In the mood for a musical collaboration btw the sounds of Jazz & an orchestra...well then you should've been there Sat (7/11/09) night w/ me & my BF-Jayson @ SF's Davies Symphony Hall to enjoy a great performance by Chris Botti & his band along with the awesome San Francisco Orchestra!
PURCHASE
--* Online Purchase 6/18/09 at www.sfsymphony.0rg & received tickets in mail the following week
--* $20.00/Ticket for Center Terrace seating. Basically behind the stage.
--* $14.00 Garage Parking (360 Grove Street...just 1-block West to Symphony Hall)
--* $9.00 Ticket Handling Fee
ARRIVAL: BF-Jayson & I left Castro Valley just a lil' after 6pm & arrived about 7pm @ the Garage Parking. Ladies the walking distance is short, so ur safe to rock 3-inch heels if you want (as did I, but I paid for it later in the evening). We & about 50+ other folks stood waiting in the main lobby area upon entrance, as they didn't open the main doors into the Hall 'till about 7:15pm-ish. Doors open, tickets get scanned, & walk upstairs to the 2nd floor of Hall w/ the walls of windows & gigantic sunflower decorations. The Martini Brothers played in the hallway entertaining folks who were sippin' from the bar & watching 1-2 couples dancing to the tunes.
CROWD: Full house of a very diverse group of people for a night of Jazz & Symphony music. We saw a range of ages from kids to the elderly, a melting p0t of nationalities, some dressed down w/ jeans/tennis shoes while other dressed it up way up w/ tux/formal dresses. Many others were ""in between"" as far as I'm concerned wearing the ""uniform"" so to speak of a Pimp (full length fur coat & top hat), Sugar Daddy (55yr old gents w/ 28yr old hot mama), Lady of the Evening about to get up on the pole (broadcasting TnA/legs w/ h00ker shoes), then u had folks who kept it metro-casual-cool like us *tee-hee*...to the disappoint of my BF, we didn't see any Cougars tho...hmm go figure. Nonetheless, everyone appeared to be ready for the evening to see Chris Botti & his band.
CHRIS BOTTI & BAND: Chris Botti on the trumpet, Billy Childs on piano, Billy Kilson on drums, & Mark Whitfield on guitar. James Genus who typically plays bass, had another gent filling in for him...forget his name, but he did great. Although we sat behind the stage & watched the back of Botti's head when he played, we still enjoyed the music. All the artists bowed to the front & back of the stage, which of course was cool. We enjoyed everything this show did w/ each artist having their own solo, Chris Botti w/ his story telling & jokes in btw, guest performances, & the collaboration of Jazz w/ the SF Orchestra!
END OF THE SHOW: After 1.5hrs, 4min Intermission, & then more music..the show wrapped up just around 11pm. Chris Botti had a signing afterwards of his ""Chris Botti in Boston"" CD & DVD, where you also could get ur Kodak moment w/ him. Again, this was a full house so the line for his autograph was RIDICULOUSLY long! We tried to stand in line, but changed our mind realizing we'd prob wait 1hr+ b4 we got up to him...so we did what others did...had our photo taken w/ us standing in front the roped area where he was signing (just to get his face in our bkgd), & taking photos of Chris Botti w/ random folks. BF-Jayon & I were just glad to have seen Chris & his band live. A great night of Jazz & symphony @ an great location...SF's Davies Symphony Hall!
ONLY DISAPOINTMENT: BF bought the CD/DVD along w/ some souvenirs @ the Souvenir Stand...ended up buying what he thought was a $8 magnet during 4min-Intermission, but actually it wasn't...we didn't know wth it was honestly...after show, went back to return it. Well, found out the following Tue (today) the flippin' cashier didn't return the merchandise right to his card...appears as TWO purchases, so now has to call card Cust Svc Dept to dispute charge.
Pros: Large symphony hall w/ great views & acoustics
Cons: Better cust svc in souvenir shop & more alcohol options
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