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- CommentTimeApr 11th 2009 edited
Anthony wrote
was armed with my binoculars so I could perv on the hot...no wait, the entire place was full on Star Wars geeks! (no offense to any of you ) The guy dressed as Bobba Fett who was carrying a tray of beers gave me quite a good laugh though.
At first that gave me this "picture"of you
Then, however, I realized the whole thing probably looked more like thisI am extremely serious. -
- CommentAuthorAnthony
- CommentTimeApr 11th 2009
Martijn wrote
How was the show surrounding it, Anthony?
What sort of narration did Anthony Daniels do?
And were the video pieces just film excerpts?
And wasn't there some sort of exhibition as well?
- There was virtually nothing surrounding it. A few people walking around the restaurant area dressed as Darth Vader and some Storm Troopers.
- Daniels told the story VERY loosley. If you hadn't ever seen the films it would not be enough to explain what was going on.
- There were just lots of video montages, and over the final piece they showed a few photos of the original scoring sessions.
- The "exhibition" was just a tiny collection of props and costumes they'd used. I'd seen it before at the London Museum of Film and TV so didn't bother looking this time around.
Other than that all they had were some posters up and the merchandise stand selling t-shirts for 20 quid. -
- CommentTimeApr 14th 2009 edited
I had a great time at the concert on Friday night. Martijn, it didn’t feel like an attempt to cash in on the Lord of the Rings symphony (which I saw twice in London in 2004) but more a live version of the “Star Wars: A Musical Journey” DVD that was included with the Episode III soundtrack. Most of the video sequences were identical to those contained on the DVD including the same lame title cards like “A fateful Love” for “Across the Stars” and “A Sanctuary Moon” for “The Forest Battle”. They also included the same conceptual and fan art in some of the videos. A few of the videos were altered to include some additional Episode III shots which obviously couldn’t have been included on the DVD before the film’s release. The narration by Anthony Daniels was mostly word for word that of Ian McDiarmid on the DVD though Daniels did add his C3PO shtick a few times. The pieces which were not on the DVD had new narration and videos which were very much in the same vein. They did entirely new videos for the opening and closing though and it was great to see stills from all the scoring sessions and of Williams and Lucas working together during the final piece.
Whereas on the DVD they seemed to be saddled with the film versions of all the music here it was a strange blend between the film version and concert suites. For example the beginning of the “The Asteroid field” was the same as the film version while the ending was modified to the concert arrangement. Williams certainly didn’t painstakingly rewrite anything (I don’t think I heard a signal new note or linking phrase) but I think he did tweak all the pieces to be his preferred versions.
The version of the Imperial March played at the beginning of the second half was a section of “Clash of the Lightsabers” from Empire Strikes Back, the section which was re-used note for note in “Anakin vs. Obi-Wan” on the Episode III soundtrack.
I agree that Princess Leia’s was one of the highlights, the violin solo at the end was exquisite.
I’m glad they performed the extended version of The Throne Room, I’ve always considered this to be Williams’ concert version of the force theme. I was first exposed to this version on the Williams conducted Skywalker Symphony CD and it’s the version he put in the end credits on the Episode III soundtrack. I adore this arrangement and was delighted to see it included.
The performance all night was generally very good, I felt the brass playing was where they really excelled. I could have used a bigger choir though or perhaps a little more amplification on them.
The Orchestra was amplified but I can understand how you thought it wasn’t Anthony. The O2 is such a huge arena I can imagine it would be difficult to amplify it effectively throughout the entire place. We had terrific seats and for £100 a ticket I’m glad we did! 4 rows from the front, so I could hear the music coming through the speakers as well as direct from the Orchestra. Jeremy Bulloch and Warwick Davis were sitting together 2 rows behind me and they both seemed to really enjoy the concert.
Overall a fantastic evening, would love to see it again, especially if Williams were to conduct. Perhaps if it tours America he might! -
- CommentTimeApr 14th 2009
Bulloch and Davis were there???
Yet only Daniels took the stage?
What a missed opportunity.
I still can't shake the feeling of 'missed opportunities'... almost no surrounding show, no additional stars (taking the stage, at least), Williams not conducting... It's all so... "almost", if you understand my meaning.'no passion nor excitement here, despite all the notes and musicians' ~ Falkirkbairn -
- CommentAuthorAnthony
- CommentTimeApr 14th 2009
Simon Pegg was apparently there as well! Damn it! -
- CommentTimeApr 14th 2009
Anthony wrote
Simon Pegg was apparently there as well! Damn it!
God, what a nerd. -
- CommentAuthorTimmer
- CommentTimeApr 14th 2009
Steven wrote
Anthony wrote
Simon Pegg was apparently there as well! Damn it!
