#kevmarcus

Yes, I know it's late, but I actually wrote it the same night I saw the concert, so I'm going to present it as it was written at that time. _____________________________________*________________________________________

Wow, so the Black Violin concert at NJ PAC last night was off the chain! (is that expression still used?)  I didn't know anything about this group, but I wanted to see them because they're young and they play the violin. I have exactly 3 years of violin screeching - I mean playing - under my belt, so I've always had a particular fondness for this instrument, but I never progressed to the point of actually being good at it. 

I brought my daughter to this concert hoping it would make an impression on her and it certainly did.  She has been forced gently encouraged to play the violin for the past three years.  She can quit as soon as she becomes advanced, so how soon that happens is entirely up to her ;-).  She recorded the entire concert. She was amazed.

Can I say they killed it last night? No correction, they KILT it. Someone hand me a Scottish kilt and let me prance around with a bagpipe.  I was absolutely floored. 

Last night I youtubed this group and listened to about 30 seconds of a song called 'A Flat'. I was impressed so I got really excited about the concert. But I had no idea what was in store for me. I don't know their names yet, so I'll just refer to them as Caramel Deluxe and Dark Chocolate.

Caramel Deluxe has a winning smile and plays the violin with such ease it looks like he could play the violin in his sleep. It looks like he can play the violin standing on his head. It looks like he can play the violin with his toes. Dark Chocolate is the passionate counterpart who plays the viola, piano, sings and looks like he does a little bit of everything. The duo work really well together, perfectly complementing each other's styles. But this wasn't the classical concerto I was expecting.  Instead of being accompanied by an orchestra, they were accompanied by a DJ. Yes a D.J., as in a mixer of beats. A hiphop-classical fusion of some sort. But the entire concert didn't only consist of this. This group is pretty diverse. They gave us some beautiful violin/viola duets, some singing, some r&b and some rock. This was a fresh take on everything music and meshed together really well.

So I was really enjoying myself when all of a sudden Caramel Deluxe started plucking his violin like a guitar - and my whole world stopped. What is he doing?! Why is he doing that?! Who told him to do that?!?  I was shocked. I was looking around to see if everyone saw what I was seeing.  I didn’t even hear anything else after that. I just sat there with my mouth hung open in total shock and disbelief.   Then I noticed his beautiful smile that lit up the whole stage and it looked like he was really enjoying himself.  So I calmed myself and said ‘ok, you’ve heard him play, obviously he’s good at what he does. He clearly knows what he’s doing. Listen to what it sounds like…so I slowly came back down to earth and opened my ears, and it sounded good. It was really good. It was so cool. And I was FLOOOORRRED…oooommmyyygawwwwwd, it sounded amazing.  I mean wow, he totally went Jimmy Hendrix on the violin! WTF! Who does that?!? I think my skin melted off my bones and slid onto the ground.

The creativity in this group is off the charts.  I’ve never seen anything like this.  They have a no-holds-barred approach to music and if it sounds good, they’re doing it, to hell with rules and being boxed into any particular genre.  I mean they got everyone dancing – little kids, teens, twenty somethings, thirtysomethings ;-) and elderly alike; it was absolutely amazing. They simply appealed to everyone.

Funny Sidebar:  After the concert I asked them if I could take their picture and Dark Chocolate was like ‘Why don’t you take a selfie?’ and I was thinking huh? Why would I want to take a selfie when I’m here to take a picture of you guys? Do they not want their picture taken? I think Dark Chocolate dismissed me as an idiot, but Caramel Deluxe said ‘Why don’t you turn the camera around and we can both get in the picture?’ OOooooohhh OK I know that sounds really stupid, but I don’t really selfie much.   I just got off of a working-7-days-a-week-for the-past-10-years-with no-vacation stint so I have a lot of catching up to do ok? Don’t judge me!

But seriously, I have fallen in love with Black Violin.  I don’t know how to hashtag yet because I don’t have twitter but I think I’ll have to open an account just so I can give these guys their props.  I want to thank them for a wonderful concert night.

And while I’m at it I’d also like to thank this group for being unique. Thank you for daring to break the rules. Thank you for sharing your talent. Thank you for being positive. Thank you for wanting to help others. And btw thank you for teaching me how to take a selfie with someone else in the picture! I mean Duh! Well now I know.

Post Script:

I have since learned the names of these young men:  Wil Baptiste is the Violist and KevMarcus is the Violinist, DJ TK is the mixer and the drummer is BeatDown?...very cute.

I wish you guys all the best.  You totally rock.  I look forward to seeing you at the State Theatre in New Brunswick in February. I have already purchased tickets. Front row baby!