressive and revealed his technical skills.

But after the intermission, his final piece really demonstrated his musicality and skill in Zoltan Kodaly's Sonata in B minor for solo cello Op. 8. The Hungarian composer is know for his folk song style which is present in the first and third movements, heavy and rustic, brash and loud, while the second movement the performer plays the cello like an upright violin at times. His left hand constantly moving down the neck of the cello, while moving his bow back and forth, not the typical long strokes.

At one point he is using the bow, and plucking the string at the same time so it's almost like hearing two different instruments. To have an idea, here is another cellist, Sebastian Baverstam playing the third movement of the Kodaly piece.

Altstaedt receiving more applause from the crowd

We later heard that this is considered one of the hardest pieces a cellist can play, and Altsteadt nailed it with gusto as well as with refinement. Many audience members jumped to their feet after he finished playing this piece, and he gave us an encore of Bach.

Just before he played his encore he explained to the audience that each piece required the strings to be tuned a different way each time -- which totally blasted my assumption that all stringed instruments were tuned the same way. He said they were changed to give more depth to the notes he was playing. That insight blew us all away.

However he did not explain why he wore socks on stage! 

Nicolas Altstaedt

Henri Dutilleux

Trois strophes sur le nom de sacher

JS Bach

Cello Suite No. 5 in C minor, BWV 1011

Zoltan Kodaly

Sonata in B minor for solo cello, Op. 8