Steve 593 Posted July 18, 2020 Author Share Posted July 18, 2020 34 minutes ago, crumbs said: It's not the 1980 concert but someone uploaded this today: Yeah, this footage is on youtube since a long time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aescalle 122 Posted July 18, 2020 Share Posted July 18, 2020 Any news from someone who succeed in recording the streaming? JacksonElmore 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jay 37,363 Posted July 18, 2020 Share Posted July 18, 2020 I don't even know if anybody else in this entire forum lives in Massachusetts aescalle 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Falstaft 2,132 Posted July 19, 2020 Share Posted July 19, 2020 1 hour ago, Jay said: I don't even know if anybody else in this entire forum lives in Massachusetts Lifelong Masshole here. But zero luck getting the WGBH stream to work for me last night... WilliamsStarShip2282 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smeltington 1,440 Posted July 19, 2020 Share Posted July 19, 2020 I gave up on trying to watch/capture using a VPN, hardly any of them even have Boston servers. I did manage to watch the last few pieces via a friend's screen share, and like Jay, I got a kick out of seeing how lively and expressive Williams was while conducting. It's amazing to think the pieces from ESB were brand new at the time, and to see him conducting the BSO playing Yoda's Theme and Imperial March, which I've seen them do live so many times all these years later. The 3PO/R2 thing was goofy and fun too. Wish we could have captured this, it's a real shame this was so limited and frustrating to access. Steve and aescalle 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wojo 2,453 Posted July 19, 2020 Share Posted July 19, 2020 Does anyone have a WGBH Passport account? For $5 to create an account, that's not much money. But I don't know if it offers access to specific WGBH/local programming, or just nationwide PBS programs. It'd be nice to know what it has before donating money. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Jay 37,363 Posted July 22, 2020 Popular Post Share Posted July 22, 2020 OK so here are some more of my thoughts on this broadcast. The opening credits sequence is hilarious. It begins with an extreme closeup of John Williams conducting directly into the camera over an animated ocean sunset, and a medley of Jaws, CE3K, the dawning of the age of Aquarius song, and some other stuff plays. This is just gold! There's an announcer who introduces each piece throughout (not anything said at the actual concert, an announcer just for the broadcast I mean), and he introduces the first piece while we see John Williams take the stage, and we're right into the first piece! But first, I must describe the outfits and look of everyone playing the music. Don't think "80s", this is late 70s aesthetic here, which makes since since we're only 4 months into the decade. Everyone is wearing these blue suits (I think every concert I've been to myself people have only worn white or black), there are afros and sideburns and perms quaffed hair galore. The occasional shots of the audience are full of different outfits too, all very different than any concert I've attended! Another funny part was everytime they cut to a closeup of the tuba player, they never got his face! We kept laughing at that - why wouldn't they have just chosen a different shot to air? John Williams is wearing blue as well, and he looks great; I've only been seeing him in concert since the mid 2000s when he was in his mid 70s, so to see him a spry 48 year old is quite radically different, he's just so much more expressive and full of motion than I've ever seen him. He bops along to the beat and really reaches out for what he wants someone to do. As much as I enjoyed seeing all the closeups of the musicians (since you can never see this much detail in person), just seeing him for an hour would have been pretty great too. Anyways, onto the music The Cowboys - Overture This isn't the short film overture of course, but the lengthy (9 1/2 minutes in this performance) suite like you can hear on "By Request". This is a great way to start any concert, and is super fun here. The Reivers - An Old Man Reminisces This is a wonderful 20 minute long series of various selections from the score (and additional music JW wrote later I believe, constantly playing under and/or in between pieces of narration by Burgess Meredith. I don't normally like dialogue or narration over my music, but this whole piece really works. Fun stuff! A Little Night Music - Selections (Night Waltz / Send in the Clowns) Not my typical cup of tea, music wise, but at a total of about 9 minutes this didn't really outstay his welcome. The Empire Strikes Back - Yoda's Theme This was fascinating. This concert took place weeks before the film had opened. I don't know exactly when the LP came out, but I assume there's a good chance most people in the audience had never heard this before. I stopped and thought to myself what it must have been like to have see Star Wars in theaters and loved it, been thrilled when you heard a sequel was coming, then gone out to see a pops concert and heard this. You wouldn't even know who Yoda was, your mind would race at the possibilites of what the jolly music in the middle section is all about, or what the warm main part represents. The Empire Strikes Back - The Imperial March This was even cooler! This has got to be the piece of music I've heard live the most times in my life, it's seemingly performed at almost every film music