Last night, I attended Vienna’s Waking Hour Release Party at The Hotel Utah Saloon in San Francisco. The party was actually version 2.0, as there was one last year for the original version of the album. Now signed with Virt Records, Vienna went back to the studios in Nashville to create new renditions of The Tower, Gravity, and Enough to Go By.
I had the opportunity to do the photography for the Waking Hour CD booklet. Now that it’s out, what do you think?
Vienna chose her own lineup of opening act musicians at the Hotel Utah. Jamie Jenkins, Reba Hasko, and Carvell Wallace (with Giuseppe) performed a series of enjoyable acoustic arrangements before Vienna came onto the stage at 10:00 pm. Reba sounded like a more agressive version of Tori Amos, while Jamie’s music was very Jewel-like, right down to the San Diego connection! I liked how Carvell listed the current U.S. govenment regime as a supplier of “inspiration” for his songs. Carvell, judging from the voting polls across the nation this week, it looks like you’re going to get more of the same in the future.
Vienna has a busy performance schedule this month. If you were unable to see her last night, don’t worry. She’s playing in San Francisco on Saturday and in Palo Alto on Sunday. Check out the Vienna Teng calendar for more information on her upcoming shows.
Lighting was tough at the Saloon. The center of the stage was well lit, but the falloff at the edges and in the crowd was extreme. It would have been nice to have gone dual video cameras at the release party, as Eric had brought his videocamera. If you’re covering a wedding or a musical performance, you need to have two cameras and a clean input into the sound system.
As Eric mentioned, the usual crowd of Vienna groupies were present last night, including Steven, Boris, Eric, Rae, Randy, Livia, Jess, and Jim. I also met up with pjammer, with whom — like Eric — I’ve talked in the past over email. This online community is like a giant web of six degrees; everyone knows everyone else!
Now for some photos from the evening.
The 45 minute car ride back from the City to Cupertino was accompanied by some hard driving rain. The storms are a coming, the storms are a coming! Seriously though, I honestly can’t remember the last time that it rained here. I love California weather!
There are a few more pictures in the photo gallery. Click on the link below to see them!
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