Kitchener Waterloo Symphony’s performance of “Quantum: Music at the Frontier of Science” began with a warning from conductor Edwin Outwater:
Some of the music we’re about to play may drive you nuts. You may not like it.
But that’s OK.
Part of the Intersections series, this concert was meant to explore how the work being done in theoretical physics influenced classical music. It was a collaboration with KW’s Institute for Quantum Computing. It featured a narrative and some visuals giving a brief history of physics, particularly the quantum part, with additions from Outwater explaining how these had influenced the piece we were about to hear. Raymond Laflamme, Director of the Institute for Quantum Computing, also participated.
We were eased into the whole thing with Newtonian physics, solid and elegant, as represented by the first movement of Mozart’s Symphony No. 29 in A major. Then, it was explained, delving into the realm of quantum mechanics seemed to put all that in doubt. We had particles that could be both here, and there. Elements that didn’t behave in a mathematically cohesive way. Physics theories that no longer aligned.
This uncertainty affected the artists of the times. As an example, we heard an early piece by Anton Webern, excerpt from Langsamer Satz, which was very grand and beautiful in a Wagerian way. Then a later one, in which he starts to explore dissonance—Ruhig schreitend. You wouldn’t guess it was the same composer.
More directly exploring this opposition was Charles Ives’ The Unanswered Question, in which most of the orchestra plays a beautiful melody, but it is interrupted by a trumpe, moved to the back balcony, asking questions that the woodwinds, from the side balcony, then try, but fail, to answer. It was a great piece to listen to, really; I’d like to get a recorded version of that one.
After the break we were introduced to a piece by Henry Brant, On the Nature of Things (after Lucretius). The theme at this point was composers coming to terms with, and indeed embracing, the weirdness of quantum physics. Brant’s contribution was to add another dimension to orchestral interpretation: geographic space. He was very concerned with where the musicians were located in the room. So the piece had some of the symphony in their usual locations on the stage, others were placed above, beside, and behind us.
And it does make a difference, hearing the music in “surround sound”.
Up next was a John Cage piece called the Atlas eclipticalis, which was inspired by the cosmos itself. He created the score by superimposing musical staves over the star-charts in an atlas. Brightness of the stars was translated into the size of the notes in the composition.
Finally, we came to Iannis Xenakis, who was both a scientist and a musician. He would start with mathematical equations, and convert these into stanzas. And he would assemble his pieces with the aid of a Fortran computer, lending the final result a little randomness. The resulting piece, called ST/48-1,240162—did have repeating musical themes, but they didn’t move around the symphony in the expected, “classical” way. It did have sort of computer, sci-fi feel to it. Though it went on for 11 minutes, it was not unpleasant to listen to.
So despite the warnings, it was actually a very enjoyable evening at the symphony, one that worked the brain cells in a new way.
If there are any other Rock Star: INXS fans out there: Jordis Unga, who started out really strong on that show, then kind of fell apart in the later stages, made quite the splash on the last episode of The Voice. Her energetic performance of McCartney’s “Maybe I’m Amazed” had three judges fighting over her, and she ended up on Team Blake.
Rock Star and The Voicehad similar qualities that made me prefer them over Idol (which I don’t watch now—but I did see a few seasons of the Canadian one):
No hopelessly delusional, bad-singer contestants. If they’re on air, they’re at least pretty good.
Many ages represented, not just kids.
An appreciation for a variety of voices and a focus on developing their own style, not on being able to sing everything.
The judges get a say in who stays and who goes. (The people aren’t always right.)
The Voice‘s blind audition format also means that you end up with a wider variety of looks, and they cover a broader range of music than rock. Both shows had fairly insipid hosts, but you can fast-forward them. (Or, with PVR you can.) It remains difficult to warm to Christina Aguilera, she of the always over-tight tops and strangely mannered air, but the other judges are cool. And at least Christina really can sing.
Anyway, I’m really happy to see Jordis again, and hope with greater maturity, she can hold it together better this time. The video is of probably her best performance on Rock Star, singing Bowie’s “The Man Who Sold the World”:
When asked who they’d like to go back in time to see in concert, a lot of people say, “The Beatles”. Which would be such a wasted opportunity to break the laws of physics!
