The Unbearable Lightness of Joy
reflections on crying in Radio City Music Hall, plus a guide to dining on Broadway
In this week’s blog post I reflect on seeing Jon Batiste live at Radio City Music Hall, and why his soulful performance moved me so deeply. I also share a list of some of my recommendations for places to eat and drink in the Theater District, accompanied by a map with detailed notes! Hope you enjoy 🙌
On flow and rapturous joy
This past weekend, after months of anticipation, Kyle and I got to see the Grammy Award-winning musical virtuoso Jon Batiste perform live at Radio City Music Hall. It was my first time visiting the venue, and I was blown away by the scale and the streamlined opulence of the iconic concert hall. It was a fitting backdrop for the exuberant celebration of music and life that was to come.
Jon and his band radiated pure, unadulterated joy from beginning to end. They played a selection of tracks from We Are (2021) and World Music Radio (2023) with Jon cycling through instruments: guitar, piano, melodica. The crowd was on their feet the entire time, moving and grooving to the music. The energy in the room was electric.
In the final act, the curtains opened on Jon alone on the stage, sat at the grand piano. He began to tickle the keys, and the iconic opening notes of Für Elise filled the air. But this was not to be a run-of-the-mill rendition of Beethoven’s most famous rondo. Little by little, Jon began to remix the piece, layering in riffs and runs atop chord progressions that broke musical barriers between classical, jazz, folk, the blues. It was incredible to experience live, and you can get a little taste of it in this snippet from an interview with Chris Wallace as well as in the Instagram post he shared below.
While he played, tears started to stream down my face. I’ve heard this piece a
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