concert I go to. As such, it often isn't play that spectacularly, as by the time I was going to see the pops in the 2000s, everyone playing it had probably already been playing it regularly for years themselves, and JW can easily conduct it now in his sleep. But to watch him conduct this premiere performance, for an audience that had never heard it, was fascinating. I don't think I've heard a performance quite like this one, unpolished, unsure of itself, a bit hesitant... it was great! After hearing countless flawless performances, this was really cool to hear so many little differences. After this, JW left the stage... and C3P0 came out. What was cool is that we actually get to see JW behind the stage a bit, since that's where C3P0 is before he comes out. I have no idea who was in the suit, someone who knows how to conduct, I imagine, or who provided the voice, but it was a very close approximation of Anthony Daniels'. I just realized, this is actually the only speaking in between pieces in the whole broadcast - you never get to hear JW talk at all! Anyways, C3P0 thanks the audience and apologizes because R2D2 was supposed to be there but had dissappeared, so he will carry on without him ("and it will probably be much better that way")... but then R2 rolls in from the side stage, to another round of applause. They have a little back and forth exchange, the C3PO goes right into conducting the main theme Star Wars - Main Theme This was great, because it was actually a different arrangement of the main theme I'd never heard before!! OK, that is partly because 3 times during the main title, the orchestra stopped playing and R2 provided solo beeping and booping to cover the part they would normally play, which was honestly pretty cute and not annoying (though I can't say I wouldn't have been annoyed if I had never heard Star Wars music live before). But then at the end, instead of going into the end of the crawl music and seguing to the end credits, JW actually wrote a brief little new ending that ends the piece right after the main segment of Luke's theme ends. Pretty cool! C3P0 and R2 then leave the stage and JW comes back out Star And Stripes Forever This is a huge crowd favorite every time it's done in Boston, and this was no exception. Like the Imperial March, it's something all these performers can do in their sleep and is probably pretty easy to conduct - in fact JW honestly looked over it when they showed him a few times, which kind of made me wonder why they'd elect to use those shots at all! This is always nice to see with the various orchestral sections getting their mini solos, and the American flag and balloons coming down towards the end. What a fun hour of television! I wish PBS would just air pops concerts every Friday night all year long! Oh, and I have many more great animated GIFs of JW conducting to post tomorrow.... Remco, rough cut, bollemanneke and 13 others 13 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Miguel Andrade 1,263 Posted July 22, 2020 Share Posted July 22, 2020 If memory serves, this kind of suits were used up until the mid 80's. In 1984, the orchestra players used similar ones but of grey-blueish color. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jay 37,363 Posted July 22, 2020 Share Posted July 22, 2020 I can't believe there hasn't been more commentary on those animated gifs I made and posted. Those are pure gold! Madmartigan JC 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Holko 9,526 Posted July 22, 2020 Popular Post Share Posted July 22, 2020 9 hours ago, Jay said: "See you around, kid." Joke courtesy of Mr. Big, Discord Madmartigan JC, KittBash, Taikomochi and 9 others 3 9 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jay 37,363 Posted July 22, 2020 Share Posted July 22, 2020 In some of the wide shots, JW's pants looked so big, I thought he was wearing bell bottoms! I think they are just really loose on him. Was that a style in the late 70s? Also I just realized: no turtleneck! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Miguel Andrade 1,263 Posted July 22, 2020 Share Posted July 22, 2020 2 minutes ago, Jay said: In some of the wide shots, JW's pants looked so big, I thought he was wearing bell bottoms! I think they are just really loose on him. Was that a style in the late 70s? Also I just realized: no turtleneck! Yes, that was a thing in the late 70's. As for public conducting in turtleneck, I think he's done that just in the last decade or so. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jay 37,363 Posted July 22, 2020 Share Posted July 22, 2020 Another thing I forgot to mention before: When we were watching, I was closely looking at the faces of everyone to see if I recognized anyone from all the times I've gone to see the Pops from 2007 to present. Eventually I realized that nobody in this entire broadcast was young enough to still be playing today. I was surprised to see so many older musicians in this broadcast, as the current Pops are a blend of all ages, but there's a pretty significant portion that are on the younger side. Will 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt S. 493 Posted July 22, 2020 Share Posted July 22, 2020 51 minutes ago, Jay said: Another thing I forgot to mention before: When we were watching, I was closely looking at the faces of everyone to see if I recognized anyone from all the times I've gone to see the Pops from 2007 to present. Eventually I realized that nobody in this entire broadcast was young enough to still be playing today. Lawrence Wolfe, who is principal bassist of the Pops, has been with the orchestra since 1970, so he was probably in the video somewhere (he started as a section musician, so he wasn’t principal at first, and I’m not sure if he was by 1980...) Will 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Jay 37,363 Posted July 22, 2020 Popular Post Share Posted July 22, 2020 crumbs, Madmartigan JC, Falstaft and 12 others 14 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bayesian 1,363 Posted July 22, 2020 Share Posted July 22, 2020 That’s some jovial conducting right there! I wish i could watch the whole concert now! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Jay 37,363 Posted July 22, 2020 Popular Post Share Posted July 22, 2020 Fozmo, Will and Ricard 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rough cut 1,714 Posted July 22, 2020 Share Posted July 22, 2020 Great to read about this! Thanks! Let’s hope for a re-run that can be recorded. ; ) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Jay 37,363 Posted July 22, 2020 Popular Post Share Posted July 22, 2020 This might be the best conducting based JW animated gif of all time Martinland, crumbs, The Illustrious Jerry and 7 others 7 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Falstaft 2,132 Posted July 22, 2020 Popular Post Share Posted July 22, 2020 1 minute ago, Jay said: This might be the best conducting based JW animated gif of all time Wow wow wow, these are so great @Jay. That bit at the end, someone MUST add some force lightning coming out of his fingers. Will, obiwan71 and Jay 1 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jay 37,363 Posted July 22, 2020 Share Posted July 22, 2020 Will 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Falstaft 2,132 Posted July 22, 2020 Popular Post Share Posted July 22, 2020 Darth Oma Tres Holko, Fabulin, crumbs and 17 others 6 14 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jay 37,363 Posted July 22, 2020 Share Posted July 22, 2020 Ha! Sadly these are the only animated GIFS I made. And I didn't keep track of which piece each was associated with. I'll see if I can make more later, although they didn't cut to this shot all that often, they mostly focused on the musicians Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Miguel Andrade 1,263 Posted July 22, 2020 Share Posted July 22, 2020 2 hours ago, Matt S. said: Lawrence Wolfe, who is principal bassist of the Pops, has been with the orchestra since 1970, so he was probably in the video somewhere (he started as a section musician, so he wasn’t principal at first, and I’m not sure if he was by 1980...) Ann Hobson Pilot was there from 1969 up to 2009 (the Harp Concerto was a farewell gift). In 1980 she probably was among the younger members in the orchestra. Will 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bayesian 1,363 Posted July 22, 2020 Share Posted July 22, 2020 59 minutes ago, Jay said: Ha! Sadly these are the only animated GIFS I made. And I didn't keep track of which piece each was associated with. I'll see if I can make more later, although they didn't cut to this shot all that often, they mostly focused on the musicians The GIFs are so much fun to watch! Thanks for creating them! Brightened my day for sure. Jay 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Holko 9,526 Posted July 22, 2020 Popular Post Share Posted July 22, 2020 1 hour ago, Falstaft said: Wow wow wow, these are so great @Jay. That bit at the end, someone MUST add some force lightning coming out of his fingers. https://imgur.com/LxuCF3khttps://imgur.com/LxuCF3k The Illustrious Jerry, Falstaft, JWMike and 24 others 3 22 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Falstaft 2,132 Posted July 22, 2020 Popular Post Share Posted July 22, 2020 4 minutes ago, Holko said: https://imgur.com/LxuCF3khttps://imgur.com/LxuCF3k Amazing. Ricard, Jay and Holko 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jay 37,363 Posted July 22, 2020 Share Posted July 22, 2020 LOLOLOL Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Ricard 2,245 Posted July 22, 2020 Popular Post Share Posted July 22, 2020 1 hour ago, Holko said: https://imgur.com/LxuCF3khttps://imgur.com/LxuCF3k I nominate this as the best gif in the history of JWFan. Remco, SteveMc, Nick Parker and 8 others 8 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Nick Parker 3,040 Posted July 22, 2020 Popular Post Share Posted July 22, 2020 1 hour ago, Holko said: https://imgur.com/LxuCF3khttps://imgur.com/LxuCF3k @Falstaft Contact Alex Ross, let him know that you've found additional information for him to present to Williams. Holko, Falstaft, Will and 2 others 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Edmilson 7,448 Posted July 22, 2020 Share Posted July 22, 2020 It's a little odd to watch a John Williams concert without Indy, E.T., Jurassic Park, Harry Potter, etc. And I believe Superman and Close Encounters should've been on the programme as well. On the other hand, it was great to see the music for the Rydell movies receiving the spotlight. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jay 37,363 Posted July 22, 2020 Share Posted July 22, 2020 I found out why the HD signal for WGBH disappeared off my antennae https://help.wgbh.org/s/article/Rescanning-Your-TV thx99 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