The Beatles were a great band, obviously, but live? Pick The Who, The Stones, or Hendrix instead. Or even The Kinks. Heck, pick Paul McCartney and Wings! Any of those would be so much better than the mass hysteria and constant high-pitched screaming that was a Beatles concert. You’d barely be able to see and certainly couldn’t hear the band. They couldn’t even hear themselves. There is a reason they stopped touring.
And so, The Beatles leave a legacy of great albums that they never performed live, or performed only poorly. A great big, blank canvas into which many a tribute act has followed.
As a teenager, I saw Beatlemania in Toronto, a tribute that mixed film with live music to cover the history of the Beatles. And in Timmins, I saw another, more straight-up Beatles tribute band, just playing a concert at a hockey arena. More recently, one of the best Jeans’n’Classics concerts I’ve ever seen was based around the Beatles Abbey Road album, featuring Rik Emmett and Alan Frewe, among others. Las Vegas’ Beatles Love show, by Cirque du Soleil, was both touching and astounding. Less successful was Classic Albums Live tribute to Sgt. Pepper, as the efforts at reproducing the album so exactly seem to take all the life out of the live performance.
So I was a little worried about Classical Mystery Tour, as the pre-show interviews emphasized how they went back to the original albums and tried to re-create the symphonic score. I also wasn’t too sure what to think when I saw the odd stage setup, with the symphony fairly far back on the stage, behind sound barriers.
But from the opening notes of “Got to Get You into My Life”, the cast quickly put my fears to rest. They were interactive, relaxed, somewhat improvisational—all around very entertaining. They did provide a reasonable simulation of what might have happened had the actual Beatles ever been able to play their songs live with a symphony, and without all the squealing.
They came out initially garbed in Ed Sullivan Show-style suits, then during “Yesterday”, everyone but “Paul” left the stage, and came back in Sgt. Pepper gear. (“Paul” caught up with them partway through the next number.) Highlights of the first half included hearing the amazing Larry Larson on the “Penny Lane” trumpet solo; “A Little Help from my Friends” as sung by their drummer, a much better vocalist than Ringo; and a searing performance of my favorite Beatles song, “A Day in the Life”, which closed out the first half.
It was a pretty good turnout for the show, but it seemed to me that the crowd was a bit subdued—at least those in front and beside me. Who were probably mostly symphony subscribers first, Beatles fans second.
Nevertheless, everyone really seemed to get into it during the second, with “Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da” turning into a major clap-along, singalong, fun-fest that mostly continued into “Yellow Submarine”. Since I’ve been reporting on clothes, I’ll say that this half featured the hippie Beatles look, complete with John’s white suit, long hair, and mustaches.
They also broke out of the strictly Beatles format and gave us “Live and Let Die”, one of the numbers that best took advantage of the symphonic power available. For fairness, we also got “Imagine”. We weren’t sure if there would be encores at this type of show, but there were 2 or 3, actually. The first was “Hey Jude” (after a bit of a humorous false start, as “George” struggled to get guitar plugged in, prompting a do-over: At least we know it was alllive), which of course become another singalong, men vs. women at one point. (“Paul” declared the women had it.)
Then we had just the band on “Twist and Shout”, for which the audience stayed on their feet dancing, and “whoo-ing” along at all the appropriate times. And “Can’t Buy Me Love” to close out the show.
Definitely one of the most fun symphony concerts I’ve ever been to.
——————–
Our programs didn’t include the set list, so the first half is approximate, based on what I recalled at intermission. The second half, I actually wrote down as we went.
Part I
KW Symphony – Beatles medley, including “Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds”
Got to Get You Into My Life
I Saw Her Standing There
A Hard Day’s Night
Yesterday
All You Need Is Love
Eleanor Rigby
Penny Lane
Here Comes the Sun
Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band / A Little Help from My Friends
In the meantime, I’ve been puzzling over the fact that YouTube lets me watch some videos on a my computer, but not on my Android tablet. “Content provider has not made this video not available on mobile” it will say.
So it’s something about copyright protection, but what, exactly? While I think regional bans are fairly stupid, I at least somewhat understand “the logic” of them. That the copyright may only be valid in a certain area, not globally. Someone else might own it somewhere else. So only people in your area can watch certain.
