I invited my husband to attend the Yanni concert at the Maverik Center in our hometown. When I asked him, he said, “You know Yanni doesn’t sing; right?”
Over dinner before the concert my husband was making sure he was off the hook for any pre-concocted thoughts I might have about Yanni. I understood. He’s still in trouble for letting Bon Jovi pass through Salt Lake and not taking it upon himself to get me tickets…so while we waited for the appetizer my husband laid it all out: “No choreographed dancing, no pyrotechnics just a man and his piano.”
“I know who Yanni is.” I repeated.
I’ve reviewed a couple of Yanni’s albums and his newest one, Truth of Touch is one of my favorites.
Then the moment arrived…Yanni entered the stage. He played the keyboards and I had to turn to my husband after seeing Yanni on the larger than life screen above, “Wow! Yanni is ripped!”
Two pieces were played and then Yanni turned to the audience and said in his heavy Greek accent, “What is up with your weather? We arrived and is was snowing, then it’s nice. C’mon Spring already.”
One of my favorite things about Yanni’s concert was how truly intimate it was. I whispered to my husband, “It’s like being in our living room.” Obviously, Yanni felt the same way because he shared, “I can almost touch you and the cool part is I can also hear you,” he said. “I’m here to take you away from your troubles.”
The music was incredible, but if I’m to be honest, it was Yanni’s dialogue that stole my heart. His jokes and bantor had me waiting for the next moment he moved the microphone to his mouth.
After playing “Dare to Dream” one woman in the audience hollered out, “If dreams come true can I have a kiss?” Yanni blushed and then said, “That’s clever. So clever it’s going to come true.” He called her to the stage and leaned down, did a push up and then gave her a smooch!
I’m also admitting Yanni is no Bon Jovi…though the two are similar in they both have a fair portion of good looks..Yanni is an intimate setting. He travels with thirteen orchestra members, who by their own rights are extremely talented musicians.
Yanni is at the forefront. He plays keyboard, he moves to the piano and through it all he points to these musicians that play behind them. He introduces them with love and admiration. He gives them each their own moment in the spotlight to strut their stuff.
In fact, it was this orchestra that transformed the experience. There were solos that made my skin tingle like that of Jason Carder’s trumpet and flugelhorn, the cello solo by Alexander Zhiroff whose personality came through at the end as he spun the instrument. I loved Mary Freeman on violin.
If you think that orchestras are for the stuffy, Yanni’s drummer, Charlie Adams will prove your hypothesis incorrect. Adams and Yanni have been on the stage together some 30 years starting in rock and roll bands. Yanni introduced Adams, just as he is, a good friend. It took only for Adams to stand up for the audience to go wild in cheers! He was decked out in a Utah Jazz jersey…it brought us to our feet. It was just a whisper compared to what happened when Adams took off his jersey and revealed the Real Salt Lake jersey! Of course then we all were blown away with his amazing drum solo that wowed us for five minutes!
I appreciated Yanni sharing the story behind the song. The song that he wrote for his mother saying, “There once was a woman in my life. She was beautiful and means a lot to me still.” It was seduction as our minds wandered to a romance as he warned us not to guess. Then he said, “This woman was my mother; her name Felicia”.
It wouldn’t be fair to call this Yanni’s Truth of Touch tour. He only played the title song from his new album, which was a little disappointing.
There were no props, no gimmicks no choreographed dance moves or words to sing a long to at this concert. It was serene, tranquil and truly brought to the heart the message only music can deliver.
Yanni on Tour: Click to find out if Yanni will be performing near you.
I was provided a pair of tickets through One2One Network in exchange for an honest review. No other compensation was received. The opinions where expressed are my own and were in no way influenced by the sponsor. Others experiences may vary.