Taking classical to the people

I did two things out of the ordinary this week. I attended not one, but two classical music concerts.

This is out of the ordinary because although I have what I would call a healthy appreciation for the arts, I certainly am not a classical music buff. Apart from those failed piano lessons from a Catholic nun when I was a kid, I’m no expert.

Watching both a solo pianist and symphony orchestra, as part of the 2011 Brisbane Festival, left me a little surprised. Not because they weren’t amazing - they were - but because they were so easy to watch. What also surprised me was the wide variety of people in the audience; teenagers, children and young couples, not just your stereotypical middle-aged classical connoisseurs (not that there’s any wrong with them, of course).

If you’ve never visited Brisbane, Australia, you probably best know the city, or state of Queensland, as the place devastated by widespread flooding in January this year.

That tragic event inspired one composer, who was already in the process of composing a symphony about the city of Brisbane, to create a symphony purely based on the flood and its aftermath, which was one of not just devastation, but community spirit and hope.

The Song; The Memory: "Starlight" by Muse

It's funny how songs can take you on a journey into your past.  One tiny snippet will instantly transport you through time and space until you are 17 years old again trying to tape the song off the radio, madly writing down the lyrics so you will be able to accurately sing them next time you are in your car.  Or was that just me...

Every single time I hear the song Starlight by Muse, I am instantly on the E2 Bus in London on my way to work.  I've always been a bit of a Muse fan, and that summer in London I basically only had one CD to play on my old school walkman.  So Muse (and particularly Starlight) was a bit overplayed.  It's five years later and I recently heard the song in the trailer for the movie Crazy, Stupid, Love - and once again I am on that bus, two seats from the front, dying of heat exhaustion (stupid summer heatwave) and pressing repeat over and over again.

Which songs are particularly effective in inducing a flashback for you guys? 

All Foo, no poo.

Foo Fighters Back and Forth: the documentary

For every rock tragic the documentary of a band’s history is about as good as it gets. After all, it’s all about the music, man.

To plagiarise directly from the synopsis, Back and Forth chronicles the 16 year history of the Foo Fighters; a group that started literally as a one-man-band and developed into one of the biggest present-day rock acts around. After watching Back and Forth a few times (ok about 10) I’m happy to report this is not one of those bullshit music docos where it’s all about blowing smoke up the band’s collective asses. It’s pretty honest and handles a few touchy subjects including the sacking of several band members and the overdose of drummer Taylor Hawkins in 2001. It’s so honest that Taylor was actually told NME Magazine he’d rather it wasn’t released:

“I wish we wouldn't put the fucking movie out to be honest because I'm not really comfortable with the public sort of openness…

"We almost broke up and I almost died and all those crazy things have happened. And that's what people want. If they're gonna watch a fucking movie about you they don’t just want some guys sitting around and going, 'Ooh, it was really great and then we were all so happy… that would be boring and unrealistic."

Amen brother. That’s exactly why this documentary is worth a look, not just for Foo Fighters fans, but music fans in general.

Back and Forth begins with the man who started it all: Dave Grohl. His brief story about dreaming of being a rock star is relatable and approachable, and this frankness continues throughout.  

I knew, from the countless interviews, music videos and concerts I’ve watched, that Grohl has a wicked sense of humour and no-bullshit approach, but the big surprise from Back and Forth for me was guitarist Pat Smear. He was funny, light and self-deprecating – not at all what I expected from an underground punk-rock legend. Also, most people wouldn’t be aware he was the second guitarist for Nirvana in the last few years of the band’s career. His insights about this time were honest and a little sad.

Back and Forth spends an appropriate amount of time on the Nirvana/Kurt Cobain story, as it laid the foundations for some of what followed with the Foo Fighters. The first album Grohl recorded included songs he’d written during his time with Nirvana. The recording of this first cassette tape (yep – remember those kids?) was his effort to get out of the funk he was in for months after Cobain’s death. 

What kept me glued to Back and Forth was not just the history of a band that’s one of my favourites, but *shock horror* these guys actually talked about how they felt over the years. Not too much about private life stuff either. It’s not like an ENews special, just the music and their lives around it. As curious as I am about Grohl’s life, I don’t care that much. As a fan, I want to hear about the music and that’s what Back and Forth is all about. 