But that I can watch a video on my computer, but not on my tablet three feet away? Huh? What are thinking I’m going to do with it on my tablet that’s so terrible? (Because honestly, there seems lots more PC than Android software for downloading and manipulating YouTube videos, if that’s where we’re going with this.) And if that’s I can travel around with my tablet… Well, news flash, I can also do that with a laptop.
But with a little Googling, I found out the why. This happens a lot on music videos, which happens to be the main type of video I watch, so I see that message a lot.
It’s because they don’t want me using YouTube as a music player on my tablet (or on a phone, of course–the main target of this particular restriction).
So as is often the case with these copyright things, it’s a stupid reason. And also as usual, pretty easy to work around.
Use the Opera browser.
Set the Opera user agent setting to desktop instead of tablet mode.
Go to YouTube and watch video.
Works a treat. Thank you and good night and stop SOPA.
Today was “our” Christmas celebration, in advance of events with the extended family on the actual days.
As a result, it seemed apropos to play the “Christmas” playlist. (Particularly as I received a new iPod dock I had to try out.) But though all 82 songs are self-selected and heavy on the non-traditional, I gotta say that it’s just not my favorite type of music.
However, there are a few stand-outs.
* Sting’s “Gabriel’s Message”, a simply gorgeous song proving that not all rock star Christmas songs for charity have to suck.
* The Kink’s ”Father Christmas”, a somewhat dark yet catchy tune, that unfortunately seems timely: A poor kid just wants cash for Christmas, or “give my Dad a job ’cause he needs one.” All those toys? Gives them to the little rich boys.
* Adam Sandler’s Hanukuah Song which, OK, isn’t about Christmas at all. But though I’ve heard all the jokes in it many times before, it still makes me laugh. “OJ Simpson… Not a Jew!”
* Do They Know it’s Christmas? Truly the weirdest set of lyrics ever penned by an atheist, and ones I’m sure Geldof, now an expert on Africa (as he wasn’t then), must wince over. Still, too many good memories around this song. And I love its jingly-jangly sound.
* Last year’s YouTube discovery, Spiraling’s mash-up of “Do You Hear What I Hear?” with The Who’s “Baba O’Riley”, producing the most awesome guitar riff in a Christmas song ever.
And this year’s YouTube discovery, courtesy of @eoutwater of the KW Symphony: Tim Michen’s “White Wine in the Sun”. Lovely, funny, and true, Minchen’s explains his fondness for Christmas despite his reservations about “the commercialization of an ancient religion, the Westernization of a dead Palestinian”. But you get to be with your family in a relaxed state, and that’s what it’s all about. 5 stars.
Without intending this all to coincide, I’ve been plunged into a world of 1980s music nostalgia this week. I saw Rock of Ages Thursday, I began reading a book called Talking to Girls about Duran Duran (possibly more on that later), and I saw one of my favorite artists of the 1980s, Mr. Prince Rogers Nelson, in concert on Saturday, at Toronto’s Air Canada Centre.
I’ll cut to the chase on that last one: This was quite possibly the best rock concert, category “Hockey Arena”— that I’ve seen. The only real competition is U2 back in Montreal during their Joshua Tree tour. As my memory is not quite good enough for a true comparison, let’s call it a tie.
Prince has continued to record quite prolifically, up to two years, but I have to say I stopped listening to the newer material after 1992. But this show obviously focused on that earlier material, because I knew almost every song.
It started about 45 (?) minutes late (no opening act), immediately got us up singing and clapping along to “Purple Rain”, and never really stopped. The seated moments were few, as the energy coming from the stage kept compelling us back to our feet to dance and attempt to sing along to Prince’s complex vocal gymnastics. It’s difficult to believe this guy is 53 or whatever, as he pretty much looks, sounds, and moves as he did in the 80s. He can still hit all the high notes, his dance moves don’t let up, and he remains a guitar virtuoso.
And despite the focus on older (and therefore better known) material, it never felt like a nostalgia fest. He often reinterpreted the numbers, bringing an added soulful-ness to “Little Red Corvette”, and even more funk (who knew it was possible?) to “Kiss”. He also often mashed songs together, segueing from one to the other in interesting ways, thus covering even more of his impressive canon of hits. He even included a version of “Nothing Compares to U”, written by him but made famous by Sinead O’Connor, which reminded me of the many other artists who had hits with Prince songs (Manic Monday, I Feel for You, The Glamorous Life, When You Were Mine, and on, and on…).
