As it turned out I managed to get to the Barbican with a good 30 minutes to spare. Which gave me ample opportunity to be appalled at the prices in the Barbican (a beer and a packet of crisps cost over £7). So it unexpectedly turned out to be a rather dry evening.

It was billed that there would be four support acts ‘curated’ by Josh, each of whom who would play three songs. The Barbican website said that Josh would personally introduce each band. This didn’t happen, which was a pity. I would have loved to hear why Josh ‘picked’ these groups.

The first band ‘Big Deal’ really didn’t make an impression on me. Pleasant enough, but also bland. The second band, ‘We three and the Death Rattle’, were an big improvement. Some of the lyrics were rubbish, but the music was actually pretty good.

The third group Cold Specks, has a lead singer with a voice that seemed to have come from the cotton fields of the deep south, rough but full of soul. It seemed like her voice had been lifted from a gospel recording from the 1930s. I believe the lead singer is actually from Canada, but her voice definitely resonates with the gospel singers of the deep south. Personally, I loved her voice and her music.

Rounding up the decent support was Richard Warren with his stripped back 50s sound who had supported Josh in Cambridge.

If you’ve not heard ‘Last of the Country Gentleman’ you’ve missed possibly the album of the year (it’s a close run thing with PJ Harvey’s ‘Let England Shake’). There’s more emotion in just one of it’s 10 minute long rambling songs, than most bands excise in their whole career. You feel like you are listening to the sound of a tormented soul asking for redemption. Before SXSW I’d never heard of Josh T Pearson and if I hadn’t seen him live, I’m not sure I would have ever picked up this great album.

Live, I think Josh’s music needs the right venue. I’d seen him play a church in Austin and the setting was just perfect. Tall, dressed in black with his long beard, he cut an imposing figure standing at the front of the church. He was the preacher and we were his congregation. His songs at time seemed like hymns being sung by a tormented preacher looking to us to give him the redemption he was seeking. This was the perfect setting. I don’t think there will ever be a more perfect setting for his music.

The Barbican, is not a Presbyterian Church. It’s cavernous stage dwarfed even Josh’s imposing physical presence. But nevertheless, as soon as Josh uttered his first words, his presence filled the theatre. It helps that he matches his intense music and a wry, self deprecating sense of humour. The only downside is that with most songs clocking 10 minutes, the time flew so quickly it seemed that just as he was stepping onto the stage, he was stepping off it again. But when every word uttered comes from the depth of your soul, I’m sure there’s only so much a man can sing in one evening.

I’m not sure enjoyable is the right word to use for a Josh T Pearson’s performance. If delving into the darkness of this man’s soul can be called enjoyable, then this evening was a thoroughly enjoyable evening.

(No photos. So this is an iPhone photo taken at the end of the gig)

Following BSP’s first set was Rose Dougall. (ex pippettes). A simple quite set, with Rose on keyboard and a single guitarist. To be honest, I wasn’t too impressed by the set. The quiet understated set showed some deficincies (for me) in her voice. Far too often her voice sounded a little too much ‘Kate Nash’. Which I didn’t feel suited some of her songs.

After Rose, BSP rejoined the congregation to play the complete ‘Man from Aran’ set. The ‘Man from Aran’ is the soundtrack to a 1930s B&W fictional ‘documentary’ about life on the island of Aran.

I’m a big fan of the ‘Man from Aran’ album. Although it’s clearly an BSP album. There’s some good music on it that seems to draw inspiration from ‘minimalistic’ classical composers such Arvo Part. Much of the album uses of simple repeating musical patterns that often grow into much exciting climatic themes to accompany the on screen danger.

So that BSP can follow the film, they sat throughout the set facing the screen. An unusual approach and disconcerting at first. But once you realise that you’re meant to be watching the film and listening to the music, and not watching the performance, you soon get used it. Throughout the 70 or so minutes of the film. The music always felt right. Perfectly conveying the onscreen action.

All in all, a very enjoyable performance and one I look forward to seeing again.

Last year Lucasfilm developed ‘Star Wars in Concert’. A two hour show narrated by Anthony Daniels (C3P0) where specially edited film from the 6 Star Wars films are accompanied by a live orchestra playing John Williams’ music from the films.

Unlike a ‘classical’ concert, ‘Star Wars in Concert’ is designed to be played in big arenas. Dirk Brosse conducts an amplified Royal Philharmonic Concert Orchestra along with a full choir. The amplification is a necessary evil to allow the event to take place in large venus such as the O2. But these venues really aren’t designed to handle orchestral music and the sound quality wasn’t brilliant, even when compared to the Royal Albert Hall, with lots echo and a lot of the ‘colour’ lost from the sound.

The concert is split into short themed sections that are meant to tell the Star Wars story and to show case John Williams’ compositions. Anthony Daniels was at his camp best setting the scene for each section. Although it was great to have a Star Wars actor presenting the concert, it would have been much better to have had C3PO waddling out to give the introductions. But as it was, the children in the audience seemed to know who the narrator was.

Despite the poor sound quality, the event was excellent (though expensive). It was interesting hearing John Williams music isolated from the films. Although I probably know the music off by heart, I’ve only ever listened to it within the context of the films. This was the first time I’ve listened to his music in relative isolation. It’s been said that John Williams’ work is derivative of better composers. Listening to the pieces it was clear where some of his influences are. Shostakovich is a personal favourite of mine and I could hear what sounded like whole sections of Shostakovich’s music reused within various Star Wars themes. I know classical buffs use this fact to deride John Williams but I didn’t have a problem with this. A film composer’s jobs is to create music that fits enhances the film. Borrowing passages that heighten our enjoyment of the film isn’t cheating, but good selection.

If you’ve been to a classical concert, one of the first things you notice is that the conductor really does do something! He isn’t waving his hand around, but he really is the person interpreting the music. No two conductors will conduct a piece of music the in the same way. Altering the timing or the importance of various sections to give you their interpretation of the music. This posses an obvious difficulty for an orchestra accompanying film. The conductor needs to be sure they have the right pace and are hitting the appropriate marks. The way this seemed to work was quite ingenious. The conductor not only had the score in front of him, but also a large screen with a special version of the film. On the screen, various timing stripes would scroll across the screen to help him keep time. At certain points, big circles or green stripes would flash up which seemed to indicate changes in tempo and as the piece was about to finish, the colour of the stripes changed to help him finish bang on the end of the film. It was pretty amazing how well this worked with the orchestra almost always finishing right on time.

The concert lasted about two hours with a 20 minute break in middle. The first half of the concert covered the rise of ‘Darth Vadar’ (i.e. the Phantom Menace, Attack and Revenge). The second half of the concert focused on the rebellion and the ‘redemption of Anakin). Although most Star Wars fans who are my age, do not rate the first three films as the pinnacle of series, one thing you have to admit is that some of the music in Phantom was pretty awesome. The highlight of the concert was hearing ‘Darth Maul’s’ theme with full choir. It’s my favourite piece of music from all the films and live it was excellent.

This is one of those odd reviews. If you don’t like Star Wars, there is no reason to go to this concert. Williams’ music isn’t good enough to stand on it’s own within a traditional classical concert venue. However, if you’re a big Star Wars fan, you will enjoy this concert.

Photos from the concert on Flickr