BOC-L Digest - 22 Dec 2005 to 23 Dec 2005 (#2005-332)

[Tom Byrne]

Hello Nick

An eloquent and passionate review.

I agree that the light show was the most astounding I've seen. The pefection
of co-ordination showed how well the operators knew the music. As i said on
the yahoo group, the lights were another instrument.

The samples, etc were supplemental, I think they added to rather than
constrained the performance.

I was glad to bring my lad along so he could see and hear that my
reminiscences of the 70s gigs were not the sepia-tinted ravings of his old
man!

Happy Christmas/Hannukah/Holidays/Winterval/Yule/Solstice

Regards

Tom






>
>Date:    Thu, 22 Dec 2005 16:11:56 -0500
>From:    Nick Medford <nickmedford at HOTMAIL.COM>
>Subject: Re: HW: Astoria gig review
>
>I thought last night was absolutely magnificent. I almost didn't go- only
>bought my ticket the day before. I hadn't been to see HW for two years, and
>for some time have had the impression that the band were in terminal
>decline, an impression reinforced by the long-awaited but distinctly
>underwhelming (IMHO) new album.  Tom Byrne's post (hi Tom) on the other
>list
>saying it was the best he'd seen in 30 years made me sit up and take
>notice,
>and I then talked an old gig-going mate into it.
>
>And I'm so glad I didn't miss this one... I've pretty much given up trying
>to rate gigs relative to each other, but even so this has to be among the
>finest HW peformances I've witnessed since I first saw them in 1985. They
>seem to have got steadily tighter and heavier over the last five years or
>so- last night was h-e-a-v-y, an almost industrial-metal feel on occasion.
>Dave B's guitar playing was revelatory- never heard him play the kind of
>soaring leads he produced on Paradox. As many others have said, having a
>real keyboard player makes that crucial difference to the overall dynamics
>of the band. And yes there were bits and pieces of samples and pre-sets,
>but
>this time it felt like they were adding to the sound without tying the band
>down. I don't have any problem at all with them making use of the
>technology
>if they're going to apply it like this. Hearing the sample of Bob Calvert's
>voice intoning "wave... triangle... circle.. square.." during Psi Power was
>a peak moment for me.
>
>A couple of tiny criticisms (nothing is ever perfect)- Out Here We Are is
>nice enough but not a great live track IMHO, and Love in Space is, well,
>just plain cheesy- the only part of the show where the momentum flagged a
>bit. But almost everything worked amazingly well, and Seven By Seven and
>Paradox were just superlative. Of the new tracks, Greenback Massacre and
>Angela Android sounded so much better than the studio versions, and it's
>nice to hear some new material and not just a 70s nostalgia set. (Actually
>it's more than nice, it's essential for the life of the band IMHO).
>Greenback Massacre is terrific live, probably the best "new" live track
>since Treadmill. One of the things I found disappointing about the new
>album
>was that none of the tracks seem to fully develop- it's all very bitty, the
>band never really go off on one in finest HW style, but they've already
>done
>some revamping and extending of the new songs for live performance.
>
>Special mention to the astonishing light show, the like of which I have
>never seen. I have the feeling the band felt it was a very special night,
>the heartfelt thanks from  Rich and Alan at the end seemed like more than
>just the standard thank-you-and-goodnight routine. Special it was.
>
>Merry Christmas to all.
>
>Nick
>