The Big Music
10/03/2013 01:23 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
izmeinaBeen waiting for this day for the last four years. It was time to do our bit in getting a certain Old King Colin sacked before he managed to cut down any more trees or commission yet another palace or monument in his memory. But no such luck. He is back bigger and smugger than ever and the only hope is that he retires soon and his number two takes over. Then there’ll never be a dull moment in local politics and a certain serpent can change her name to Sybil due to such amazing powers of prediction
But in the meantime there was a big fat freebie feast this evening. Never say no to a free concert especially when it by the river with a gorgeous view over to the city with its mini Manhattan delusions of grandeur
These mob are called Bjorn Again and market themselves as an ABBA cover band. But it turns out that’s a bit like saying the Pope is a Catholic.
They were due to take the stage at 7pm and the support band was another wannabee. This one did Freddy Mercury/Queen impersonations.
Was very happy with both the time and location. A 9pm finish meant a leisurely ten minute walk up the hill to catch the bus to the Lair at around 9.30pm. No crazy rushing required. That has often been the ruin of so many other events. Nothing like clock watching to catch the last bus to make it next to impossible to remain in the present moment
It also meant being able to go voting followed by a coffee shop crawl and a leisurely walk down to the river in time for all the fun and festivities.
One exceedingly unusual feature of this particular concert was that all the performers kept to their schedules. They started and finished when they were supposed to and not 30 minutes later which is so common even for concerts that you pay to attend
The Freddy Mercury guy sure had the looks but he was not a clone because his singing definitely lacked that certain something. But the mob that followed were something else entirely
First thing that impressed this serpent was the music playing in the background while they all took to the stage. It was ‘Arrival” and suited the situation perfectly. All four of the group looked the part. The resemblance to the originals of the species was quite impressive. They even managed to snaffle some of those seventies outfits -The ones with the cats
They started with “Waterloo’ which was a logical choice as that’s where it all began. They even had the fake Swedish accents in spite of being an Australian group
Rather liked the big thank you to the audience for turning up when we could have all been sitting at home in front of the television watching the results of the election
This mob were no slouches. They did song after song and got the audience to join in. While adopting many of the mannerisms of their idols they never did do absolute carbon copies of the original songs but tweeked them somewhat
When they were doing “SOS” near the end they started to drop lines and the guitarists were doing some rather weird things. Had hardly got to thinking that sounds a bit like The Police when the fake Agnetha and Frida both sang “Sending out an SOS” several times. That was very clever and impressive. Later they turned one of the ABBA numbers into some house rap thing. Was almost expecting a bit of AC/DC and was disappointed that they didn’t.
But aside from the innovation and not taking themselves so damned seriously one thing stood out. They obviously loved what they were doing and were having lots of fun.
Had been to two concerts recently. It did not help that both took place on evenings of stinking hot sizzling days where the mercury had hit 40. One of the groups obviously loved doing live shows and announced at the start that it was their first trip to Perth so they had to make up for all that lost time. They started 20 minutes later than they were supposed to which was 8pm but made up for it by going on till just past 11pm. It was just such a pity that Izzie had to leave at 11 in order to catch the last bus and rush like crazy. All that clock watching had pretty much ruined the last 30 mins of the show not to mention being in one of the cheapie seats where all the coming and going of the late comers would block the view and was seriously distracting
This mob were called The Waterboys. Had seen them some 30 years previously in Ireland and that is still up there as probably the best concert I have ever attended. The Oz one in itself was very good but the fact of being seated way at the back and the whole bus thing made it difficult to get into the spirit of things. Did not even know this concert was on until seeing an advert in the paper a week before the event advertising last minute $35 tickets. Turned out that the official price was $90 and if you did not look in the right place online you could still manage to pay $90 for the same crappy seats at the back of the concert hall that were on the special sale price of $35
Simply could not understand how people could fork out nearly $100 for tickets and then turn up some twenty or thirty minutes late. Could not have cared less but for the significant fact that being seated right next to one of the two entrances most of them were blocking my view with their constant coming and going
They started the show with trumpets and mist. It was magnificent and majestic and a perfect song to set the tone. The words made it seem to be an Irish version of the local ‘Welcome to Country” ritual and set up the spooky magic that was in store for the rest of the evening
It was strangely reminiscent of the Australian group Goanna and their song "Solid Rock"
The other concert only a week after that featured Izzie’s favourite singer of all time. Such decadence in a space of two weeks. Only problem was that she is one half of a pair and the other guy is a pompous prat with such a gloomy doomy voice that even Leonard Cohen sounds like an angel in comparison.
These two just played their stuff and hardly spoke to the audience at all. They really seemed to be just doing time on their ‘day job’. In spite of this Lisa Gerrard still sang like some celestial being. This time managed to be in the ninth row and she exuded the aura of a medieval princess and a right little ice queen. When she wasn’t singing the only time she spoke was to say ‘goodnight’
She of course was brilliant in spite of the ice. But they stuck to the ritual of taking turns meaning that half the concert would consist of Brendan Parry’s pompous monotonous droning dribble. And since unlike her he insists on singing in English nearly all the time one can hear just what pretentious pompous nonsense he is spouting
Then he did something completely unforgivable - an abomination and desecration of the sacred.