God, what a nerd.
Cool
During the interval at John Barry's 1998 concert ( or was it 97? ) I saw David Arnold ( big duhhh ) Ian McCulloch of Echo And The Bunnymen, Nick Moran, Michael Caine, Michael Winner, Frank Skinner & David Baddiel and, of course, Basil Poledouris who I got to chat with. Jonathan Ross and Robbie Williams were there too but I didn't see them.
Michael Nyman and Charlotte Church were at Morricone's Barbican concert in 2001.On Friday I ate a lot of dust and appeared orange near the end of the day ~ Bregt -
- CommentTimeApr 14th 2009
Anthony wrote
Simon Pegg was apparently there as well! Damn it!
What the felgerkarb does he have to do with Star Wars?'no passion nor excitement here, despite all the notes and musicians' ~ Falkirkbairn -
- CommentTimeApr 14th 2009
Just a shot in the dark here, but perhaps he's a fan? -
- CommentTimeApr 14th 2009
I'm sure he is, but why
Anthony wrote?
Damn it!
Was anyone rooting for him to do his comic book guy thing again?'no passion nor excitement here, despite all the notes and musicians' ~ Falkirkbairn -
- CommentTimeApr 14th 2009
I'm, again, guessing that Anthony wanted to meet him but missed the chance? -
- CommentTimeApr 14th 2009 edited
Well, there was only a one in roughly 15,000 chance, so the odds against that were huge to begin with.'no passion nor excitement here, despite all the notes and musicians' ~ Falkirkbairn -
- CommentAuthorAnthony
- CommentTimeApr 15th 2009
I even took my Raiders CD in case of the one in a million chance John Williams was there and was signing stuff. Now THAT'S optimism. -
- CommentAuthorTimmer
- CommentTimeApr 15th 2009 edited
Anthony wrote
I even took my Raiders CD in case of the one in a million chance John Williams was there and was signing stuff. Now THAT'S optimism.
I think it's worth taking some CD covers along to concerts, you never know what oportunity might present itself!?
Mind you, I'd never have guessed that Poledouris was going to be at a Barry concert? Now I have the rare distinction of having a John Barry music program signed by Basil PoledourisOn Friday I ate a lot of dust and appeared orange near the end of the day ~ Bregt -
- CommentTimeApr 19th 2009 edited
In my opinion it was a fantastic concert! Me and my mate got real lucky with the seats. We had purchased the 100£ seats, but a little back and to the left. But when we arrived someone else was sitting there, and it turned out they had the excact same tickets as we did!?!?! But to our luck, we got moved to new seats instead - row 3, right in the center!!! Soundwise it sounded amazing from those seats, allthough we couldn't see more than the front half of the orchestra, and practically none of the choir. But I guess that was the same for everybody seated at the floor level.
I sat next to a man from Holland who asked me what my favorite piece of Star Wars music was - and I answered "The Emperial March", allthough I could have mentioned many other Star Wars themes of equal greatness. And I must say that the performance of The Emperial March was fantastic. But my favorite piece of the night was "The Forest Battle", also one of my all time Star Wars favorites. I definitely liked the full orchestra pieces best, where they utilized the choir and everything (Battle of the Heroes, Duel of Fates, etc.) and hadn't it been for all the cameras filming the show, I would have head banged to the Forest Battle - but I was affraid my face would suddently appear on the big screen
I think the orchestra, choir and conductor did a great job, with the violin solo in Leia's Theme being the standout performance of the night. Goosebumbs... Also I think Anthony Daniels did a great job, especially where he suddently resumed his role as C-3PO, presenting The Asteroid Field music. And as a Star Wars fan, I'm just happy to say, that I have now seen the man standing 5-6 meters in front of me
But one thing really pissed me off: I didn't see the Star Wars exhibition anywhere at the O2. Where the heck was it? As a Star Wars fan, I would have loved to have seen all the original costumes etc., but I didn't know it was there until I saw a Youtube-video when I got back home.
But all in all a very good night. I travelled from Denmark to see the show, and I had pretty high expectations, but I wasn't dissapointed at all. And this being only my second film music concert ever, I will also say, it is definitely not the last one. -
- CommentAuthorTimmer
- CommentTimeApr 19th 2009
Good for you LarsOn Friday I ate a lot of dust and appeared orange near the end of the day ~ Bregt -
- CommentAuthorAnthony
- CommentTimeApr 19th 2009
Artworks wrote
But one thing really pissed me off: I didn't see the Star Wars exhibition anywhere at the O2. Where the heck was it? As a Star Wars fan, I would have loved to have seen all the original costumes etc., but I didn't know it was there until I saw a Youtube-video when I got back home.
