last night the church transformed the opera house into a swirling, technicolour dreamscape.
they'd done something similar years ago with the magnificent george ellis orchestra, a collaboration born from george's long-standing devotion to the band and his friendship with steve. that earlier performance has become the stuff of legend among fans, and i think it was even released on CD. this time the orchestra was slightly smaller, but from where i was, planted right down the front and soaking up every note, it lost none of the magic.
in truth, it's difficult to fully describe what unfolded. the show was billed as a psychedelic symphony, and that's exactly what it became. perhaps that description was made even more accurate by the fact that a couple of hash cakes consumed earlier had chosen that precise moment to announce their arrival as the lights dimmed and the band walked on stage.
i've seen the church hundreds of times over the years, in every conceivable setting, but this performance immediately joined the ranks of the very best.
the setlist struck a fine balance between favourites and deeper cuts. personally, i wouldn't have objected to a few more of their stranger, more abstract excursions and a few less of the obvious crowd-pleasers, but that's hardly a complaint. even the hits felt reborn. familiar songs unfolded in unexpected ways, rearranged and reimagined with enough fresh twists to make them feel new again.
if there was a standout moment, it was probably the longer pieces. those epic, slow-burning songs that begin almost tentatively before gathering momentum, building layer upon layer until they break free of gravity altogether and disappear into the stratosphere. those were transcendent.
what impressed me most was the restraint and intelligence of the orchestration. the orchestra never overwhelmed the band, not once. there was no battle for space, no symphonic excess smothering the source material. instead, it functioned as a living, breathing extension of the music, adding colour, texture and emotional weight. strings shimmered around melodies and punched holes through the rhythms, and entire passages seemed to expand outward into vast new dimensions.
the result wasn't a rock band backed by an orchestra. it was something far more interesting. for two hours, the church and the orchestra became a single organism, creating enormous waves of sound that were by turns beautiful, hypnotic, melancholic and exhilarating.
the band themselves were all enjoying themselves, ash and ian seemed to have some beautiful interplay and the guy who was standing in for jeffery was wonderful to watch, his parts were intricate and subtle, yet powerful. nick beat the skins as though he had been playing with the church all his life and tim created some of the percussive sculptures that give the church an edge and depth. steve's voice was perfecto, 100% on fine form, and in many ways i wish he could sit in the audence with me and just enjoy how good he and his band are. i love where the church are now, this is beyond being masters of their art, it's being groovy with it, that creative energy is powerful and potent and they play with it, just digging their own synergy. but you know what was beautiful, the outstanding harmonies. i loved just kicking back and listenig to them, watching them play out, and i don't know. not many things to uplift my spirit these days but the church live. i'm soaring.
a psychedelic symphony? absolutely.
for once, truth in advertising
ps. i have heard lacuna. it is fucking amazing.
they'd done something similar years ago with the magnificent george ellis orchestra, a collaboration born from george's long-standing devotion to the band and his friendship with steve. that earlier performance has become the stuff of legend among fans, and i think it was even released on CD. this time the orchestra was slightly smaller, but from where i was, planted right down the front and soaking up every note, it lost none of the magic.
in truth, it's difficult to fully describe what unfolded. the show was billed as a psychedelic symphony, and that's exactly what it became. perhaps that description was made even more accurate by the fact that a couple of hash cakes consumed earlier had chosen that precise moment to announce their arrival as the lights dimmed and the band walked on stage.
i've seen the church hundreds of times over the years, in every conceivable setting, but this performance immediately joined the ranks of the very best.
the setlist struck a fine balance between favourites and deeper cuts. personally, i wouldn't have objected to a few more of their stranger, more abstract excursions and a few less of the obvious crowd-pleasers, but that's hardly a complaint. even the hits felt reborn. familiar songs unfolded in unexpected ways, rearranged and reimagined with enough fresh twists to make them feel new again.
if there was a standout moment, it was probably the longer pieces. those epic, slow-burning songs that begin almost tentatively before gathering momentum, building layer upon layer until they break free of gravity altogether and disappear into the stratosphere. those were transcendent.
what impressed me most was the restraint and intelligence of the orchestration. the orchestra never overwhelmed the band, not once. there was no battle for space, no symphonic excess smothering the source material. instead, it functioned as a living, breathing extension of the music, adding colour, texture and emotional weight. strings shimmered around melodies and punched holes through the rhythms, and entire passages seemed to expand outward into vast new dimensions.
the result wasn't a rock band backed by an orchestra. it was something far more interesting. for two hours, the church and the orchestra became a single organism, creating enormous waves of sound that were by turns beautiful, hypnotic, melancholic and exhilarating.
the band themselves were all enjoying themselves, ash and ian seemed to have some beautiful interplay and the guy who was standing in for jeffery was wonderful to watch, his parts were intricate and subtle, yet powerful. nick beat the skins as though he had been playing with the church all his life and tim created some of the percussive sculptures that give the church an edge and depth. steve's voice was perfecto, 100% on fine form, and in many ways i wish he could sit in the audence with me and just enjoy how good he and his band are. i love where the church are now, this is beyond being masters of their art, it's being groovy with it, that creative energy is powerful and potent and they play with it, just digging their own synergy. but you know what was beautiful, the outstanding harmonies. i loved just kicking back and listenig to them, watching them play out, and i don't know. not many things to uplift my spirit these days but the church live. i'm soaring.
a psychedelic symphony? absolutely.
for once, truth in advertising
ps. i have heard lacuna. it is fucking amazing.
