From the moment Lupe came on stage, there was this incredible energy in the theatre, feeding the crowd, and feeding off the crowd. The first half - about five songs - was brilliant, starting with an early hit, Kick Push, that had the crowd singing along and dancing to the infectious beat, and ended with his fantastic rapping skill demonstrated in Go Go Gadget Flow, living up to the boast of the chorus. The band was amazing - tight, and as into the performance as Lupe himself, jumping and dancing to their funky selves.
So far, so good. Though the small breaks between songs constantly decreased the intensity of the energy, it was cute to see Lupe to stand at the side of the stage, literally trying to cool down with the help of a fan, leading to Lupe gleefully repeat a sad joke about the audience waving their hands at him - "fans as fans".
But then the night becamed unfocussed, unstuck. Even though the night continued with a string of well received songs, after only fifty minutes on stage Lupe was performing his big hit from last year, Superstar, ending with a drawn out, almost angry outro, milking the popularity of the song for all it was worth.
After a brief intermission, where no one actually left the stage so the audience had no idea whether the night was almost over, or just starting, Lupe reeled off line after line from songs everyone wanted to hear - but a line was all we were going to get. Tease. Then Lupe went into a ramble about Obama ushering in a new and wonderful age by tomorrow morning, and the crowd went nuts, and it served as an extended intro for last song Daydreamin', which featured his awesome guitar player and his falsetto. Right after that the concert was over though, and it was all to soon for my liking.
A solid performance, and the first half was truly amazing, but it just kind of peetered out and felt a little unsatisfying.
Kick Push
Hip Hop Saved My Life
Sunshine
I Gotcha
Go Go Gadget Flow
? (might have been a song here)
Hi-Definition
Paris Tokyo
We Love You
Superstar
Daydreamin'
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
Sunday, January 4, 2009
Stars - 3 Jan 2009 - The Factory
Missed Bridezilla, who played first, but caught second support act, Newcastle band Firekites. They were fine - very young, and intensely quiet in performance, with moody atmospheric songs, largely instrumental. Their stagecraft needs work; the lead singer mumbled into the microphone between songs and I'll be damned if I have any idea what he said.
Stars came on a little late, but threw themselves into the performance from the start. Torq started grabbing bunches of petals from the flowers strewn across their amps and tied to their mike stands, and threw them into the air like white confetti as a mood setter, and they were as idiosyncratic and sweet from there on.
I think they had some minor sound problems, and sometimes the instruments (particularly the keyboard) overwhelmed Amy and Torq's voices, but overall they sounded good together. Especially when Amy and Torq harmonised and sang to each other; I will never tire of hearing how their voices work together. Alone, Amy has a lovely, light tone, while Torq is a little rougher and less polished, but somehow their voices just mesh perfectly.
I really do think their partnership is the backbone of the band; even their banter complements each other. When Torquill started rambling about losing his glasses, and not being able to see into the crowd without them, Amy cut in, saying "I have perfect vision", telling Torq that she couldn't share his gripe. At which Torq said, rather put out (in a joking way!), "Perfect pitch. Perfect vision. Amy Millan, she's just too perfect," or something like that, and made a face. Then he gave Amy the finger and she just giggled along with the rest of us. But he obviously adored her, and spent most of the night either singing to her, or leaning into her space to sing with her.
The crowd was fairly subdued to start with; even during well-known and upbeat tracks like Ageless Beauty there were swathes of people in front of us standing stock-still. This could be explained in part by the fact that a good part of their usual fanbase, the indie hipster crowd, was probably across town at the sold out Fleet Foxes gig instead; something Torq himself acknowledged when thanking the crowd for being here instead of there, or at least for buying a ticket to Stars once FF sold out.
Highlights included the joy on their faces as they let the crowd sing their best-known song, Your Ex-Lover is Dead, to them; the very cute sad robot impression Torq did on Amy's command: "That was your sad impression, where was the robot?" "It's inside."; and the chaos of the penultimate song, Calendar Girl, as Torquill crawled onto the middle of the crowd on the floor, with fans surrounding on their knees, as he yelled the song's refrain, "I'm alive!" over and over again, joyously and manically, to the end. When he finally returned to the stage, his face was so red from the exertion, but he was grinning from ear to ear. The energy they put into the show, and that they drew from the crowd, was amazing, and well worth seeing.