It was opposite Zizi's and Nando's. You had to walk about half way around the dome and it was to the left. -
- CommentTimeApr 29th 2009 edited
As the concert is over and a marvelous time was had by all, I'm unstickying this thread.
Unsticky.
UNSTICKY.
Now there's a word worth using more during casual conversation.
It's pretty darn pookin'.'no passion nor excitement here, despite all the notes and musicians' ~ Falkirkbairn -
- CommentTimeMay 3rd 2009
Can you unstick a brain sticky theme?Kazoo -
- CommentTimeMar 31st 2010 edited
At a very last minute decision, I went to see the concert last night in the Sportpaleis in Antwerpen, with a very old friend back from primary school. We never actually meet up anymore...except for Star Wars related events (the last time was the Revenge Of the Sith premiere ).
The mood was well set with a number of semi-professionals and enthusiasts in the building with home-made costumes that ranged from the gobsmacking (members from the Belgian chapter of the 501st legion were in attendance) to the slightly embarassing (throwing a dark towel over your head and brandishing a toy sword does not make a Dark Lord...
What was amusing was to see the amount of second generation fans: balding, potbellied dads proudly dressed up as Jedi, with their beaming sons next to them, dressed in the exact same garb.
It was all in good fun!
I was slightly apprehensive about the concert at first.
I know this music so well I could probably transcribe it by heart, so any mistake or change would be immediately noticeable to me!
But I needn't have worried.
The Royal Philharmonic Concert Orchestra did a smashing job interpreting the rousing material, under conductor Brossé's tout and powerful direction. With obvious feeling for the material, the action material was punctuated by strong brass and percussive presence, while the softer material was approached softly and gently (which is quite hard to pull off in a hall as huge as the Sportpaleis).
A special note should be made of the humongous and incredibly good brass section, who continuously blew their heart out (and the audience away). I don't think I've seen so much brass in one orchestra ever! Some surprisingly strong solo performances by the flutist and violinist in Princess Leia's theme added to the overwhelming sense of sheer professional power. This is a very fine orchestra!
The hundred head choir making cameos for Duel Of The Fates and Battle Of The Heroes certainly helped cement the impression of a gifted performance.
I secretly wished they would have stayed for a Shadows Of The Empire like choral rendition of the Force Theme (which appeared twice in the concert, once in the Binary Sunset cue, just before the break, and once right at the end in the Rebel Briefing cue), but alas.
While most of the cues were true to their original form, there were a few surprises: the aforementioned Rebel Briefing was extended to include both the concert variation AND the film variation in one track, which really worked quite nicely. And the final piece -The Throne Room / End Title- incorporated quite a long variation on the Throne Room material, which I've never heard before! No idea if it was created by Brossé or Williams for the concert specifically, but whatever the case, it worked like a charm, charming even an old-timer like myself with a truly new and surprising take on so well-known material.
Oh, and special mention should be made of the unexpected twist to the Binary Sunset cue, which suddenly and unexpectedly erupted into a foot-tapping, soaring rendition of the Cantina Band!
Most of it was played by a combo specifically set up at the edge of the stage, but the bassline was played by one of the double bass players in the orchestra, and it was qite funny to see the entire orchestra sitting silently while this one man was plucking the strings like a maniac!
Other memorable performance highlights included an absolutely thunderous, slightly extended Flag Parade from The Phantom Menace, which was done very well. A simply beautiful and very moving rendition of Across The Stars, and one of the finest takes on Anakin's Theme I have ever heard.
Aside from the already mentioned Throne Room and Rebel Briefing, the tracks from the original trilogy were played competently and enjoyably, though not with any truly added sense of emotion, except the very surprising choice of The Duel from The Empire Strikes Back as the entrance piece after the intermission (accompanied by one hell of a laser show), which was great, and the encore version of The Imperial March.
It was very clear that Brossé and the orchestra had been holding back on its first appearance just before the break, as they completely let loose in the encore, with brass and timpani battling the furious violins for supremacy in tone and volume. Man, what a rush! Absolutely phenomenal, and very rightly rewarded with an ovational applause.
Anthony Daniels very adequately glued the pieces together with some OK (but a little tiresome) vignettes, including one funny stint where he "accidentally" slipped into his Threepio role and displayed a gold vest under his jacket. But all in all he'd clearly being doing this for some time, as there was no real sparkle or energy to his otherwise flawless performance.
A wonderful additional surprise was that in the break I found I was more or less sitting right next to Thomas, Gilles and Mario! I was so late in making my decision that I had no time to inform anyone. Sadly now I've learned Bregt was there as well, but I missed him (lost his number).
