Pink Martini, June 22, 2007, Pantages Theatre, Winnipeg

4/5
audience: 1300

After the five person Madrigaia group walked off stage, I think the audience was surprised to see a whopping 13 people take the stage as Portland, Oregon's Pink Martini. Opening with Ravel's Bolero, the audience immediately gave them applause after the few opening notes of Pansy Chang's cello. When trumpeter Gavin Bondy stepped up to the mike and blasted out his notes, the room erupted once again in applause. It was a sensational opening piece that showed the audience, that without a doubt, this band could play.




Following this tune, leader and pianist Thomas Lauderdale, who looks not unlike a young Asian Elton John with his glasses and shock of spiky blond hair, introduced yet another member of the band, the focal point, singer China Forbes. Forbes, dressed in a tasteful black dress later on joked about she was shopping at Holt Renfrew and ended up heading back there to try a few more things on. She was very much what the confident, beautiful centrepiece but what surprised me the most was the number of languages she sang in! Like Thomas Lauderdale, she graduated cum laude from Harvard. I couldn't tell, but Forbes' mom is African American and her dad French-Scottish.

A few of the songs originated from decades old movies, some of which they transcribed only to learn they wrote some of the words down incorrectly. While the band could have taken the easy way and simply played nothing but standards sung in English, I have to give them credit for seeking out songs from other cultures and singing them in their original languages. Forbes sang in Japanese, Portugese, French, Spanish, Croation and Arabic. Still, after a while, I grew a little tired of the foreign vocals. A few other members of the band also sang lead vocals,including the trombonist

What I like about Pink Martini is that they don't play it safe. Forbes wasn't afraid to write about men who swept her off of her feet and then never called her. She recounted one such encounter which turned into the song, "Hey Eugene," which had the audience in stitches.

While both Lauderdale and Forbes met at Harvard, they went their separate ways after graduation. Lauderdale was unsatisfied with the music being performed at political fundraisers and formed the band to provide better music. Forbes kept on commuting to the West Coast until finally she decided to settle their and make the band her full time career.

After the show, the band met hundreds of new and old adoring fans in the lobby for a meet and greet and to sign CDs.

Are Pink Martini too eccentric or do they strike the right balance of virtuosity and kitsch for modern audiences who don't want anything resembling the cheese of Lawrence Welk while wishing to revel in the sonic glory and visual spectacle of a mini-orchestra? For me, it's the latter.

Openers local a cappella group Madrigaia sing in several languages and for the first time, played with a drummer. Their best material so far is from their landmark first album, and since they played more newer songs, the show was very good but not quite superb. Still, they no doubt played in front of many people who had not seen them before. Some of them look like they are having a good time, while others look a little apprehensive. Madrigaia performed for Queen Elizabeth at the Forks a couple of years ago and are worth checking out.