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Post by Max on Apr 16, 2006 6:35:43 GMT
Amazing, amazing stuff. Kind of odd to go from a damp grey Bournemouth into an auditorium that houses a (full size?) Fighting machine and a huge hanging head. Good atmosphere as the place filled up and various extended riffs on the remixes slowly got louder and louder. Starts up, the Richard Burton head starts the opening monologue, as it gets to "... they drew their plans against us" the string section raise their bows in readiness and you can almost hear the collective intake of breath. And then: What can i say? Perfect! The string section was absolutly spot on, sounding exactly like the album and lovely and loud. Guitars were dead impressive too but there were a couple of riffs - the Heat Ray for instance - that were different and i don't think were as good as the original. The drumer was awesome and really gave it his all. Synths were there but, by their nature, weren't exactly prominent physically. The girlie on harp and the rest of the percussion really got into it too. ALL the singers were top notch and perfect for their roles. To be able to sing and act on nothing but a ramp and thin strip of stage takes some doing. The Artlillery Man was particually good, especially his long, long solo performance, filling in the gaps between his lines brilliantly. The backdrop screen showing CGI footage, stock footage and shots of the album art was a nice touch and the Fighting Machine hugely impressive - although it not being able to be at full height did obscure the screen somewhat. Loads of merchandise was a bit of a suprise and i ended up with the excellent programme and the Handling Machine blueprint t shirt. Wish i could've afforded more. So then, a great WOTW themed day (we'd called in at Woking on the way down to visit their FM and have a stroll round Horsell Common) and the 2.5 hour journey back to Kent flew by, helped by bunging the album back on. Out with the 7 disc set today to immerse meself again!
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eagle
Junior Member
Eagle nut!?
Posts: 29
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Post by eagle on Apr 16, 2006 10:40:07 GMT
Are the voices mimed or voiced-over?
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Post by Stuuullaaa on Apr 16, 2006 10:41:09 GMT
Ref BIC - 15/4/06: Well , what can I say that hasn't already been said. Excellent stage set up, excellent band, excellent strings (goose bump time!) excellent acting, excellent singing (esp. Russell Watson), excellent production and excellent conducting . Its absolutely amazing how (probably) everybody takes music for granted, just a mirrored disk that you buy from a shop, stick on your CD player & listen - think again! The vast and, frankly, inconceivable amount of thought and work that must of gone into doing this 'thing' was immense. I remember watching Jeff a lot of the time, to try and fathom out his own little language that was conducting - very clever man indeed (though shorter than I thought ). The CGI was incredible, and if this is how the film's going to look, then we're in for a REAL treat! I'd just like to say "Thanks Jeff" for an absolutely brilliant night. Couldn't of wished for more and I expected nothing less
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Post by jeffwaynefan on Apr 16, 2006 10:52:18 GMT
Are the voices mimed or voiced-over? No, their live.
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Post by Max on Apr 16, 2006 10:53:11 GMT
Hey Eagle - all live i'm glad to say. And they were wearing those radio mike headset things so could move around quite a bit. Didn't know Nathanel had hurt his knee for real - thought it was acting!
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Post by jeffwaynefan on Apr 16, 2006 10:55:30 GMT
Synths were there but, by their nature, weren't exactly prominent physically. How did they do during the battle in The Artilleryman And The Fighting Machine as the big battle sequence is mainly a solo synth played originally by Ken Freeman on the album.
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eagle
Junior Member
Eagle nut!?
Posts: 29
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Post by eagle on Apr 17, 2006 1:13:30 GMT
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Post by potatoprince on Apr 19, 2006 5:47:14 GMT
Well, I`m not a synth player but can tell you it sounded pretty similar to the actual album, don`t forget there are 4 synth players onstage in the show.. sound quality was superb! As for the show its pretty much CGI Fighting Machines on the big screen at the back with the big beastie on stage lighting up with a VariLite moving around underneath to simulate the HeatRay. There is also a cool part where they`ve put some pyro flashes around the machine to make it look like the Army are firing at it and the bullets are bouncing off. Looked pretty cool nonetheless!
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Post by epicdream on Apr 19, 2006 17:08:06 GMT
I went to the Royal Albert Hall performance last night and have to say I was thrilled at the whole show. Jeff Wayne's WOW has always been my reference marker for the book and has frightened me for many years so to see this live took it all to another level! ;D
The performances from everyone were top notch and I didn't once feel that the 'replaced' singers weren't as good as the originals. Good work to Jeff for finding such faithful replacements! It all sounded AMAZING! I can't tell you how many times them damn little hairs on the back of my neck kept standing up! ;D
I went with my mum, as she was the one who brought this into my life (and traumatised me with it!!!!). By the end she was in tears, the bloke sitting in front of me was in tears. It was nice to see so many different people, different generations who have all been affected by this musical. I spoke to one father & son (who paid £300 for tickets off ebay!) who had the same stories of son being traumatised etc. I just wonder how many other people out there have a similar WOW history.
The Richard Burton head worked for me. I wasn't convinced at the start but by the end I was so engrossed, it just worked.**** SLIGHT SPOILERS AHEAD**** It was great to see the new introduction, still not sure of it worked for me, only time will tell... OK, the bluescreen stuff, please dont flame me but I instantly thought Pendragon Pics! I couldn't help it but I found myself chuckling to some of it... As they weren't going to show the whole CGI movie I supposed they had to put something in there...***** END OF SLIGHT SPOILERS*****
All in all I had a fab night and experienced something I will never forget... Many thanks to Jeff and all those involved for bringing it to the big stage! ;D ;D
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Post by FALLINGSTAR on Apr 20, 2006 2:11:57 GMT
Interesting to hear that some of the cast were in period costume!
