Vesper is that the operatic adaptation of The Wall that debuted in Montreal the other day?
give us a review please? I hadn't heard much about this
I thought Roger was supposed to be working on his new album, not yet another version of The Wall
Vesper is that the operatic adaptation of The Wall that debuted in Montreal the other day?
give us a review please? I hadn't heard much about this
I thought Roger was supposed to be working on his new album, not yet another version of The Wall
It was! I was at opening night. The stage version really focused on the relationship of Pink and his Mother. They also played with time in in a much less linear fashion than the album. Little Pink was on the stage most of the time, often in a gas mask. A second (I guess third really) Pink was always on stage on a gurney surrounded by nurses.
Another change was the backstory of the Mother and Father was flushed out. It was made clear that the two really cared for one another. In the movie I felt like that was implied but you did not see it. It made you feel more for the Mother when she was being overbearing.
They made the teacher a little less comical and more terrifying. At the end the teacher was literally a crow along with all of the other people in his life and they circle around Pink like he is a dead body.
The singer who played the Wife was genius. She had flame red hair and a red wrap dress and spent most of the opera essentially naked. They really drove home the coldness between her and Pink. At one point she was actually eating money! She also turned into a crow at the end.
What is a little hard to explain is while all of this was going on a group of people were standing on stage left for the entire opera. At the end they came out and became part of the wall, then it fell and they walked out and sang an apology of sorts but it came across as a requiem.
I was very intrigued with the choice of the composer Julien Bilodeau. He is from Montreal so it felt like a good choice since the Wall came about because of Roger having a melt down in Montreal. I listened to a good deal of his work in advance. I would say Debussy meets Webern, but the opera felt very different and more accessible. The Opera de Montreal had some MIDI recording up on that you could listen to and I was concerned I had signed on for three hours of Phillip Glass. In person it was very lush. Roger wrote the libretto and it was brilliant. It was very concise.
Next year the cast will be in Cincinnati and I will be going for sure!
As a fun sidenote you could drink "Pinks" during intermission which were St. Germain, pink champagne and blood orange.
I'm a pretty big fan. I was a huge fan in high school, bought every album (on CD, this was the 90's), read a rock bio on them, etc. I still really like them but I don't dive into the whole catalog like I did back when I was really avid. I still listen to Wish You Were Here and Animals quite a bit, the latter being my favorite Floyd album. And for some reason I've always enjoyed The Final Cut, particularly Not Now John.
As for Radiohead I thought they were pretty good when I was in high school. OK Computer was a pretty big album for me, but I stopped following them after a while. Kid A wasn't bad but weird, Amnesiac was pretty lame except for the song I Might Be Wrong and Hail To The Thief was an OK album but eventually their sound got so electronic that it didn't interest me much anymore. And sometime in my 20's I got tired of my music having so much angst/depression in it and sort of focused on stuff like Beatles/Stones/Hendrix etc. Maybe it's why I don't listen to Floyd as much as I used to, it's a little too serious for me to throw on daily.
I been a FloydFan since The Wall came out when I was in grade 9
saw Roger on his Pros & Cons tour, when Clapton was briefly in his band
saw the DaveFloyd in 1987, while they were still opening the show with Echoes (they dropped it from the setlist after a halfdozen shows)
saw Roger again with "special guests" performing the Wall in Berlin in 1990
then saw Dave (and Rick) in 2006 for the On an Island tour, performing in a small theatre (Toronto's Massey Hall)
I have most all of their catalog on vinyl, including some obscurer side projects like Music from the Body and Zee:Identity, as well as some of those mysterious live/rare type records
anybody shell out for their obscenely expensive Early Years box set? (theyre asking $700-) I know I need all that previously unreleased stuff in official form, but unfortunately I need to pay rent more ... my teenage self is outraged that middle-aged me doesn't have his priorities straight
I haven't shelled out for any of the recent Pink Floyd remasters and boxes, they sort of priced me out of being a completist fan. They've always been a pretty expensive band, even in the 90's some of their CDs were kind of hard to find and maybe due to limited pressings (compared to the more popular albums) were a couple of bucks higher. Or so it seemed, or maybe it's just that I had to buy some of them at places like Borders that were more expensive. Plus they had quite a few multi-disc sets. I still have all the old CDs though, but I never upgraded to these Immersion Box Sets or whatever they're called. I hate to waste money on buying half a product like the "basic" sets but I can't see myself spending that much money on a band that I still love but it no longer in my Top 10. Plus I have a pretty expensive Stones habit, another very expensive band to follow.
