Lindsey Stirling brings perfect pop show to sultry Pinewood Bowl on Monday

Jan 01, 2024

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With a few hits from Drew Steen’s drums, Lindsey Stirling emerged from the back of the riser on the Pinewood Bowl stage, stringing a pose and bowing her violin, impressively opening her captivating 105-minute concert.

Returning to the Pioneers Park amphitheater after an eight-year absence, Stirling — along with Lincoln native Steen, keyboardist/guitarist Ryan Riveros and five dancers — put on a brilliantly lit and unique pop show that put Stirling and her violin at the center of attention normally occupied by a singer.

A back-to-back pairing of songs best illustrated the show, with Stirling first performing the dynamic “The Arena” sans dancers, bringing the runs and trills on the violin while spinning and bending backward before the song ended with a recorded Stirling recitation of Theodore Roosevelt’s famed "Man in the Arena" speech.

Then came “Shatter Me,” with some recorded vocals, as Stirling, playing all the time, and the dancers did a tightly choreographed dance

Then she stepped to the microphone to talk to the audience.

“Oh my goodness, is everyone out there OK?” Stirling asked the 3,500 or so who braved the 100-degree-plus heat index to come to the show. “You guys have been hanging in the heat for hours. I’m so impressed with the energy and enthusiasm. I thought, 'These guys are roasted.;

“I think this the slipperiest I've ever experienced my violin strings. It’s a slip and slide up here.”

The slippery strings, however, didn’t prevent Stirling from delivering a very credible version of Bach’s “Toccata and Fugue,” which after a solo section exploded into the 21st century behind Steen’s drums.

Suffice it to say that there’s a symphony somewhere that’s missing out on a concert master.

It is, however, notable, that I’ve never heard “Carol of the Bells” performed live while I was dripping with sweat and downing bottles of water.

In part to recharge from the heat, Stirling took a couple of breaks in the show, first to film a Tik Tok video with the audience near the stage, putting on sunglasses, and later for a clown to dance with a small white dog on its hind legs.

The latter allowed Stirling and the dancers to make yet another costume change to ballet-like outfits for the classically tinged "Masquerade."

A pair of guests joined the trio in the second half of the show — Sarah Blackwood from opener Walk Off The Earth singing and an Omahan named Brian who traded licks with Stirling on “The Upside.”

Near the end of the set, Stirling returned to her weather commentary: “I’m a desert girl, I can handle the heat,” she said. “But the humidity ... we call this swimming.”

Then came the medley of “Guardian/Lose You Now” and a two-song encore capped by Led Zeppelin’s “Kashmir,” a perfect ending to a perfect show.

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Lynyrd Skynyrd performs at Pinewood Bowl on Aug. 2, 2014, at Pioneers Park.

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Blues legend B.B. King in performance on Thursday, August 16, 2012 at the Pinewood Bowl at Pioneers Park.

Former Beatles drummer and two-time Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Ringo Starr laughs at a comment he made to the audience on Saturday, June 25, 2016, during a concert at the Pinewood Bowl Theater.

Twenty One Pilots vocalist/bassist Tyler Joseph (right) and drummer Josh Dun perform on Thursday, July 28, 2016, during a sold out show at the Pinewood Bowl Theater.

"Weird Al" Yankovic performs his zany brand of musical parody before an audience on Wednesday, Aug. 10, 2016, at the Pinewood Bowl Theater.

The first concert of the summer at the Pinewood Bowl featured a triple bill of Willie Nelson, Dwight Yoakum, and Robert Earl Keen (seen here in performance) on Wednesday, June 7, 2017. The originally scheduled first summer performance - by the group 1975 on May 19th - was moved to Pinnacle Bank Arena due to inclement weather.

The first concert of the summer at the Pinewood Bowl featured a triple bill of Willie Nelson, Dwight Yoakum, and Robert Earl Keen (seen here in performance) on Wednesday, June 7, 2017. The originally scheduled first summer performance - by the group 1975 on May 19th - was moved to Pinnacle Bank Arena due to inclement weather.

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Jim James of My Morning Jacket performs on Tuesday, August 8, 2012 at the Pinewood Bowl in Lincoln

My Morning Jacket performs on Tuesday, August 8, 2012 at the Pinewood Bowl in Lincoln

Guests gather at Pinewood Bowl in Pioneer Park for the performance "42nd Street" directed by Courtney Piccoli on Thursday, July 9, 2015.

Jerry Cantrell (right) and William DuVall (left) of Alice in Chains perform at the Pinewood Bowl Theater Friday, May 24, 2013, at Pioneers Park.

William DuVall of Alice in Chains performs at the Pinewood Bowl Theater Friday, May 24, 2013, at Pioneers Park.

Toby Keith performs Thursday, July 26, 2018 at Pinewood Bowl in Pioneers Park.

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