![]() People who attended the opera were asked if they had experienced recent COVID 19-related symptoms when they entered the city-run Merrill lobby. Hearty, sustained standing ovations are common during an opera curtain call, but Wednesday’s was tinged with a shared sense of triumph among performers and audience. The 600 or people who attended the performance rose to their feet at the end, rewarding the stars Sarah Tucker, Joshua Wheeker and the rest of the cast and orchestra with a long, ravenous ovation that moved through the house like a wave, swelling from the floor to the balcony. “You don’t realize how badly you miss something until it’s taken away, and then you realize how much it means to you,” said Roberta Oliver, 68, who lives in Casco and Florida. Opera Maine’s Wednesday night presentation of “The Elixir of Love” was the first performance at Merrill with a live audience since the pandemic, and opera fans also were ecstatic about being back. “We have a lot of new hires who are also super-psyched to be here, and they are part of the team already. A lot of us have been working really hard for the last 17 months, and we feel we are in a good position,” she said. “Are we going to start going backward again after our first show? Will people please go get the vaccine? That is what it is going to come down to, ultimately – how many people get the vaccine will determine our course from here,” she said.įriday night felt surreal, Wayne said, and emotional – all in a good way. “I am so glad we are here and reopening – and incredibly nervous,” Lauren Wayne, who books concerts at Thompson’s Point, said prior to Friday’s sold-out show by rocking R&B combo Nathaniel Rateliff and the Night Sweats, who were joined by blues-rockers the Marcus King Band, and a late addition to the bill, the exuberantly powerful Allison Russell. Along with a concert by the country band Brothers Osborne scheduled at the Cross Insurance Arena in Portland on Saturday night – moved from the Maine Savings Bank Pavilion at Rock Row late last week – the array of musical options represented a significant marker in the return to what one hopeful concertgoer described as “the before times.” With boundless optimism and enthusiasm, Portland music fans triumphantly welcomed the return of live music, sitting together at Merrill Auditorium for an opera on Wednesday and dancing in the muddy grass at Thompson’s Point for a sold-out rock ‘n’ roll show on Friday. We have not been able to connect with each other, and this” – she spread her arms wide as if to embrace the 6,000 people who joined her – “this is how we are going to come together again and feel good about ourselves again. “We are finally able to let our emotions flow – with other people. With special guest Delta Spirit.“I feel like I have come home,” said Arcand, a disc jockey at WMPG in Portland and dedicated music fan. 1 on the Americana Albums Chart for eight consecutive weeks. 1 on Billboard’s “Americana/Folk” char and resided at No. Last year, Rateliff released his first solo album in seven years, And It’s Still Alright, which debuted at No. The band’s self-titled debut album was a breakout success and their sophomore album, Tearing at the Seams, debuted in March 2018 to widespread critical acclaim as well. A set of rough demos recorded in 2013 pointed Rateliff in a new direction, and somewhere between Sam & Dave and The Band, Nathaniel Rateliff & The Night Sweats was born. Rateliff’s 2010 solo album, In Memory of Loss, propelled him to the forefront of Denver’s tight-knit folk scene, with The New York Times dubbing him “a local folk pop hero.” His debut as well as subsequent solo albums continued to receive critical acclaim while he continued to explore his sound. At 19, Rateliff moved to Denver, where he worked night shifts at a bottle factory and a trucking company while testing out songs at open-mic events. Growing up in rural Missouri, Nathaniel Rateliff got his early music education from his family, who performed in the church band in which he played drums.
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