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Post by EvilNerfherder on Apr 20, 2006 2:39:31 GMT
Phew. Just back from the Birmingham show. Amazing. Full report (including the after show meet with Jeff) later when I've caught some shut eye.
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Post by FALLINGSTAR on Apr 20, 2006 2:48:51 GMT
Look forward to it!
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Post by richardburton on Apr 20, 2006 9:50:12 GMT
You beat me in, Nerfy! Utterly utterly amazing! Me, Nerfy and Poyks all met up (for the second time, this time with Poyks' lovely wife too). I'll let Nerfy give the full run down though. Just thought I'd say that it exceeded all my expectations.
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mekanik89
Junior Member
Twas Midnight - On the 12th of august...
Posts: 45
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Post by mekanik89 on Apr 20, 2006 11:36:27 GMT
Ack! I was there and missed the chance to meet up with some fellow WotW fanatics. Ah well! Similar story here to the Rest of you... Listened to WotW as a young fellow, scared stiff by it and as the years progressed I learnt to like it, and over the past five years Love it! The Performance at the BIS last night was Incredible - an experience I will keep the memories of with me forever. I'm somewhat dissapointed at the fact that the Martian Couldn't get to full height and do all its usual stuff - but it was bloody Scary anyway! And at the End during Epoligue Two... "Madrid? Can anybody hear me? Come in, Come in! <Boom> and suddenly the FM is alive once again I love it. Thankyou Jeff! Regards, Oliver p.s. And thankyou for those of you whom have posted pictures, my camera couldn't opperate in the low light!
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redweed78
Junior Member
Don't make me destroy you
Posts: 39
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Post by redweed78 on Apr 20, 2006 14:04:27 GMT
Saw the Cardiff show on Sunday. WOW!! I never thought I'd feel so excited when the opening strings started, but I was overwelmed by it. I went with my wife and a mate (whom I only converted to TWOTW august last year!) we never said a word till the interval, then we just smiled at each other. The audience were the same, gobsmacked, throughout the show. Everything was fantastic, the singing, the FX, the CGI and of course the Fighting Machine. If I was rich I'd have gone to every show! Was anyone else at the Cardiff show? I was a bit worried that the Richard Burton head would not work, but I was proved wrong it looked amazing. The CGI sequences were really well done, I really loved the Red Weed part it looked so real as it smothered the countryside. The only problem was the end, I couldn't believe that after all this time waiting it was finally over!
Thanks Jeff, and thanks Mum & Dad for scaring me when I was a kid
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Post by Anim8tr on Apr 20, 2006 23:12:23 GMT
Thanks everyone for all the reviews and links! Great stuff! ;D
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Post by HTT on Apr 21, 2006 12:07:05 GMT
[glow=Purple,2,300]I was booked for the Monday show at Wembley...till it got cancelled. Now I won't get to see it and I'm narked about it big time.
I have a couple of Q's on the Visuals: a) As the PC game CGI has been re-rendered for the prologue, has the PC Game Cylinder opening sequence been used, or is it entirely new? b) What's the Thunderchild sequence like? (Obviously, a big improvement on Timmy's!)[/glow]
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Post by EvilNerfherder on Apr 21, 2006 12:25:52 GMT
The Cylinder opening is a new sequence , the Martian prologue used is shorter than the game version and much improved graphically. The Thunderchild sequence is good. The one thing I would have liked is for them to have followed the 'Blue Monkey' footage and had a scene on board the ship itself, which they didn't do. But it's quite subtly done and effective.
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Post by Refugee on Apr 21, 2006 17:02:58 GMT
I have never and will probably never again see anything so amazing.
Start with the head. Wow, the thing evan blinked when it wasn't fully lit and the booming voice was really atmospheric. The face was so realistsic, considering it couldnt have beenless real as it was huge and floating above the stage. Superb CGI there.
The film. The video footage was great, I wouldn't mind seeing a section of the DVD that was just the film and the music because again the CGI was fantastic and really helped get accross the epic scale of machines and their power. The filming of the actors on stage being meged with this was also a master stroke.
The Tripod. WOW! I couldn't believe it! The fact that is decended from the ceiling, moved about a bit, exploded and lit up and howled marvelously. Tripod-cam was cool too, when the audience were shown in the Martians eyes.
The lighting was amazing too, particularly for the heat ray and the pulsing green lights at either side and in the middle of the stage.
The acting was fairly good, Justin Hayward still a Great singer, wasn't sure about the Parson but it was all still great.
I have to get to my favourite moments now so here we go.
-The opening scene of the film with the plotting Martians. -The opening Naration with the big Richard Burton. -The crash at the end of act 1 when their is a huge explosion on screen moving towards camera timed with detonations along the stage front. -Richard Burton's curtain call when he says "no one would have believed" and winks -Justin Hayward running uostage in dead london and then the narator appeared on screen running up primrose hill away from camera in perfect sinc.
And of course the music could not be faulted, especially at such a sattisfying volume.
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Post by Refugee on Apr 21, 2006 18:39:18 GMT
LOL me and mum are going to the sheffield one next week.
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