Stars came on a little late, but threw themselves into the performance from the start. Torq started grabbing bunches of petals from the flowers strewn across their amps and tied to their mike stands, and threw them into the air like white confetti as a mood setter, and they were as idiosyncratic and sweet from there on.
I think they had some minor sound problems, and sometimes the instruments (particularly the keyboard) overwhelmed Amy and Torq's voices, but overall they sounded good together. Especially when Amy and Torq harmonised and sang to each other; I will never tire of hearing how their voices work together. Alone, Amy has a lovely, light tone, while Torq is a little rougher and less polished, but somehow their voices just mesh perfectly.
I really do think their partnership is the backbone of the band; even their banter complements each other. When Torquill started rambling about losing his glasses, and not being able to see into the crowd without them, Amy cut in, saying "I have perfect vision", telling Torq that she couldn't share his gripe. At which Torq said, rather put out (in a joking way!), "Perfect pitch. Perfect vision. Amy Millan, she's just too perfect," or something like that, and made a face. Then he gave Amy the finger and she just giggled along with the rest of us. But he obviously adored her, and spent most of the night either singing to her, or leaning into her space to sing with her.
The crowd was fairly subdued to start with; even during well-known and upbeat tracks like Ageless Beauty there were swathes of people in front of us standing stock-still. This could be explained in part by the fact that a good part of their usual fanbase, the indie hipster crowd, was probably across town at the sold out Fleet Foxes gig instead; something Torq himself acknowledged when thanking the crowd for being here instead of there, or at least for buying a ticket to Stars once FF sold out.
Highlights included the joy on their faces as they let the crowd sing their best-known song, Your Ex-Lover is Dead, to them; the very cute sad robot impression Torq did on Amy's command: "That was your sad impression, where was the robot?" "It's inside."; and the chaos of the penultimate song, Calendar Girl, as Torquill crawled onto the middle of the crowd on the floor, with fans surrounding on their knees, as he yelled the song's refrain, "I'm alive!" over and over again, joyously and manically, to the end. When he finally returned to the stage, his face was so red from the exertion, but he was grinning from ear to ear. The energy they put into the show, and that they drew from the crowd, was amazing, and well worth seeing.
Sunday, December 14, 2008
Slumdog Millionaire (2008, d. Danny Boyle)
I originally gave Slumdog Millionaire a three out of five, but thinking it over the past few weeks has made me downgrade it to a 2 1/2 at best. It seems to me that by using a "fairytale" framework, the movie feels free to use plenty of cliche and sentiment. "It is written"? UGH.
I found it predictable - poor urchin overcomes great odds by cunning and a big dose of luck and gets his dream girl and lives happily every after - and the sensationalist violence left a sour taste in my mouth in light of the offhand dismissal of the gritty lives these kids emerged from.
The story itself is hampered by gaping plot holes that are ignored in favour of hurtling toward the inevitable happy ending (and the big song and dance routine, which was fun and the redeeming factor of the ending).
Dev Patel is the weakest link in an otherwise decent cast full of appealing and capable child actors; he appeared to me to be sullen and dull throughout the film, rather than quick-witted and deserving of the fate he lands. Frieda Pinto is beautiful, but the film casts her in that role alone - she is a cypher, a pretty fantasy for Jamal to live his life hoping to achieve, but neither the audience or Jamal is allowed to see or access anything more about her, which makes their supposedly fated connection unsatisfying.
The cinematography is vivid, the sights and sounds of Mumbai - the beautiful tourist attractions as well as the grim of the slums - conveyed with an eye for detail. It was an enjoyable enough experience in the theatre, and the furious pace hides a lot of its sins, but in contemplation the film is as pretty and as empty and hollow as the romance at the centre of the film, and hardly deserving of the hype and praise heaped upon its slight self.
I found it predictable - poor urchin overcomes great odds by cunning and a big dose of luck and gets his dream girl and lives happily every after - and the sensationalist violence left a sour taste in my mouth in light of the offhand dismissal of the gritty lives these kids emerged from.
