Viva Espana

Masters 8. Adelaide Symphony Orchestra. Adelaide Festival Theatre. 10 Oct 2014

Benjamin Northey, guest conductor, and Piers Lane, piano, headed the billing for the ASO’s homage to Spanish music, but it was a mostly French affair with the music of Ravel dominating the program and his iconic and much loved Boléro stealing the lion’s share of the applause from a otherwise restrained audience.  Sure, the audience enjoyed the evening but I think many of them wanted a more substantial program.

Chabrier’s ‘España’ is probably his best known work, and once the first theme on muted trumpets establishes itself one senses that an old friend has come to visit and the toe tapping in the audience is almost audible.

Resplendent in his formal attire, shock of curly hair, and red and green socks, Piers Lane joined the orchestra as a first amongst equals in what is really an impressionistic score of three independent pieces that evoke the drama of nature. Piers played with just enough flashiness while Northey kept the dance rhythms fresh and lively and didn’t allow the clatter of a dropped bow, courtesy of one of the violists, to distract.

And then the rest of the evening belonged to Ravel.  The ‘Alborada del gracioso’ and the ‘Rhapsodie espagnole’ evoke the very pulse of the life of Spain.  The polished musicianship and skill of the orchestra was laid bare for all to see in the fast sections: crisp, rhythmic and dance-like.

The ‘Pavane pour une infant défunte’ aroused sighs of serenity from members of the audience but Northey did not plumb the depths of pathos that the composition should yield up.  The dynamics at times overshadowed the woodwinds which should exemplify the deep piece’s intense introspection.

But the highlight of the evening for the audience was Ravel’s ‘Boléro’.  Folklore has it that Ravel once said of the ‘Boléro’ that “it contains no music."  As we all know it is a continuous repetition of two melodies with a persistent underlying pattern on the snare drum.  Instruments are gently added one by one in waves, starting with the woodwinds, and it slowly builds towards a climax that shifts and builds into something expected but also surprising.  The final and tremendous tutti chews you up and spits you out!  It’s exhilarating and the audience roared with pleasure.

Kym Clayton

When: Closed
Where: Adelaide Festival Theatre
Bookings: Closed

The Tea Party

Thebarton Theatre. 11 Oct 2014

Who ever knew having a Tea Party as an adult could be so much fun… as long as it involves Canada’s finest trio of musicians, of course! The air was thick with anticipation at the seated show at Thebbie, both for the main act (of course), but also for the support act; just like the real Jesus, Adelaide band the SuperJesus is back from the dead, and interestingly they still belt out their sound as though they never left the stage! And they still look the same too, though that could be because I too have aged since last seeing them back at the Uni Bar! They played all their old hits, ending inevitably with the biggie ‘Down Again’, and they got a deserving standing ovation.

Of course, we were all here for The Tea Party, and it wasn’t long ‘til the party began; with a Theremin up on stage, I knew this would be a killer show!

Tribal sounds emanated from the darkened stage with the scent of incense burning and anticipation building. The band came entered to a roaring crowd and opened with the sensational new tune ‘The LOC’, a killer Zeppelin-esque track with an awesome riff, which also opens the band’s new album ‘The Ocean At The End’. Definitely a fine way to kick things off! Next up was classic ‘The Bazaar’, and after a few notes of the distinctive eastern-influenced main riff, the entire audience was on their feet!

‘The Black Sea’, another new track from ‘The Ocean At The End’, followed and front man Jeff Martin got the crowd to sing along – the first of many moments of crowd participation! Always a band to provide balance between light and shade, the mood was taken down to a melancholic level with ‘Psychopomp’, before coming back up for ‘Fire In The Head’. As usual, Jeff was pretty chatty in between tunes, adding to the intimate atmosphere and making the experience rather personal.

Things got dark next with the not-so-settling ‘Lullaby’, fat with its chunky metallic riff and uneasy bass line the Theremin even featured in all its dissonant glory!

To lighten the mood, Jeff broke out his 12-string acoustic for another newie, ‘Water’s On Fire’, where the crowd happily sung along as the band seamlessly segued into an interlude from ‘Release’. Jeff showed off his sitar prowess, breaking out the instrument for a fantastic extended intro to the killer ‘Save Me’, where crowd participation reached climatic levels. They blended the tune with the band’s cover of ‘The Maker’, which also features on the new album, before Jeff invoked the spirit of Jimmy Page with a strings bow on his Les Paul, before returning triumphantly to ‘Save Me’ for a massive finish. The new album’s title track, ‘The Ocean At The End’ was up next, before the main set came to a close with a massive belting of ‘Temptation’.

Of course, after such a massive finish, there was no way the crowd would let things end there and Jeff soon returned to stage, solo with his slide guitar at first before being rejoined by the band for the bluesy romp ‘Turn The Lamp Down Low’, which bled seamlessly into new blues tune ‘The Cass Corridor’. The 12-string surfaced again for the awesome instrumental ‘Winter Solstice’, which led perfectly into the set closer, and my favourite Tea Party tune, ‘Sister Awake’. And what a way to end, with hurdy gurdy, djembes, darbukas, and massive guitars, the entire crowd was brought to their feet for a truly massive finish. What a night! The Tea Party are back, and looks like they’re here to stay!

Luke Balzan

When: 11 Oct
Where: Thebareton Theatre
Bookings: Closed

Photography by Aaron Vinall - VinDigital

Mozart and Magic

Adelaide Symphony Orchestra. Adelaide Festival Theatre. 3 Oct 2014

The most recent instalment in the Adelaide Symphony’s Gala Series, Mozart and Magic, lived up to its name - and magical it was.  The evening belonged to the woodwinds, which featured prominently throughout the program.

