Tonight I had the pleasure of seeing Hans Zimmer, one of my favourite composers, perform live with his band (and mini orchestra) in Brisbane!
Above: The Brisbane Entertainment Centre 30 minutes prior to the show.
So, naturally, here follows the star-struck ramblings of a music geek from the hours following the concert.
As anyone who knows me knows, music is a hugely important part of my life. Movie soundtracks especially – play me a song from any movie I’ve seen, and I’ll probably be able to tell you the movie it’s from, the composer, and sometimes even the track name within a few seconds. I looove movie soundtracks. For me they evoke all the same emotions I experienced when watching the movie itself, and from quiet melodies to booming crescendos, the sort of music I like tends to be very emotive indeed.
Hans Zimmer is one of my favourite composers (second only to John Williams) because his music has accompanied – and indeed, embodies – so many of the movies I love. The Lion King, Gladiator, Pirates of the Caribbean, The Dark Knight, and Inception, to name just a few.
So when he walked out on stage I was giddy with excitement. But even if I didn’t know his music, I’d have loved the show tonight. It had such a diverse variety of songs, featuring solos from many different instruments, and spanning different genres, from classical to rock and even a bit of heavy metal.
There was one piece early on which featured three drum solos – at once. There was a drummer with a full kit right in the centre of the stage, and two other drummers with a few drums each on the left and right. Somehow they all managed to stay in time, even playing in each other’s off-beats. Later there was a xylophone duet joining them too.
The strings section was amazing too. Hans Zimmer has a number of songs that feature strings heavily – “Now We Are Free” from Gladiator, and “Discombobulate” from Sherlock Holmes, for example. There were two violinists and one cellist at the front, and each had their own turn at playing solos on centre stage. The cellist Tina Guo (playing an electric cello) stood and swished her hair around emphatically while playing Discombobulate, and one of the violinists (Leah Zeger I believe) couldn’t seem to stop herself from prancing up and down the length of the stage as she played (and provided backup vocals on one occasion too). There were also some mean electric guitar riffs (head-banging included), a piano accordion-led piece, and a sweet soprano sax solo. Hans Zimmer himself switched seamlessly between an upright piano, keyboard, acoustic guitar, electric guitar, and banjo, often in the middle of songs.
Above: The best photo I could get of the full orchestra. Hans Zimmer is centre-stage in the white shirt and black vest; you can see the two violinists and cellist on the left. Then there’s basically a row of percussionists – a full drum kit in the middle, some other drums on the sides, and a xylophone on the left. Behind them, small strings and brass sections are on the left and right respectively. The choir are standing at the back.
Admittedly the man himself is not much of a showman. He’s an introvert, a man who spends all his time in a closed room with his instruments, who’s never done a live tour before because of stage fright. I can relate. But what he lacked in showmanship he made up for in character. Between performances he’d talk a little about the experience writing the piece and working with his band members. Often he shared a funny anecdote about how an idea came about. He spoke falteringly, but candidly, and clearly emphasized that the honour is all his for being able to work with such a talented group of musicians.
So where was I… ah yes. Even if I didn’t know the music, it would’ve been an amazing experience. But I do know the music, more than half of the selection they played at least, which multiplied my enjoyment tenfold. My hairs stood on end as they played the sombre, stirring crescendo that accompanies Simba’s discovery of his father’s legacy. My heart pounded when the playful cello stabs of Jack Sparrow’s theme began. My throat clenched when the whimsical thrumming of Sherlock Holmes’ harpsichord number shook the amphitheatre. And my muscles tensed as the rumbling bass and brass summoned images of Batman’s cape rippling in the wind as he dives through the air. There are no words that can describe that feeling, but I’ll try anyway because that’s what I do. Anticipation, appreciation, bliss, catharsis, in that order. Or as my sister put it: it felt like we should be putting on seatbelts when we sat back down after the interlude.
Even Man of Steel’s quiet, hope-filled tones were a pleasure to hear – I don’t know the soundtrack that well, but the beginning of it is certainly evocative. And when that erupted into the Amazonian cry of Wonder Woman’s theme I grinned like a kid in a candy store. I love it when a character’s theme is so instantly recognisable.
These are songs that move me every time I hear a simple audio recording, so to hear them played live, with almost deafening enthusiasm, with a flourishing physicality, coordinated light work, colours, smoke, and pizzazz… There’s been few times in my life when I’m so acutely aware of everything happening from moment to moment that I need to consciously remind myself to relax my chest, to breathe, to swallow, to blink, but this was one of them.
And when Hans Zimmer said “Goodnight Brisbane!” and walked off the stage with his band after finishing with a lesser-known Interstellar piece – and no Inception! – I knew there going to be an encore. So did most of the few thousand people there, because they kept up the clapping and whistling for a solid few minutes through silence and darkness before the band came back on stage and performed three more pieces – “Dream Is Collapsing” from Inception, a piece from The Dark Knight’s credits music, and of course, “Time.” What better way to end a historic performance than with that piercing piano note? It truly was a sight and sound to behold: all the instruments fading, one by one, until Hans Zimmer is left playing those slow, sustained notes on the piano, not a single cough to be heard in a room of several thousand people.
Then they lined up, bowed a few times, and the lights came on as the show ended for real this time. And the song that played over the speakers as people stood up and filed towards the exit? “Always Look On The Bright Side Of Life,” by Monty Python’s Eric Idle. What a night! There’s so much more I could describe, but I’ve written enough. I’ll be reliving this experience in my head for years to come, no doubt.
But I didn’t get the t-shirt. Forty bucks is a bit much.
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Below is a video montage of some short clips from the night. Audio quality sucks, but that’s what you get for not being there. 😉 I hear an official DVD/Bluray of the full performance will be coming out eventually though (probably closer to the end of the year), so keep your ears piqued for that if you’re interested.
And here’s a bit with Hans Zimmer talking about the Batman trilogy, Heath Ledger, and Aurora.
Observations 