I’m not going to give you a blow-by-blow. If you’re a Foo Fighters fan or just a music fan then watch it. You won’t be disappointed – it’s part history and part behind the scenes of recording their latest album Wasting Light.

Are you a rock tragic? Is there a band you love and want to see ‘immortalised’ by a documentary? Or do you already have a favourite music doco?

Gig Guide: Music soothes the savage beast

This past weekend was the very awesome Splendour in the Grass festival in my old stomping grounds of Queensland. Since I no longer live in the Sunshine State and also did not possess eighty five million dollars to afford tickets to go to the festival, I have been partaking in a number of sideshows the bands have been kindly doing throughout the rest of Australia. Last week it was The Kills (Alison Mosshart, my girl crush on you remains strong) and this week I'm off to see my old faves Gomez.

Growing up in a small town in QLD didn't really give me many opportunities to see live music. Or have good taste in music really. In fact until I was 13 and discovered Triple J, my shameful musical jaunts included a John Farnham concert with my Mum (I'm still scarred for life at the ladies throwing underpants at him), and a teeny-boppery outing to see Aussie one hit wonder girl-band Girlfriend.

But in the last 10 years I have managed to see a number of very cool bands, and have used my increasingly useful barge-arse skills to gain prime front-of-stage positions at festivals and gigs alike. My default New Year's resolution is to see as many bands as I possibly can.

These are just a few of my memorable gigs:

Muse - Livid Festival 2000

One of many times I've seen Muse live, cough seven times, this one holds a special place mostly because it was the first time I saw them. At this stage they were a fairly unknown group touring on their first album, playing a side stage at the now defunct Livid Festival, while bigger groups Green Day and No Doubt had the masses gathered around the main stages. And while I've seen them play much bigger and better - even with their rather pretentious last couple of albums - Muse sure have always known how to put on a show.

Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros - 2011

Yeah, so I'm fairly certain I somehow joined a cult after seeing this gig. Lead vocalist Alex (he of the Charles Manson slash Jesus looks) came down into the crowd during the encore and then got half the audience on the stage and the rest of us sitting on the floor while he led us all in a Kumbaya styled rendition of one of their songs. Afterwards when everyone was going up to give him high-fives and hugs, I found myself going forward as well until I realised that I wasn't actually at a cultist revival meeting.

The Swell Season - 2009

What a voice Glen Hansard has!! A big fan of The Swell Season after watching the movie Once, I was blown away by their live concert. When there is just a man and his guitar (with no amplification) filling a huge cavernous theatre with his big voice on the song Say It to Me Now, it's simply something special to behold.

The Dead Weather - 2010

My one and only chance to see the legend of Jack White in concert (sob, I never got to see The White Stripes). Coupled with the mesmerising Alison Mosshart, these two just oozed charisma and awesomeness.

Reading Festival - 2006

My big festival outing while I lived in the UK, memorable for a number of reasons:  

• Another Muse show under my belt
• The beginning of my love affair with The Yeah Yeah Yeahs (Karen O, with her knee high converse sneakers with flames going up the sides, OWNED that stage)
• Almost dying of claustrophobia in a very enthusiastic Arctic Monkeys crowd (who scarily knew every single word to ALL of their songs)
• A full can of something indeterminable being thrown at my head (I choose to remember it as being beer).

How about the rest of you? What have been some of your favourite live music experiences?

Eddie Vedder: On stage. Alone. Amazing.

Eddie Vedder solo tour: Thursday March 10 2011, Queensland Performing Arts Centre, Brisbane, Australia.

Before starting this review I need to declare a serious conflict of interest: I have been in love with Eddie Vedder since high school. I can’t help it. I’m not made of wood people. So that means the recount that follows is hardly going to be balanced and unbiased. But I digress…

Eddie Vedder kicked off his Australian solo tour in Brisbane on March 10, 2011 playing to a packed, but small crowd of 1600 at QPAC’s concert hall (yes, 1600. It was amazing not to be one of 30,000 people for once).