Lisa Gerrard sang quite a few songs from the Gladiator soundtrack. All gorgeous of course. She could sing the electoral roll or the phone book and make it sound magnificent and meaningful. Got to thinking that it would be ever so wonderful if she would do her own version of “Song to the Siren” usually sung by Elizabeth Fraser who also has a gorgeous ethereal voice
Be careful what you ask for. It was that deadpan drone who dared to do it. It was appalling, excruciating and simply awful especially when performed in the presence of the only living person on the planet who could possibly improve on the ‘original’ (to be technical that actually belongs to Tim Buckley who actually wrote it and sang it. His son Jeff would have done it justice but he alas has departed this mortal coil. He drowned just like his father!)
But back to Bjorn Again. They eventually got to closing time having not performed a certain song. After endless applause and calls for an encore they returned to the stage and ever so innocently asked if there were any audience requests. “Dancing Queen” is the one ABBA song that this serpent absolutely hated back in the seventies and time has not changed our opinion. They did the silly accents and stuff and even had the disco glitterball and actually made it quite fun.
They finished off with “Thank you for the music”
This mob had it all. A sense of humour, of not taking themselves too seriously while actually being quite talented. They also had the knack of chatting to the crowds and getting them all on the floor dancing. But was especially impressed how they did not just perform a bunch of random songs one after the other but paid special attention to the order to tell a story - announcing their arrival, with a beginning, middle, break in the middle, return and then the grand finale. Everyone knew that the show would not be over until they had done Dancing Queen which they deliberately left off the playlist. And when they played “Thank you for the music” we all knew that it truly was good bye and goodnight
Using the songs to tell a story was the little touch that made all the difference.
Just to complete the camp festival of kitsch, when Bjorn Again left the stage the loudspeakers boomed out Village People’s “YMCA”
The only thing missing was the Gay Mardi Gras.
It was so amusing and amazing to see all those bright young things bopping about along with those of Izzie’s vintage old enough to be their grandparents. There was even a few card carrying members of the Burqa brigade in the audience
Overheard rather a few folks saying that this free concert was a damn sight better than many they had paid $100 to see. In Izzie’s case the numbers were lower and between $35 and $50 but the sentiment was still the same
It wasn’t really free in that we pay for such events in our council rates but it was money well spent. It was only going up the hill to the bus stop that it became apparent just how huge the crowds had been. The city lights looked so pretty against the backdrop of the park and the river. It is a pretty good summer moon watching spot.
Really must visit this magical place more often
But in the meantime there was a big fat freebie feast this evening. Never say no to a free concert especially when it by the river with a gorgeous view over to the city with its mini Manhattan delusions of grandeur
These mob are called Bjorn Again and market themselves as an ABBA cover band. But it turns out that’s a bit like saying the Pope is a Catholic.
They were due to take the stage at 7pm and the support band was another wannabee. This one did Freddy Mercury/Queen impersonations.
Was very happy with both the time and location. A 9pm finish meant a leisurely ten minute walk up the hill to catch the bus to the Lair at around 9.30pm. No crazy rushing required. That has often been the ruin of so many other events. Nothing like clock watching to catch the last bus to make it next to impossible to remain in the present moment
It also meant being able to go voting followed by a coffee shop crawl and a leisurely walk down to the river in time for all the fun and festivities.
One exceedingly unusual feature of this particular concert was that all the performers kept to their schedules. They started and finished when they were supposed to and not 30 minutes later which is so common even for concerts that you pay to attend
The Freddy Mercury guy sure had the looks but he was not a clone because his singing definitely lacked that certain something. But the mob that followed were something else entirely
First thing that impressed this serpent was the music playing in the background while they all took to the stage. It was ‘Arrival” and suited the situation perfectly. All four of the group looked the part. The resemblance to the originals of the species was quite impressive. They even managed to snaffle some of those seventies outfits -The ones with the cats
They started with “Waterloo’ which was a logical choice as that’s where it all began. They even had the fake Swedish accents in spite of being an Australian group
Rather liked the big thank you to the audience for turning up when we could have all been sitting at home in front of the television watching the results of the election
This mob were no slouches. They did song after song and got the audience to join in. While adopting many of the mannerisms of their idols they never did do absolute carbon copies of the original songs but tweeked them somewhat
When they were doing “SOS” near the end they started to drop lines and the guitarists were doing some rather weird things. Had hardly got to thinking that sounds a bit like The Police when the fake Agnetha and Frida both sang “Sending out an SOS” several times. That was very clever and impressive. Later they turned one of the ABBA numbers into some house rap thing. Was almost expecting a bit of AC/DC and was disappointed that they didn’t.
But aside from the innovation and not taking themselves so damned seriously one thing stood out. They obviously loved what they were doing and were having lots of fun.