I’d heard that he wasn’t doing his “dirty”songs anymore, and I kind of wondered what would be left, but he seems to have a pretty loose definition of what’s “dirty”, since Controversy, Raspberry Beret, When Doves Cry, Take Me With U, and Cream were included. And he also simulated a great deal of, um, passion on the floor during Little Red Corvette. He even played the intro to Darlin’ Nikki during the encore—though did stop there with a “Nah-ah! You don’t get that!”
His band was wonderful, and I loved that now as always, most of them were women. (Prince seems to truly love women, not just sexually, but also spiritually and musically. Three spheres I don’t think he separates.) They also got to shine at times, including in a cover of Sarah MacLachlan’s “Angel”, one of a number of covers he included—such as Michael Jackson’s “Don’t Stop Til You Get Enough.”
The stage was in that male / female symbol shape that Prince once used as his name. We were sitting facing the round end, 22 rows up, which were pretty decent seats. Prince and band made their way around to all points throughout the evening, and we could always look up at the screen when they weren’t at our end. (I wish I could include a picture, but they made me check my camera, which seemed pretty peculiar, since nobody had to check their smart phones… But anyway.)
Friday night, from what I understand, he did six encores, resulting in a 3 hour, 15 minute show. We had to be content with just one encore (though an awesome and long one it was), and a show that was probably only, 2 and a half hours? There was an after-party at a bar, though. My sister and I decided not to attempt attending that, though, because a) We figured the crowds would be insane b) We don’t have the energy of Prince, so we were tired and c) We really couldn’t make out the name of the bar, which was announced on the loudspeaker at the end in a bid to get us to leave, already.
But despite good notices, I’d been dragging my feet about seeing this one. I was a teenager in the 1980s, but musically, I was into the New Wave British stuff: Duran Duran, Adam Ant, Spandau Ballet, Billy Idol, U2, Culture Club, Howard Jones… The stuff in this musical? Journey, Whitesnake, REO Speedwagon, Poison… That would be the 1980s music I didn’t like. At all. The musical even includes possibly the worst rock song of all time, “We Built This City” by Starship.
Finally, though, I was lured in by a package deal involving the show + dinner at Verses. (Though note the advertising for this is deceptive; you don’t get any discount on the ticket, just on the meal.)
As the musical began, it became clear that a big part of the premise was trying to save the Los Angeles Sunset strip from being cleaned up and redeveloped. Seriously? Los Angeles? OK, I’ve never been there, but my impression, and what I’ve heard from people who have been, is that this isn’t a city that inspires great passion for preservation. The place seems like more of a necessary evil than anything else.
Still, I found I couldn’t help but be drawn in by the good-natured vibe of all the whole thing. Take, for example, the horrid “We Built this City”. This plays back as an echo from the chorus from the German developer who wants to tear everything down and start anew. “But we built this city on rock’n’roll!” It’s a short snippet, it’s performed better than the original (how could it be done worse?), and it’s funny.
And that sort of thing just keeps winning you over. It’s not taking itself seriously. One character keeps breaking the fourth wall (rather 90s, that) to comment on the play’s structure and how it plays with the musical conventions. That’s funny, and so are a lot of the other bits. A lot of the singers, particular strip club owner Mother and lead actor Drew, have fantastic voices. Only parts of the songs are performed, then you’re on to another.
And, well, not *all* the songs suck. I do have some fondness for “Hit Me with Your Best Shot”—much more comfortable here than in the original, as sung by male actor Franz, possibly the funniest character of all, and “Cum on Feel the Noize”, soundtrack to an exuberant moment at the rock club, and even “We’re Not Gonna Take It”—even though it’s used to protest the destruction of a sleazy rock club.
It’s also kind of a sexy musical, with the attractive young cast making the most of their assets. Male and female cast, I would add. (Even though I don’t really remember the 1980s as being so sex-drenched, but whatever.) And I did love the unexpected, big gay love story in the middle.
