“Love is all around you.” It’s a phrase that enveloped me in full during the climax of The Beatles — LOVE. My reaction? “Yeah yeah yeah!” The 7:00 p.m. performance on January 10, 2014 was my fifth time seeing this Cirque du Soleil extravaganza in its 7 years (and counting) at The Mirage in Las Vegas. I was perfectly positioned in Section 200 in Row M, Seat 13, for what was going to unfold here, there, and everywhere around me. And you really do need to attend LOVE multiple times to absorb all of the many nuances of its sensory-overloading A/V spectacle.
LOVE is a visual tour de force — a hallmark of all Cirque productions — tracing The Beatles’ WWII roots alongside the idealism and eventual denouement of the ’60s up through the present day. The custom-built theater ... Read More »]]>
Peace and LOVE: The cast and The Fabs, all together now. Photo by Tomas Muscionico. Costumes by Philippe Guillotel.
“Love is all around you.” It’s a phrase that enveloped me in full during the climax of The Beatles — LOVE. My reaction? “Yeah yeah yeah!” The 7:00 p.m. performance on January 10, 2014 was my fifth time seeing this Cirque du Soleil extravaganza in its 7 years (and counting) at The Mirage in Las Vegas. I was perfectly positioned in Section 200 in Row M, Seat 13, for what was going to unfold here, there, and everywhere around me. And you really do need to attend LOVE multiple times to absorb all of the many nuances of its sensory-overloading A/V spectacle.
LOVE is a visual tour de force — a hallmark of all Cirque productions — tracing The Beatles’ WWII roots alongside the idealism and eventual denouement of the ’60s up through the present day. The custom-built theater houses (yes) 6,000 speakers, all in service of a spectacular surround-sound mix supervised by original Beatles producer Sir George Martin and his son Giles Martin. Giles told Sound & Vision in 2009, “For LOVE, I took the material and layered it deliberately. When you extract and separate elements too much, quite often they don’t gel as well as they used to.”
Sgt. Pepper carries that weight. Photo by Tomas Muscionico. Costumes by Philippe Guillotel.
There’s no better example of the proper gel than the carnival aesthetic of “Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite!” threading beautifully with the low-end crunch of “I Want You (She’s So Heavy),” the abject fury of “Helter Skelter,” and the cacophonous, all-encompassing buildup and release of “A Day in the Life.” And the show-ending “All You Need Is Love,” seen at the very toppermost of this post, is a full-channel wonder awash with horns, harpsichord, harmonies, and peace-sign-flashing singalong exuberance.
While I could go on and on… I’m sorry, but it’s getting very near the end. To borrow a line from a certain Johnny Rhythm, I think they passed the audition.
Can’t get to Vegas to see LOVE anytime soon but still want to partake in the 50th anniversary of The Fab Four hitting the U.S. shores? (Hey, tomorrow never knows.…) Your next best bet is to check out The Beatles LOVE — All Together Now, A Documentary Film (on DVD or via download), which chronicles Cirque du Soleil’s journey to put forth such a massive show. Sir Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, Sir George Martin, Yoko Ono Lennon, and Olivia Harrison are all on hand to give in-person input to Cirque founder Guy Laliberté and director/writer/show concept creator Dominic Champagne as the show is in its gestation stages (no pressure!). Notes Sir George of the audio, “We’re stretching the sounds, bending them.” Adds his son and co-producing partner Giles Martin, “If he [his dad] thinks it’s good, then it’s good.” And Sir Paul wryly observes, “What a f—ing great band we were.” (He ain’t wrong, you know.) Yeah, it’s quite f—-ing great, alright: the DTS 5.1 surround mix is beautiful and enveloping, and the panoramic views of the production and its presentation while it’s being worked through will totally knock you out. Sir George summarizes it just right: “Each generation as it grows up find The Beatles for itself. And it will go on.” Onward, one and all: Until you make the necessary pilgrimage to the Mirage, All Together Now is a fab, fab, fab way to Re-Meet The Beatles. A splendid time is guaranteed for all.
Bonus Tracks — He Said, He Said Department: Okay, consider this the “Her Majesty” portion of the proceedings. That is, here’s a few more bits from Giles Martin concerning his philosophy of surround sound and The Beatles: “Music in surround can be amazing, but it needs to be done the right way. It has its place — and it’s fantastic if you have the right speakers. As I said on my blog, “My proudest achievement with LOVE is that it made people listen again.”
“The original recordings were made beautifully, but quite often they were made for radio. We opened things up more for [Rock Band]. On the original of “I Want to Hold Your Hand,” for example, Ringo’s drums are rather quiet and the vocals are upfront because it was a radio track. We’d do a mix and actually play it in the game, and we’d find out that you can’t really hear the kick drum. So we’d go back and increase the dynamics on Ringo’s drums.”
“Of course, the sound does change with the venue. Take the rooftop concert. At first, it just didn’t feel right. So we put a slight slap on everything, because I thought it would sound like that if you were there; you’d get a slap off the surrounding buildings. With Shea Stadium, it’s a bigger space, obviously, so it has to sound bigger. It was important to us to have that attention to detail.”
]]>It’s that time of year: Time to cite the tunes that caught hold of my expert ear over the past 12 months — the ones I consider most worthy of purchase, hi-res download, and/or dropping the needle on at 45 rpm! Here, in reverse order, are my favorite 25 songs of 2013. Happy listening!