The story itself is hampered by gaping plot holes that are ignored in favour of hurtling toward the inevitable happy ending (and the big song and dance routine, which was fun and the redeeming factor of the ending).
Dev Patel is the weakest link in an otherwise decent cast full of appealing and capable child actors; he appeared to me to be sullen and dull throughout the film, rather than quick-witted and deserving of the fate he lands. Frieda Pinto is beautiful, but the film casts her in that role alone - she is a cypher, a pretty fantasy for Jamal to live his life hoping to achieve, but neither the audience or Jamal is allowed to see or access anything more about her, which makes their supposedly fated connection unsatisfying.
The cinematography is vivid, the sights and sounds of Mumbai - the beautiful tourist attractions as well as the grim of the slums - conveyed with an eye for detail. It was an enjoyable enough experience in the theatre, and the furious pace hides a lot of its sins, but in contemplation the film is as pretty and as empty and hollow as the romance at the centre of the film, and hardly deserving of the hype and praise heaped upon its slight self.
Tuesday, November 4, 2008
Brideshead Revisited (2008, d. Julian Jarrold)
The film is lavishly beautiful, and I was touched by some of the moments. But it's very ordinary in direction, has some odd shaky camera moments quite out of character for the material, and the story itself remains unbalanced, with the first half much more intriguing than the second. When Sebastian and Lady Marchmain leave the story, so does much of the interest.
The film emphasises Lady Marchmain's obsession with Catholicism to the point of using much leaden symbolism and lingering camera shots to bring about the point that her trenchant observation of her faith has ruined her children's lives. It tries to tell us that God has ruined Sebastian and Julia's chances of happiness.
But then the film has to deal with Waugh's ending (and the fact the author struggled with his own feeling about his faith) because we see that Lord Marchmain relents on his deathbed, to his children's immense relief, and Julia leaves Charles because she cannot cut herself off from His grace. It is ultimately Charles who is punished for his ungodliness - Sebastian lives broken and exiled, but of his own choice, and Julia has to live without Charles but at peace with God of her own choice - but Charles is the one character at the end of the book who has nothing that he has ever desired - not Julia, not his wife, not Brideshead, not his identity as an artist.
It is as if the film has no idea how to resolve the film. It wants to condemn God, but Waugh does not choose to do that in his text. And so, the film peters out uneasily and lost, through the final half hour.
I really liked Ben Whishaw as Sebastian; in looks he isn't quite what I would've expected, not blond and carefree from the text, but he manages to show Sebastian's fey frailty without being ridiculous. It's easy to see why Charles would've been attracted to him, and his life, at the outset. Matthew Goode (who is so very pretty) does struggle a bit, particularly in the latter half of the film, to convey poor Charles' emotions; probably because Charles is written as so much of a blank slate who just wants to adopt some code or convention to become someone else completely. Hayley Atwell is fine as Julia, but Julia was always not very well-fleshed out nor likeable. Emma Thompson is good as Lady Marchmain; her particular arch coldness comes more from the script than any translation issues from the original text.
The film emphasises Lady Marchmain's obsession with Catholicism to the point of using much leaden symbolism and lingering camera shots to bring about the point that her trenchant observation of her faith has ruined her children's lives. It tries to tell us that God has ruined Sebastian and Julia's chances of happiness.
But then the film has to deal with Waugh's ending (and the fact the author struggled with his own feeling about his faith) because we see that Lord Marchmain relents on his deathbed, to his children's immense relief, and Julia leaves Charles because she cannot cut herself off from His grace. It is ultimately Charles who is punished for his ungodliness - Sebastian lives broken and exiled, but of his own choice, and Julia has to live without Charles but at peace with God of her own choice - but Charles is the one character at the end of the book who has nothing that he has ever desired - not Julia, not his wife, not Brideshead, not his identity as an artist.
It is as if the film has no idea how to resolve the film. It wants to condemn God, but Waugh does not choose to do that in his text. And so, the film peters out uneasily and lost, through the final half hour.
