I have been to the Soraya several times over the past few years (back when it was named the VAPC) and was so excited to attend my first indoor concert since pandemic lockdown. As a musician, I was impressed with the quality of the players who were as good as one could imagine. There were four overwhelming problems and I was not the only one to experience them. The first was that the show seemed quite brief in its two segments given the breadth of material from which the musical director had to choose. The second is that one of the primary vocalists (Luciana Souza) was woefully unprepared and of shockingly weak voice (pitch issues, lack of confidence, etc). Anyone paying tribute to Linda Ronstadt requires intense musical chops and she was not up to the task in any way. It is sad as I know Ms. Souza's work with Jazz ensembles and she has a great instinct. Perhaps she was frightened on stage or simply not connected to the style she was being forced to sing. It appeared from the MC that she might have been a last minute addition which indicates that someone else was slated to sing her part and canceled. The final element missing was the necessary backing vocals (harmony, doubling, etc) required to truly flesh out some of the great rock songs. When Will I be Loved stood out most in that regard and felt empty even though La Marisoul gave it her all as usual. With all of the fine musicians and vocalists onstage, it would be fascinating to know whose decision it was to eliminate those much needed backing vocals. The final issue revolves around song selection. As amazing as Aida Cuevas is, was there a reason that she chose not to cover Ronstadt’s most popular Spanish language songs, La Cigarra and La Charreada. I would again imagine that this was the musical director’s choice; but, it left many in the audience not connecting to the more obscure material. Personally, I love all of it; but, still found this an odd decision.
The point is that I had high expectations along with the two friends for whom I purchased great seats in the center/right Orchestra sections and we were all severely disappointed by the program.
While I can not request a refund, please know that I feel badly about driving 15+ miles in traffic to have had this disappointing experience. Were it a free concert, this review would never have been posted. . .alas. . .it was not.