CONCERT: Hans Zimmer Live (Antwerp, 2017)

[bollemanneke 3,342]

When I first joined this forum, I was convinced that Hans Zimmer was a total genius and that John
Williams was an overrated, untalented idiot. Oh, how things have changed now. After I had endured
disasters like Inferno and Man of Steel, you can imagine the misgivings I had about this show. I don't
really know how best to review the concert either. At first, I wanted to post a structured analysis of
the positive and negative points, but then I thought, why not behave like a punk, throw in a little
anarchy and discuss the concert chronologically? I then found a chronological track list of the concert on hans-zimmer.com, so I'll stick with that last, revolutionary idea.
First things first. This was NOT a film music concert. This was a rock concert where covers of film
music were performed. Do not expect to hear any cue as it is presented on album if you go. Nearly
everything was radically changed instrumentation-wise, but more about that later.

The opening medley consisted of Driving Miss Daisy, Sherlock Holmes and Madagascar. I especially liked Driving Miss Daisy. That was a really great opener. Also, Madagascar, like many other pieces, was mainly being played on electric guitar, and to my surprise, that really worked (this is coming from someone who never listens to any non-film/classical music). Zimmer then said 'Good evening, Antwerp' in Dutch, which was kind of charming. He also told us some interesting stories and at times very amusing jokes throughout the concert, while at other times, he seemed to be too aware that he's an 'item'. You could tell, though, that the audience liked him and that he knows how to sell his stuff (despite slow ticket sales, the concert was nearly sold out). He also went out of his way to introduce us to, and praise, various members of the band.

We then got Crimson Tide and Angels and Demons. Crimson Tide was good, but when the hymn (and the other pieces) got louder, you couldn't really tell who was doing what anymore, you just ended up with a general, huge wall of sound consisting of French horns, guitars and maybe strings. Also, the strings and horns really didn't sound any different from sampled counterparts at times. 160 BMP lasted a bit too long as well and was given an extended percussion solo. Gladiator was moving overall, though the choir needed some time to adjust their voices and the soloist wasn't that great either, or maybe she was just overdoing the vibrato.

And then, The Da Vinci Code. Zimmer introduced that piece with a story about how inspiritional the
pyramid in the Louvre had been, how it had helped him write an almost... classical... piece. But the
way he said 'classical'... There was something so incredibly... cautious and almost... apologetic about
it. We need not have feared, though, for they were going to test how a 'clash of cultures' would work out and add some 'electronic racket' to that piece. My question is, why? Why not just perform that piece as it was originally written? Because you didn't want to give your guitarists a much-needed five-minute break? Anyway, it began with light, electronic accompaniments à la Inferno and violin solos. I must say that it could have been much worse and really liked it... until the drums came in at the end. Drums in Chevaliers de Sangreal. Please. Then we got The Lion King, which I'm not familiar with, so no comment.

The Pirates suite was really fantastic, a combination of Jack Sparrow (accompanied by images of the
bow), Marry Me (spectacular!) and He's A Pirate. Zimmer introduced the suite by saying that the cello would be performing this piece very playfully and urged us all to make something playful of our lives, for it's very short and can/should be a fun experience. That was kind of nice. Marry Me, incidentally, started with choir and then there were slow guitar solos throughout that piece, which really sounded brilliant. The melody of He's A Pirate was performed on electric guitar and recorder/shakuhachi(?) at the same time, which, again, was very enjoyable to listen to.

And then, the second half started. I have no idea why they did this, but it was so totally different.

First, we got a medley of True Romance (don't know this one), Rain Man (pan flute was waaaay too soft and no main theme statement, but a truly amazing guitar solo) and Thelma and Louise (which I really didn't recognise at all, even though I liked the music in the film).

And then we entered the superhero scores which, according to my mother, were accompanied by maddening, psychedelic lights. Man of Steel sounded nicer with a little more choir, but unfortunately, you can't change crap into art by just adding a few instruments. Then came all the dreaded concert arrangements from Batman Vs Superman and the Batman trilogy. My problem with them: they didn't work on the OSTs, and
they certainly don't work in concert either, basically because the same thing is happening over and
over again: an idea builds and builds and builds... but doesn't go anywhere! Especially The Joker was a real waste of time and you can only repeat 'dash desh dish dash' so many times before you start craving something else, like, I don't know, a switch to a different key, or getting out of the heat of the sports arena. But that Batman suite did have a very nice moment. As they were playing Aurora (again, too much percussion there), Zimmer told us about the Joker actor who had died shortly after completing his work on The Dark Knight, and about the shootings during the Dark Knight Rises screening in Colorado. He also lamented the recent attrocities in Brussels, Paris, London and Manchester and called for everyone to unite, like he had done with his international group of musicians. As I'm writing this, I imagine this might sound bland and uninspiring to readers, but I was deeply, deeply moved by that whole speech.

There was also a Thin Red Line suite which, dare I say it, lasted too long as well, just like the
Electro suite from The Amazing Spider-Man 2: a nice idea, but elongated to extreme proportions. To
conclude the second half, they played two pieces from Interstellar. I've never heard a worse concert
finale in my life. Again, two ideas (one of which I knew) kept being repeated while becoming louder and louder and louder, but nothing else happened! The pieces just ended in a loud crescendo that doesn't give you any sense of conclusion whatsoever. The second piece was apparently nice to watch, though, because all the band members slowly rejoined the group as the piece went on.

For the encores, they performed an Inception suite. That one started with an extended version of the prologue: two minutes of 'braaaaaaaaaam'. Two minutes! Then Dream is Collapsing, which was good to hear live, Mombassa (waaaaaay too long), and Time (also too long, and whatever happened to Old Souls, too classical?) Time ended in a very unresolved way as well.