I really liked Ben Whishaw as Sebastian; in looks he isn't quite what I would've expected, not blond and carefree from the text, but he manages to show Sebastian's fey frailty without being ridiculous. It's easy to see why Charles would've been attracted to him, and his life, at the outset. Matthew Goode (who is so very pretty) does struggle a bit, particularly in the latter half of the film, to convey poor Charles' emotions; probably because Charles is written as so much of a blank slate who just wants to adopt some code or convention to become someone else completely. Hayley Atwell is fine as Julia, but Julia was always not very well-fleshed out nor likeable. Emma Thompson is good as Lady Marchmain; her particular arch coldness comes more from the script than any translation issues from the original text.
Monday, October 6, 2008
Opera Australia: My Fair Lady
I enjoyed this production of My Fair Lady at the Theatre Royal, which was musically sound and handsome on a small scale. The production stuck very closely to that of the film in aesthetics (sets and costumes) and staging.
I was so happy that we did get Richard E. Grant as Professor Higgins, and he didn't disappoint - he's a decent singer, and very much Henry Higgins in his delivery of those cutting lines. He's much more physical in his performance that I'd expected for the role, constantly in motion, but it works since he is a much younger Henry than usual. When they took their bows at the end, he was a little teary-eyed, probably out of relief at successfully pulling off his musical theatre debut.
Taryn Fiebig has a good singing voice, but I found her a little harder to hear in dialogue, since she seems to swallow her words - I don't know if that's an operatic training thing. She looked lovely though in the Ascot and ball costumes. And John Wood was very funny as Alfie, though I question the amount of eyeliner they used on him...why would a common dustman wear so much eyeliner (or any at all, really)? The supporting cast were good too. There was a slight tendency towards the hammy (from the whole cast, though I'd single out the actor playing Freddy as a particularly notable example), but it's always had that feel, especially in the 'cockney' folk-of-the-street numbers.
The 'romantic' ending (that of the original musical and film, not Shaw's Pygmalion ending) worked better for me here, this time. They chose to play up the romantic tension from earlier on, and in the scene at Mrs Higgins' house they make it much more explicit that both Eliza and Henry have feelings for each other, but it's more a battle for Henry to acknowledge Eliza as more than his marvelous creation, as her own self instead. Which makes their reconciliation sweeter, and more understandable.
I was so happy that we did get Richard E. Grant as Professor Higgins, and he didn't disappoint - he's a decent singer, and very much Henry Higgins in his delivery of those cutting lines. He's much more physical in his performance that I'd expected for the role, constantly in motion, but it works since he is a much younger Henry than usual. When they took their bows at the end, he was a little teary-eyed, probably out of relief at successfully pulling off his musical theatre debut.
Taryn Fiebig has a good singing voice, but I found her a little harder to hear in dialogue, since she seems to swallow her words - I don't know if that's an operatic training thing. She looked lovely though in the Ascot and ball costumes. And John Wood was very funny as Alfie, though I question the amount of eyeliner they used on him...why would a common dustman wear so much eyeliner (or any at all, really)? The supporting cast were good too. There was a slight tendency towards the hammy (from the whole cast, though I'd single out the actor playing Freddy as a particularly notable example), but it's always had that feel, especially in the 'cockney' folk-of-the-street numbers.
The 'romantic' ending (that of the original musical and film, not Shaw's Pygmalion ending) worked better for me here, this time. They chose to play up the romantic tension from earlier on, and in the scene at Mrs Higgins' house they make it much more explicit that both Eliza and Henry have feelings for each other, but it's more a battle for Henry to acknowledge Eliza as more than his marvelous creation, as her own self instead. Which makes their reconciliation sweeter, and more understandable.
Sunday, October 5, 2008
Conor Oberst - 4 Oct 2008 - Enmore Theatre
The concert, showcasing Oberst' new eponymous album of upbeat indie-folk rock songs with trademark depressing-as-hell lyric, was good. Musically, the five piece Mystic Valley Band worked together well, backing Conor solidly as he strummed a variety of guitars and threw himself all over the stage and played in their faces. They even took lead vocal duties on a few songs.
