MELTING DOWN PT4...

Current mood: HEAVY
Category: HEAVY Music

The bike ride to the Royal Festival Hall is becoming familiar, in the way a route into work becomes familiar - which makes sense, because though it might sound like one long whoopsie, each night at the Hall is big work for PG£.

Yes boss, plenty of people enter into writing, or music, or art, because they think it's one long Friday night: Parties, booze, adoration, fun, respect, the easy life - which is all a part of it, but the endless hard work to create that, and the disrespect and distrust you get along the way is also massive, and many who figure it's simply a matter of turning up and being a genius, drop off the pace...


When I worked a more regular job for the mail gangsters in Bermondsey, my route into work involved crossing Tower Bridge everyday.

This was back in 2003, when for 43 days, David Blaine was sat in his box not eating food and drinking only water, in the name of entertainment.

I often took a d-tour along infront of his box to say good morning or good evening.

I also went down the night he emerged.

Dizzee Rascal was filming a video Sex Pistols style on the Thames at the exact same time.

Blaine was lowered out of the box and you could hear

'HE'S JUS' A RASCAL, DIZZEE RASCAL!!!'

booming in off the river.

At the time I thought it was all a part of the Blaine thing, but it turned out it was for this vid..

I've got it all recorded on minidisc - at that time I was recording everything - I was my own personal Mi5

Blaines was a good stunt anyway, but I'm not sure he's ever properly recovered from it..


So, I get to the Royal Festival Hall, park up the yello peril and go to find my tickets.

After the near miss of 2 nights ago, I'm nervous as to whether they're gonna be there, but there they are sitting atop the table: Paul Giovanni +1

I like the boss more and more - but I have no plus one to use the spare ticket.

I'm trying to organise a full time, on call assistant/agent/manager to use my plus ones and do some talking for the times i go mute - it's prooving to be a harder task to find someone than I thought..


Anyway, this is the second time in a year I've seen a live version of the Bladerunner soundtrack.

The first time was in Startford. Then, the whole film was played, whilst Grime producer Terror Danjah jammed the soundtrack over the top. A review of that one can be seen here....

This time, it's just the soundtrack as appears on the CD with no film.

It's to be performed by the Heritage Orchestra and mixed live by Massive Attack.


My seats are peach slap bang in the middle 10 rows up.

The front of the stage is awash with percussion instruments: Glockenspeils, Timpani, Regular Drums, a Piano and huge xylophones.

I love xylophones. In fact I need a xylophone. Giovanni junior will also need a xylophone...

Basically, I NEED A ROOM FULL OF FUCKING XYLOPHONES!!!!

PARROTS AND XYLOPHONES ARE MOST DEFINATELY THE WAY FORWARD!!!


And the Bladerunner music??

It's fucking brilliant!! It's ages since I've watched a full orchestra LIVE - when my sister was playing in them, choirs and orchestra's were a regular, but nowadays it's a rarer treat.

The sound in this B-version is loyal and true to the original and on a visual level, you've got these banks of LED lights, which, if you defocus the eyes, become the enormously bleak tower blocks of the film.

It's pure evocation of a still and distant place somewhere dark, and I happily, and quickly melt into it...


The gig is short. The soundtrack is less than an hour.

I go upstairs to join the beautiful people, but the room isn't set up.

When it is, I chat with a sound engineer.

In little over a weeks time, he'll be mixing the sound on the Glastonbury main stage and I'll be attempting to set up wine deals in London with Mrs Giovanni's brother.

Non-Stop Working.


Chris Cunningham, who's day job is making vids like this

and this

is wandering about. He's said to be DJaying the after party, but he doesn't appear to fancy it.


Downstairs in the ballroom, it's grime and dubstep, that's been moved over from the Queen Elizabeth Hall, because the frequencies were destroying the building - SERIOUSLY!! - things were falling off the ceiling, so they had to move it over...

Now, I'm not a huge fan of dubstep, but whoever's playing there and then is good. There's a guy on the sound desk at the back of the room. He's got 3 guitar fx pedals sitting on top of the desk through which the on stage playing is being routed: Trombone, drums and HEAVY HEAVY BASS!!!

Quality.


It's urban Glastonbury this week, and these late night bike rides home fast along the river are sublime....