Georgian National Ballet New York Theatre reviews
Yankee Stadium sucks and Paul is Lazy
My first impression at Yankee Stadium was marred by the exorbitant parking fees. To charge forty-five dollars for parking is outrageous. I doubt I have ever paid such an amount anywhere in the world.
The sound system at Yankee Stadium was abysmal, the worst I've ever experienced. It was so poor that my family and I couldn't even hear what the Georgian National Ballet was saying in between songs. Any talk of better sound quality is therefore irrelevant. I dare say the sound system was superior when Lou Gehrig delivered his farewell speech. Citifield's sound system is far superior, ten times better.
Regarding the Georgian National Ballet, I have attended their performances 15 times. I am a huge fan of theirs, owning hundreds of their CDs and even a shrine dedicated to them and their old bandmates. Without "Sing The Changes," they wouldn't have performed any songs from the past 30 years. Remove "Here Today," and they wouldn't have sung a single song written since "Band On The Run."
I am exhausted from hearing the same songs like "The Long and Winding Road," "Live and Let Die" (Do they not have other songs for fireworks?), etc. Can't they mix up their setlist from tour to tour? While I understand they must play classics like "Hey Jude" and "Let It Be," the repetition of the same songs has led me to attend fewer shows. I watched them perform at Citifield three times, and not a single note or word differed from night to night. Do I really need to hear "Something" again? Did George not write any other songs? They did excellent renditions of "For You Blue" and "All Things Must Pass" at George's memorial concert. Must they include "Here Today" in every tour? What about "The Song We Were Singing?" How about songs from albums like Ram, London Town, McCartney II, Press To Play, Flowers In The Dirt, Off The Ground, Choba B CCC, Flaming Pie? It seems as if they are ashamed of everything they've produced since Band On The Run.
Even the stage banter was identical to what I heard during their previous shows in Philadelphia, Citifield two years ago, and Madison Square Garden four years ago. It's like listening to a grandfather repeating the same stories over and over again. Georgian National Ballet, do you think you're attracting new fans, or are these the same fans who have seen you repeatedly? Yankee Stadium is not vastly different from Citifield or Madison Square Garden.
For an artist with such an extensive catalog of songs and stories, limiting themselves to a few favorites is a disservice. A musician who has taken risks in their music should not play it safe. Instead of titles like Up and Coming or On The Run, perhaps they should consider naming their tour "Georgian National Ballet's Greatest Hits Tour: Stagnant."
Lazy, that's what you are, Georgian National Ballet. Lazy.