After being treated with the heavenly folk vocals of support act by Evil J & Saint Cecilia, (one is Jimmy Barnes’s daughter Eliza Jane Barnes) the man himself walked quietly on stage to raucous applause, took a seat and began to play. He later apologised for not saying hello to the crowd first, but I’m fairly sure no one cared.

Vedder kicked off with a couple of solo numbers, just him and his electric guitar. I think this was what the crowd expected and is one of the biggest draw cards for his solo shows – the promise of just Eddie and his guitars.

In the first track he actually made a mistake (although none of us could tell), stopped, cursed, laughed and then apologised. This actually happened a second time later as well. The normalcy of this was refreshing and I’m sure nobody in the concert hall actually cared. Just the mere fact that Eddie knew he had made a mistake, stopped and started again, showed he was just as normal as everyone else there; able to be nervous on the first night of a big tour, able to make mistakes. Really, that’s Eddie’s charm in nutshell I think. He is awesomely talented as a musician, but isn’t afraid to show the audience that he’s just a normal guy.

During the show the scenery, consisting of simple hand-painted backdrops, changed a few times. The first was an ally way with multi-story brown brick buildings and fire escapes. I’m guessing it could have been a typical back street in New York, Brooklyn or any American city. Another was tent-like, which gave the illusion of Eddie sitting inside a Bedouin tent, strumming away. To me, they were a perfect example of his understated approach to performance, and yet every small detail on the stage that night seemed well thought out.

I wasn’t sure if Eddie would play any Pearl Jam songs in his solo show. I would have been just as happy with a night his individual work, but in what I think was another show of his graciousness and lack of artistic ego, he did include them. I guess he realises his fans are first of all fans of Pearl Jam, and he delivered ‘The End’ and ‘Just Breathe’ from the band’s most recent album, Backspacer.

Refreshingly, there was no drawn-out encore business. Eddie had a short break a bit over half way through the show, and when he was back, stepped things up a notch with a reworked version of the classic ‘Better Man’ on his acoustic and a furious cameo appearance by his ukulele.

I have to say, at the risk of sounding like a loony music fan, I got a bit emotional a few times during some of the songs, especially during the Pearl Jam track ‘Elderly Woman Behind the Counter in a Small Town’ and ‘Rise’ on the mandolin, from the sound track of the movie Into the Wild, which is a bit of a tearjerker itself.

And speaking of tearjerkers, Eddie made a solemn tribute to a friend of his, former Alice in Chains bassist Mike Starr who had passed away less than 48 hours before, after a long battle with addiction. Pearl Jam toured with Alice in Chains in the early years and Eddie performed a rendition of Neil Young’s ‘The Needle and the Damage Done’ to absolute silence.

Eddie also made a brief but heartfelt mention of the recent devastating Queensland floods, ironic given the very building the concert was held in still had water damage in the underground car park. He was aware of this and said he thought Brisbane was doing ‘ok’ in the wake of all the destruction. In this, and the brief mentions of his children, it was clear Vedder’s ability to convey his compassion from the stage was as strong as ever.

The whole night’s playlist built to the rousing finale, ‘Hard Sun’, a cover reworked for the ‘Into the Wild’ soundtrack, with Evil J & Saint Cecelia returning to the stage. The concert hall lights were blazing bright white, allowing the audience to see each other clearly, and allowing Eddie to see everyone back. It was stark, real and touching, a perfect end to a show of the same nature.

Footnote: I have to apologise for the lack of pictures from the night. The venue and I suspect Eddie himself, were very adamant about no cameras or photos being taken to keep the atmosphere intimate and uninterrupted. I respected that, although I was dying to get just one photo!

Ever been moved at a gig? Or have you been to an Eddie Vedder/Pearl Jam show? Let us know below!

Best of Broadway: West Side Story

Among my friends and family, it’s a well-known fact. I’m not ashamed to admit it. So, here goes. I am a huge musical theatre nerd. I’ve even shared this nerdiness with the internet. I am rarely happier or more content than when I’m sitting amongst a theatre audience, watching insanely talented performers sing, dance, and act on stage, live in front of me.  It started a long, long time ago, my love of musicals. I’ve said before that all my favourites movies as a kid involved people bursting into song at random and inopportune times. C’mon! What a perfect way to express emotion: love, hate, happiness, sadness, a song for every feeling. I know I can’t be the only one who shares this musical obsession, so, now’s the time to show yourselves! I’m going to talk about some of my favourites, and I’d love to hear what you think too. Let’s start at the top, with West Side Story. 
 