In ‘The Sorcerer’s Apprentice’, Mark Gaydon demonstrated that he is one of Australia’s eminent bassoonists, and he ‘nailed’ the iconic bouncy passage which we all associate with the 1940 Disney animated film Fantasia in which Mickey Mouse plays the apprentice.  From my box seat in the auditorium I could clearly see a sea of heads bobbing in time.

Michael Collin’s performance of the exquisite ‘Concerto for Clarinet in A’ by Mozart was just sublime.  What an absolute joy to have this famed artist once again delighting audiences in Adelaide.  Collins is supremely comfortable across the full spectrum of the clarinet repertoire, from new works to classical mainstays such as the Mozart.  He captured its lyricism, lightness and deeply expressed delicate emotion.  The adagio movement is often associated with a moment in the 1984 film Amadeus directed by Miloš Forman when Salieri describes the entry of the clarinet in the following way:  “Extraordinary! On the page it looked nothing. The beginning simple, almost comic. Just a pulse - bassoons and basset horns - like a rusty squeezebox. Then suddenly - high above it - an oboe, a single note, hanging there unwavering, till a clarinet took over and sweetened it into a phrase of such delight! This was no composition by a performing monkey! This was a music I'd never heard. Filled with such longing, such unfulfillable longing, it had me trembling. It seemed to me that I was hearing a voice of God.” Flowery language maybe, but it is a special moment, and Collins made the piece his. The audience applauded Collins at the end of the first movement – something quite unusual for an Adelaide audience – but they were stunned into an almost devout silence by the end of the second.  However, nothing was going to stop an explosion of appreciated applause at the conclusion of the final third movement, and it was nearly deafening.

American guest conductor Michael Stern was in his element with Copland’s ‘Appalachian Spring’ suite, and for me this was the highlight of the evening’s programme.  We do not hear enough of Copland’s music in our concert halls.  Copland forged a distinctly ‘American style’ of serious concert music and made much of it as accessible as possible through the use of deliberate and slowly changing harmony and melodies that are evocative of the legendary at wild west.  The music was in Stern’s blood and he was entirely successful in getting the ASO to play it as if the orchestra were resident in Stern’s native Kansas. At the conclusion, Stern left the podium an almost spent force but he returned to finish the program with a vigorous and stylish performance of Stravinsky’s popular ‘The Firebird’ suite.  

This programme had something for everyone.

Kym Clayton

When: Closed
Where: Adelaide Festival Theatre
Bookings: Closed

Andrew Strong

The Commitments Australian Tour. The Governor Hindmarsh. 3 Oct 2014

I can’t say I’ve ever really been a follower of cover bands, and can probably count the number of times I’ve seen one on one hand. I can appreciate what it is that they do, and admit that it is nice to sometimes hear a cover version of a loved track, but on the whole, cover bands are not my thing.

Unless, that is, the cover band does something special with the music they’re playing, breathing new life into it and putting their own spin on proceedings. And that, I am pleased to note, is where Andrew Strong and his band of Commitments fits into the musical sphere.

Irish film ‘The Commitments’ is definitely one of my all-time favourite movies, and like so many others who were enchanted by the film about a bunch of Irish misfits who get together to play black soul music, I was quickly charmed by the sensational vocal abilities of Andrew Strong, if not by his boisterous character Deco. In the film, Deco was a bit of a tool, but thankfully that’s not a trait that Andrew Strong shares in real life, and his stage prowess outshines anything his character could have done! So needless to say, I was pretty happy when I heard that Andrew had put together a band and a tour to celebrate the 20th anniversary of The Commitments, and am even happier that ‘Andrew Strong: The Commitments Tour’ paid a visit to our fair city!

As you may expect, the packed crowd at the Gov were of the slightly more seasoned variety, likely a mix of those old enough to remember the film and lovers of the original soul music of the ’60s and ’70s (or both!), but despite the average age, there was plenty of energy in the room! And things reached fever pitch as Andrew came out on stage, joined by a couple of horns, a guy on keys, bass, drums and guitar, and his sister Niamh on backing vocals. All suited in slick threads, they kicked things off with the classic ‘In The Midnight Hour’.

From there, it was a virtual battle between Wilson Pickett and Otis Redding tunes, playing off numbers like ‘Hard To Handle’ and ‘Land Of 1000 Dances’, mixed in with plenty of other soul standards like Joe Tex’s ‘Show Me’, vocal acrobatics on James Carr’s ‘Dark End Of The Street’, and Roy Head’s ‘Treat Her Right’, complete with a mix of change-ups to keep the crowd guessing with their participation and singing, while also showing just how tight the band can be! Andrew’s sister Niamh took centre stage for tunes like the Aretha Franklin pair ‘Chain Of Fools’ and ‘Never Loved A Man’, demonstrating that vocal talent runs in the family! The band was pretty impressive too, with some great Hammond sounds coming from the keys, super soulful sax playing and fat bass, topped off with Andrew’s guitar soloing prowess showing his multitude of musical talents.

Late in the set, Andrew introduced a new song, which ended up being the infamous ‘Mustang Sally’, much to the crowd’s delight, before proceedings closed with a killer cover of Spencer Davis Group’s ‘Gimme Some Lovin’’, with a finish that never seemed to end and bringing things to an almighty climax!

The first set may have been over, but that wasn’t it for the night, with the band returning for some great versions of James Brown’s ‘I Got You (I Feel Good)’, a sensational metal romp with Hendrix’s ‘Fire’, and finally ending on a high with Otis Redding’s ‘Try A Little Tenderness’.

Without a doubt, Andrew Strong still has that voice, and the music has remained ever as enjoyable all these years later. What a fantastic show, even if it was full of covers!

Luke Balzan

When: Closed
Where: The Gov
Bookings: Closed