Is This The Life We Really Want?
Roger Waters' first proper album in 25 years is coming out soon
produced by Radiohead collaborator Nigel Godrich
two songs have been released so far
Is This The Life We Really Want?
Roger Waters' first proper album in 25 years is coming out soon
produced by Radiohead collaborator Nigel Godrich
two songs have been released so far
Long live rock and roll B-) Should sell some records.
Check out my Amazon author page!Mark Loeffelholz
"I am not an entrant in the Shakespeare Stakes." - Ian Fleming
"Screw 'em." - Daniel Craig, The Best James Bond EverTM
I kind of love and hate this cover. My phone recommends links I might like. This was one along with Bond news, footballs scores and star sapphires on eBay. It is scary how well my phone knows me.
I love anything with a dulcimer, dobro or slide guitar.
I saw Roger Waters last night. It was a kind of "come to Jesus" moment for me. It was the kind of show you leave feeling a little mad because you will never see anything that good again. He played a mix of his solo stuff and Pink Floyd music. It all really meshed well together. What was neat what he took the idea of "the wall" and made it about a literal wall between the US and Mexico. It was a very political and impactful show. He has strong opinions and he expressed them.
The reality is I am sure this is the only time I will be able to see Roger Waters. My only consolation is Tool is around and they have many things in common.
that stage set looks as big as the real Battersea Power Station
glad you got to see the show Vesper
LoeffelholzThe United States, With LovePosts: 8,998Quartermasters
I've never seen Waters in person, but I'm sure it's a great show. I have seen Gilmour on one of his solo tours, and it was outstanding. I'm jealous
Check out my Amazon author page!Mark Loeffelholz
"I am not an entrant in the Shakespeare Stakes." - Ian Fleming
"Screw 'em." - Daniel Craig, The Best James Bond EverTM
What shocked me was he came to Greensboro, NC. It is not a small town but it is not the largest in the state. Turns out his vocalist is from Greensboro so it was kind of sweet that he added it as a stop. He also brought up local school children to sing "Another Brick in the Wall (part 2.)" Then he thanked them for "working with him."
So that wall was about the size of a basketball court and a piggy band (it said piggy bank for war) was a little larger than a Mini and was circling around with fans on the back so it would keep moving. Then at one point everyone on stage put on pig masks and started to drink champagne! It was wild. I normally hate when people take pictures at shows but I had to document it.
I've always wanted to have Christmas in Turkey
LoeffelholzThe United States, With LovePosts: 8,998Quartermasters
Roger epitomizes the rock and roll philosophy. His politics and mine don't align well, but I'm a huge fan and very much enjoy what he does. Long may he live and rock on B-)
Check out my Amazon author page!Mark Loeffelholz
"I am not an entrant in the Shakespeare Stakes." - Ian Fleming
"Screw 'em." - Daniel Craig, The Best James Bond EverTM
first cut from a new album, called Luck and Strange, to be released in September, featuring old collaborators like Guy Pratt, jazz drummer Steve Gadd, and various family members.
To my ears the above track has the same sleepy campfire vibe as 2006's On An Island, with a bit of boogie towards the end
the cd version of the album, when it comes out, will have two bonus tracks not available on the vinyl, one of which will be a 13 minute "Barn Jam" recorded with Rick Wright when he was still alive
of course theres already a wikipedia page. Floydians may be old stoners but they have always been computer savvy,
EDIT: I changed the embedded video link above, because a day later theres an official music video instead of a static graphic. check out the shots in his studio, how many geetars he owns. We watch him play at least four different stringed instruments just in this one song. Is that slidey thing a dobro? the slidey bits are always my favourite part. what is the little miniature guitar he strums at the beginning, a ukelele?
I've never been too interested in solo stuff from the Floyd, sorry.
While not a huge fan (that would be Genesis) it would have been hard for a British teenager in the 70s to have gone to friends houses and not listened to Floyd, and maybe buy an album or two.
