2Cellos Continue to Entertain and Inspire (with Matt Simons and friends) at the DPAC this Week
This article was first published by Triangle Review on April 8, 2022.
I was delighted when I learned I had tickets to the April 6th 2Cellos concert at the Durham Performing Arts Center (DPAC). My 11-year-old son and I have been appreciating the Croatian duo since his older brother introduced us to them 8 years ago. Not only has my youngest been playing cello since then, but he is the same age his older brother was when I took him to see 2Cello’s 2016 DPAC performance; and, like his brother, this would be his first “real” concert. When we arrived at the DPAC, it was clear he wasn’t the only young person inspired by this eclectic pair.
We were thrilled to find ourselves in the first-floor front middle section. We were going to see the Two Cellists’ hands in real life, not just on the giant screen behind them. We might even be able to look them in the eyes! But for now, we gazed with excitement at the black and white image of Luka Šulić and Stjepan Hauser and their cellos on the giant screen on stage.
The lights dimmed to a black stage, and West Coast keyboardist, vocalist and song-writer Matt Simons began performing “After the Landslide”, the title track of his new album. He was joined by a guitarist and drummer for “Summer With You”, which ended with impeccable a cappella vocals from all three musicians. Next was “Open Up,” and it was particularly fun to watch the drummer do so.
“You may not have known there was an opener tonight,” Matt chided the audience, who was clearly waiting for the leading act, before enticing them to join him and his long-time friend and guitarist Chris Ayer in a sing-along cover of “The Boxer”, their clear and soulful voices harmonizing so that it seemed they might actually be the ghosts of Simon and Garfunkel past. Matt then informed the audience that 2 Cellos was about to “melt [our] faces off,” and the house lights illuminated for a 30-minute intermission.
When we returned and the lights dimmed to black again, a galaxy of stars illuminated the giant screen on stage, and the siren-like call of a single cello playing Benedictus (by Carl Jenkins) filled the room. Double lines of red lights formed over the stage and the galaxy of stars transformed into an eye-like nebula, as celestial beams of white light illuminated the two cellists now playing together on stage. The giant screen focussed on the cellists’ hands as they slashed across the strings of their hollow electrical instruments, expertly mimicking the Edge’s unique guitar technique in U2’s “Where the Streets Have No Name.”
Stjepan Hauser, clearly the more animated of the duo, reminded the audience how much time had passed since their last (2016) DPAC concert - co-Cellist Luka Šulić now has 3 children. Then, as if no time had passed at all, Hauser and Šulić seamlessly covered Cold Play’s “Viva La Vida”, Sting’s “Shape of My Heart”, and Muse’s “Resistance.” Hauser made flirty faces at the audience and/or stood and swayed his hips while he played - making everything look so easy. My favorite parts were when the ever playful Hauser and the usually serious Šulić made eye contact and played off each other as well as with each other - they have great chemistry as well as talent, and you can’t help but feel a little gratitude when you witness it.
The duo then played arrangements from Michael Jackson to AC/DC, joined by drummer Dušan Kranjc and a pyrotechnic light show complete with fountains of fire and smoke that made you feel you’d been transported to a 1980’s AC/DC show. From the Rolling Stones to Nirvana to Iron Maiden, these classically trained, adult cellists manifested their adolescent musical urges to the audience’s delight.
Clearly appreciating the audience’s appreciation, the two cellists delivered encore after encore, getting the audience on their feet and singing Bon Jovi’s “Living on a Prayer” before calming things down with their hauntingly symphonic renditions of Nine Inch Nails’ “Hurt” and Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah."
When the show was actually over, the audience slowly dispersed as if we didn’t quite know what hit us. But based on the conversations, it was clear that we’d been hit by much more than a “Smooth Criminal”; and, if given the opportunity, we’d gladly let ‘em hit us again.
Reviewer’s Notes: I still cannot find the name of the drummer who performed with Matt Simons, and that is a shame. Though 2Cellos did play some classical stuff (their mashup of Rossini's William Tell Overture and Iron Maiden’s The Trooper is one of my all-time favorites), my son and I missed their previous emphasis on incorporating classical pieces into their music.
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