The problem with the second half was not necessarily that the music was bad (Inception and some of the Batman stuff is very enjoyable), but it just doesn't work in concert format. Why not play the cues as they appear in the films? That would have greatly improved Mombassa Chase, to name but one cue, and the overall flow.

All in all, I can't really say whether I found the concert great or horrible. The first half was
outstanding and most definitely worth it, but the entire second half was a drag. If they had dropped or truncated all the superhero rubbish, the overall package would have been so much more attractive (and my right ear wouldn't still be refusing to function properly). Ironically, this concert was clearly meant to make film music seem 'cool' to youngsters, but the last thing I heard before getting into the car was a girl saying: 'I mean, it's not like he really entertained us, is it?' I am, however, very glad I went because some of it was really worth the wait. However, just as the concert didn't seem to contain any satisfying conclusions, I can't think of a fitting conclusion for this review (except to thank my mother for this birthday present), so draw your own conclusions after you've read this.

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

Punctuation please! Bolleke, i know you cant see how it looks on a phone. Its unreadable

[bollemanneke 3,342]

Wait, what's wrong with it now? I honestly have no idea how Notepad messes things up all the time.

[Disco Stu 15,495]

It's perfectly readable.

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

Please!

[KK 3,307]

Yeah, something went wrong with the formatting here. 

[bollemanneke 3,342]

Still not better?

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

No. I guess its the MB's mobile website that's the problem i think

[Disco Stu 15,495]

The formatting looks weird, but it's hardly unreadable.  I read the entire review just fine.

[bollemanneke 3,342]

Tried pasting this with another browser, still don't notice anything weird.

[Holko 9,516]

Seeing as we're completely off-topic already:

 

Last year we got a really weird Hans Zimmer concert tour in Hungary piggybacking off the enormous success of the HZ live concert 2 years ago. Somehow, they managed to do the exact opposite of the real concert, though. We had no re-orchestrations, not even suites: everything was performed as originally recorded. It was completely stuck-up, lifeless, passionless, the conductor hasn't said a single word even though it was a hungarian orchestra. The selection was mixed: we got Pirates of the Caribbean (the Hoist the Colours hanging scene sung live by a young boy soloist - interesting choice for a concert opening) At World's End Finale, stuff from Rain Man, DKR, Interstellar, Sherlock Holmes, Da Vinci Code... and some very weird selections like that Niki Lauda movie, Black Hawk Down, Pearl Harbor, King Arthur, Transformers, and a bunch of movies I never heard of. No MoS, no Lion King, no Madagascar, no Miss Daisy, no The Rock, no Amazing Spiderman, no Prince of Egypt, no Last Samurai... But then the finale! Time from Inception was absolutely outstanding, one of the best live performances of any piece I've ever heard in my life, then we got Now We are Free with Lisa Gerrard herself performing live... it was pretty damn amazing.

 

[bollemanneke 3,342]

Is it better now? I think I took out all the errors.

[Naïve Old Fart 9,511]

Thank you, Bolle, for posting your review, and thank you, Bolle's mum, for the tickets.

[apples 64]

Nice review, saw him last month in Amsterdam

[Johnnyecks 33]

My two cents...

 

The first half is truly spectacular. I will go see the concert again just for the first half alone. Gladiator was great, Crimson Tide transitioning into 180BPM from Angels and Demons was weird was never familiar with The Da Vinci Code or Pirates, I had them on cd but never listened to them, and I have to say after this concert that the Pirates suite and the piece from TDVC were two of my favourite moments. The Lion King was... meh. I know due to licensing that he couldn't use any of the music from the Elton John songs but, honestly, those were the best moments from the score. His suite was very unrecognizable until the very end. But Lebo M! That was a nice surprise.

 

I agree about the second half being a bit of a loud wall of noise. They really didn't need to put in B vs S, Electro, or Wonder Woman IMO . Dark Knight trilogy could've included some of the more thematic moments from the score (i.e. ending of DKR), but unfortunately, it was just loud noise throughout. Aurora was beautiful, and his speed is indeed very moving. I think the transition from Aurora to Interstellar was a bit drastic. Finishing a very moving somber piece with just the sound of drum sticks banging together, with a very loud and very abrupt start to Interstellar took away the feeling gotten by Aurora IMO.

 

However the last piece from the Instellar suite I thought was fantastic and, oddly, moving. The group I was with was surprised that that was the finale and that there was no Inception. But, we were nicely surprised to have that as an encore, and boy did the crowd lose their fucking minds when the BWAAAAAAA started, me included. And, yes, Time, was incredible. One of the best performances of the piece IMO.

 

[Koray Savas 2,251]

You're crazy man, The Lion King performance was absolutely incredible. Probably my favorite of the concert. 

[idril 86]

I think I have an overall more positive view of Zimmer's action/superhero stuff than you but I have to agree that the first half way exceeded the second half (I saw the London concert). Though I do love the Interstellar, some of the superhero stuff does drag a little and could do with more variation. I'm inclined to agree with your mother that the visuals in the second half were also a bit unpleasant! Generally I found the material in the first half more varied, with more interesting guest performers and more melodic excitement. But I must say I did leave feeling entertained!

[Dixon Hill 4,234]

18 minutes ago, idril said:

I think I have an overall more positive view of Zimmer's action/superhero stuff than you

 

I do love the Interstellar 

 

But I must say I did leave feeling entertained!

 

Welcome, welcome!

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

Hey! I love Interstellar!

[idril 86]

Yeah I feel like Interstellar is Zimmer's best in recent years. It is distinctively his style but it also feels experimental and stands out instantly. And basically I just love that space organ