igger6 894 Posted July 22, 2020 Share Posted July 22, 2020 Oh man, this is pure platinum! I'm actually glad I didn't find out about it until now. Who knows how much time I would have spent on a fruitless quest to get access to it in Chicago? Thanks for the GIFs, @Jay. I also first saw JW in '07, and I always thought he was a less athletic conductor than I expected (I know, not fair at all for a 75-year-old), but seeing this is like seeing a different guy! I would love to see the whole concert! Will 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt S. 493 Posted July 23, 2020 Share Posted July 23, 2020 This was also his first official concert as Arthur Fiedler's successor, so trying to live up to his legacy was undoubtedly an influence on JW's level of showmanship. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gruesome Son of a Bitch 6,488 Posted July 23, 2020 Share Posted July 23, 2020 I saw this on telly years ago. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
artguy360 1,843 Posted July 23, 2020 Share Posted July 23, 2020 These gifs are incredible! I much prefer the more restrained, old man JW conducting style. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Miguel Andrade 1,263 Posted July 23, 2020 Share Posted July 23, 2020 14 hours ago, Matt S. said: This was also his first official concert as Arthur Fiedler's successor, so trying to live up to his legacy was undoubtedly an influence on JW's level of showmanship. He had a previous engagement with the Pops in January 1980 at Carnegie Hall. I believe that was when he was publicly introduced as Fiedler's successor. This was his first season opening concert as Pops director. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jay 37,363 Posted July 23, 2020 Share Posted July 23, 2020 What is JW asking for here? Falstaft and 1977 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr. Rick 1,157 Posted July 23, 2020 Share Posted July 23, 2020 18 hours ago, Jay said: I found out why the HD signal for WGBH disappeared off my antennae https://help.wgbh.org/s/article/Rescanning-Your-TV Yep, I've got an antenna on just about every TV in my house and I do a channel re-scan about once a quarter, they're always adding / changing channels here in the ATX... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Will 2,215 Posted July 23, 2020 Share Posted July 23, 2020 This is truly marvelous. His conducting style is so energetic. Btw, @crumbs, what was the YouTube video you linked to earlier in this thread? It seems to have been deleted but I'm just wondering. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crumbs 14,315 Posted July 23, 2020 Share Posted July 23, 2020 Another JW concert @Will, but damned if I can remember which one. Boston or Pittsburgh in the late 80s I think? Not sure why it was deleted either... Will 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fabulin 3,511 Posted July 23, 2020 Share Posted July 23, 2020 1 hour ago, Jay said: What is JW asking for here? a harp chord probably Will 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jay 37,363 Posted July 23, 2020 Share Posted July 23, 2020 Ah! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve 593 Posted July 23, 2020 Author Share Posted July 23, 2020 2 hours ago, Will said: This is truly marvelous. His conducting style is so energetic. Btw, @crumbs, what was the YouTube video you linked to earlier in this thread? It seems to have been deleted but I'm just wondering. It was from a Boston Pops 4th July concert in 1987. A typical pops concert. Will 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Will 2,215 Posted July 24, 2020 Share Posted July 24, 2020 @Jay It's not clear whether this concert actually has any Williams music, but apparently it's at least conducted by him. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jay 37,363 Posted July 24, 2020 Share Posted July 24, 2020 You can find the concert program for that night online https://archive.org/stream/bostonpopsorches1992bost#page/n120/ Although I don't know which selections made the edited broadcast. Will 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Will 2,215 Posted July 24, 2020 Share Posted July 24, 2020 39 minutes ago, Jay said: You can find the concert program for that night online https://archive.org/stream/bostonpopsorches1992bost#page/n120/ Although I don't know which selections made the edited broadcast. Hmm but the Pops site says "Nashville fiddler Mark O’Connor is also featured" on tonight's broadcast. But I don't see O'Connor on the program you link to. I guess that means the TV program will splice together parts of multiple concerts? In which case presumably the chance of getting JW's Olympic Fanfare or JFK from the concert program you link to are very low. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Disco Stu 15,495 Posted July 24, 2020 Share Posted July 24, 2020 19 minutes ago, Will said: Hmm but the Pops site says "Nashville fiddler Mark O’Connor is also featured" on tonight's broadcast. But I don't see O'Connor on the program you link to. I guess that means the TV program will splice together parts of multiple concerts? In which case presumably the chance of getting JW's Olympic Fanfare or JFK from the concert program you link to are very low. Here's the concert they're pulling Mark O'Connor from. May 11 1992, 5 days before the Bonnie Raitt concert. https://archive.org/details/bostonpopsorches1992bost/page/n58/mode/2up Will 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Miguel Andrade 1,263 Posted July 24, 2020 Share Posted July 24, 2020 The concert program is what is listed under disc 2: Disco Stu 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jay 37,363 Posted July 24, 2020 Share Posted July 24, 2020 So no Hook for me tonight then Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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