Concerts

cool, we just booked our tickets for the June concert
It will be an experience for sure

Very. But cool!

I keep saying to bring ear plugs until I die!

That's true, Martijn. As someone who suffers from chronic tinnitus in the left ear, it's certainly a requirement for this type of concert. I also bring them to the press screenings I attend, because the projectionist always jams up the volume way too loudly.

I think it was ex-Varese producer Tom Null who once said that people play film music too sofly on their home stereos, but there's a difference between that and ear-damaging volumes.

Ok more context is needed I guess. :-) I always bring earplugs with me to concert. Of course the metal and rock concerts I attend need them obviously.

The music is so loud that ear plugs is needed for two reasons:

1) Saving your ears (of course)
2) Being able to listen to all the details in the music that is "overthrown" (right word?) by the loudness.

With film music concerts ear plugs are not needed for me. Except for one composer: Hans Zimmer.

I have seen him perform twice and both times I needed the earplugs. It was quite annoying actually: removing them from the ears during "Chevaliers" and putting them back in ASAP for "The Dark Knight," "Inception," and "Amazing Spider-man". With those very loud pieces I save my ears and can listen to all the small details.

With the ear plugs in I had an amazing night from an amazing composer. If I would not have brought the ear plugs it would have been a different story for me.

It's crazy. They seem to assume most of the audience is half deaf already.

Volker

I'm telling you, it's the audio mixers that are 50 % deaf, so they turn it up to an acceptable level for them (100 % which means 150 % for the audience).

I went to see Zimmer in concert in Copenhagen ten days ago and it was a really great experience.

The venue was Copenhagen's Forum, notorious for its bad sound quality. It wasn't built for concerts but, incredibly, remains the Danish capital's only venue of this size, with the exception of stadium concerts that take place at Parken (the largest sports stadium in the country).

Thankfully my good friend Jesper and I had gotten really good seats, in the second row, meaning that we probably had a better experience that most other in the hall.

Still, the sound was not perfect and the huge ventilators that all but ruined the Ennio Morricone concert in December also let their presence be known during the (rather few) quieter moments. It's just an embarrasingly bad venue.

However, the experience as a whole managed to outweigh Forum's bad sound, rickety seating arrangements and its generally shitty atmosphere. This says a bit about the show.

The set list was pretty much the same as the immediately previous concerts (as gleaned on setlist.fm), consisting of a first set with most of the crowd-pleasers and a second set dominated by Zimmer's superhero film scores and ending with suites from Interstellar and Inception.

The first set was the most accessible one with medleys and suites that included music from Sherlock Holmes, Angels and Demons, Gladiator, The Da Vinci Code, The Lion King (with Lebo M and his daughter on stage, leaving no eyes dry) and the Pirates of the Caribbean films.

The second set began quietly with the lovely marimba theme from True Romance before segueing quickly into Man of Steel, Batman vs Superman, Amazing Spider-Man 2 and The Dark Knight Trilogy, with "Journey to the Line" from The Thin Red Line thown in as a brief respite from the barrage of noise from the stage.

And with barrage I do mean barrage. But in a positive way.

Zimmer then concluded with suites from Interstellar and Inception, with "Time" as an encore.

Was it loud? Oh yes, but not nearly as loud as I'd feared. I'd brought earplugs but didn't need them, even during some of the most cacophonous moments of the second set.

Because this definitely wasn't a traditional film music concert. Guitars and percussion played a major role during almost all suites, combined of course with copious amounts of equally loud synthesizers, particularly during the second set.

But call me crazy, it really worked! The musicians really kicked some serious ass, even if the choir was often somewhat drowned out by the rest of the setup (also, in part, due to the bad acoustics of Forum). Pedro Eustache was outstanding on the duduk and an assortment of other woodwinds, Guthrie Govan plays one mean guitar and Tina Guo of course provided the electric cello parts.

But really, the entire ensemble appeared to be in a fantastic mood and put on a great show. I also got some laughs when Nick Glennie-Smith walked about the stage with a fake parrot on his shoulder while playing the accordion during the Pirates-medley.

Zimmer himself appeared to thoroughly enjoy himself and was utterly charming, both while performing and while providing both funny and touching anecdotes between suites.

All in all, it was just a really, really great experience. And the concert came with a nice surprise. My friend Jesper, who is a film composer himself, had been in contact with Zimmer before the concert and had arranged for back stage passes, including a brief meet and greet with Zimmer himself.

Would I go to a Zimmer concert again? Definitely. Would I recommend it without reservations? Certainly not. But if you've checked out some of the videos that float around on YouTube and not been discouraged, you should definitely go if you get the chance. It really is something!

Excellent report, Thor! Your impression of the concert mirrors mine very closely. I also enjoyed the inclusion of Crimson Tide immensely (one of my all-time favourite Zimmer anthems!) and did miss The Rock, too - among others.

I failed to mention the light show which really should be highlighted as it plays an important role, particularly in the second set.

I also should have mentioned that given the arrangements, volume, lightshow and the attitude of the musicians, the concert really became a total audio-visual experience that really went beyond a mere "concert". This was a show.

Have a good time in LA Christopher! Hollywood Bowl is awesome!

And good to hear that earplugs were not needed for the Zimmer concert. Maybe they have learned to tune it a bit down?

The Hamburg one last year was awesome, but ear plugs were really needed.

And for us non-Danish?

How is Jesper? I got to know him a little when we were both at SONCINEMAD many years ago and we keep in touch in Facebook every so often.

I'd heard that he'd completed it and I am looking forward to hearing it if it gets a release.

Well, the Zimmer concert was ... loud. First part was amazing. Too many highlights, too many things to tell. The way the orchestra was introduced in Madagascar was cool. Angels & Demons was a surprising highlight. Gladiator very lovely performed, The Lion King a riveting experience. And Pirates of the Caribbean an absolute thrill. It looked like this couldn't fail. Alas, for me they made a big mistake with the second part. They played The Amazing Spiderman 2 and they chose the villain theme (not the super hero theme), they chose The Dark Knight and they went again for the villain theme. At this point we also left the concert because it was too hot in there and just not enough air. So sadly I can't comment on the Inception or Interstellar pieces (or whatever came after it). But the first part showed Zimmer's incredible thematic powerhouse voice. And that second part (with of course the exception of True Romance, Thelma and Louise and The Thin Red Line) a blend of his more droning ambience. Again, if it wasn't that hot in the arena, we probably never would have left. But we weren't the only ones departing at that moment. The combination with the hot temperature and just disappointing blend of Superhero scores made us leave. Too bad considering my girlfriend and I just couldn't stop talking about that first part.

amazing Spider-Man 2 is hideous in all its forms, either recorded on disc or live..thanks for the summary and interesting read mate.