Bebel Gilberto live – 7th Level Music

Live: Bebel Gilberto – Birchmere Music Hall – Alexandria, VA – June 22, 2019

We were delighted to see Bebel Gilberto again this year. In case you still don’t know, Ms. Gilberto is bossa nova royalty and has one of the loveliest voices on the planet. She played at a small venue outside Washington D.C. while we were on a trip there last month.

It was just her and her guitarist, Guerreiro Montero, playing an intimate set of some of her favorites like “Baby,” “Aganju,” “Simplesmente,” “Mais Feliz,” and her fine covers of Neil Young‘s “Harvest Moon” and Radiohead‘s “Creep.”

It was our first time seeing her without a percussionist, but she and Montero did a great job and kept everyone entertained and bouncing. Ms. Gilberto knows how to work an audience and stage and there was a funny moment when she bowed and accidentally knocked her microphone off its stand. She bent over to pick it up and the top of her dress came undone as she did so. Montero, blushing and giggling all the while, had to fix the wardrobe malfunction on stage. She handled it well and used the moment to make jokes and flirt with the audience.

She recently finished her spring tour, but don’t miss her show if she’s near you. Any opportunity to see her live should be taken.

Keep your mind open.

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Bebel Gilberto – Live at the Belly Up

Are the winter blues getting to you? Are you tired of snow? Is the Christmas season bringing you more stress than joy? Don’t worry, bossa nova legend Bebel Gilberto has a cure. It’s her new live EP – Live at the Belly Up.

Beginning with the lovely “Samba E Amor,” the album instantly relaxes you and brings to mind images of spending a warm night on a Brazilian beach with your lover. Thankfully, she has included her cover of Radiohead‘s “Creep,” which never fails to make my eyes misty.

“Momento,” the title track from one of her many fine albums, is dreamy and a bit mischievous as Ms. Gilberto and her guitarist play back and forth. “Bananeira” is even more playful as she gets the audience to clap and sing along with her before putting down some of her sexiest vocals.

She gets even friskier on her classic “So Nice,” which is about wishing for a lover even to just stroll with on any given day. The audience has fun with her, too. If your winter blues haven’t melted by now, they probably will during “Baby” – another one of her classics that belongs on every make-out mixtape.

You might want to save room on that mixtape for the closer, “Preciso Dizer Que Te Amo,” because it’s the type of song that can change the mood of an entire room to amorous in just a few chords.

Bebel Gilberto is a great performer, and this EP is a nice slice of her wonderful live shows. I think it’s impossible to be blue while listening to this. Get it and get out of your winter funk.

Keep your mind open.

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Top live shows of 2017: #’s 30 – 26

I’ve arrived at the end of my live music year for 2017. I saw over 60 performances this year, and the majority of them were a fun time. There were some that might’ve had lame crowds or that just didn’t thrill me, of course, but 2017 was good for live music. To save time (and my sanity and your patience), I’m counting the top 30 live shows I saw this year. Here are the first five.

#30 – A Place to Bury Strangers – Thalia Hall – Chicago, IL May 11th.

I’ll see APTBS at any opportunity, and seeing this set where they opened for the Black Angels was a no-brainer for me. It was also the first time they played Thalia Hall, and they sounded great in there. I was lucky enough to chat with front man Oliver Ackermann before and after (along with the rest of the band – Dion Lunadon and Lia Braswell) the set, so that made the show extra special.

#29 – Joe Walsh – Scottrade Center – St. Louis, MO May 12th.

Joe Walsh had a fun time opening for Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers. He joked with the sold-out crowd, played every hit you’d want to hear at one of his gigs, and had a huge, excellent backing band. He also showed that he could still shred on guitar, and his performance of “Take It to the Limit” brought my wife to tears.

#28 – Bebel Gilberto – City Winery – Chicago, IL December 20th.

The last show I saw this year turned out to be a delightful night with bossa nova legend Bebel Gilberto. It was a lovely set in an intimate venue. Everyone needs to see Ms. Gilberto at least once, and hear her often.

#27 – Bleached – House of Blues – Chicago, IL April 23rd.

If you’re in a band, I wish you could’ve seen Bleached with me twice within six months because you’d have seen a perfect example of how to step up your game. This show, which had them opening for the Damned, was the second time I’d seen them in that time period. The first was at a gig in Cleveland in October 2016. I thought they were good then, but this performance left me gobsmacked. They’d become tighter and stronger in just half a year. It had been at least a couple years since I saw so much improvement in one band.

#26 – Partner – Schuba’s – Chicago, IL January 22nd.

This was Partner‘s first gig in Chicago, and one of their first in the United States. Shame on you if you missed it, because they are now indie rock darlings and their debut album, In Search of Lost Time, is one of the best of 2017. This show was an absolute home run and wowed everyone there.

Stay tuned for #’s 25 – 21!

Keep your mind open.

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Live: Bebel Gilberto – Chicago, IL – December 20, 2017

Chicago’s City Winery is a wonderful intimate venue, and seeing a lively performer like Bebel Gilberto there is a treat that should never be missed. Thankfully, my wife and I got to attend her second performance there in as many nights, and Ms. Gilberto was in a playful mood.

Ms. Gilberto shimmied and shook all over the stage and worked through some of her bossa nova classics like “Aganju” and “So Nice,” stopping now and then to put on some more lip gloss or sample some of the venue’s white wine.

She was also a bit feisty, throwing in some political jokes like, “I’m glad this year is almost over, because that means we only have three more left…if you know what I mean.” Other highlights included her covers of Neil Young’s “Harvest Moon” and Radiohead’s “Creep.” Her cover of “Creep” brings my wife and I to tears anytime we hear it, and I felt bad for the couple across from us who went out for a smoke break before she and her two-man band played it.

She had the crowd singing and even bouncing multiple times throughout the night, calling on us to help her sing rhythms and uplift each other. “Uplifting” is probably the best way I can describe her performance. It was a delightful way to end a year that has been rough for many we know and a shining way to start the winter solstice. More light comes to this half of the world as of yesterday, and I can’t help but think Bebel Gilberto had something to do with it.

Keep your mind open.

[Thanks to Vickie Starr for bringing me and my wife some Christmas cheer with press passes to this show.]

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