Both your first suggestions would have worked, I reckon. Another possibility would be between the opening Duke suite and No Son. As an encore I'm not so sure, but if so, first one.
Posts by Backdrifter
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Why is Richard II your favourite? Perhaps we should have a separate thread about Shakespeare now. Mine is Macbeth.
I do love Macbeth, we studied it at school and it stayed with me.
There are layers of complexity in Rii that really appeal to me, without making it seem like an impenetrable piece. One of the main ones is the ambiguity of the central character; a good production, with a well-cast Richard, should make you feel some pity for him even though he is ostensibly the bad guy.
One of the three most stunning stage performances I've ever seen was in an RSC production of Rii. Jonathan Slinger played Richard with an intensity that was absolutely gobsmacking. A colleague at the time knew some members of that company, who told him some of the cast were missing lines and cues because while they were meant to be focusing on their own performance, they were too mesmerised by him!
Slinger is one of our most unsung, unrecognised actors. That year when I saw that production, I was one of the judges on the Olivier Awards panel. No, honestly, I really was. The panel were unanimous that Slinger be nominated for best actor. We couldn't see anyone coming near him. The trouble was, the panel only got to list the nominees, from there it went into the Society of London Theatre mincer. He was deemed too unknown and the award went to Derek Jacobi for his Malvolio in Twelfth Night. His perfectly serviceable performance was dwarfed by Slinger's Richard, but Jacobi was a big recognisable name. The process sealed my distaste for awards ceremonies in the arts, especially theatre ones where too often the awards reflect the organisers' desperation for theatre to be seen as glamorous as film.
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Anyway, I haven't seen a play for quite a while. The last one was an emotionally exhausting, but absolutely brilliant performance of three plays by Sarah Kane in a row (Cleansed, Crave, 4.48 Psychosis). I used to try and go at least once a month, but life interferes.
Bloody hell. Seeing just one of those can be quite brutal and draining. All three??? You're braver than me! I always try to see 4.48 Psychosis when I can, it's such a good demonstration of how different companies handle the same piece, especially in this case given the free-form text. I've seen it 4 or 5 times and the best one was a student group, all dressed in surgical gowns in a highly choreographed production, at the Edinburgh Fringe a few years ago. This was a year after seeing a professional production at the Barbican in London which was inferior.
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That's quite a varied list. If someone played that disc to a non-PC fan, someone who perhaps thought all there is to his music is Sussudio and Groovy Kind Of Love, they'd be quite surprised.
Thanks, that's actually kind of what I was aiming for, a collection that might surprise a casual listener or non-fan. The list is obviously a reflection of my preferences in terms of his work e.g. you'll notice it's light on the poppier brassy stuff and leans more to the darker, more atmospheric material.
What do you reckon to the Face Value two-hander opening? I haven't given it a full listen-through yet but while Droned won't seem a natural opener to many, I think it sounds good at the start and pleasingly wrong-footing people's expectations (not that anyone else is likely to hear this!). I couldn't separate it out from HIH as they make a nice package.
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The ITQE section of the In the Cage medley is particularly crushing.
Oh yes indeed. That segment was a nice surprise and sounded stunning. That and the IT Tour version killed the original for me, I can't listen to it now as I keep mentally willing it to be like those live ones. (The version I saw Hackett do last year wasn't up to much either).
In the Mama Tour medley I assumed it would naturally go straight into Afterglow so was surprised they kept their Slippermen snippet in there.
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Crikey, I can't remember that at all, mate. But Inside Out is far and away one of the best PC songs. A reminder that not all of No Jacket Required is synth-heavy r'n'b. Phil's at his best when he's angry and Inside Out has it all: a passionate vocal, moody sax solo, blooming loud drums and a sublime guitar solo from Mr Stuermer.
Not being a great sax fan - insane squalling sax a la Crimson/VDGG is more my thing - I could live without the rather Smooth FM solo on this one but it's a minor quibble in the face of such a good track. Again, while not the biggest Stuermer fan I think he's at his best on this, with melodic power chords and yeah a really nice solo. It's a top 5 PC track for me.
I'm now wondering if I should stick it at the end of the comp.
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Expo-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-sure
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Sorry I did not reply earlier but have been away at my father's funeral.
Oh, man. That's rough - my condolences. I found my dad's funeral very cathartic though, I unloaded a lot of grief and it was a weight lifted. I hope it was the same for you.
