Reviews of Live Shows 2007 - WARNING: Spoilers!

[Burnsjed]

Regarding Craig post, about Sylvian singing Sinatra like and off beat.
Firstly, no one vocally had the timing of Sinatra when it came to singing 'off beat' but I totally get what Craig is on about here.
Though I certainly do not share his opinion about murdering the songs, I would say that to a degree there is no point in singing all of the 'old favourites' in such a way that the only way they resemble the originals is lyricaly.
Though unfortunately I haven't, and won't be, seeing any of the shows, and I am not going to harp on like a broken record about that again, I was finding myself thinking, if I had been there and he had performed 'Nostalgia', which is personally one of, if not my favourite track, would I have come away thing I had actually heard it?
Fortunately I did hear that song previously, so wouldn't have felt cheated, but he might as well have played the set list he wanted to, rather then re-work the songs so they sound nothing like the original.
Of course it is his own perogative, and it must be dull playing those songs over and over again, but then why bother playing them if they feel stale to the performer.
It's not as if only 1 track was reworked, but it almost seemed like anything that was beyond the NH album was almost reworked beyond recognition.
That said I am loving listening to these recordings, so I am not totally sure what I am going on about anymore!!

[godisinthesilences]

lol it is late burnsjed....lol....

hhmm sadly i don't feel the same way .... i don't think he butchered the songs. And i very easily could tell what they were....

And yup i'd get bored too if i sang them over and over every night... but that is what touring is about...nothing wrong with trying to shake things up abit... Sometimes it works and sometimes not. It is all objective.... everyone can't like everything all the time.

Oh and P.S. Nostalgia is amongst one of my all time favourite david songs too

P.S.S. You and me need to get a life... we spend FAR too much time on the boards! HA HA HA HA

[weatherbox]

it's great to see different opinions here.
sometimes I found it weird to see kind of medley on the live set, but it's his decision to rearrange the old songs. I enjoyed his Slowfire tour concert (again in Italy) because the songs were played similar to the original versions.
Maybe it's kind of coming of age decision? I wouldn't expect him to play Red Guitar live again...

I watched the videos I took last Wednesday on tv last night, they were actually not as bad as I've thought.

[Burnsjed]

I am surprised he doesn't actually switch the set around a little.
I know most musicians seem to have a set list and stick by it, but some of the more talented acts also have a 'pool' of songs that they switch around.
Not only does this keep it 'fresh' for the perfomers, but those that go to more then one concert also get to hear different songs.
Given that the musicians he uses are rather talented, there is also the opportunity to let them improvise over the basic structure.
In case it got lost in mw waffling last night, and I had a couple of very nice strong Belgium beers to, I for one didn't think he had butchered the songs at all, but just questioned if you really feel like you have heard a song, say 'Nostalgia', when vocally it is so different.
That said, I love the medleys and found some of the criticism of too many of those strange.
I for one would also like to point out I to had a life once upon a time, but seem to lose that while DS is touring!

[godisinthesilences]

I for one would also like to point out I to had a life once upon a time, but seem to lose that while DS is touring!

ha ha i hope you know i was joking around with you on that.... didn't mean anything mean. And, yes i'm having the same thing happen to me while he's touring.... having a very hard time concentrating on anything else. LOL

I'm glad we can all share our thoughts here

Groovy Now lets here some more show reviews!!!!! WOO HOOOOOOO

[The Analog Kid]

after the frankly rather mixed reviews I am really curious about my first even Sylvian solo gig on tuesday! (did see him with Fripp back then)

i wonder who else but Bridget and Chrissy will be at the Amsterdam show - will post review on wednesday anyway!

cheers

Eric

[Poisoned_Apathy]

Well, sorry for answering so late...i was gone this last weekend.

I have to agree with those who think the show seems to be short, although it lasted almost 2 hours if I can recall.
I've listened to the mp3's of the Reggio show and I have to say that, although the quality is pretty good, it doesn't show the whole ambience and mood it had , or at least, it doesn't show the excitement and dreamy atmosphere I was feeling there - that things happen, it's just a matter of subjetivity.

About Takuma. I remember someone compalining about his work in the UK shows. He did a GREAT work in Reggio. His part in songs like Ghosts and Mother & Child was amazing.

About the reworked songs - I have to say I enjoyed a lot all the songs. I knew he was going to change something. Personally, it's something I really enjoy at the live shows. Of course, not always the result is good, but I use to find it very interesting. And, I have to say I didn't found the songs so changed, except for Ghosts. The instrumentation was fitted for the live band and had some changes, but the vocal melodies were all absolutely recognicible.

