I just got back from this awesome concert by The East Village Opera Company. They're a band that does these covers of operatic arias in a rock style and they were totally awesome. Their arrangements are really interesting, always staying true to the original melodies and lyrics (most of the songs were in Italian or French) but tweaking the tempo and arrangements so that it sounds completely contemporary. Their show's an amazing good time. They had a standard rock band (two guitars, bass, drum kit and the band leader on keyboards and samples) plus a string quartet. They opened with a bitchin version of the overture from Mozart's The Marriage of Figaro complete with a rock beat and screaming guitars.
The show was at a venue called Barrymore's music hall it's this awesome old building downtown that was once a vaudeville theatre and subsequently a strip club, an arcade and finally a great live-music venue. It still looks like an old style theatre inside with the bars and tables laid out on the diffrent balconies.
The lead singer Tyley Ross is from my home town, Ottawa. He's got an amazing voice that alternates from smooth and sweet to totally bad-ass rock 'n roll check out his rendition of Nessun Dorma from Turandot, Pavarotti must be turning in his grave ha ha ha.
They also had a new female vocalist who had a really powerful voice. The two sounded awesome on duets like the Flower Duet from Lakmé.
I think my favourite part of the show was when did a medley of La donna è mobile, which is basically a song about how fickle women are, and blended it into a hard-edged version of La Habañera from Carmen, probably the most kick-ass female operatic aria. I was bouncing and clapping by the end of the night, the crowd was really into it too. I bought their self-titled album it's a great listen. They're an awesome band you should check them out when they tour near you.