So, was it all wine and roses?
Well.
No.
What utter, demented, braindamaged, incompetent, asensitive, philistine FUCKWIT thought it would be a good idea to accompany the (wonderful!) scenes on the humongous film screen behind the orchestra with DIALOGUE and SOUND EFFECTS, effectively drowning out the orchestra for about a fourth of the time in EVERY SINGLE CUE?
Did it not even possibly occur to said gentleman that the audience came to listen to the MUSIC (seeing as this was a CONCERT and all)? Might he not have conceivably hit upon the notion that PERCHANCE we would actually like to HEAR said music, rather than series of random explosions and lines abouy 90% of the audience knows by heart ANYWAY?
And would said gentleman also not consider the reaction of the not so casual concert goer, who, having paid a LOT of money for ringside seats, might be slightly less than wildly enthusiastic about these artistic choices, and who might in fact take the whole arrangement as something of a personal affront, irreparably damaging what little emotional and psychological boundaries he had left in his already deeply troubled mind?
In fact, dear boy, if by any happenstance you chance upon reading this:
Run.
I'm coming for you.
PS: I strongly recommend and support de Sportpaleis for any futur endeavours and meetings.
In the intermissions they serve CHAMPAGNE!'no passion nor excitement here, despite all the notes and musicians' ~ Falkirkbairn -
- CommentTimeMar 31st 2010
I'm going to see it at Birmingham on Friday (because my Dad went ahead and ordered tickets without knowing there was a closer-to-home venue in London which means a 4ish hour drive there and back ).
Anyway, the dialogue thing slightly concerns me. I'll see if I can find the man responsible if he happens to be at the concert... -
- CommentTimeMar 31st 2010
Well said Martijn, you were right about everything
And it was indeed funny to see you just sitting a couple of seats from us, despite you've ordering your tickets at the last second, and we a couple of months before youwaaaaaahhhhhhhh!!! Where's my nut? arrrghhhhhhh -
- CommentTimeMar 31st 2010 edited
Steven wrote
Anyway, the dialogue thing slightly concerns me.
It should do rather more than "slightly" concern you.
It's not too bad during the more action-oriented cues, although my friend couldn't atually remember Duel Of the Fates being played (the opening cue), and we pieced together later that was probably due to the inordinate amount of dialogue and sound effects accompanying it (they apparently tried to recreate the original trailer?). But during the softer, emotional pieces it's a real pain.
I'll see if I can find the man responsible if he happens to be at the concert...
Good.
Give him my best.
(My best, incidentally, is a sharp right hook. Preferably with some keys used for knuckledusters).'no passion nor excitement here, despite all the notes and musicians' ~ Falkirkbairn -
- CommentTimeMar 31st 2010 edited
Thomas Glorieux wrote
Well said Martijn, you were right about everything
And it was indeed funny to see you just sitting a couple of seats from us, despite you've ordering your tickets at the last second, and we a couple of months before you
To my suprise it wasn't sold out (although there was a pretty good attendance)!
Thomas Glorieux wrote
Anyway, apparently everybody said this was much better than the LOTR concert in Sportpaleis (I'm talking about the sound of course)
Oh yeah!
Incomparable!
This orchestra and choir were SO much better it puts the Lord Of The Rings concert to shame!
(On the other hand, that one didn't feature any dialogue and sound effects... )'no passion nor excitement here, despite all the notes and musicians' ~ Falkirkbairn -
- CommentTimeMar 31st 2010 edited
Martijn wrote
I'll see if I can find the man responsible if he happens to be at the concert...
Good.
Give him my best.
(My best, incidentally, is a sharp right hook. Preferably with some keys used for knuckledusters).
Perhaps it was George Lucas? He is the master of pig awful decisions after all. -
- CommentAuthorAnthony
- CommentTimeMar 31st 2010
How odd, there wasn't any dialogue when they premiered it at the O2 last year. -
- CommentTimeMar 31st 2010 edited
Oh REALLY?
So they changed it?
That's weird... maybe they thought they'd need more "kid appeal" in continental Europe?'no passion nor excitement here, despite all the notes and musicians' ~ Falkirkbairn -
- CommentTimeMar 31st 2010
YOU WERE THERE?Kazoo -
- CommentTimeMar 31st 2010
And nobody told me?
Kazoo -
- CommentAuthorTimmer
- CommentTimeMar 31st 2010
Bregt wrote
And nobody told me?
You were told but Jedi mind tricks can have that effect.On Friday I ate a lot of dust and appeared orange near the end of the day ~ Bregt