View from D19.

Colin Currie Group
Reich, Turnage

Queen Elizabeth Hall, 7:30pm, Thursday 28th March 2024.

Steve Reich:
Music for pieces of wood

Rolf Wallin:
Twine for xylophone & marimba

Julia Wolfe:
Dark full ride for percussion quartet

Interval

Steve Reich:
Drumming - Part 1 for tuned bongo drums

Mark-Anthony Turnage:
New England Etudes for percussion sextet (UK premiere)

Pairs of Claves.(Guardian)

Music for pieces of wood by Steve Reich live was all I had hoped for. The staccato hit and the slight after sound of each of the five wooden pieces were very clear and the interaction in phasing and the notes was fascinating. At the end of the piece the absolute silence of the concert hall was met with happy applause. I was three rows back from the stage at eye level with the standing performers so was not really aware of the size of the audience in the full (I think) hall.

The xylophone and marimba have distinctive 'voices' as in the Rolf Wallin piece. This might be one overall impression from the evening’s performance, just how unique the instruments are but how they fit into the synthesised sounds that may be more familiar today.

Four drummers.(Guardian)

The four drummers on similar kits for the Julia Wolfe piece demonstrated just how much unique sound can be produced from high hat, cymbals and drums. The ensemble nature of the piece was very clear, the musicians were working together as one!

I think that I have actually seen the Steve Reich Drumming - Part 1 performed by the group previously. The format was familiar and the attack, retreat and phasing through the piece was acute, once again ending with the extraordinary silence of the venue. It is quite curious to compare the compositional elements in this piece with the tape loops utilised by many contemporary musical performers.

Final stage set.

The stage was set with a multitude of instruments for the final piece of the evening, New England Etudes by Mark-Anthony Turnage. I am not familiar with the composers work but the five sections expressed different emphasis available from the range of percussive instruments, including bells and chimes.

I am making notes principally for my own benefit as having established a very enjoyable concert going routine it is occasionally frustrating not to have a point of reference!

Lankum
False Lankum

Hackney Empire, 8:00pm, Sunday 19th May 2024.

F23 & F24 at the back of the Upper Circle provided a good view of the stage.

Lankum line-up:-

Ian Lynch - vocals, uilleann pipes, concertina, tin whistle, percussion

Daragh Lynch - vocals, guitar, percussion, piano

Cormac Mac Diarmada - vocals, fiddle, viola, banjo, double bass, vibraphone, piano, percussion

Radie Peat - vocals, bayan, concertina, harmonium, organ, piano, electric organ, harp, mellotron

John Dermody - drums, percussion

...plus guest.

The warm up act was a bit strange and followed the current idiom of a performer working with a soundtrack that may well be of their own making…

Lankum took the stage at about 9:00pm and worked their way through the album with occasional breaks to converse with the audience.

There were some peaks in response from that audience, 'New York Trader' probably being the highest response. There were some dark moments after initial Irish Folk starts which felt light but were very well ‘mixed’ at the sound desk!

The final piece before encores had the players leaving the stage as helicopters 'circled' the auditorium.

In a way, the encores missed the point of the finale and so did not have a great impact.

If I was being cynical I would say that the 'theatrical' aspect was 'smoke and mirrors' and that 'doom-folk' was all it was, but I am not! The accordions, harmoniums and other unusual instruments were given full voice and I think that the manager/producer/sound mixer was doing a very good job!

I was home by 11:00pm after the short (5 minutes) walk home.

Albert Lee

Cadogan Hall, 6:30pm, Sunday 2nd June.

A15, a good seat!

Albert Lee
80 Years of a guitar legend

It felt like gatecrashing a family event with various friends and relatives being called onto the stage as the evening progressed. The various instruments and vocalists could only occasionally be heard above the collective mush so it was probably not the best event at which to appreciate the special capabilities of the headline guitarist, Albert Lee. Ralph McTell's spot was probably the only one when clarity and stage presence came to the fore.

Travel to and from the venue is quite quick via Overground, Victoria line and the Circle/District line.