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I was lucky enough to see them at the gigs in Birmingham that subsequently became the Mama Tour film. Have to say those gigs remain some of the most memorable I ever saw the band perform.
I reckon it was the last tour where they had a reasonably 'balanced' setlist with some relatively unexpected inclusions (at least until the 07 tour). I can imagine it would have been memorable. It must have felt very different - the stage and lighting configurations, Banks centre-stage, some old numbers re-appearing for the first time in a while (even as snippets), the TIOA medley. Instrumentally and vocally, they were hitting a real peak at that point.
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Feel free to post anything here related to this tour. I didn't see them on this tour - the UK (and indeed the world except for US and Canada) portion of the tour consisted solely of 5 nights at Birmingham Arena, I was an impoverished student in London and couldn't afford the ticket and travel/accommodation. At the time I kind of resented that itinerary a bit, the whole of Europe and the rest of the world getting those 5 gigs in England to scrabble over, stuck on the end of a massive US/Canada marathon. We had been spoilt with quite extensive tours during 1980-82, and I guess they were really turning the heat up under their US ambitions at that stage.
Does anyone know of any decent recordings of the 'old medley' segment of the show that comprised variously combinations of Eleventh Earl intro, Squonk, Ripples, The Lamb, Behind The Lines, Firth and Musical Box?
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I respectfully read your post and wanted to make that clear as I don't mean my following comments to seem in any way dismissive or disrespectful, but I couldn't help chuckling. You've bombarded me with questions none of which I have the slightest interest in addressing for the very reason I gave earlier: ie. you are asking about the logic of plot points and action sequences in a Bond movie. To me, there simply isn't any point in doing that. Also you've made the agreeably bizarre request that I back up something I don't think is there, the Moreishness. You've very reasonably stated why you think it is there, and I disagree but respect your views. But I don't see how I can 'back up' the fact I don't see those connections, as pleasingly metaphysical as that notion is. All I can say is, I've read your views on it, but I don't see those connections. Maybe with the exception of the Fiat 500 scene, I can kind of see that.
I'm really not fussed what reviewers said, if they were in line with your views so be it, but it makes no difference to me, nor does this Bourne thing you've mentioned a couple of times which strikes me as irrelevant.
I can't bear that one who plays Vesper, she's a truly terrible actor (well she is in that film anyway) and the banter on the train is a bit cringey. Whoever did her wardrobe didn't do her any favours, they provided a series of really horrible dresses for her to look ill-attired in.
I short, as far as 007 movies go, pre-Craig I can sort of stomach Goldfinger and Daylights, Licence To Kill is okay, if I have absolutely nothing I feel like doing and have no energy to get off the couch I might slouch my way through most of Die Another Day. With the Craigs, I like them all, with Skyfall being probably the best, and Quantum good for the odd scene here and there.
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I'm planning a PC compilation disc. Not finalised but I know the opener isn't one of the album openers. I'm going for a 'gradual' sort of opener.
Right I finally got around to my compilation. Sticking with an 80-minute disc proved challenging and I had to lose 3 or 4 I really wanted to include, plus a lot of the ones I like aren't short. I wanted to have one or two Brand X and had to make do with just the one.
Droned
Hand In Hand
Thru These Walls
Wake Up Call
Inside Out
Just Another Story
I Don't Care Anymore
We Said Hello Goodbye
Tomorrow Never Knows
We Wait & We Wonder
Testify
I Wish It Would Rain Down
Survivors
In The Air Tonight
Don't Make Waves
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As far as the "screams Moore" stuff goes we'll just have to just leave it there as I absolutely don't agree with any of what you said on that at all! Ditto the tone being too light, I don't see that. There may have been something of a conscious nod to the older films as it was clearly intended at the time as a sort of wrap-up film, but it didn't feel Moreish to me in any way.
A lot of what you've said other than that is something I'd never bother doing, i.e. picking holes in a Bond film plot. You're generally on a hiding to nothing with that. Even allowing for the very conscious change in tone with Craig's arrival, I still would never expect coherent flawless plots and action pieces. The building-site chase scene in Casino is a prime example - completely stupid but massively entertaining and exactly the sort of thing I enjoy in these films. While Quantum doesn't float my boat, I do like the bombastically daft opera scene. If it's ever on TV I do try to catch that bit and can ignore the rest (except for a bit of drooling at Gemma Arterton).
