OK. So here's a synopsis of Jordan's solo show/benefit for Japan tonight. The show was held at Jordan's local high school in West Nyack, NY. His daughter attends the school. The show began with some student opening acts, and then Jordan hit the stage. He kept rotating back and forth between the piano close to the audience and the keyboard on stage. There were a few DT fans there wearing shirts, but it was mostly students, parents and community members in attendance. Whenever he mentioned DT, a bunch of people would scream. So I think there were a bunch of DT fans there not wearing DT shirts.
Anyway, on the piano he played an AMAZING cover of Pink Floyd's "Hey, You." No joke. It was breathtaking. He also played The Beatles' "Yesterday" on piano and DT's "Hollow Years," which was the only DT song he played. Several student groups joined him to sing and play guitar. What a great opportunity for these young kids to play and perform with Jordan. One student duo performed Simon & Garfunkel's "Sounds of Silence" with him. There was also a large student chorus (pictured below) that sang two songs, while Jordan accompanied on piano. The finale was a performance by the Wesleyan Taiko drum ensemble, which played these giant tribal-type drums while Jordan improvised over their beats. For me, the highlight was when Jordan played "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" on Morphwiz, except the iPad cut out on the final notes. Jordan blurts out: "Oh no, I hit the Home button," lol. Everyone laughed, and then Jordan turned to his keyboard and improvised an impressive ending to the song. He then instructed all music teachers to teach their students to improvise, because clearly you never know when you might need to!
During intermission, they played DT's Awake album over the loudspeaker. It was a weird choice since Jordan doesn't play on that CD, but cool nonetheless. I got there late, so I don't know what they played pre-show, but after they played BC&SL tunes. When the show was over about 10-15 of us were brought backstage and we formed a line to meet him. I thanked him for picking Mike Mangini as the new drummer, and I said he's a great fit. I was so nervous that I don't remember everything he said. While he was talking, I just remember thinking: "I can't believe I'm talking to Jordan," lol. But he did say something like, he was nervous that the documentary was initially getting a mixed reaction from some fans. Either that, or he said HE was initially worried that it might get a mixed reaction. I can't remember his wording. But he's happy everyone seems to be embracing Mangini. I told him the documentary was a great way to be open and bring fans behind the scenes like Portnoy used to do video wise, and this was a good first step to maintain that fan interaction that Portnoy had done. He then said something about the band having to pick up Portnoy's other tasks, like rotating setlists. I think that's what he said. He mentioned something about that topic, but I was nervous and not focusing completely.
Lastly, I asked him if he could give me any details on the new album, songtitles, anything. He said one thing he could tell me is that Myung wrote lyrics for songs (I believe he said songs, plural -- as in multiple songs). Of course, we already figured this would happen. He said next he is recording his keyboard parts. I asked him if drums are done. He said yes and they are killer. He said Mangini would play some parts with one hand and he's never seen anything like it. I asked if Mangini wrote the music together with the band, like Portnoy used to do. He said no. Jordan, John and John did the writing without Mangini. I think that's pretty much it. I kept it short, because I didn't want to hog his time. But it was great to meet him. Such a nice guy. Cool show. Definitely worth the car ride!
Here are some pics. The first is Jordan and I.
Topic: Jordan's benefit concert for Japan (plus some DT news) (Read 20357 times)