Bill Frisell 'Four'

Cadogan Hall
7:30pm, Friday 25th October.
Stalls, DD12+DD13.

Bill Frisell, electric guitar
Greg Tardy, tenor sax, clarinet
Gerald Clayton, piano
Johnathan Blake, drums

I have found that arriving early and watching the audience gather can be a significant part of the event!

The front four rows are not raked but on this occasion sitting in DD13 empty seats in the row in front gave a complete stage view.

I am no music critic knowing the names of the pieces, just a punter listening to the beautifully balanced sound with a jaw line that simply says ‘wow’. There was only one piece that I recognised from the album really but that did not matter… I was ‘interested’ to see/hear a screened/muffled drum kit action. It worked perfectly to my ear!

The official set photo from FB

The set was in two parts, the first half seemed to end all too soon and the second flew by and was followed by an encore. The playing throughout was crisp and 'brilliant'!

I hope that a proper review does turn up and will make a link...

I'll also see if there are any other references to the screened drum kit as the end result was particularly good to my somewhat tired ears.

Hearing live music is very special. I have been wondering about the learning process in respect of 'looking at art' as in The National Gallery Van Gogh exhibition.

So looking at a painting for the first time is the equivalent of hearing a piece of music for the first time.

Pat Metheny

Barbican Hall
7:30pm, Saturday 16th November.
Circle, Row L, Seat 43.

I have been here before, to this exact 'place'!

There was a 'good' set from the band in the foyer. It was much busier than I remember from previous occasions.

'Madly talented showman...' I recognised quite a few 'tunes' but there was not much from the latest solo album even if that was how the tour had been promoted.

The additional guitars and percussion 'units' that he presented towards the end of the set were a reference, maybe, to others, not present!

Interesting to hear his remarks about the baritone guitar and the Canadian guitar maker Linda Manzer who made many of the instruments that he used on the set. That has been a multi year collaboration!

I was happy to find this review by By Emily Bootle on iNews:- Pat Metheny at The Barbican ...but it is a paying site!

Being in the back row of the circle was just fine. It was a good view of the stage even if a bit distant.

It was a really good show and once again I was pleased to have found the details many months ahead of the performance date!

I was happy to find this review by By Emily Bootle on iNews:-

When Pat Metheny began learning the guitar at age 12, he was just like thousands of other young musicians of the 1960s: sitting in his living room in Lee's Summit, Missouri, strumming Beatles songs and struggling with the F chord. Now, at age 70, he has somewhat diverged from the majority: he has won 20 Grammys, released more than 50 albums and is known as one of the greatest guitarists of all time. On Saturday night at the Barbican, in the second of two sold-out solo concerts at the London Jazz Festival, he was entrancing. Metheny cuts an unassuming figure: he emerged looking like a roadie in a black jumper with the sleeves rolled up, faded black jeans and black trainers (topped off, of course, with his signature shoulder-length shaggy haircut).

But when he picked up his guitar - first a nylon-string acoustic - he transformed into the musical wizard everyone was here to see. That said, if you didn't know anything about him, you may have found the first 20 minutes confounding. Rather than playing specific songs from his 50-year oeuvre, he played what seemed like a stream of consciousness, incorporating snippets from crowd favourites (like 1993's 'Have You Heard') but through flow-state noodling. He pinged harmonics and made the guitar sing, before moving on to acoustic renditions of songs from Under the Missouri Sky, his 1997 album with the legendary bassist Charlie Haden. Later, though, as Metheny progressed onto different guitars (in between addressing the audience on the mic, speaking more than he ever has at a concert in the UK, about his creative journey), a picture began to form of the multicoloured genius that makes him the artist he is.

After 45 minutes of playing quiet, dreamy melodies, he became more experimental: a track on an electro-acoustic bass guitar, he used the plectrum over the fretboard to create thunder and crashes, recording on a loop pedal as he went to create a wall of furious sound; 15 minutes with the famous 42-string 'Pikasso' guitar - thus named due to its distorted appearance with three extra fretboards - that he had specially made. Then an extended spoken intro to the baritone guitar led to the beautiful, meditative work from his new album, Moondial, written solely for that instrument - and eventually he picked up his signature hollow-bodied electric, playing soaring melodies over chords he'd looped on the acoustic. It was that classic Pat Metheny sound, and it was ecstatic - but that intimate feel that had been there from the outset remained, as though we were watching him play freely in his bedroom.