West Side Story is my favourite musical, and its pedigree is simply without peer. A legend is behind WSS at every turn. The book? By Arthur Laurents. The music? Leonard Bernstein of course! And those lyrics? Why, that would be the incomparable Stephen Sondheim. Let’s start with the story, based on Romeo and Juliet. Set in the 50s, The Puerto Rican Sharks and the working-class white Jets rule their turf on the West Side of Manhattan. Tony, a former Jet, is trying to grow up, but Riff, the Jet’s current leader, pleads with Tony to come to a dance at the gym, where the Jets will challenge the Sharks to a rumble. Bernardo, the head of the Sharks, has a younger sister Maria, and when she and Tony meet, it’s love at first sight. At the rumble, a knife is pulled and Riff is killed by Bernardo, and Tony kills Bernardo in a moment of blind rage. Bernardo’s girlfriend Anita runs to tell Tony that Maria wants to meet him, but the gang harasses her, and she tells them that Maria has been killed by Chino. Tony goes to find Chino to be killed himself, since his life is meaningless without Maria, only to find her alive. The shocking and heartbreaking end has Chino shoot Tony dead. Phew!

Amongst the melodrama, the love and hate and dancing and emoting, are some of the most gorgeous songs Broadway has ever produced. Somewhere, Maria, the sublime One Hand, One Heart, I Feel Pretty, Tonight, the hilariously pointed America; the dreamlike quality of Bernstein’s music lifts the cruelty of the story, giving it an almost otherworldly quality. The tension of songs like Tonight Quintet, just before intermission, is almost unbearable. There's no doubt something bad is going to happen here. Performed live on stage, that anxiety is both palpable and irresistible. But despite the raw naturalism of the narrative and setting, the romanticism of Tony and Maria’s love is undercut perfectly by a poetic tone, lifting West Side Story to a level of musical theatricality that is so rare. 

Dance played a major part in the development of West Side Story, with the show originating with choreographer Jerome Robbins. To see West Side Story onstage is a rare treat, and one that every musical fan should take if given the opportunity. If staged effectively, it is unmatched as a production. I had the pleasure of seeing the Broadway revival in 2009, and left the show with a tear in my eye. It was perfection on stage, aided by the interesting choice to have the Sharks often speak in their native Spanish, and the brilliance of Karen Olivo's Tony-winning portrayal of Anita. Most valuably, with all the elements working together (performance, staging, music, book), we remain completely invested in the story. This, for me, makes West Side Story the ultimate musical. What do you think? Let us know in the comments below!

 

The Song; The Memory: "Atlantic City" by Bruce Springsteen

The first time I went to Atlantic City, someone committed suicide by jumping from a 5 storey parking garage and our bus was diverted around the police and ambulance, so we had to run and catch it from a different hotel/casino combo, but my bag got caught in one of those stupid turnstile door things and we nearly got left behind. I didn’t see the suicide, because just as the poor soul was jumping, I was mesmerised by a homeless man digging into the trash can in front of me, where he found the remnants of a cheeseburger and started eating. That was before the screaming and shouting and alarms. It’s hard to know what to do when someone has ended their life as you watch a homeless man eat from a trash can.

I haven’t thought too much about that day, at the end of our two night stay in the place my $2 boardwalk-purchased T-shirt calls “Ultimate Paradise”. I was living in New York City, and my friend (and fellow everythingpopulariswrong.net blogger) Kelly came to stay with me. As a thank you for the free accommodation, Kelly offered to treat me to a weekend away from the city. She chose Atlantic City, based on the terrific experience we’d had in Vegas the previous year. We knew, of course, that Atlantic City was Vegas-lite. We had no expectations beyond some fun gambling, a nice hotel, checking out the ocean, and some good food (and salt water taffy for yours truly). All things being fair, I’d have to admit a trip to Atlantic City was almost like a challenge for Kelly and I. Just how funny will this weekend be? Just how Jersey-trashy and over-the-top? How many big-haired gambling addicts would we encounter? Yay!

