Saturday 28 November 2009

Polar Bear tonight. They are incredible Live. What a collective of outstanding musicians. Is gonna be fun, make it if you can

SNG xx

Tuesday 17 November 2009

What we did last Saturday!

It's now Tuesday and i am still smiling like a cheshire cat after the events of Saturday, I have seen a lot of live music this year A LOT and The Heritage Orchestra with Beardyman and DJ Switch blew me away. It started out with Prokofiev's Concerto for turntables which the orchestra and DJ Switch executed with real force, and really set the tone for the evening to come. Switches scratching was impeccable as the orchestra lead the audience through the different movements of the piece, it was a interesting to see the structure within the orchestra and the decks were enveloped and embraced as a notated player.

We then moved onto the second half which was a collaboration initiated at the pavilion between Beardyman and the Orchestra. Battling the cello at first Beardyman called out with his cello and the orchestra played back, it was a gentle start after the Concerto and it took a while for the crowed to settle as i dont think anyone was expecting what played out over the next hour and a half. It became a battle of beats, strings, percussion woodwind and brass and as the improvised set built up, broke out and ran away with itself , it left the mass of people in the stalls jumping and screaming for more, this was not your average night at the Orchestra, on top of the different genres that played out, including drum n bass, dubstep, disco there were moments of beautiful melodies from the orchestra minus the big beats, overlayed with Beardymans amazing vocal, this guy is so much more than a beatboxer.

. The visuals provided by Bartosz for the evening provided the perfect back drop for the Orchestra as the images jarred and punctuated notes and rhythms following flawlessly with the ever-changing sounds playing out on stage. Looking at the back drop it was as if the improvised set was being written out visually buy the images behind.

If you weren't there it's hard to describe or comprehend the little bit of magic that took off and marked the start of the Heritage Orchestra's residency with the De La Warr, however on Sunday a flurry of you tube clips went up so have a look for yourself. I'm so excited to see what happens next, never have i seen an orchestra and players so full of life, every person on that stage was having fun and just as excited to see where the next five minutes would take them as were the 1000 in the crowed.

Thanks to everyone who came along and gave this a chance and supported this new venture, I have no doubt that you enjoyed it as there was no one in there who wanted it to end! Make sure you keep your eyes fixed to the website for what is happening next!!

Thursday 5 November 2009

Midori, LeafCutter, Juliet and that Random Friday feeling

Where has the week gone, I've been lost in cloud of looking for film for next season, and tieing things up for the Heritage next week....my point is that Random fridays has snuck up on me again, no sooner have we had one than the other one comes round the corner, I always find it sets me up for the weekend, especially when you're tired and got that friday feeling, gives a good injection of something exciting to lift you back up, it also means i get to spend time in the building as opposed to the office, which is always good as I sometimes forget what a great space I work in. SO...Juliette Russell is going to performing around the building utilising the staircase in some way which is going to look good, as well as have a kind of surround sound affect, that staircase has such a dramatic quality, still unsure as to how the Leafcutter John and Pete Wareham colaboration is going to pan out, but they are the calibre of artist that you trust to come up with something musically exciting, their numerous projects speak for themselves, and i cant wait to see Midori, she has this kind of Sigur Ros quality about her which i love.
Right back to work....
P.S Has anyone seen this months east yet? Looks really good.

Monday 2 November 2009

Achmed

Adventures of Prince Achmed - Geoff Smith is a genius, it is official! How does anyone follow a score for a whole film providing such and intricate live score of microtonal notes. An enigma. I don't advise trying to learn to play the microtonal dulcimer, I don't think it is for 'normal' folk like myself anyway. I imagine only for people atuned to some out of mortal musical grasp.

Sheer Genius.

SNG