The only problem was the sound was quite muddy, and the band overpowered the vocal quite a lot. I enjoyed it a lot more when Conor played the simpler arrangements, usually himself and one other member accompanying him - in those moments it was clear how beautiful and unique his voice is, how affecting the songs are. I particularly loved a slowed down version of Cape Canaveral, with the guitar slapping and extended band jam. Actually, all the band jams were good examples of Americana folk rock at its best. And Conor clearly adores his band, from his descriptions of them as amazing and lovely, and the random shaking of their hands in thanks, and the group hug at the end of the second last song.
Conor himself was ADORABLE. He was a tiny man, smart and oddly formal in a dark suit and tie. He was obviously enjoying his time on stage, playing with passion, dancing oddly around with his arms in the air or outstretched at other times. He even climbed up on the drummer's riser, then onto his bass drum, where he proceeded to play and sing half a song during the encore. He also came and sat on the edge of the stage for Central City, to the joy of those lucky fans at the barrier. His voice was, as already noted, in good form, and he had this great growl in the more bluesy songs that was both unexpected and much appreciated.
The set list was pretty obscure; apart from nearly every song from the new album, there was a scattering of covers, unreleased songs and rare tracks. Milk Thistle ("This is a therapeutic song" was Conor's introduction) was amazingly moving live, and I really liked the blues cover Corinna, Corinna.
Sausalito
Get-Well-Cards
Danny Callahan
Central City
Smoke Signals
Cape Canaveral
I Got A Reason #1
Moab
Ten Women
I Got A Reason #2
Sun Down
NYC - Gone Gone
Souled Out!!!
Milk Thistle
Lenders in the Temple
Corinna, Corinna
Kodachrome (Paul Simons cover)
I Don't Want to Die (In The Hospital)
Breezy
The only problem was the sound was quite muddy, and the band overpowered the vocal quite a lot. I enjoyed it a lot more when Conor played the simpler arrangements, usually himself and one other member accompanying him - in those moments it was clear how beautiful and unique his voice is, how affecting the songs are. I particularly loved a slowed down version of Cape Canaveral, with the guitar slapping and extended band jam. Actually, all the band jams were good examples of Americana folk rock at its best. And Conor clearly adores his band, from his descriptions of them as amazing and lovely, and the random shaking of their hands in thanks, and the group hug at the end of the second last song.
Conor himself was ADORABLE. He was a tiny man, smart and oddly formal in a dark suit and tie. He was obviously enjoying his time on stage, playing with passion, dancing oddly around with his arms in the air or outstretched at other times. He even climbed up on the drummer's riser, then onto his bass drum, where he proceeded to play and sing half a song during the encore. He also came and sat on the edge of the stage for Central City, to the joy of those lucky fans at the barrier. His voice was, as already noted, in good form, and he had this great growl in the more bluesy songs that was both unexpected and much appreciated.
The set list was pretty obscure; apart from nearly every song from the new album, there was a scattering of covers, unreleased songs and rare tracks. Milk Thistle ("This is a therapeutic song" was Conor's introduction) was amazingly moving live, and I really liked the blues cover Corinna, Corinna.
Sausalito
Get-Well-Cards
Danny Callahan
Central City
Smoke Signals
Cape Canaveral
I Got A Reason #1
Moab
Ten Women
I Got A Reason #2
Sun Down
NYC - Gone Gone
Souled Out!!!
Milk Thistle
Lenders in the Temple
Corinna, Corinna
Kodachrome (Paul Simons cover)
I Don't Want to Die (In The Hospital)
Breezy
Saturday, September 6, 2008
Jebediah - 5 Sept 2008 - Annandale Hotel
Inside the venue it was warm and already packed with an older crowd ready to relive their late teens and early twenties with a good Aussie band playing a good Aussie gig. And they'd have to be a tough critic with a heart of stone to have come away disappointed at the end of the night.
Jebediah played mostly old favourites from their first two albums, mixed in with a few later songs as well as some new material due out next year. The new songs are catchy and fit in fine with the rest of their set, but it was the old songs that the crowd really came for, and what they really enjoyed. It was a sight to have bald men in collared shirts bouncing up and down to the music like fifteen year olds at their first gig.
