I’d always wanted to hear Blue Monday played really loudly. It’s not my favourite New Order song but I just knew it would be fantastic played at full volume. I never imagined I’d hear the band play it; I thought I’d hear it in a club or something. But no, I heard New Order play Blue Monday at a gig at The Ballroom, Birmingham and it was every bit as good as I had hoped. Good thing too; my clubbing days are over.
It was a fantastic gig and all the better for the company – my school friend N who organised the tickets. The music took me back to those crazy teenage years and the joy of discovering soaring electronic pop. It also reminded me of how excited I used to be about Manchester. I still get that feeling when I watch Cold Feet.
I didn’t take my camera and anyway we were at the back but I found some pro photos of the gig on Flickr. This is my favourite:
I get tired sometimes. This leads to my becoming irritable and, before too long, mildly morose. Experience has taught me to force myself to seek something to lift my soul out of the gloom, something that will instantly deliver a moment of pure happiness. Tonight that something is the beautiful, soaring Intermezzo from Cavalleria Rusticana by Mascagni. I think I’d heard it before but it first made its impact on me when I heard it in the excellent film Raging Bull.
We went to hear The Organ Symphony (the only one as far as I’m concerned). I knew it would be wonderful but I hadn’t expected its effect on me to be so visceral.
I had wanted to hear the organ at Symphony Hall for a long time. I’m not fond of the sound of the organ as a rule but I wanted to experience its power. Its part is just right in the symphony. For a start, it only appears sparingly and doesn’t overpower the orchestra however, on the rare occasion that it does take centre stage, it is suitably dramatic. The final movement of the symphony is my favourite and it brought tears to my eyes. As a bonus, and I’d never seen this before, there were two encores, the second of which was Les Toreadors from Carmen Suite No. 1. That’s in the film Babe, as is the last movement of Organ Symphony, which makes me wonder whether the first encore was also from Babe. It was certainly familiar…
I didn’t take my camera so I snapped the organ on my iphone as a memento:
I’ve enjoyed this series so far. I liked this dog in particular:
Also in this episode, during the cooperating elephants feature, there was a song that I recognised. It drove me mad trying to remember what it was. Finally something stirred in my brain: it was something to do with an Apple advertisement. Much later I realised it was from the ipad2 video. Bloody Apple, finding yet another way to drive me mad. Anyway, this is the song:
I watched Control last night. Given the rave reviews it’s received, especially on Rotten Tomatoes (which usually I find to be very reliable) I was disappointed. The film is beautifully shot in black and white, but it’s very slow moving and even boring at times. I may have found it so because I’m already very familiar with the story, in no small part due to watching The New Order Story documentary on TV.
I recorded that documentary back in the nineties and I watched it over and over again. It showed the real Rob Gretton, the real Tony Wilson and real band members. To be completely frank, the real people were far more likeable and entertaining in the NO Story than the actors in Control. The anecdote about Ian having a fit in the car on the way to the gig for instance was brought to life far better in the documentary than the film.
One of my favourite films – 24 Hour Party People – tells the same story but intertwined with with everything else that was happening and again, it is far more absorbing. I suppose it is a bit unfair to compare the two as Control is a biopic of Ian Curtis who was never that much of a cheerful soul and 24 hour is a portrait of the Madchester scene.
Anyway, to return to Control, I’m not sure whether it was deliberate but the women in Curtis’ life are annoying to the extreme. Why does Debbie put up with so much? She has such an awful, pathetic voice. Why does Annik accept being the bit on the side when she wanted more? Annik’s voice is even worse, not only pathetic but she talks in half whispers so you can barely hear her. I found myself shouting at the TV ‘Speak up!’
The two redeeming features were the music (I can’t think of any other band I’ve heard who is quite as haunting and hypnotic and yet still punky) and Sam Riley’s utterly captivating performances as Ian Curtis on stage. I could barely believe that he wasn’t the real deal. So I’ll leave you with a sample of that awesomeness:
Part of the Carnival of the Animals suite, The Swan is just beautiful. I’ve been listening to the whole album:
I only discovered Saint-Saens after wondering who wrote the theme for the vile Mr Tourette from Modern Toss. Mr Tourette is the opposite of beautiful, but in a good way.
