Virtuoso David Garrett Rocks the Wellmont Theatre

If you weren’t at the Wellmont Theatre in Montclair, New Jersey on Sunday, March 28, you missed one hell of a show! David Garrett, the German-born, Juliard-trained violinist, came to town and did something I wasn’t convinced a violinist could do. He ROCKED.

Garrett opened the show with a processional down the center aisle, playing effortlessly as he walked. Donning a relaxed pair of jeans, button-down, tie and blazer with a casual ponytail, the guy looked every bit as good as he sounded. Garrett’s energy immediately had the audience reeling. (I need to mention that this was the most diverse audience I had ever seen at the Wellmont. You had everyone from the little old lady dressed for the Sunday matinee to cougars dressed for the opera, hipsters, kids and married folk.) It was an eclectic mix, to be sure, and for two hours on one Sunday night we were all dancin’ to the beat of the same drum. Or violin, as the case may be.

Fancy Cougars, anxiously awaiting David Garrett’s arrival!

The set was full of energy. David effortlessly played the classics (such as “Summer” by Antonio Vivaldi) and completely blew the audience away with his own arrangements of rock hits such as Metallica’s “Nothing Else Matters” and AC/DC’s “Thunderstruck.” He had the entire audience chanting “Thunder!” as they opened the piece. The band he brought with him was also a seriously talented crew. He met his keyboardist in London six years ago and they’ve been playing together ever since. The other fellas were New Jersey’s own talent. What a dynamic it brought to the stage, seeing a virtuoso violinist backed by a serious rock band with major classical training. Between songs, we got to see a little of Garrett’s personality. This is a witty, humble (as humble as you can be when you played with the London Symphony at age eight) and humorous guy who, in his own words, “just loves seeing and being a part of the way music can unite all types of people.”

The highlight of the show came when Garrett was explaining the next piece he was about to perform with a little story on how he chose to arrange it for violin. According to Garrett, he’s sitting in his New York City studio apartment one Saturday afternoon, flipping through the channels when he landed on VH1’s “Top 50 Rock Guitar Riffs.” Of course he caught the show at number 49, so he grabbed his snuggie (insert oohs and aahs from every girl in the audience) and settled in to watch. The number one rock guitar riff was Led Zeppelin’s “Kashmir,” which happened to be one of the songs Garrett had always dreamed of arranging for violin. Although it was a great challenge, he went to work and what he came up with was nothing short of awesome. The tune lent itself well to the smooth whine of his Stradivarius (another word for a three century-old, $1 million+ violin) and his band filled in the blanks. It was, just as his other arrangements, a succesful merging of Rock and Classical without getting cheesy and cliche.

In short, the next time this incredible talent comes to town, you owe it to yourself to be there. It’ll definitely be different than what you’re used to, and you’ll walk out humming, feeling energized, and completely impressed.

*By Nicole, who is lusting after the outside. Can you even do that?

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