I have a friend who cannot watch Bond films at all as she absolutely loathes them, and a big part of it is exactly the sorts of scenes we're talking about - where I dimly recognise an action sequence is really stupid with a completely nonsensical basis I can put that aside and enjoy the action, but for her, it's just plain stupid and she can't get any enjoyment from it. It sounds like with Spectre at least, you felt it got too silly and you've slipped into her mindset.
I do agree Blofeld is a disappointment. I think the same thing happened with Waltz as happened with Bardem. Both drew attention as genuinely chilling villains, in Inglorious and No Country. That led to them being cast as Bond villains, but in neither case did they come close to matching the scariness of those other roles. Bardem was a bit better in that respect.
The main bit of really silly business in Spectre in my view was 'C' comically wheeling his arms around before plummeting down the atrium. It just makes me laugh.
I'd love the next main villain to be female. Cate Blanchett could do a good job of that.
By the way -
I obviously salute him for bedding Monica Bellucci
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Rather than start a new thread I thought I'd drop in to this one because it is TV-related.
I'm assembling a PC compilation disc of my own and checking what I want to include on it. In doing so I've just reminded myself that oh my word what a stonkingly good track Inside Out is. I'd clean forgotten it, I probably haven't heard it for literally decades. That's going straight on the comp!
The TV connection is that I suddenly remembered it was the theme tune of a British TV drama. I haven't got very far looking this up but the main candidate is a 1985 drama that only ran for one 6-episode season and which I remember really enjoying. It was about two female ex-convicts setting up an employment agency. I recall it having a very particular atmosphere to it and that the snippet of the song used as the theme, just the main refrain as I recall, nicely matched the show. It's really taken me back. Anyone else recall it?
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While I agree that Shakespeare constantly evolves, there is something about me which prefers his work performed in period costumes. I am not against modern dress if it's done well (the recent BBC production of King Lear was done in a fascist state setting) but I don't like it overshadowing the plays.
I do see the appeal to many of the period dress etc. And I agree that modern settings and practices work best when they complement the play and help to bring out the key elements - indeed any sort of staging must avoid overshadowing or overwhelming the play.
Shakespeare, like any good theatre I suppose, should in theory still have an impact even with the most bare minimal staging. I always liked Peter Brooke's comment, to paraphrase, "Just give me an empty space". Mark Rylance's final production at the Globe as artistic director was a controversial rendition of The Tempest featuring just him and two other actors, and a length of rope. I didn't get to see that one but would have liked to, it's a great idea but I think it was disliked by many. I did see a few of his productions there, including another contentious one where they did Hamlet with emphasis on the humour within it. I heard people complaining about it, but for me it worked. Best of all though was a Richard II (probably my favourite Shakespeare) which the Globe company, with Rylance as the lead, performed it at Middle Temple Hall, the last remaining Elizabethan hall in London and in which it's known Shakespeare performed with the King's Men. Seeing my favourite play of his in a space where he'd performed was spine-tingling.
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(It's so bloody annoying you can't delete the surplus quote box when it does that duplicate thing when you think it hasn't worked but it has)
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I have more issues with Spectre to be honest, after having worked hard as you said, to strip always most of the nonsense, I think they fell a bit too much in the Roger Moore era atmosphere.
Good heavens.
You'll have to explain this one for me. It sounds like you're saying Spectre was too much like a Moore Bond, which I find absolutely baffling in every possible way!
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There are several dodgy lyrics on the album imo. I chalk it up to youth and inexperience but as I said, someone listening to it could really hear beyond the flaws and realize the potential. White Mountain has a beautiful melodies and I love Looking for Someone, when Peter sings the intro, I find it simply arresting but then again some lyrics are questionable, you can hear he wanted to squeeze in stuff like: ''Buddha'' and ''Mumbo-Jumbo'' and quite frankly they are a bit ridiculous, fortunately there is plenty on the album that makes you sit up and take notice.
I quite like the presence of 'buddha' and 'mumbo-jumbo' and the overall feel of that lyric with its sense of dislocation and frustration. I much prefer that, and wanting to sit down and wash out filth from guts, to flowery stuff about angels and dogs.
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It is actually the part, Decomposing Man mentioned above. The whole song goes down the drain from there on.
You must have liked the shortened version they did on some dates on the 1980 tour where they cut that entire section out.
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You yourself are just the same as what you see in me (Slippermen)