Had been to two concerts recently. It did not help that both took place on evenings of stinking hot sizzling days where the mercury had hit 40. One of the groups obviously loved doing live shows and announced at the start that it was their first trip to Perth so they had to make up for all that lost time. They started 20 minutes later than they were supposed to which was 8pm but made up for it by going on till just past 11pm. It was just such a pity that Izzie had to leave at 11 in order to catch the last bus and rush like crazy. All that clock watching had pretty much ruined the last 30 mins of the show not to mention being in one of the cheapie seats where all the coming and going of the late comers would block the view and was seriously distracting
This mob were called The Waterboys. Had seen them some 30 years previously in Ireland and that is still up there as probably the best concert I have ever attended. The Oz one in itself was very good but the fact of being seated way at the back and the whole bus thing made it difficult to get into the spirit of things. Did not even know this concert was on until seeing an advert in the paper a week before the event advertising last minute $35 tickets. Turned out that the official price was $90 and if you did not look in the right place online you could still manage to pay $90 for the same crappy seats at the back of the concert hall that were on the special sale price of $35
Simply could not understand how people could fork out nearly $100 for tickets and then turn up some twenty or thirty minutes late. Could not have cared less but for the significant fact that being seated right next to one of the two entrances most of them were blocking my view with their constant coming and going
They started the show with trumpets and mist. It was magnificent and majestic and a perfect song to set the tone. The words made it seem to be an Irish version of the local ‘Welcome to Country” ritual and set up the spooky magic that was in store for the rest of the evening
It was strangely reminiscent of the Australian group Goanna and their song "Solid Rock"
The other concert only a week after that featured Izzie’s favourite singer of all time. Such decadence in a space of two weeks. Only problem was that she is one half of a pair and the other guy is a pompous prat with such a gloomy doomy voice that even Leonard Cohen sounds like an angel in comparison.
These two just played their stuff and hardly spoke to the audience at all. They really seemed to be just doing time on their ‘day job’. In spite of this Lisa Gerrard still sang like some celestial being. This time managed to be in the ninth row and she exuded the aura of a medieval princess and a right little ice queen. When she wasn’t singing the only time she spoke was to say ‘goodnight’
She of course was brilliant in spite of the ice. But they stuck to the ritual of taking turns meaning that half the concert would consist of Brendan Parry’s pompous monotonous droning dribble. And since unlike her he insists on singing in English nearly all the time one can hear just what pretentious pompous nonsense he is spouting
Then he did something completely unforgivable - an abomination and desecration of the sacred.
Lisa Gerrard sang quite a few songs from the Gladiator soundtrack. All gorgeous of course. She could sing the electoral roll or the phone book and make it sound magnificent and meaningful. Got to thinking that it would be ever so wonderful if she would do her own version of “Song to the Siren” usually sung by Elizabeth Fraser who also has a gorgeous ethereal voice
Be careful what you ask for. It was that deadpan drone who dared to do it. It was appalling, excruciating and simply awful especially when performed in the presence of the only living person on the planet who could possibly improve on the ‘original’ (to be technical that actually belongs to Tim Buckley who actually wrote it and sang it. His son Jeff would have done it justice but he alas has departed this mortal coil. He drowned just like his father!)
But back to Bjorn Again. They eventually got to closing time having not performed a certain song. After endless applause and calls for an encore they returned to the stage and ever so innocently asked if there were any audience requests. “Dancing Queen” is the one ABBA song that this serpent absolutely hated back in the seventies and time has not changed our opinion. They did the silly accents and stuff and even had the disco glitterball and actually made it quite fun.
They finished off with “Thank you for the music”
This mob had it all. A sense of humour, of not taking themselves too seriously while actually being quite talented. They also had the knack of chatting to the crowds and getting them all on the floor dancing. But was especially impressed how they did not just perform a bunch of random songs one after the other but paid special attention to the order to tell a story - announcing their arrival, with a beginning, middle, break in the middle, return and then the grand finale. Everyone knew that the show would not be over until they had done Dancing Queen which they deliberately left off the playlist. And when they played “Thank you for the music” we all knew that it truly was good bye and goodnight
Using the songs to tell a story was the little touch that made all the difference.
Just to complete the camp festival of kitsch, when Bjorn Again left the stage the loudspeakers boomed out Village People’s “YMCA”
The only thing missing was the Gay Mardi Gras.
It was so amusing and amazing to see all those bright young things bopping about along with those of Izzie’s vintage old enough to be their grandparents. There was even a few card carrying members of the Burqa brigade in the audience
Overheard rather a few folks saying that this free concert was a damn sight better than many they had paid $100 to see. In Izzie’s case the numbers were lower and between $35 and $50 but the sentiment was still the same
It wasn’t really free in that we pay for such events in our council rates but it was money well spent. It was only going up the hill to the bus stop that it became apparent just how huge the crowds had been. The city lights looked so pretty against the backdrop of the park and the river. It is a pretty good summer moon watching spot.
Really must visit this magical place more often