So, I clapped, I cheered, I wished I had bought tickets earlier so that I would have been in better seats. It is a pretty impressive achievement to put together such an appealing show on such an unpromising premise.
I didn’t getTwitter for a long time. I’d go there and not really see the point. In practical terms, I didn’t really understand how anything of value could be provided in 140 characters. And there was all that talk of people just tweeting about what they had for breakfast.
Now, though, I’m addicted.
I initially signed on based on a friend’s advice to do so just to get a good Twitter-name, even if I didn’t do much with it right away. Turned out she had a point; most variations of my name and my most commonly used web pseudonyms were already in use by others. But I did find an available combination.
Twitter has a bit of learning curve to it. I started by just following a small number of people and trying to figure it out from there. I soon learned that a lot of power is in the link; sure, you can’t say that much in 140 characters, but you can link to those details. (And to photos. And to videos.)
But when I’m say addicted, it’s not to tweeting itself, which I remain a little gun-shy about. (Apparently I have tweeted 28 times in total.) In fact, I’m still not completely clear on who sees what when it comes replies, direct replies, direct messages, retweets, private message… ? All in all, it’s easier to just listen, most of the time.
Currently I follow 59 accounts, some of whom haven’t tweeted in two years, some of whom tweet so frequently, I don’t know how they stay employed.
Among my favorites are the following.
@Elizabeth May: A lot of the politicians I follow tweet mostly dull platitudes, toeing the party line. Elizabeth May (federal leader of the Green Party, but you knew that) tweets more like a real person would. I particularly enjoy her tweets from Parliament Hill, which give insight into things that wouldn’t necessarily make the media:
I had planned to make a statement marking Remembrance Day. I am shocked the CPC has blocked my chance to speak.
They didn’t like the point I was making. 40 years 1913-1956 closure used 10x; in last 40 days, 7x
Conservatives keep limiting debate. They have the votes. Not sure why everything has to be forced thru.
Ban asbestos motion. First vote to keep asbestos trade, our PM.
John McCallum asked Tony Clement about an answer by tweet! Twitter seems to be Clement’s only forum 4 G8 $ Q’s. Baird takes all Qs in QP.
Though must say it’s not exactly improving my opinion of the Conservative Party of Canada.
@simont400000: He being Simon Townshend, the much younger brother of one Pete Townshend, and who also tours with Roger Daltrey. Been kind of fun “following” him on tour:
Great show in Vancouver. Smokin’ crowd! Two shows left on tour and the TCT charity gig in LA. Come along… 2.5k a ticket. Rock n’ Roll!
And his random tweets are also kind of funny:
@Kimmittable: I’m a real fan of your earlier work.” I said that to Joni Mitchell once and she told me to Fuck off. True!
And if you’re wondering what it’s like to not be famous yourself (though he is himself quite a talented composer and musician), but hanging with the very famous:
Getting home from tour is strange… no daily sheet, no room service, no living from suitcase or doing laundry – no gigs. Not being a pop star
@dizzyfeet: This being the moniker of Nigel Lithgow, producer of American Idol and judge on So You Think You Can Dance. It’s in the latter capacity that I’m interested, but I don’t follow anyone else connected with that show. Nigel’s feed is just hilarious as he so frequently engages in public battles with those who reply to this tweets. There’s a whole “Moron” meme running through his feed that you’d have to read back on to completely understand.
RT @Clamanity: @izzyfeet Emmy voters are morons. [I KNOW. I’VE BEEN HANDING OUT #MORON NUMBERS ALL NIGHT. HA, HA!]
He’s also satisfyingly blunt (not mean) in posting his opinion. He’s recently been listed on “Recommend people to follow on Twitter”, so I’m not the only one to notice the fun to be had here. His response:
Welcome to all my new followers. Thank you#NewYorkPost I felt truly proud. Bring on the#Morons.
But her feed covers a great deal more than the goings-on at Waterloo City Hall. She comments on Waterloo news in general, federal and provincial politics, food, family… An eclectic mix that very often seems to jibe with my own interests.
And I’ll leave the last tweet to her.
Oh Twitter, you are such a procrastination-enabler.
Not sure why, as Halloween’s not a big thing for me, but got a yen to put this together. Not claiming these are the ultimate Halloween songs—just which of my songs are most “Halloween-y”. (And I wasn’t aiming for 50 songs. That’s just where it landed.)
