Blog — Page 222 of 283

Toruk – the First Flight

Cirque du Soleil

Qudos Bank Arena, Sydney

October 19, 2017

Toruk - the First Flight, a stage show by Cirque de Soleil, is based on James Cameron's Avatar films, located on the planet moon of Pandora, where the blue skinned Na'vi with long tails live together in harmony in a lush neon-coloured jungle thousands of years before the events depicted in the movie and before any homo sapiens set food on Pandora.

Does not sound enticing?

Well, you might be mistaken, because the story is not what really matters here.

It merely serves as the foundation for dazzling acrobatic acts framed in a visually stunning and spectacular live setting courtesy of the pioneering artistic vision of directors and multimedia innovators Michel Lemieux and Victor Pilon.

Epic.

Trippy.

Hypnotic.

Enchanting.

Cirque du Soleil on a arena level, magnificent scale that makes use of an arena sized setting: Infused with its signature style, Toruk: the First Flight presents a rich mélange of the trademark acrobatics (with the aerial stunts and an act using a giant backbone skeleton / vertebrae as a spinning see-saw contraption being particularly noteworthy), masterful puppetry and is guided by the narration of a Na’vi storyteller providing the thin red thread and storyline for the visual spectacle that at times resembles perfectly orchestrated chaos.

It proves to be difficult to not feel immersed in the Avatar-styled world of Pandora with camouflaged set lights incorporating the audience, the show offering to use an app to interact with aspects of the performance and the whole arena serving as a stage thanks to the video and light projections that help seamlessly transition sets from a myriad of contexts that could not be more dissimilar in nature.

Your humble narrator was also intentionally whipped by one of Na’vi’s blue tails, which gave audience interaction another dimension.

The costuming is superb, extremely detailed, intricate and capturing the aesthetics of the Na’vi in the even most contorted positions and the display of overwhelming talent permeates every facet of the performance.

Composers and musical directors Bob & Bill meet the challenge of creating otherworldly transitions between scenes that blend in perfectly with their cinematic yet organic sounding music.

Having been witness to quite a few of Cirque du Soleil’s previous incarnations, with the franchise at times struggling to maintain the original DNA with some of the newer productions, Toruk - the First Flight certainly not only accomplishes the main tenet of the company’s mission statement, i.e. to invoke the imagination and provoke the sense, but this “Flight” takes it to new unprecedented heights – pun intended.

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Images from Cirque du Soleil website.

What Rhymes with Cars and Girls

Riverside Theatre

Parramatta

October 14, 2017

What Rhymes with Cars and Girls was You Am I’s frontman Tim Rogers’ first solo effort released toward the end of last millennium, a lyrically rich and  emotionally raw one at that, which has been morphed into a lively romantic comedy musical. 

Writer Aidan Fennessy, known from his stint as the  former associate director at the Melbourne Theatre Company, channeled Rogers’ trademark songs into something much less cliché laden and more enjoyable than the theme revolving around the outworn poor boy meets rich girl trope would suggest.

Yup, you guessed it – star crossed lovers - class boundaries matter until you are in love, which is when they are magically overcome.

A less bloody West Side Story with a distinct Aussie flavour.

The rambling lyrics, swagger and themes of Rogers’ album serve as a foundation and landmarks, with the blanks in between filled in with Fennessy’s narrative thread, interpretations, at times overworked metaphorical elaborations and discourse on classicism, playing with songs and framing the lyrics in context; with Johnno and Tash singing and telling their story directly to the audience and Tim Rogers surrendering the stage for them.

The performance is accessible, well-executed, earthy musical romance, a tinge of bit alt-rock, and easy to enjoy. Clare Watson’s direction gives depth to the interaction between the main protagonists, making it more than an enactment of an album.

The set design along with the character-defining costumes weave the band’s presence in in an authentic manner, which helps to seamlessly transition from dialogue to song.

A great show for date night.

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Photos provided

Napalm Death

Factory Theatre

Sydney, Australia

October 11, 2017

Finally after more than 25 years, I got to witness the herb drenched Brujeria storm a stage. A band that has always had an intriguing edge both musically and aesthetically with their very own melange of death and grindcore.

Napalm Death has always been an interesting and subversive animal and their latest emission, Apex Predator – Easy Meat does not disappoint.  Based on a foundation of their trademarked speed charged grindcore, peppered with the right amount of dirge core and dystopian visions that are dealt with in the lyrical department, while the message is one of peace, love and looking out for one another – heavy topics set to heavy music without lacking the occasional indication of a sense of humour.