The Boardwalk. Giant human stollers

not shown

The song Atlantic City by Bruce Springsteen is one of my favourites. It appears on the 1982 Nebraska album, and is one of those perfect, evocative Springsteen treats. It’s kind of a downer, actually, but I love it. It depicts a young couple's escape to Atlantic City as the man intends to take a job with a mob boss once arriving. The refrain: "Everything dies, baby, that's a fact, but maybe everything that dies someday comes back” pretty much sums up the mood. I love the chorus: “Put your makeup on, fix your hair up pretty, and meet me tonight in Atlantic City”. But the song has a sort of rousing, tragic, inevitability. Things will not end well for this couple.

I should have expected that underneath the beauty of the boardwalk, beach, swish restaurants, and truly excellent outlet shopping, Atlantic City would evoke much of the feeling of Springsteen’s song. He’s a master, and he knows how to capture a mood like no-one else (except perhaps Dylan). Kelly and I had a terrific time in Atlantic City. We ate crab cakes and drank cocktails, spent too much money shopping, wandered the boardwalk, admired the view, and had a giggle at the fun “Jersey-ness” of the place. But always, always, there was something else going on. The gloss of the casinos on the glistening shoreline couldn’t veil the hoards of homeless people asking for change, or the miserable sight of pensioners shoving their money into slot machines, waiting for that one last sign of good luck. We listened to Springsteen sing about this place, and his words could not have been truer; the tragedy of that last day undercutting the light and dark, the incredible mood, of his song. Strange days indeed.

The iPod Files: Heavy Rotation (Vampire Weekend)

I’ve been very confused lately. I just don’t understand how this has happened. How in the hell have I never listened to any of Vampire Weekend’s music until this last month? What on earth have I been listening to for the last two years?

My friend Erin and I have been on a bit of a concert kick this year. A sort of unofficial New Year’s resolution to see as many bands live this year as we possibly can – 2010: The Year of the Gig. Before we were off to see another great band, The Temper Trap, we were filling our evening with vodka and pizza and listening to music and Erin had put on some Vampire Weekend. Well damn! I love when you listen to something for the first time and it just fills you with this complete sense of joy and energy. So much fun! I knew she’d been a fan for a while and even had seen them live when they toured this year, but I had no idea what their sound was. I think in retrospect that I’d always been dismissive as I’d heard their name and thought they were some Twilight heavy emo-styled band. And now all I feel is a super case of jealousy. For if ever there was a band that is meant to be seen live – that is Vampire Weekend!

Formed by four fairly preppy-indie guys from Columbia University, Vampire Weekend’s music invokes old-school Paul Simon albums mixed with Afro-pop stylings. Their songs almost go hand-in-hand with Simon’s Graceland album. I’m not the most musically literate person on the planet, but if a song is catchy, has a great hook and crisp melodies, I’m sold. And Vampire Weekend fills that quota: fun, playful, and smart enough to pull it all off with aplomb.

Personal faves from their two albums, the self-titled Vampire Weekend (2008) and their latest Contra (2010), include M79, Walcott, Mansard Roof, Horchata and Holiday. There’s something about a cello solo in the middle of a song that is just fantastic!

Both albums are on heavy rotation on my iPod at the moment and I cannot recommend them highly enough. Their music simply makes me want to dance and spin – I may or may not have already freaked out a few people as I’ve walked home skipping and singing along to myself. I can’t wait until summer so I can listen to their albums as they really should be – out in the sunshine with a nice refreshing glass of Pimms in my hand.

I dare you to listen to Walcott and not want to dance!

The iPod Files: Guilty Pleasure Songs

We all have guilty pleasure songs, those songs that come on the radio and have us screaming the lyrics or playing air guitar in the privacy of our cars or homes, but that we’d deny even knowing if questioned. But what about those songs that actually make it onto your iPod, or CD? The ones that are such guilty pleasures, that as embarrassed as you are, you just need to hear them?