Angel Main Theme (the Sanctuary Extended Remix) – Darling Violetta – Live Fast, Die Never (Music from the TV Series)
Another World – Joe Jackson – Night And Day
Ballad for Dead Friends – Dashboard Prophets – Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Radio Sunnydale (Music from the TV Series)
Bat Out Of Hell – Meat Loaf – Bat Out of Hell
Beware Of Darkness – George Harrison – All Things Must Pass
Boris The Spider – The Who – Meaty Beaty Big And Bouncy
Brain Damage – Pink Floyd – Dark Side of the Moon
Buffy Main Title Theme – The Breeders – Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Radio Sunnydale (Music from the TV Series)
Clap For The Wolfman – The Guess Who – The Greatest Of The Guess Who
Comfortably Numb – Pink Floyd – Pink Floyd The Wall
Cry, Little Sister (Theme From The Lost Boys) – Gerard McMann – The Lost Boys
Dangerous – The Who – It’s Hard
The Devil You Know (God Is A Man) – Face To Face – Buffy The Vampire Slayer: The Album
Don’t Let The Sun Go Down On Me – Roger Daltrey – The Lost Boys
[A darker—and, I think, better—take on the Elton John song]
Down in the Park – Foo Fighters – Songs in the Key of X: Music from and Inspired by ‘the X-Files’
End Of The Night – The Doors – The Doors
Funhouse – P!nk – Greatest Hits…So Far!!!
Ghost Story – Sting – Brand New Day
Ghost Train – Elvis Costello & The Attractions – Get Happy!!
Keep Myself Awake – Black Lab – Buffy The Vampire Slayer: The Album
Lost In The Shadows – Lou Gramm – The Lost Boys
Moonlight Drive – The Doors – Strange Days
On the Run – Pink Floyd – Dark Side of the Moon
People Are Strange – Echo & The Bunnymen – The Lost Boys
[The original Doors version would also do. This cover isn’t much different.]
Phobia – The Kinks – Phobia
Rest In Peace – James Marsters – Once More, With Feeling (Buffy The Vampire Slayer)
Rhiannon – Fleetwood Mac – Greatest Hits
[Though Rhiannon isn’t a very scary witch]
Science Fiction/Double Feature – Richard O’Brien – Rocky Horror Picture Show
Showdown At Big Sky – Robbie Robertson – Robbie Robertson
Something’s Gonna Die Tonight – The Doughboys – Tribute to Hard Core Logo
Spooky Girlfriend – Elvis Costello – When I Was Cruel
Sympathy for the Devil – The Rolling Stones – Beggars Banquet
Tear Off Your Own Head (It’s A Doll Revolution) – Elvis Costello – When I Was Cruel
Thriller / Heads Will Roll – Glee Cast – Single
[I don’t have the Michael Jackson original, but I do like this mash-up]
The Time Warp – Rocky Horror cast – Rocky Horror Picture Show
Transylvania Concubine – Rasputina – Buffy The Vampire Slayer: The Album
Under a Raging Moon – Roger Daltrey – Under a Raging Moon
Under Your Spell / Standing (Reprise) – Amber Benson and Anthony Stewart Head – Once More, With Feeling (Buffy the Vampire Slayer)
Unmarked Helicopters – Soul Coughing – The X-Files: Songs In The Key Of X
Werewolves of London – Warren Zevon – Excitable Boy
[A recent acquisition. Ah-oo! Werewolves of London]
Wicked Annabella – Dave Davies – Rock Bottom Live At The Bottom Line
[So good I’ve included it twice.]
Wicked Annabella – The Kinks – The Kinks Are The Village Green Preservation Society
[One list I saw had Apeman by The Kinks as a Halloween song. What? Nothing Halloween-y about Apeman at all. This one, though, is about a scary witch who snatches away naughty children who refuse to go to sleep. Clearly composed by an exhausted parent.]
Witches’ Song – Marianne Faithfull – Broken English
X-Files Theme – Mark Snow – Songs in the Key of X: Music from and Inspired by ‘the X-Files’
X Files Theme (Remix) – P.M. Dawn – The X-Files: Songs In The Key Of X
You Took The Words Right Out Of My Mouth (Hot Summer Night) – Meat Loaf – Bat Out of Hell
[“On a hot summer’s night, will you give your throat to the wolf with the red roses?”]