Kevin Mitchell has the most adorable grin, and he had it on a lot; the band were obviously very happy to be back on stage after a three year hiatus ("Emo happened," Kevin deadpanned as an explanation). The weird thing was that the band didn't look like they'd aged at all. I last saw them nine years ago at Homebake, but even as we surged closer to the stage they looked just as they had all that time ago. I heard a lot of people around us murmuring the same thing, and I'm leaning towards the band having a collective portrait somewhere in an attic that's growing uglier by the moment ala Dorian Gray, though I suppose 'vampires' could also be a valid explanation.
After about an hour of playing, and having played a good amount of their best known songs - Feet Touch the Ground, Harpoon, Animal, Please Leave - they started taking requests. Teflon was hugely fun, with the whole crowd jumping up and down and yelling '1, 2, 3, 4' happily back at the band leading out of the chorus. At the 'end' of the show, after leaving the stage for a few minutes while the crowd were treated to a wall of reverb, the band returned to the audience's joy, and went into their biggest song of all, Leaving Home.
Then promptly returned to taking requests, throwing in some long forgotten tracks (Benedict! That really took me back to being fourteen again), as well as admitting that they couldn't remember how to play Military Strongmen (to the audience's disappointment), and deflecting the odd audience comment ("But we've already played Teflon!" Kevin said, wryly amused, to one obviously persistent fan). Finally, they settled on Invaders as their last song, as per two fans in the front row, who were then invited to come up on stage and take over vocal duties, which they really took to, complete with air guitaring and rock star moves. It was a hilarious and awesome way to end the night, feeling that no matter how much time had elapsed, Jebediah were still a great band with a connection with the local fans who loved them.
NDC
Feet Touch the Ground
(new song)
It's Over
Animal
Please Leave
Harpoon
No Sleep
(new song)
Fall Down
Teflon
Star Machine
Jerks of Attention
Leaving Home
Monument
Benedict
Invaders
Jebediah played mostly old favourites from their first two albums, mixed in with a few later songs as well as some new material due out next year. The new songs are catchy and fit in fine with the rest of their set, but it was the old songs that the crowd really came for, and what they really enjoyed. It was a sight to have bald men in collared shirts bouncing up and down to the music like fifteen year olds at their first gig.
Kevin Mitchell has the most adorable grin, and he had it on a lot; the band were obviously very happy to be back on stage after a three year hiatus ("Emo happened," Kevin deadpanned as an explanation). The weird thing was that the band didn't look like they'd aged at all. I last saw them nine years ago at Homebake, but even as we surged closer to the stage they looked just as they had all that time ago. I heard a lot of people around us murmuring the same thing, and I'm leaning towards the band having a collective portrait somewhere in an attic that's growing uglier by the moment ala Dorian Gray, though I suppose 'vampires' could also be a valid explanation.
After about an hour of playing, and having played a good amount of their best known songs - Feet Touch the Ground, Harpoon, Animal, Please Leave - they started taking requests. Teflon was hugely fun, with the whole crowd jumping up and down and yelling '1, 2, 3, 4' happily back at the band leading out of the chorus. At the 'end' of the show, after leaving the stage for a few minutes while the crowd were treated to a wall of reverb, the band returned to the audience's joy, and went into their biggest song of all, Leaving Home.
Then promptly returned to taking requests, throwing in some long forgotten tracks (Benedict! That really took me back to being fourteen again), as well as admitting that they couldn't remember how to play Military Strongmen (to the audience's disappointment), and deflecting the odd audience comment ("But we've already played Teflon!" Kevin said, wryly amused, to one obviously persistent fan). Finally, they settled on Invaders as their last song, as per two fans in the front row, who were then invited to come up on stage and take over vocal duties, which they really took to, complete with air guitaring and rock star moves. It was a hilarious and awesome way to end the night, feeling that no matter how much time had elapsed, Jebediah were still a great band with a connection with the local fans who loved them.
NDC
Feet Touch the Ground
(new song)
It's Over
Animal
Please Leave
Harpoon
No Sleep
(new song)
Fall Down
Teflon
Star Machine
Jerks of Attention
Leaving Home
Monument
Benedict
Invaders
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