What can I say? Two words: Ottmar Liebert. His ongoing international success is partly due to his amazingly varied origins, but can also be attributed to his very early connection and love with music, particularly, the guitar. He is German-born to a Chinese-German father and a Hungarian mother, who, at the age of 11, introduced him to his first guitar. After many years of traveling the world in search for that perfect musical genre, he decided to settle in Santa Fe, NM, where in 1989 he started his now-famous and current band: Luna Negra. He and his bandmates found inspiration and peace through a style of music known as Nouveau Flamenco, a mellow yet complicated, tranquil yet involved, simple yet deep musical genre that serves as peaceful, relaxing background music to most of life’s hustle and bustle. The show I witnessed in Portland, at The Aladdin Theater, was, regrettably, my first ever Ottmar Liebert show.
I have been a fan and a collector of his albums ever since I can remember, but had never had the chance to see him live. I knew this opportunity would let me remember how amazingly talented of a musician and composer he is, but never did I think he would move me as much as he did. The band walked onto the stage first, the lights dim, and then out walked Ottmar himself. The two hundred or so spectators lifted themselves off of their chairs and respectfully, yet enthusiastically clapped for a good two to three minutes. Ottmar’s walk from stage right to his centrally positioned chair and instruments only took a few seconds. For the entire walk to his chair, he had an immense smile on his face. His hand was raised towards the crowd and his lips were uttering a faint but obvious “Thank You.” He sat down, gave the audience enough time to recover from the excitement, and then began to play. Immediately, the stage lights dimmed and the entire theater was filled with angelic, melodic, perfectly executed music. He began with his newest material, then played his way to the older songs most members of the audience were there to hear.
The atmosphere was mellow throughout the night. Everyone: sat and enjoyed the performance; clapped exhaustively after every song; panned around, from right to left and back, taking at least one glace at each and every musician on stage; locked sight with Ottmar in the center, then clapped and cheered again. The entire length of the concert was around two hours. I can tell you right now that time truly flew by. It was an amazing experience hearing ten years worth of my near-obsession with Ottmar Liebert and Luna Negra’s music, live. I like to think that he knew it was time for he and his band to perform for such an avid fan as myself . . . or maybe it’s all in my head.
DOWNLOAD: Ottmar Liebert - Quiet Dawn (Canton's Spacedrops Remix) (MP3) or Follow us for more Ottmar Liebert MP3s (Twitter)
Justin Townes Earle + Joe Pug - 2/14
Doug Fir Lounge
The Magnetic Fields - 2/21
Aladdin Theatre
The Magnetic Fields - 2/22
Aladdin Theatre
The Magnetic Fields - 2/23
Aladdin Theatre
The Magnetic Fields - 2/24
Aladdin Theatre
El Perro Del Mar - 2/28
Doug Fir Lounge
Basia Bulat - 3/8
Mississippi Studios
Avey Tare was in attendance, along with Angel from Dirty Projectors.
by David on Mon Feb 8, 2010 at 08.35 pm from the entry: Atlas Sound + Neon Indian - E&L Auditorium (New York, NY; Feb. 4, 2010)
Good catch, oh masked marvel.
by Ari Sommer on Mon Feb 8, 2010 at 02.42 pm from the entry: St Vincent + Wildbirds and Peacedrums - Doug Fir Lounge (Portland, OR; Feb. 6, 2010)
St. Sincent...ha.
by anonymous on Mon Feb 8, 2010 at 02.04 pm from the entry: St Vincent + Wildbirds and Peacedrums - Doug Fir Lounge (Portland, OR; Feb. 6, 2010)
Aan was amazing.
by jarrod on Mon Feb 8, 2010 at 01.02 pm from the entry: Blue Horns + Morning Teleportation + Aan - Doug Fir Lounge (Portland, OR Jan. 30, 2010)
I’d like to clarify that for this show they cut off the back half of Neumo’s floor with a curtain and had the upstairs bar closed. It made Neumo’s obviously seem much smaller than it is. Unfortunately, now having seen Neumo’s fully open at another show I can say that this show was very empty. Still White Denim and Brazos rocked.
by Chris on Mon Feb 8, 2010 at 01.57 am from the entry: White Denim + Brazos - Neumos (Seattle, WA; Jan. 24, 2010)
I agree, it’s very good. Way to deflate their balloon.
by colin on Mon Feb 8, 2010 at 01.03 am from the entry: Third Annual Portland Music Awards - Crystal Ballroom (Portland, OR; Jan. 28, 2010)
Love the photos. And that “Walkabout” song is the drugs.
by Beth Doreian on Sun Feb 7, 2010 at 01.14 pm from the entry: Atlas Sound + Neon Indian - E&L Auditorium (New York, NY; Feb. 4, 2010)
It was an amazing experience photographing them. Thank you Melophobe for the opportunity! Please do check out Ottmar Liebert’s music on iTunes and enjoy them! Fantastic sounds!
~ Alice
Hello Melophobe and thank you for the wonderful review! My name is Rusty Knorr and I am Ottmar’s percussionist and may I say that I had a wonderful time performing in Portland. I would be very interested in getting copies of any shots of myself or myself with the group from that show. Can you put me in contact with Alice or please pass this note on? Thank you so much and maybe I will see you next year!
Peace and blessings, Rusty Knorr
We saw Ottmar at the Majestic Aug 9th and it was wonderful as always! Fabulous band too! Thanks for a wonderful evening.