25. Joan Jett & The Blackhearts: “Any Weather.” Forecast calls for her continued reign. Co-meteorologized with Foomaster Dave Grohl.
24. U2: “Ordinary Love.” As in, “Extra-” and “This Is No.” And Mandela smiles from The Great Beyond.
23. Michael Monroe: “Ballad of the Lower East Side.” Punkin’-A NYC luv letter. Sneer perfection.
22. Baby Woodrose: “Bubblegum.” Flip your tongue like… super-chewy Euro-garage pop!
21. Palmyra Delran: “Some Day Soon.” Hopeful, wistful, wonderful: Yes, please. Stick it out — rewards ahead.
20. Radio Days: “Love and Fun.” Beach-blanket underground-pop rabble-rouser.
19. Charles ... Read More »]]>
Engineer Men: Roanoke, Virginia’s Young Sinclairs can toot their collective horn for chugging in at #3.
BY MIKE METTLER
It’s that time of year: Time to cite the tunes that caught hold of my expert ear over the past 12 months — the ones I consider most worthy of purchase, hi-res download, and/or dropping the needle on at 45 rpm! Here, in reverse order, are my favorite 25 songs of 2013. Happy listening!
Where Did All of the Workmen Go: Houndmouth put a twang-jammin’ bite on #17.
Vix Humana: Jenn & Reeves are absolutely, seductively transcendent at lucky #13.
Live and Yearn: Amy Gore & Her Valentines go for the jugular valve at #9.
Lightning in My Pocket: The Bayonets ensnare the real deal at #2.
25. Joan Jett & The Blackhearts: “Any Weather.” Forecast calls for her continued reign. Co-meteorologized with Foomaster Dave Grohl.
24. U2: “Ordinary Love.” As in, “Extra-” and “This Is No.” And Mandela smiles from The Great Beyond.
23. Michael Monroe: “Ballad of the Lower East Side.” Punkin’-A NYC luv letter. Sneer perfection.
22. Baby Woodrose: “Bubblegum.” Flip your tongue like… super-chewy Euro-garage pop!
21. Palmyra Delran: “Some Day Soon.” Hopeful, wistful, wonderful: Yes, please. Stick it out — rewards ahead.
20. Radio Days: “Love and Fun.” Beach-blanket underground-pop rabble-rouser.
19. Charles Bradley: “Hurricane.” New millennial soul brother, all aswirl.
18. Kurt Baker: “Weekend Girls.” Bouncy, jouncy, hello-ladies kinda singalong.
17. Houndmouth: “Ludlow.” Spot-on down-home jammin’ and jukin’. Tight futures.
16. Lorde: “Everybody Wants to Rule the World.” Evocative Tears For Fears cover, and perhaps the one thing we have running in our blood common with those ruddy luxe “Royals.”
15. Mark Lindsay: “Show Me the Love.” Killer hook ’n riffs, to be Revered and Raided accordingly.
14. The Launderettes: “Cold Cold Hearts.” A solemnly cool ’n seductive blast of Norwegian love.
13. Jenn Vix & Reeves Gabrels: “Speed of Light.” Wholly auralgasmic electronic guitar mashup in 9/4 time.
12. Jake Clemons: “You Must Be Crazy.” The sax man’s bloodline runs strong ’n true, and grows anew.
11. Daft Punk Featuring Pharrell Williams: “Get Lucky.” More like Daft Funk, especially with main Chic-man Nile Rodgers on guitar.
10. John & Brittany: “Start Sinning.” How to bash out raw sentiment with abandon, drive, and verve.
9. Amy Gore & Her Valentines: “Send Me a Postcard.” Perfect post-garage-punk kiss-on/kiss-off. Mwah!
8. Robin Thicke Featuring T.I. and Pharrell: “Blurred Lines.” Ubiquitously catchy honeydripper. (You know you want it…) The late Robert Palmer woulda simply made it even more irresistible.
7. The Anderson Council: “Gardening Man.” Perfectly tilled garage-rock seeds. Listen how they grow.
6. Ryan Bingham: “Until I’m One With You.” Haunting theme to FX’s The Bridge resonates deep and wide.
5. Paul McCartney, Dave Grohl, Krist Novoselic & Pat Smear: “Cut Me Some Slack.” They so heavy. (Dun-dun-dun!)
4. Tedeschi Trucks Band: “Calling Out to You.” Mournful, foot-tapping acoustic quiet prayer, the perfect end to a brilliant album.
3. The Young Sinclairs: “Engineer Man.” Infectious garage riff and spot-on harmonies mesh 1965 vibe with 2013 reality. “He does all of the work around here.”
2. The Bayonets: “Whatcha Got.” Slinky ’n sultry and slunky ’n funky in all the right places. “Casanova was a lightweight, Valentino was a clown … You wanna sweet talk? You can take a walk … So what so what, show me whatcha got.”
1. Steven Wilson: “Luminol.” 12 minutes of hard-charging transcendence, ranging from post-prog pummeling to layered harmonic elegance, fully realized in the mulitchannel king’s own envelope-pushing surround-sound mix. Officially my personal favorite benchmark 5.1 demo track.
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