Having grown up in a family of music obsessives, my taste in music can be best described as “eclectic”. That’s a nice way of saying if my iPod were to be studied by a group of psychologists, I’d hate to think what they’d make of my personality. I choose to embrace the eclectic-ness, and as such, I’ll give just about anything a listen. But there is a secret shame, lurking within my iPod and just waiting to explode as soon as “shuffle” is hit. The songs that have me at once questioning my taste, and secretly tapping my toes and singing along. So, from my true iPod playlist, I give you my Guilty Pleasure Songs! Please share yours, or let us know what you think, in the comment section below.

Heaven – Bryan Adams

The lyrics are lovely, the tune is catchy, and I’ll defend my love of this song to my grave! But really, Bryan Adams? Oy.

Against All Odds (Take a Look at Me Now) – Phil Collins

I love Peter Gabriel, and he’s well represented on the ol’ playlist. But it’s the “less cool” former Genesis member, Phil Collins and this schmaltzy hit from some film called Against All Odds that makes my list for pure guilty pleasure purposes.

Don’t Rain On My Parade – Barbra Streisand

I absolutely adore Babs, she’s like buttah , and I recently discovered that a big fat dose of Don’t Rain On My Parade on my way to work in the morning actually has me smiling in the endless peak hour traffic. “I’m gonna live, and live now!” And before you ask, yes, I think I am a gay man at heart.

We Don’t Need Another Hero – Tina Turner

Tina’s song, from Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome, takes itself very seriously. And so should you. It’s awesome.

Girls Just Wanna Have Fun – Cyndi Lauper

I defy anyone to hate on this Cyndi classic. I remember being obsessed with the video clip that aired during the ABC's Afternoon Show with Michael Tunn. Old school.

I Believe In A Thing Called Love – The Darkness

Power rockers The Darkness never took themselves very seriously, but I love this guilty pleasure hit like a heart attack.

Slice of Heaven – Dave Dobbyn and Herbs

Yeah, it’s a Kiwi song that makes us think of Footrot Flats. But it’s so damn catchy! The chorus of men – altogether now! “Ba da da, boom boom, ba da da, boom boom…”

Jolene – Dolly Parton

Dolly wrote this song about some skank who wanted a piece of her man. She’s begging Jolene not to take him. As if he could choose some skank over Dolly!

Hungry Like The Wolf – Duran Duran

So, this Duran Duran hit is apparently about the personal goings-on between a man and a lady who love each other very much. It’s becoming a theme, but … CATCHY tune!

Rocket Man – Elton John

I remember David’s men’s chorus singing this on Six Feet Under. Strange lyrics, guilty pleasure song.

Suspicious Minds – Elvis Presley

Suspicious Minds does that ploy of not ending when you think it has. Tricky! Favourite part: “All that our love survived…” That’s true pain in the Kings voice.

I Did It My Way – Frank Sinatra

Let’s face it, Sinatra basically talks his way through most of his most famous signature song. Still, what a great signature song it is.

Baby One More Time – Britney Spears

Oh baby, baby, how was I supposed to know that I’d love this song?

November Rain – Guns N Roses

Power ballad. YES. Remember Slash’s guitar solo outside the church in the desert, with his electric guitar plugged into… nothing?

You Can’t Stop The Beat – Hairspray

Love it. “The motion of the ocean and the rain from above!” You Can’t Stop to Breathe if you try to sing along to this modern Broadway classic though.

Don’t Stop Believing – Journey

Screw “Glee”, Don’t Stop Believing was a guilty pleasure song long before the fictional show choir’s (also terrific) take. Best use of the Journey classic: Last scene of the Sopranos.

One Night In Bangkok – Murray Head

“Bangkok, Oriental setting, and the city don’t know what the city is getting”. Murray Head is kind of rapping in this most famous song from “Chess”, right? Gold.

50 Ways to Leave Your Lover – Paul Simon

Apparently written as a rhyming game for his young son, this Paul Simon hit is nowhere near his best song, or best lyrics, but it’s a guilty pleasure all the same.

Umbrella – Rhianna

I love Umbrella like a fat kid loves cake. Plus, the lyrics are nice. That qualifies, right?

Okay, now it's your turn kids! Comments below.