Great American Music Hall presents the Love in Exile trio featuring Arooj Aftab, Vijay Iyer, and Shahzad Ismaily
859 O'Farrell Street, San Francisco, CA 94109-7005 USA
8:00 PM, Thursday, September 21, 2023

Back to the previous event! ☸ Up to the 2023 yearbox! ☸ Up to the 2023 event list! ☸ On to the next event!

[8:32 PM] {lights down; band out without introduction}

1. [8:34 PM] (unidentified tune #1)
   [8:44 PM] {banter from AA}
2. [8:46 PM] (unidentified tune #2)
   [8:57 PM] {banter from AA}
3. [8:58 PM] (unidentified tune #3)
   [9:09 PM] {banter from AA}
4. [9:11 PM] (unidentified tune #4)
   [9:26 PM] {banter from AA}
5. [9:28 PM] (unidentified tune #5)
   [9:38 PM] {applause at end of set}
   [9:38 PM] {the performers leave the stage}
   [9:39 PM] {back for another bow}
   [9:40 PM] {the performers leave the stage again}
   
   Encore
   [9:41 PM] {the performers return for an encore}
6. [9:41 PM] (unidentified tune #6)
   [9:49 PM] {final applause}
   [9:50 PM] {done}

• Arooj Aftab: vox;
• Shahzad Ismaily: bass, Moog Rogue analog synthesizer, electronics;
• Vijay Iyer: piano, electric piano, synthesizers.

When I arrived about ten minutes before the door time there were less than 10 folks waiting for admission, so I was skeptical (and disappointed!) about the decision to make this a stand-up show. The house knows best, right? They let us in, and I grabbed a spot on the rail in front of Vijay's piano – all the better to rest my legs until show time. The crowd was very slow to fill in, and by the announced 8 PM showtime the floor was half full at best. As we waited, more fans kept arriving, and by thirty minutes later when the lights went down, the floor was pretty well packed. Not super tight, but close enough that folks couldn't just wander through. Interesting! I did not predict this would be a popular event!

Happily, nearly everyone present seemed ready for deep listening, and while there were a few idiots, they were far enough away that I could ignore them without thinking much about the distraction they caused. The sound in the room tonight was full and rich. Normally I would wear earplugs, but without drums, that seemed unnecessary, and the sound guy kept the volume loud enough to be enveloping without becoming suffocating when the bass really kicked in. At other times, it was uncannily quiet. This is the first show there where I can remember being irritated by the squeaky sound of floorboards beneath people shifting their weight…good thing that didn't happen too much! And at one point late in the show, I even realized I was doing it too. Sheesh!

Arooj was a bit chatty at the start of the show – maybe feeling nervous? – but spoke less as the event progressed. Of course, knocking back glasses of red wine might have played into that too! Contradictory comments from Arooj during the show implied that this is a one-off tour and that the group has recorded or will be recording another release. Here's hoping they come back with new material in the future!

Today's photo gallery comes from ol' squinty!

Whoa! This section is incomplete for now, sorry!

MichaelZ posted his own gallery of shots taken from the stage left balcony.

Back to the previous event! ☸ Up to the 2023 yearbox! ☸ Up to the 2023 event list! ☸ On to the next event!