I've got all the albums Inc live ones (always my preference, whoever it is) except one- The Wall. Now that might seem strange, but I have owned it at least twice (vinyl and CD) and these days I listen to Is There Anybody Out There? instead.
Edit: Btw, I mean the official albums - I'm not venturing into the endless world of boots.
The Wall was more appealing when I was an angry alienated teenager, not what I want to listen to at this point in life (it was actually my high school psychiatrist who recommended the album to me)
and one Floyd item I have never owned is the film Alan Parker made based on the Wall, though I certainly watched it enough when it came out. far too much blood and fascist imagery. The Gerald Scarfe animations are very cool though
these days I prefer the loose instrumental stuff they did before Dark Side, what Waters dismissed as "blobs", and there are several bootlegs that represent that period better than the studio albums (eg their BBC recording sessions)
The Wall is frequently criticized as Waters taking over, reducing the others to session musicians buried under a collage of sound effects, and if you agree with that (every musician I know does) then the live album definitely sounds more like a true band effort, with a few instrumental breaks that did not make the studio album
Call me a heretic but I much prefer the Gilmour songs on THE WALL to the Waters songs.
The album of theirs that I probably gravitate towards the most nowadays is ANIMALS. It used to be DARK SIDE OF THE MOON and/or WISH YOU WERE HERE, but I've kinda killed those by overplaying them.
Comments
Roger Waters hugging his fake Mother.
give us a review please? I hadn't heard much about this
I thought Roger was supposed to be working on his new album, not yet another version of The Wall
Another change was the backstory of the Mother and Father was flushed out. It was made clear that the two really cared for one another. In the movie I felt like that was implied but you did not see it. It made you feel more for the Mother when she was being overbearing.
They made the teacher a little less comical and more terrifying. At the end the teacher was literally a crow along with all of the other people in his life and they circle around Pink like he is a dead body.
The singer who played the Wife was genius. She had flame red hair and a red wrap dress and spent most of the opera essentially naked. They really drove home the coldness between her and Pink. At one point she was actually eating money! She also turned into a crow at the end.
What is a little hard to explain is while all of this was going on a group of people were standing on stage left for the entire opera. At the end they came out and became part of the wall, then it fell and they walked out and sang an apology of sorts but it came across as a requiem.
I was very intrigued with the choice of the composer Julien Bilodeau. He is from Montreal so it felt like a good choice since the Wall came about because of Roger having a melt down in Montreal. I listened to a good deal of his work in advance. I would say Debussy meets Webern, but the opera felt very different and more accessible. The Opera de Montreal had some MIDI recording up on that you could listen to and I was concerned I had signed on for three hours of Phillip Glass. In person it was very lush. Roger wrote the libretto and it was brilliant. It was very concise.
Next year the cast will be in Cincinnati and I will be going for sure!
As a fun sidenote you could drink "Pinks" during intermission which were St. Germain, pink champagne and blood orange.
As for Radiohead I thought they were pretty good when I was in high school. OK Computer was a pretty big album for me, but I stopped following them after a while. Kid A wasn't bad but weird, Amnesiac was pretty lame except for the song I Might Be Wrong and Hail To The Thief was an OK album but eventually their sound got so electronic that it didn't interest me much anymore. And sometime in my 20's I got tired of my music having so much angst/depression in it and sort of focused on stuff like Beatles/Stones/Hendrix etc. Maybe it's why I don't listen to Floyd as much as I used to, it's a little too serious for me to throw on daily.
I been a FloydFan since The Wall came out when I was in grade 9
saw Roger on his Pros & Cons tour, when Clapton was briefly in his band
saw the DaveFloyd in 1987, while they were still opening the show with Echoes (they dropped it from the setlist after a halfdozen shows)
saw Roger again with "special guests" performing the Wall in Berlin in 1990
then saw Dave (and Rick) in 2006 for the On an Island tour, performing in a small theatre (Toronto's Massey Hall)
I have most all of their catalog on vinyl, including some obscurer side projects like Music from the Body and Zee:Identity, as well as some of those mysterious live/rare type records
anybody shell out for their obscenely expensive Early Years box set? (theyre asking $700-) I know I need all that previously unreleased stuff in official form, but unfortunately I need to pay rent more ... my teenage self is outraged that middle-aged me doesn't have his priorities straight
http://cultmontreal.com/2017/03/another-brick-in-the-wall-opera-montreal/
Roger Waters' first proper album in 25 years is coming out soon
produced by Radiohead collaborator Nigel Godrich
two songs have been released so far
Smell the Roses
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PEh7Ip4yvH8
Déjà Vu, performed live on Steven Colbert show
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r3YlyE58LAk
Long live rock and roll B-) Should sell some records.
