Post by EvilNerfherder on Apr 20, 2006 16:56:52 GMT
I went to the Birmingham NEC gig with Brendan (aka Poyks) on Wednesday 19th. Please be advised that this review contains heavy *SPOILERS* about the show!!!
Our seats were fantastic and I have to thank Jeff himself and Damian of JWM for arranging this. We were in the centre area around 10 or so rows back. Perfectly placed to hear the sound and to see everything that went on onstage.
As we took our seats in there was a new deconstructed mix of 'UlladubUlla' playing.
Finally, the musicians filed onto the stage; firstly members of the 48 piece orchestra, then the Black Smoke Band (in waistcoats and white shirts), to great applause.
Next came the man himself, Jeff Wayne, bounding onto the stage to a rapturous welcome, to take his place on his podium.
The lights dimmed and we were shown a scene on Mars as a Machine stalks across the landscape and enters a council chamber. Here we are taken through a montage of preparations for the invasion. This scene will be well known to players of Jeff's PC game of 1998 but it has been totally revamped and looks great.
Next comes the opening we all know so well.
The head of Richard Burton that hovers over the stage came to life as those well known words were spoken and images of Cylinders speeding towards Earth were played on the giant screen. Then comes the music.
The band and orchestra did an amazing job. Hearing 'The Eve of The War' played live was every bit as good as I expected, in fact more so. Every part came together perfectly and sounded amazing in Surround.
Justin Hayward then came on dressed in period costume and sang his part.
On through the first part the music continued non-stop, just like in the album, as the CGI showed us images of the cylinder opening, the Heatray being used against the crowds on the Common and this helped to carry the story along. The CGI itself is actually a mix of CGI and live action that works extremely well.
Then there is, of course, the huge Fighting Machine that hovers, darkened, over the stage at first, but comes to life as the story unfolds. At one stage, the on-screen Fighting Machines are attacked by gunners and the on-stage one had pyrotechnic explosions going off around it.
At this point we had our first meeting with the Artilleryman (Alexis James) who was great and enthusiastically told the audience of the 'bows and arrows against the lightning'.
It was amazing to see Herbie Flowers perform that bass from 'Horsell Common and the Heat Ray). The guy still has it!
Justin Hayward then returned to the stage to perform 'Forever Autumn' as we saw Carrie (Anna-Marie Wayne) on screen.
Chris Thompson took the stage to sing 'Thunder Child' and did a fantastic job belting out the story of the sinking of man's last hope, as we saw the vessel being attacked by Fighting Machines on the screens.
At the end of Part one there was an interval then we were back for more!
'The Red Weed' was accompanied by creepy images of trees and buildings being taken over by the spreading menace and then came Russell Watson onto the stage dressed in period clerical clothing.
The duet of 'The Spirit of Man' was performed with great gusto and skill by Russell and Tara Blaise as Beth. I couldn't have asked for it to be performed better.
It's after this that there is one of many nice touches that had been conjured up by the team who designed the show.
The Parson is knocked out after seeing the Martians feeding and goes off stage and is dragged (seemingly) onto the screen into the CGI by a Handling Machine and dropped into the basket.
This idea is used again as Justin Hayward returns onstage later to walk off-stage into the screen.
Alexis James (in period-style uniform) as The Artilleryman was perfect, miming digging his 'tunnel' and marching purposefully about the stage and saluting as the military beat of 'Brave New World' was played.
As the 'Epilogue (part 1)' was performed, we were given a chance to show our appreciation as all the players came back on stage, one at a time, and there were standing ovations for all.
Another nice touch was that the on screen players also took a bow and Richard Burton also had his chance in an amusing and poignant way.
Basically, I was blown away by this show. As a longstanding fan of the album, I've wanted to see something like this for many years and I was more than satisfied with the result. There were one or two very minor technical hitches but what big show doesn't have those? They didn't spoil it for me one bit!
11/10 from me!
After the show a few chums and I, including Poyks of this very board, were ushered to a bar to the aftershow drinks. It was a very informal affair and Jeff appeared and went around the room meeting the guests.
There was what struck me as a slightly surreal moment as Alexis James (in modern clothing) was sitting around drinking champers with some other members of the cast and crew. 'Nothing but champagne now he's the boss'?
Damian of JWM welcomed us warmly and took us over to Jeff who had some very nice things to say to us and kindly signed our programs. He and Damian were also very interested to hear what we thought of the show. After a chat, it was time to go, but not before a quick photo op! The result (thanks Brendan!)....
