THE PIANO GUYS caused PETE’S EYEBROWS to form a CATERPILLAR ARCH.
The Show
I never thought I’d see the day when two self-confessed “dorky dads” – one who plays the piano and another who plays the cello – would be welcomed to the stage like rock stars!
Yet that’s what happened in the Sydney Opera House when Jon Schmidt and Steven Sharp Nelson entered the Concert Hall. The full house was in raptures.
I confess that I knew very little about The Piano Guys before the performance. I may have been a member of a very small minority.
I didn’t know about their viral videos where they play their instruments in a field, on a beach, on the top of a cliff face, in front of Iguazu Falls or on the Great Wall of China!
I didn’t even know why the heck they were called The Piano Guys when only one of the guys plays the piano and the other guy plays a cello.
(The name, by the way, is explained during one of the multiple hilarious monologues and it’s a good story.)
What I now know is the The Piano Guys are awesome dudes, not dorky dads. They were born for the stage. They are charismatic. They are funny. They are inventive. And they are sublime musicians!
And what about the music they played! Opening with a mash-up of Hans Zimmmer themes, accompanied by a hilarious mash-up of scenes from the accompanying films, the duo cruised, like a juggernaut, through classics like Bach’s The Cello Song and Morricone’s The Mission to popular songs like Sweet Child of Mine, Let It Go and Kung Fu Piano. There were even original compositions, like the hauntingly beautiful Waterfall.
So now I’m an unashamed Piano Guys fanboy! I’ve downloaded their music and I look forward to seeing them perform again.
The Moment
Towards the end of the first Act, Steven Sharp Nelson embarked upon a long, but entertaining monologue about how mastering an instrument takes time and patience. In this era where instant gratification is king – where ChatGPT can write a novel for you – there remains a place where dedication and devotion and incremental learning can still be cherished and rewarded.
What killed me was when Steven predicted, for all the young musicians in the audience, that a time will come – it could take years – when they suddenly play a piece of music perfectly and they will simply feel like they’re flying.
Steven made me cry when he said that.
I’m not musically gifted, but I do enjoy crafting stories. It’s hard work. It’s lonely. And it’s frustrating when the words won’t come. But, once in a while, the magic happens. When you can’t type fast enough to transcribe the words spilling from your mind. And, yes, in those rare moments, you feel like you’re flying. Simply flying.
For more information on The Piano Guys and their tour:
(Originally posted on 6 March 2023.)
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