HASC 21 Concert in Avery Fisher Hall @ Lincoln Center 1/13/08

What a night! What a night!!!!! A night full of music, surprises laughter & fun!

The evening started out with Nachum Segal as MC. The first act was the Yeshiva Boys Choir (with the incomparable Eli Gerstner conducting the orchestra) with their hit song from their third album "Shab'chi". Their dancing on this song, as with all the songs, was so intricate. A gentleman sitting behind me commented to his neighbor, "It likes like they practice very hard & it shows. Aren't they incredible?" Unfortunately, the sound system wasn't working in their favor ,nor in anyone else's favor, since certain microphones weren't working at all. (However, the overhead mikes were working so you were able to hear the choir's rich sounds clearly). After Shab'chi, the choir performed a song from the first YBC LIVE DVD, "Ein." The Choir's voices were strong & clear & finally you were able to hear the spectacular voices of the soloists. We had a surprise treat when, in the middle of the song, who should join the boys but Eli Gerstner himself! Too bad he was on for such a short time.

After the choir came Shlomo Katz, brother of Eitan Katz. Shlomo sang some Shlomo Carlebach songs. Unfortunately, the microphone trouble that the choir had continued with Shlomo & his guitar, so that for the first song we couldn't hear him clearly nor could we hear his guitar playing. After the first song, the proper repairs were made & the audience enjoyed his renditions of such wonderful songs as "Shabbos Kodesh" and a couple of niggunim.

After a half hour of speeches (which is expected at a HASC event), came an unusual surprise. A juggler by the name of Wally Underwood came on. He became famous over the internet as the juggler that can bounce a ball on a piano & play a tune. (They even showed a portion of it.) He was fantastic! Not only was he refreshingly honest about his mistakes, but he was so entertainingly funny! The crowd just wanted more of him.Who would have thought that an act like this would be a show stopper at a HASC Concert?

The next entertainer to come out was Eitan Katz, who performed "L'Maancha," as well as a niggun that was composed especially for the concert. He was very good & totally different from his brother, Shlomo. Just out of curiosity: why didn't the two brothers perform together? That would have been very nice, especially since they were billed as being together.

Throughout the evening, in between the different acts, the audience was shown a Country Yossi video, with him acting as a "man on the street reporter." His question to the people on 13th Ave: "Who are the 4 Tenors?" Nobody really could answer it, since it was a question that everyone at the concert was asking, as well. The idea was kind of cute, bringing his radio show to video, but it came across as kind of cheesy, especially when Country Yossi went on about the idea of a "Pidgeon Czar." The audience was really, really disappointed that Lipa didn't send along his yearly video especially made for the HASC concert. (I guess last year's video was just too much.)

After the video YBC came on with their now famous rendition of a Chassidishe Chassunah, "Booraich". It started off with the boys lined up making an arch & some of them carrying in the "chosson," which was one of the Choir boys dressed up in a jacket & hat. What is so special about this song is that it gives each & every boy in the Choir-whether or not he's a soloist-his 30 seconds to shine alone (or with one or two other boys) in the spotlight. First 2 boys ran out after everyone came onstage dressed as dancing Chassidim, complete with Bekeshes & Streimels. One boy stood on his head for a full 2 minutes, then there were boys jumping rope, juggling, flipping a diablo, twirling ribbons, dancing the Kazatchka, shining the "chosson's" shoes & giving him a drink. Every time the music was just playing there were the 3 smallest & youngest boys playing their "instruments" along with the rest of the band. Cuties! They even had one of the boys coming in on a unicycle! Through it all, as with the other 2 songs, was the dancing dynamics of Yossi Newman, the choir director. But what was really special & unique is that Wally Underwood joined the choir & did some of his unique juggling. He even stood with the rest of the choir (albeit on his knees!) & tried to do all the motions. This part was so different & special from any other time it was done in concert. The song ended off with the boy playing the chosson jumping up & doing cartwheels & flips & ended the song with a split!

One of the things I think everyone loves about the HASC concerts are its surprise guests. This year was no exception. As Nachum Segel was announcing something, who should call out from the audience but Ohad! Very cute. However, he only sang one song, & it wasn't one of his better known ones. It was an English song that only had about 10 words to it. After that he was gone.

The next surprise guest was Dudu Fisher. Personally, I am not a fan of his. I have seen him in concert & never really liked what he did. Until now! He did a lyrical act called "Auditioning for the Chazan." Now,my grandfather, O"H, was an old time chazzan (not well known) & he brought him back to life! I never laughed so hard. But what was equally surprising is I had never known what an incredible range Dudu had! WOW! He totally blew me away & made a fan out of me.

Finally, after 2 hours into the show, the headliner, Avraham Fried, came out blazing with one of my all time favorite songs, "No Jew." It brought back such memories for me. He was just as good now as he was when he first recorded the song. One thing about Avraham is that, no matter what, he's a consumate performer. He just kept going on & on. Unfortunately, he didn't perform "Father Don't Cry," but he did sing "You're Not Alone," to the HASC video about the campers who go to HASC. His own personal choir, the Shira Choir, did a nice job on backup.

Finally, Avraham Fried introduced the one & only Chazzan Yitzchok Meir Helfgot (or as Avraham called him, "Itcheleh Meir") They sang two songs as a duet. Unfortunately, Chazzan Helfgot never got to sing by himself. It was kind of misleading in the ads; we were all led to believe that he would.

After they sang, Avrarham escorted the Chazzan off stage. At this point, no one seemed to know what to do (calling Nachum Segal???). The MC seemed to have disappeared & there was a moment of chaos, which seemed to me to be totally unprofessional. Finally Fried called out Dudu Fisher, Ohad & Chazzan Helfgot, & without any fanfair or introduction, they made it obvious that they were the (surprise!) 4 TENORS!

The quartet did one song & then did the daddy of all Chazanishe songs; "Sh'yiboney Bais HaMikdosh." True, it may have been a bit old fashioned & campy, but everyone, young & old, really got alot out of it. 3 out of the 4 tenors were amazing! You saw right away that the true leader of the group was Chazan Helfgot, & the other were trying to match him & keep up with him. Although Ohad has a good voice, he's more an entertainer than a Chazan. You need a certain type of voice & range to be a Chazan. Ohad has a very nice high tenor voice, more like a soprano, but you clearly saw he was out of his league. Dudu matched him note for note & even reached heights I never expected he could reach. Although Avraham is more of a "singer/entertainer." his vocal quality & range were able to keep up with the Chazanim & showed that he too is a Chazan.

The finale had all of the entertainers on stage along with the promoters & the HASC people singing. Especially endearing was having some of the HASC boys, including the "poster" boy for HASC this year, come onstage & sing & dance with Yossi Newman.