Left to Right... Brendan Perkins (Poyks), Jeff Wayne, Tony Wright (EvilNerfherder), Damian Collier (of JWM), Rod Glenn (Richard Burton here on this board)
Our seats were fantastic and I have to thank Jeff himself and Damian of JWM for arranging this. We were in the centre area around 10 or so rows back. Perfectly placed to hear the sound and to see everything that went on onstage.
As we took our seats in there was a new deconstructed mix of 'UlladubUlla' playing.
Finally, the musicians filed onto the stage; firstly members of the 48 piece orchestra, then the Black Smoke Band (in waistcoats and white shirts), to great applause.
Next came the man himself, Jeff Wayne, bounding onto the stage to a rapturous welcome, to take his place on his podium.
The lights dimmed and we were shown a scene on Mars as a Machine stalks across the landscape and enters a council chamber. Here we are taken through a montage of preparations for the invasion. This scene will be well known to players of Jeff's PC game of 1998 but it has been totally revamped and looks great.
Next comes the opening we all know so well.
The head of Richard Burton that hovers over the stage came to life as those well known words were spoken and images of Cylinders speeding towards Earth were played on the giant screen. Then comes the music.
The band and orchestra did an amazing job. Hearing 'The Eve of The War' played live was every bit as good as I expected, in fact more so. Every part came together perfectly and sounded amazing in Surround.
Justin Hayward then came on dressed in period costume and sang his part.
On through the first part the music continued non-stop, just like in the album, as the CGI showed us images of the cylinder opening, the Heatray being used against the crowds on the Common and this helped to carry the story along. The CGI itself is actually a mix of CGI and live action that works extremely well.
Then there is, of course, the huge Fighting Machine that hovers, darkened, over the stage at first, but comes to life as the story unfolds. At one stage, the on-screen Fighting Machines are attacked by gunners and the on-stage one had pyrotechnic explosions going off around it.
At this point we had our first meeting with the Artilleryman (Alexis James) who was great and enthusiastically told the audience of the 'bows and arrows against the lightning'.
It was amazing to see Herbie Flowers perform that bass from 'Horsell Common and the Heat Ray). The guy still has it!
Justin Hayward then returned to the stage to perform 'Forever Autumn' as we saw Carrie (Anna-Marie Wayne) on screen.
Chris Thompson took the stage to sing 'Thunder Child' and did a fantastic job belting out the story of the sinking of man's last hope, as we saw the vessel being attacked by Fighting Machines on the screens.
At the end of Part one there was an interval then we were back for more!
'The Red Weed' was accompanied by creepy images of trees and buildings being taken over by the spreading menace and then came Russell Watson onto the stage dressed in period clerical clothing.
The duet of 'The Spirit of Man' was performed with great gusto and skill by Russell and Tara Blaise as Beth. I couldn't have asked for it to be performed better.
It's after this that there is one of many nice touches that had been conjured up by the team who designed the show.
The Parson is knocked out after seeing the Martians feeding and goes off stage and is dragged (seemingly) onto the screen into the CGI by a Handling Machine and dropped into the basket.
This idea is used again as Justin Hayward returns onstage later to walk off-stage into the screen.
Alexis James (in period-style uniform) as The Artilleryman was perfect, miming digging his 'tunnel' and marching purposefully about the stage and saluting as the military beat of 'Brave New World' was played.
As the 'Epilogue (part 1)' was performed, we were given a chance to show our appreciation as all the players came back on stage, one at a time, and there were standing ovations for all.
Another nice touch was that the on screen players also took a bow and Richard Burton also had his chance in an amusing and poignant way.
Basically, I was blown away by this show. As a longstanding fan of the album, I've wanted to see something like this for many years and I was more than satisfied with the result. There were one or two very minor technical hitches but what big show doesn't have those? They didn't spoil it for me one bit!
11/10 from me!
After the show a few chums and I, including Poyks of this very board, were ushered to a bar to the aftershow drinks. It was a very informal affair and Jeff appeared and went around the room meeting the guests.
There was what struck me as a slightly surreal moment as Alexis James (in modern clothing) was sitting around drinking champers with some other members of the cast and crew. 'Nothing but champagne now he's the boss'?
Damian of JWM welcomed us warmly and took us over to Jeff who had some very nice things to say to us and kindly signed our programs. He and Damian were also very interested to hear what we thought of the show. After a chat, it was time to go, but not before a quick photo op! The result (thanks Brendan!)....
Left to Right... Brendan Perkins (Poyks), Jeff Wayne, Tony Wright (EvilNerfherder), Damian Collier (of JWM), Rod Glenn (Richard Burton here on this board)
I'm already so ready for the DVD! And do hope Jeff decides to take his musical masterpiece worldwide.