It was a long piece, but I knew if we could get to the “Listening to You” chorus, we’d be all right. We’d have them.
—Pete Townshend on performing Tommy
The raison d’être for Roger Daltrey’s latest tour—apart from his continued desire to keep performing for as long as he possibly can—is to present the Tommy album live in a way The Who never did: Playing the entire thing, in order, with the full complement of harmonies and keyboards and everything included on that iconic album.
Witnessing this Friday night, it became clear that there are a few problems with that approach. The original album is sequenced a bit weirdly, both story-wise and musically. And even with the dropping long, instrumental “Underture”, it’s quite long. So while you would certainly build and gain momentum through some sequences: 1921, Amazing Journey, Sparks, Christmas… Or particularly, Pinball Wizard, Tommy Can You Hear Me, Smash the Mirror… Momentum would then somewhat be lost by the necessity of then performing a lesser track like Sensation or Sally Simpson.
(“Is this still Tommy?” Jean asked, about three-quarters of the way through.)
That said, there was still plenty to enjoy about the live performance of this opera, and it wasn’t all the expected stuff. Like, for example, seeing Roger Daltrey, for the first time (that I know of) taking on the villain’s roles in “Cousin Kevin” and “Fiddle About”. He seemed to really relish those two roles (maybe nice to finally not be the in Tommy/victim role), and sank his acting chops into the interpretation. I can honestly say I’ve never enjoyed either of those songs more.
30 years after being under Cousin Kevin’s boot, Daltrey finally gets to turn the table
Another surprise was just how enjoyable the silly little “Tommy’s Holiday Camp” song was—possibly because it is perhaps the only giddy moment in this rather grim little opera. It was totally fun.
And the songs you expected to be great… Really were great. Last time I saw Roger in concert, the microphone twirling was very limited and approached rather gingerly. But clearly the old man’s been practicing, because it was whipping around like nobody’s business during “Pinball Wizard” and the finale. It was impressive. See:
And speaking of that finale… I’ve seen many videotaped versions of The Who leading the crowd toward what seems an almost religious experience after Roger Daltrey sings the “See Me / Feel Me” chorus for the last time, and then everyone joins in on the “Listening to you / I get the music” chorus. But I’d never participated in that. And this crowd was fantastic. The second that moment came around, everyone was on their feet, rushing the stage, pumping their fists, singing along… It looked, sounded, and felt amazing. The ovation at the end was huge. Daltrey appeared really touched by it.
But how was the voice?
Last time I’d heard Daltrey perform, two years ago, the voice was not good. He’d even had to cancel some performances. So I felt grateful to have seen him perform at all. But that whole show, he was singing through a thick, nearly hoarse, rasp.
It was much, much better this time out. This isn’t to say it was perfect. Despite the humidifier going, the water, the tea, the strictly enforced smoking ban in theatre, the voice did crack on some of the high notes—for example, on the See Me / Feel Me part of “Christmas”. But it sounded beautiful on others — for example, on the See Me / Feel Part of “We’re Not Going to Take It”. And in the lower ranges, there were no issues at all.
(By the way, entire tour performances available from http://www.livedownloads.com/. I hear can now confirm that the Altanta show was particularly good – no voice cracking. )
The concert, Part 2
The second half of the show featured a variety of songs among the now rather large catalog Roger and his band have rehearsed. And where the Tommy had some unavoidable lulls, the second half was nothing but highlights, including (but not limited to):
A bluesy version of “My Generation”
A lovely take on my favorite Who song, “Behind Blue Eyes”
The Simon Townshend spotlight song, “Going Mobile”
An incendiary version of “Young Man’s Blues” (which Roger seems to love the irony of singing, now that he is the old man with all the money), complete with some highly showy microphone twirling, and integrations of the relatively rare Who track called “Water”.
Also fun was his solo track, “Days of Light”. And on “Baba O’Riley”, when he unbuttoned his shirt all the way (as the Toronto Sun’s [female] writer said, “it was an impressive display.” It’s not normal to get even more fit and muscular as you age, is it?), raised his arm, and his full head of hair was backlit, you were definitely reminded that this was the iconic rock God of the seventies, right there, right now, still.