After a standing ovation, Metheny came out for an encore - a curtain was pulled back to reveal his 'mechanical orchestra', a huge contraption of percussion instruments programmed to play themselves in a jangling, tapping cacophony. Having been seated for most of the concert, he walked around the stage playing different guitars, looping sections, and eventually bringing out his synth guitar. This was so thrilling that Metheny was called back to the stage four more times. For his fifth and final encore, he played his version of a Beatles song, 'And I Love Her', on an acoustic guitar - a fitting end to a concert about a lifelong love affair between a boy from Missouri and his magical new instrument.

Laurie Anderson
ARK : United States V

The Hall, Aviva Studios
Water Street, Manchester, M3 4JQ
7.30pm, Saturday 23rd November.
Stalls, Door B, P20.

It is a brand new building overlooking the River Irwell with concert hall and other facilities.

The approaches to the building are somewhat strange. The railway arches are incorporated in the interior space.

I arrived early in order to get something to eat and drink. There were limited tables available and so I ended up sharing. There was some engaging chatter!

The seating was very good with excellent sight lines.

The stage props were a bit simplistic but the stage lighting animated them during the performance.

Laurie Anderson played her various violins and keybords and there was a guitarist/wind instrument player and a percussionist. There were various elements on an accompanying sound track and a choir joined the set on two occasions.

The signature voice modulation was used quite often and there were two video sites, either side of the stage where the performers could be projected onto the back of the stage, sometimes with visual effects.

Intermission view.

Studio International Review

The performance got underway at 7:30pm. It was a bit long but 'she' was in fine form and quite often hit the lyrical trademarks... The digs into the condition of the USA were hilarious. Elon Musk was caricatured to great effect!

There were two instances where the whole audience was asked to participate in the performance. The first, early on was a 10 second scream, quite hard to sustain I found. The second, after the choir had performed their final part was a closing tai chi collaboration.

Telling a story as Laurie Anderson described it, 'an opera' is never going to be completely without breaks in continuity and emphasis but I did think that the performance held together. I suspect that shortening the time line would be very challenging!

Colin Currie Quartet play Anna Meredith

Kings Place
7:30pm, Saturday 7th December.
Stalls, West Door D13.

David Horne:
Pulse for solo marimba

Aileen Sweeney:
Starburst, London Premiere

Ben Nobuto:
Daily Affirmation, World Premiere

Steve Reich:
Mallet Quartet

Anna Meredith:
Dodgem Studies arranged for percussion quartet, World Premiere

Colin Currie
Owen Gunnell
Adrian Spillett
Sam Walton

I arrived early, even before the concert bar was open and watched the gradual arrival of the audience and the switch to pastel colours...

Given the publicity shot of the group I expected a similar stage format but the initial set was dominated by the Marimba One.

Colin Currie performed the opening solo piece which was well focused, requiring quite a lot of footwork from the performer. Afterwards the large instrument was shuffled to the side and then to the back of the stage.

The Aileen Sweeney piece did not make much on an impression but the final piece in the first half of the evenings performance by Ben Nobuto utilised an extensive palette of percussive sounds and was quite glorious in its expression.

There was a considerable shuffling of instruments in the interval but the drums in the publicity shot did not appear. The actual Steve Reich piece that was performed was one that I know (Quartet: I. Fast, Quartet: II. Slow, Quartet: III. Fast) and it seemed to me to be a very tight performance all the way to the final crescendo! It was a welcome treat to be surprised in this way.

The shuffling of instruments became a shuffling of players for the final Anna Meredith piece. I found this to be a distraction and the inclusion of two keyboard driven synthesisers really did not work for me, not least because the sounds produced were somewhat one dimensional in the scheme of things, lacking depth, squeaky even!

An interesting evening and I will be looking out for further performances by the group.