What I like about Pink Martini is that they don't play it safe. Forbes wasn't afraid to write about men who swept her off of her feet and then never called her. She recounted one such encounter which turned into the song, "Hey Eugene," which had the audience in stitches.
While both Lauderdale and Forbes met at Harvard, they went their separate ways after graduation. Lauderdale was unsatisfied with the music being performed at political fund raisers and formed the band in 1994 to provide better music. Forbes kept on commuting to the West Coast until finally she decided to settle their and make the band her full time career.
After the show, the band met hundreds of new and old adoring fans in the lobby for a meet and greet and to sign CDs.
Are Pink Martini too eccentric or do they strike the right balance of virtuosity and kitsch for modern audiences who don't want anything resembling the cheese of Lawrence Welk while wishing to revel in the sonic glory and visual spectacle of a mini-orchestra? For me, it's the latter.
Openers, local a cappella group Madrigaia, sing in several languages and for the first time played with a drummer. Their best material so far is from their landmark first album, and since they played more newer songs, the show was very good but not quite superb. Still, they no doubt played in front of many people who had not seen them before. Some of them looked like they are having a good time, while others looked a little apprehensive. Madrigaia performed for Queen Elizabeth at the Forks a couple of years ago and are worth checking out.
My rating for this show is 
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