Still a rock god
We want to be on stage, but we don’t want to be on a pedestal. We’re like you. I’m like you. That’s what this song says to me.
— Roger Daltrey, Toronto, September 30, 2011
Since I knew that the playlist for the second half varied from night to night, I was trying not to get my hopes up about any particular song being performed. But in truth, there is one I really wanted to hear: “Without Your Love”. [Because I’m a sap!] I was not to be disappointed on that front. He did a lovely job with it.
After that, he explained that they had a strict time limit for this particular performance, and performed one last song, the lovely “Red Blue and Grey”. I was feeling slightly miffed at apparently getting a shortened show, but you know, the thing started before 8:00 (with a quite good opening act), Roger and band took the stage somewhere between 8:30 and 8:45, and it was nearly 11:00 when it was over. No breaks.
I supposed 2-2.5 hours is a reasonable length of concert for a 67-year-old man who just had throat surgery.
Our seats
Though I tried not to fret overly much before attending this concert, one thing I did wonder about a bit was just how good our seats were, really. Turns out, they were really very good. We were in the fifth row, and though not right in the center, you could see everything really well. The only problem, really, is that is not very good seats for taking pictures and video. There was always a light right behind Roger’s head, which just washed out his face on film.
One photo that didn’t turn out too badly
Fortunately, there were hundreds taking pictures and video there, so I’m not going to be deprived of that.
We did get talking to people before the show started. The guy beside us was kind of funny, as he didn’t seem entirely sure what he was about to see. And his question about how much the seat cost confused me a bit as well. Maybe he won his in in a contest? But, turns out he’d bought tickets from a scalper minutes before, so that explained that. He was a very friendly American from Florida, who’d last seen The Who perform around 1979.
And the people in the row in front us of turned out to be from Waterloo as well. But they’d bought their tickets on Tuesday! This Tuesday! Ticketmaster, I bought my tickets the day they went on sale. Why did these people get better ones, four days before the show? (They said it wasn’t from a reseller or anything.)
[Almost forgot about some lady behind us—apparently not such a big fan—who was nearly freaking out at having been told how long the show would be. Kind of funny.]
Anyway. The important thing is I was really close to Roger Daltrey again, and in fact, even managed to go stand right in front of the stage by evening’s end. (Even though we didn’t make eye contact this time.)
The band
The set list was actually somewhat similar to that of the 2009 Use It or Lose It tour, but it sure has acquired a professional sheen on this tour. In introducing his band, Roger said that they were “the best band I have ever played with.” Now, I don’t know if he’s including The Who among the bands he has played with, but there is no denying he has assembled a fantastic group of musicians here. They provide beautiful backup harmonies throughout, and completely solid musical accompaniment.
I also kind of met them before the show. As I was asking Jean if he remembered seeing what was likely Roger Daltrey’s limo drive past us when were walking over to the Orillia show two years ago [he didn’t], a big limo bus pulled up to the stage entrance of the Sony Centre. So we ambled over to see who would get off. Clearly, we did not meet Mr. Daltrey, or even the young Mr. Townshend. But we did see the keyboard player, and the drummer, and musical director and lead guitarist Frank Simes was particularly nice with all the fans.
The famous-only-by-association Frank Simes
Our buddy Frank on stage
The crowd
I’ve already mentioned them a few times, but it was a great crowd. (The place looked sold out to me; I don’t know if it actually was.) Mostly boomers, of course, but a number of them brought their teenage kids, so that made for a nice younger contingent. I could sense (and hear, in all the singalongs) a real diehard Who crowd. Jean, who didn’t have such a constant laser focus on the man onstage, spent more time actually looking at the crowd and enjoying how much they were enjoying it.
And I’ll leave the last words to Jean.
You know, I didn’t hate that. I didn’t hate that at all.
We were eased into the whole thing with Newtonian physics, solid and elegant, as represented by the first movement of Mozart’s Symphony No. 29 in A major. Then, it was explained, delving into the realm of quantum mechanics seemed to put all that in doubt. We had particles that could be both here, and there. Elements that didn’t behave in a mathematically cohesive way. Physics theories that no longer aligned.
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