[inkinthewell]

As I write I am uploading 76 pictures that my wife took at the Turin show (mind: she's not a pro), including the crap ones, but I would like to share as much as I can of a wonderful evening with you all. If only I could link my brain to the computer...
Ok, I am biassed, I'm a fan, but my wife isn't (she was there just to be with me), so I'll start with the words she said after the show: "That was brilliant!"
Now let's see what sort of a review I can put down...
The first thing I did going in was to buy the tour book (30 euros). I haven't heard the cd yet but David's photos are beautiful. Well worth the money.
After that, I got to my seat in the front row of the gallery, from where I enjoyed a bird's eye view of the stage and I could see what Steve was doing behind the kit. Boy, is he amazing!!!
The line-up was David, Steve, Keith Lowe, Takuma Watanabe and a guy who played flute and saxophone whose name I couldn't understand, but it wasn't Theo Travis.
David played guitar on almost every song. And he was wearing white shoes.
I was a bit cold, but as David said "Good evening" a suddend warmth came over me.
To keep the cold away, "Wonderful World" was just hot enough, and David's warm voice on "It'll Never Happen Again" did the rest. After that, they did "World Citizen (I Won't Be Disappointed)"... I have no words to describe it. If they'd have stopped there I would have been happy just the same! It's not my favorite DS song, but the way they played it was unbelievable. It was so powerful I was stomping my feet. And Keith and Steve were really enjoying themselves.
On "The Day The Earth Stole Heaven" Keith and Steve joined David in the chorus. "Ride" took my breath away. I'll never tire saying it: incredible drumming from Steve. I had goose pimples.
David put his guitar away to sing "Playground Martyrs" and "Transit", and took it up again for "A Fire In The Forest/Ghosts". By this time, I was sure he was enjoying it as much as us. I may be wrong, but, by the way he strummed the guitar I had the impression he wasn't just doing it because he had to: he liked it.
"Snow Borne Sorrow", "Mother And Child", "Atom And Cell" and "Sugarfuel" came next. I won't say anything to avoid repeating myself, but you might like to know David was beating his hand on his leg to the rhythm of "Atom And Cell".
"Brilliant Trees" was brilliant, and when it flowed into "Before The Bullfight" I could have cried.
"The Librarian" ended the show in smiles and good humour: David played the intro to Bob Marley's "Is This Love" on the electric guitar and he was all smiles. They went out, David bowing to the crowd, his palms united.
After a booming applause that lasted 5 minutes at least, they came back and played "Every Colour You Are". The transition to "River Man" was the only thing I disliked, and even though "River Man" was ok I thought it was the weakest bit of the night.
Once again they left the stage, and once again the crowd went wild. When they came back, they were welcomed by a throng of about fifty people (some were in their fiftys) at the foot of the stage clapping their hands like mad! "Wanderlust" was a great way to end, and the applause was so loud, and the throng insisted so much that, after having bowed again, David just had to shake hands with them.
What a great night. The acoustic was terrific. I really hope someone recorded the show. Takuma Watanabe was impressive, and the saxophone guy was very good, and went backstage when he wasn't needed.
I really wish that all you guys in the States get the chance to see him. It's really worth it. If you get a petition going to convince David to tour the States you can count on me.
That's it. I hope you enjoy the photos: to make them fit I had to resize them so much they've become so small.
If you like them, let me know. I'll upload them somewhere else in their original size.

[Poisoned_Apathy]

I won't say anything to avoid repeating myself, but you might like to know David was beating his hand on his leg to the rhythm of "Atom And Cell".

Yeaaahhh, I loved it when he did it at Reggio

Very nice review!! Thank you.

[godisinthesilences]

Ink that was a brilliant review!!! thanks so much for sharing... and the photos!

[baht habit]

The "saxophone guy" was Hayden Chisholm. He had sat in with the quartet at the Rome show as well.
Chisholm's clarinet and saxophone playing had played a prominent role on a majority of Nine Horses songs, so it isn't as if his sound should be all that foreign to anyone's ears. At the least, his distinctive trilling should have been plainly evident on the intro to The Librarian.
I know many of you around here pay little attention to the world-class musicians that Sylvian opts to work with, and that is understandable since you are Sylvian fans, yet just a tiny bit of investigation would have provided this marvelous player's identity.

[proggrl]

Re: Hayden Chisholm, he also appears on Burnt Friedmans new CD First Night Forever. Looking forward to that one arriving at my doorstep!

[Nath]

to download all my pictures...

http://drive.123-reg.co.uk/F/27132215/EMBED

Nath

[inkinthewell]

The "saxophone guy" was Hayden Chisholm. He had sat in with the quartet at the Rome show as well.
Chisholm's clarinet and saxophone playing had played a prominent role on a majority of Nine Horses songs, so it isn't as if his sound should be all that foreign to anyone's ears. At the least, his distinctive trilling should have been plainly evident on the intro to The Librarian.
I know many of you around here pay little attention to the world-class musicians that Sylvian opts to work with, and that is understandable since you are Sylvian fans, yet just a tiny bit of investigation would have provided this marvelous player's identity.

Sorry, baht! Thanks for the info. And my apologies to Hayden Chisholm.
The thing is, it's hard to identify someone if you've never seen him. And the little investigating I did was in the wrong direction, because the way David whispered his name... I thought he was italian!

[camphorvan]

Just a memory from the RFH concert; wasn't it great when the band came out to wolf whistles, 'I love you David!' shouted across the auditorium and general excitment to be met with David simply saying 'Evenin' all'. The man possesses a very keen, very dry sense of humour!