In a live environment Napalm Death remains a crushing force that excels and exceeds what is presented in recorded form. The diverse set comprised of new songs alongside crowd favourites was received adequately by the local aficionados on a school night that reveled in being battered.

An evening that cemented Napalm Death’s relevance.

Greek Film Festival

Palace Cinemas

Leichhardt

October 10-22, 2017

The 2017 Sydney incarnation of the Greek Film Fest was launched with the premiere screening of Roza Of Smyrna, based on the novel Ismael and Roza by Giannis Giannellis and featuring two original songs by Haris Alexiou, it was nominated for the Orpheus Award for Best Feature Film at the Los Angeles Greek Film Festival 2017.

A highlight of the varied program is the Greek-Australian philosopher and filmmaker Mary Zournazi’s first documentary Dogs of Democracy, illuminating a city in a state of uproar and crisis, financially and otherwise with dogs eliciting compassion and what makes the people of the City lovable. 

Director Mary Zournazi attended screenings in Sydney, Melbourne and Canberra to participate in Q&A sessions following the screenings. 

Part of the Greek Film Festival is the Greek Australian Short Film Festival (GASFF) with two amazing short film programs.

With genres including poetry/spoken word, documentary, experimental and drama, the Greek Australian Short Film Festival will take you places.

This year's short films explore relationships within families, relationships within self and relationships within community. You will be introduced to poets and hip-hop artists and taken to unique and urban places in Greece and Australia, past and present.

Through an ode to dance, you will be immersed in Madrid.

Through fashion, you will pay homage to the brilliance of a gymnast. An astronaut will take us all to the stars...and hopefully back.

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Photos by KAVV

Queens of the Stone Age and Royal Blood

Red Rocks Amphitheatre

Morrison, Colorado

10.10.2017

It wasn't looking good. In typical Colorado fashion, following a summer-like 76° Sunday, mother nature pulled the ol' switcheroo and unleashed the first snowfall of winter, 2017 on Monday. This is all well and good, but when you're A band about to play Red Rocks, it can be a pain in the ass. Ask The XX, who had to be relocated Monday night to the much less grandiose 1st Bank Center.

But it turns out even Mother Nature is no match for the likes of Josh Homme, Michael Shuman, Jon Theodore, Troy Van Leeuwen and Dean Fertita on Tuesday night. Because as soon as the Queens bus crossed over the state line, the temperature rose 30°, and there wasn't enough snow left at Red Rocks to make a snowball. Hyperbole aside, Queens of the Stone Age gave Colorado one of the best shows of the year.

Kicking off the festivities were English two-piece Royal Blood, hot on the heels of their latest release How Did We Get So Dark. Now, this grizzled writer has seen his fair share of rock duos in his seemingly endless time on this earth, but never has he seen a two-piece sound bigger than most five-pieces before. Bassist/vocalist Mike Kerr and drummer Ben Thatcher were clearly enjoying themslves and their sheer jubilance at playing an inaugural set at Red Rocks was in stark contrast to other rock duos "too cool" to show such emotion. I'm looking at you, Black Keys.

By the time QOTSA hit the stage at 8:50 on the dot, the audience was primed and ready. Starting out with Villains album opener Feel Don't Fail Me. When they followed it up with First it Giveth and Avon, it became pretty clear this was going to be an career-encompassing set - with a focus, naturally, on the group's latest, Villains. The strength of the new material is evident when it receives just as much fanfare from the crowd as an older deep cut like Leg of Lamb.

What also becomes evident from the start is just how strong of a rhythm section they have in Shuman and Theodore, laying a rock-solid foundation strong enough - and one could almost say flawless enough, that it affords Homme, Van Leeuwen and Fertita the freedom to really do whatever the fuck they want. The stage was sparse, save for some lighting stands arranged around the stage that served mostly as target practice for Shuman. 

Queens ran a tight-as-a-snare set lasting 100 minutes plus two encores of Head Like a Haunted House - a highlight amongst many highlights and Song for the Dead, a literal show-stopper. Homme came to play, not talk, but that didnt keep him from conversing and giving some sage advice to a young woman in the front row expecting her first child. Homme loves what he does and wears his gratitude on his western shirt sleeve. To him, every note is a blessing, which put both him and the Red Rocks crowd in total agreement.