Day 38, Level 1: Relaxing, fab concert, The Civic, vitality

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I managed to have a rather relaxing day today. Did a bit of house stuff, a few worky things but also put my feet up and watched some racing, read a bit, pottered about. It was very nice! Brett was at golf all afternoon.

The weather today was superb - sunny, warm, no wind. It was quite idyllic.

At 5.30 we met at friends place around the corner and went for an early pre-concert dinner around another corner at a nice little local. Delicious. 

Into the city and into the Civic Theatre for Tami Neilson & Friends concert. This concert had been postponed twice due to Covid - finally it was a reality. 

Tami is a Canadian Kiwi who has an incredible voice and presence - a mix of big band, old school, country, ballads. She had a mini-orchestra and invited various musician friends onto the stage to sing with her throughout the concert - spine-tingling. Utterly engaging in every way. Two hours of full on music was over so quick. 

The Civic Theatre is an awesome venue - most major stage productions, musicals etc are put on here, as well as music concerts and even movies. It's one of the last remaining "atmospheric" theatres in the world. It opened in December 1929 and underwent major renovation and conservation in the late 1990s after being neglected for too long. It reopened in December 1999. Good job - it would have been outrageous if it had fallen into total disrepair and been removed - like so many of the lovely old theatres in Auckland have been over the years - His Majesty's, St James etc etc. 

The Civic's interior is opulent, and the ceiling is done so as to create the illusion of an open sky with twinkling stars. It's like being seated in an auditorium at night-time in the open air. 

It has an Indian-inspired foyer, Buddhas, columns and domed ceilings. The theatre itself imitates a Moorish garden with turrets, minarets, spires and panther statues. It's the largest theatre of this style in NZ. Being in this theatre transports me to Morocco and other far-off lands.

We had great seats with great views. It's a smallish and intimate theatre and I love going to concerts at this venue. Tonight was no exception. 

And Tami is a sassy mama - a large lady, bound up in spandex and rocking it. She also gave many nods to women along the way. Nice work Tami!

Not easy to capture in photos but gives the flavour.




 

Tami on the left - guests to the right

 

Here are a couple from their website ...

 



SHARE-NOTE OF THE DAY:
Vitality ...

The appreciation of life and the freedom to live it to the full - relishing both solitude and connection.



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