Voces8 launch concert
WWWWOOOOWWWW.
Actually that doesn't do it justice at all.
Last night was the launch concert for Voces8's new album, 'Aces High', at King's Place. It's a lovely venue; they had some jazz musicians in the foyer, and it's all very spacious and light - generally very pleasant. I spied that they were selling CDs (presumably by most, if not all of the main artists performing during the festival) and sure enough, Aces High was one of them. Hoorah! So I snapped one up.
Hall One I could see was designed for acoustics, but it's quite aesthetically pleasing too. I read a review of Stile Antico's performance on Thursday which described Hall One as "such a lovely space - a beautiful blend of light wood (that still smells of wood, deliciously!) and plain blue, subtly lit" - I concur. The stage isn't huge, so it suited a group of Voces8's size perfectly; it still gave them room to stage the performance without being too big.
I had a Saver Seat, and got the perfect seat! (They're allocated by the Box Office, so a Saver Seat could literally anywhere) I was in the middle of the third row :D I heard somebody say behind me that the front row had been reserved for 'victims' - ! Had I been a couple of rows further back I think I'd have struggled to make out the words for the new repertoire; I'd have had trouble to lip-read. So for me, definitely the perfect seat!
The concert started with what became a running gag (I thought it was clever, and was amused when all was revealed at the end) - Clare and Louise were dressed as secret agents, with silver ... I'm not sure how to describe them. They were a bit like hard-shelled suitcases, or flight cases. They appeared a few times, between songs.
- Goldeneye
- I Got Rhythm
It was interesting to see it was a bit different from the previous versions I know of theirs. Dingle's bass was quite different from the one I know; and the staging of Rob and Charles' duet ended with Charles jumping into Rob's arms!
- Fever
- Dream a Little Dream of Me
This was just the men, and very relaxing.
- Feeling Good
Emily doesn't sing the opening solo quite as Cath did; I think it's great to have a different person making it their own.
- A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square
This was dedicated to Mrs MacDougall because they'd promised her they'd put on their next album, and it's not on there ... I really hope it goes on the next one because I really liked it!
- Straighten Up and Fly Right
- Me and My Shadow
I LOVED the staging of this! It's one of my favourite songs from 'Evensong' (the album) and to see it staged, now I know it really well, was fantastic. The interaction between Charles and Rob, and between them and the others, was greatly amusing! Especially 'we start to swing' and Charles started dancing, noticed Rob was looking at him oddly, and just stopped, looking somewhat miffed.
- Jailhouse Rock
Again, just the men.
- Good Vibrations
This is the sort of music on which I grew up (20-30 years behind my time, but oh well!) and I thought it was simply brilliant! Particularly impressed by Paul's triplets - that was quite some tongue agility! (Wind players: imagine triple-tonguing continuously for a good 30 seconds ... I'm not sure it's exactly triple-tonguing, but close.) Also the 'dow' sent back and forth between Paul and Dingle was quite amusing.
- Cloudy
Quite a change of mood! Rather an emotional song.
- From Russia with love
Barney was the soloist (Bond, a counter-tenor? A novel idea, peut-être) - it was interesting to hear him for a length of time; usually we only hear interjections from him and Chris and the rest of the time they're blending into the harmonies (or being percussion, in Barney's case). I can usually pick out the tenors and basses, but the countertenors and sopranos I don't find as easy to pick out - though I know how Emily and Andrea sound solo because they seem to have more solos than the countertenors anyway. I find it difficult to work out the words the countertenors sing, especially Barney (no idea why), but listening to the track on the CD, I really do like his voice.
- You Only Live Twice / For Your Eyes Only
- Nobody Does it Better
Well, what can I say? There was some ... risqué staging there! Many amusing moments though :)
- Slap That Bass
Another 'show tune' - fantastic choralography; great fun!
- Encore: Mack the Knife
EDIT: The soprano 'he disappeared; never came back again' got a chuckle frm the audience.
Non-edit: Afterwards I spoke for a short while to Paul, and then just about got to see Charles. I sort of wanted to speak to one of some of the others, but I found myself chickening out. (They were all [Paul and Charles included] inundated with people wanting to congratulate them anyway.)
I know I've said before about Voces8's performance, and rapport with the audience, so I'll try not to wax lyrical again (suffice it to say, my very high opinion of them is now even higher). I made a point to really watch them, although there came a point when I had to try to stop watching Charles - his facial expressions (especially the eyebrows) kept making me laugh! I can't remember which of the songs it was, but at one point he really played to the audience; he went completely OTT because we'd started to giggle, so he went for the outright laugh. It was very amusing indeed :D
Thinking about the triple-tonguing: in one of the other tracks on the CD (I'm not saying which - not giving anything away as the album's not released yet!) one of them does some flutter-tonguing! That's how it sounds, anyway. It's either Barney or Dingle; I haven't worked out which yet. (I could triple-tongue if I practised for a few years, but I cannot flutter-tongue, so I'm a bit envious!)
I played 'Good Vibrations' to my dad last night, and he was impressed! Hooray! I doubt I've converted him yet, but it's a start anyway.
Just a small point or two: In the programme, it says that Voces8 'leads an international jet set lifestyle' - does EasyJet count as jet set?! Also, it says they have two albums due for release in 2010 - obviously Aces High, but I'm intrigued to find out what the second one is!
No prizes for guessing what my music will be for the next ... oh, three months or so?
EDIT: Such a lot of work evidently went into creating a show, rather than just a performance. The theme was that of 'the Aces High Club' - forgive my naïvety; I'm unaware as to whether this is a real or fictional place, but anyway: think James Bond, sophistication, cocktails, black tie/evening dresses, etc. Very high class.
[Yet another] EDIT: In the interests of attempting not to be completely biased, I have to say I prefer some of their show tunes (I Got Rhythm, Straighten Up and Fly Right, etc.) a bit slower - how according to YouTube, they used to perform them. Me and My Shadow I only really know from their Evensong album, but they sang it at a faster tempo ... and I prefer it as it was, a bit slower. I'm sure there's a reason they sing them faster now, and maybe it's just because it takes me a while to get used to change that I'm not so keen, but there we go. Just my humble opinion! However, it doesn't change the fact that the evening was superb!