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Joined: August 20 2010
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Topic: Van der Graaf Generator 31st March 2011 in Berlin Posted: April 05 2011 at 20:39
I am not a die hard fan, so at first, I did not want to go. I especially liked their use of wind instruments, and after David Jackson left, I did not know, what to expect. Then I heard their new album, which, to my surprise, I quite like. so I spontaneously bought a ticket.
It was the first time for me to see them live, so I was a bit excited. When I arrived at the club a typical sweet smell of smoke greeted me from people standing in front of the entrance door, and I soon became relaxed, too. The club for maybe about 350 people was well filled. I was positively surprised that the people in the audience seem to be of all ages (ok, no teens, but anything from maybe 25 plus) and both sexes, and wasn't like last time, when I went to a concert with everyone male, bearded and over 50...
The interference started with "Interference Patterns" and it gripped me immediately. The audience was quiet, listening in awe, like in a classical concert (only the seats were missing). They mainly played pieces from their last two albums and made me almost forget the saxophone. I hardly knew the new songs, but I think the new material sounds consistent in its style with complex arrangements. Good to hear that they do not seem to make compromises to the fast moving pop industry.
How can only three people set up a nearly orchestral live sound? With two keyboards, bass pedals and a superb drumming. It was a pity, that the excellent Guy Evans was hardly to be seen behind the drums and only sparingly illuminated. On rare occasions Peter Hammill switches from keyboard to guitar, but most noteworthy is his typical story-telling singing. I caught myself getting goosebumps during Meurglys III (one of three old songs they played). After about 110 minutes including encore it was over, far too early for me, they could go on for hours. To attend this was not only uplifting for the mind, but it also touched my (pawn) heart, and I conclude, your life as a prog fan is not complete, if you have not seen Van der Graaf Generator live in concert.
From left to right: Peter Hammill (keyboards, guitars, vocals), Guy Evans (drums), Hugh Banton (keyboards, bass pedals)
Peter Hammill switches to guitar.
From left to right: Evans, Hammill, Banton
And here my feeble attempts to record something:
Edited by Formentera Lady - April 06 2011 at 09:31
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Posted: April 06 2011 at 05:52
Am I the only one who thinks that Hammill does a messy vocal job live ? I love the voice on all studio recordings, but live he gets too pathetic, he adds changes to the vocal lines that I don't exactly find an improvement, he's often out of tune,...
The clip above is a good example. The band is really on fire happily!
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Posted: April 06 2011 at 09:12
Great review, Formentera Lady!
Bonnek, I hear what you're saying about PH's live vocal performances. But he never phrases anything the same from night to night (and rarely does he even try to sing exactly the way he does on the albums). Some nights are hit, some nights are miss. But it's always in the now, and you're at least seeing him/them they way they are for that specific audience, on that specific night... so there's something real about it (it's a world away from some bands who play tunes note-for-note each night, exactly the way it is on the albums, etc... a bit too clinical for my taste when bands approach it that way).
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Posted: April 06 2011 at 09:30
So what if he doesn't hit all the notes? What matters is the passion and intensity and that definitely comes through on every live recording I've heard.
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Posted: April 06 2011 at 09:31
^^ Yes, I appreciate such approach as well, but comparing the result with that of some 71-75 concerts, it's more miss then hit for me.
^ Well I don't hear passion, I hear an artist straining his voice to hit notes he can't hit no more. On the Present tour he was still much better IMO. I'm afraid his heart attack got the best of him
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Posted: April 06 2011 at 09:50
Bonnek wrote:
^^ Yes, I appreciate such approach as well, but comparing the result with that of some 71-75 concerts, it's more miss then hit for me.
^ Well I don't hear passion, I hear an artist straining his voice to hit notes he can't hit no more. On the Present tour he was still much better IMO. I'm afraid his heart attack got the best of him
I have seen Hammill live about 30 times over a period of about almost as many years. sometimes completely solo. I was fortunate to see the VdGG reunion on May 6th 2005 at the Royal Festival Hall in London (with seats)! He never was a stickler for hitting the notes. But the passion was always there. Certainly even he has to pay tribute to his age; after all he is sixty-two meanwhile. But the passion is undeniably still there.
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Posted: April 06 2011 at 09:54
Bonnek, you saw VdGG in the 70's and Hammill hit then all the notes correctly? Would have liked to see and hear it ... Actually, to be honest, I never liked Hammills singing very much. He uses a strong tremolo, which is nearly a third (like some opera singers, who I don't like either), which always sounds a bit like he does not really hit the notes, even on studio recordings. And live it is even worse.
That said, I think this is not important here. I see the VdGG songs as pieces of art in a whole: there is the band playing complex music, and there is the singer who tells his story during singing, here and now. The actual notes he sings are not really important. It is his expression and passion. He could also speak the text, if he wanted. That and the wonderful musical structures around it is what grips you, especially during a live concert.
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Posted: April 06 2011 at 09:56
Bonnek wrote:
^^ Yes, I appreciate such approach as well, but comparing the result with that of some 71-75 concerts, it's more miss then hit for me.
^ Well I don't hear passion, I hear an artist straining his voice to hit notes he can't hit no more. On the Present tour he was still much better IMO. I'm afraid his heart attack got the best of him
His heart-attack was pre-Present, pre-'05 tour, but I do understand what you're saying.
As an example, I saw VdGG in '05 at Shepherd's Bush Empire and really thought it was a below-par gig (others thought it was fantastic, so what do I know). I thought Hammill's voice was pretty rough that night, and that he was straining as you say. And then, in typical VdGG/Hammill fashion, they/he were astounding the very next night at Leicester's De Montford Hall (where Genesis Live was recorded, by the by!). Hammill sounded as good as he did in '75, it was unbelievable. Two very schizophrenic gigs... by the same band, on consecutive nights! Awesome, it's why I love 'em.
Same sort of experiences when I saw him solo on consecutive nights in '08, and the band on consecutive nights in '09.
But it's possible that, with age, the porportion of rough vocal nights to good vocal nights would be down as compared to the 70's (how could it not be). Still, on many nights, the guy still has it in spades. One of the few legendary rock singers in his 60's that you could say that about.
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Posted: April 06 2011 at 10:57
The way his vocals have changed isn't nearly as harsh as some of you make it out to be. He certainly sounds a lot better than many of his peers do these days. I don't think he even downtunes his songs like so many of them do to compensate.
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Posted: April 06 2011 at 11:15
Bonnek wrote:
bucka001 wrote:
His heart-attack was pre-Present, pre-'05 tour, but I do understand what you're saying.
What? Is that soooo long ago already. I thought it was from somewhere after the "Singularity" album. Damn I'm old and my memory is lost already
Yeah, I know! It seems like yesterday that I flew to London and attended the Royal Festival Hall concert (and aftershow party!) in 2005 with my girlfriend, now my wife. But that was six years ago already. His heart attack was in 2004, I think (or maybe '03). It makes sense that you'd think it was around the time of Singularity (a stunning return to solo form, I think!) as that album dealt with his heart attack, etc. But those experiences were already a couple of years old when he sang about them on Singularity.
Harry - Yeah, I agree. Most of the nights PH is on stage are "good" nights, and he still does what he does as good as he ever has (or, if not, then he doesn't miss the mark by much... and you're right, not too many others who've been around since the late 1960's can say the same thing).
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Van der Graaf Generator 31st March 2011 in Berlin
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Yes I saw them at Nearfest and I experienced those goosebumps too!
Bonnek wrote:
...
and my memory is lost already