"I am not an entrant in the Shakespeare Stakes." - Ian Fleming
"Screw 'em." - Daniel Craig, The Best James Bond EverTM
I love anything with a dulcimer, dobro or slide guitar.
http://societyofrock.com/contestant-puts-southern-twist-on-another-brick-in-the-wall-and-makes-every-judge-hit-their-button/
http://www.davidgilmourcinematickets.com/synopsis/
The reality is I am sure this is the only time I will be able to see Roger Waters. My only consolation is Tool is around and they have many things in common.
glad you got to see the show Vesper
"I am not an entrant in the Shakespeare Stakes." - Ian Fleming
"Screw 'em." - Daniel Craig, The Best James Bond EverTM
So that wall was about the size of a basketball court and a piggy band (it said piggy bank for war) was a little larger than a Mini and was circling around with fans on the back so it would keep moving. Then at one point everyone on stage put on pig masks and started to drink champagne! It was wild. I normally hate when people take pictures at shows but I had to document it.
"I am not an entrant in the Shakespeare Stakes." - Ian Fleming
"Screw 'em." - Daniel Craig, The Best James Bond EverTM
lets bump the Pink Floyd thread! Floydian discussion deserves its own focused thread
David Gilmour has a new song out today, called The Pipers Call
first cut from a new album, called Luck and Strange, to be released in September, featuring old collaborators like Guy Pratt, jazz drummer Steve Gadd, and various family members.
To my ears the above track has the same sleepy campfire vibe as 2006's On An Island, with a bit of boogie towards the end
the cd version of the album, when it comes out, will have two bonus tracks not available on the vinyl, one of which will be a 13 minute "Barn Jam" recorded with Rick Wright when he was still alive
of course theres already a wikipedia page. Floydians may be old stoners but they have always been computer savvy,
____________________________________________________________________
EDIT: I changed the embedded video link above, because a day later theres an official music video instead of a static graphic. check out the shots in his studio, how many geetars he owns. We watch him play at least four different stringed instruments just in this one song. Is that slidey thing a dobro? the slidey bits are always my favourite part. what is the little miniature guitar he strums at the beginning, a ukelele?
I've never been too interested in solo stuff from the Floyd, sorry.
While not a huge fan (that would be Genesis) it would have been hard for a British teenager in the 70s to have gone to friends houses and not listened to Floyd, and maybe buy an album or two.
I've got all the albums Inc live ones (always my preference, whoever it is) except one- The Wall. Now that might seem strange, but I have owned it at least twice (vinyl and CD) and these days I listen to Is There Anybody Out There? instead.
Edit: Btw, I mean the official albums - I'm not venturing into the endless world of boots.
The Wall was more appealing when I was an angry alienated teenager, not what I want to listen to at this point in life (it was actually my high school psychiatrist who recommended the album to me)
and one Floyd item I have never owned is the film Alan Parker made based on the Wall, though I certainly watched it enough when it came out. far too much blood and fascist imagery. The Gerald Scarfe animations are very cool though
these days I prefer the loose instrumental stuff they did before Dark Side, what Waters dismissed as "blobs", and there are several bootlegs that represent that period better than the studio albums (eg their BBC recording sessions)
The Wall is frequently criticized as Waters taking over, reducing the others to session musicians buried under a collage of sound effects, and if you agree with that (every musician I know does) then the live album definitely sounds more like a true band effort, with a few instrumental breaks that did not make the studio album
Call me a heretic but I much prefer the Gilmour songs on THE WALL to the Waters songs.
The album of theirs that I probably gravitate towards the most nowadays is ANIMALS. It used to be DARK SIDE OF THE MOON and/or WISH YOU WERE HERE, but I've kinda killed those by overplaying them.
You can keep all that boring psychedelic pony and trap - Glam Rock Rules! 😁😜