The Greatness of the Magnificence
The Trinity
Thursday 23rd November 2000
“A night of easy listening noir, with dance, projections and spontaneous art spaces”
seemed to me to be a quiet celebration of doing one’s own sweet thing and being
oneself.We arrived in time for the end
of “The Keepers Of The Fire
Mixed Voice Choir, singing popular songs of the last four Centuries”. Their understated sound was enhanced by the dim lighting,
giving an alluringly laidback, otherworldly feel to the venue that lasted
throughout the evening, and as such as good introduction to the event. I must say that a choir that murmurs music
in the half-light and then promptly disappears into the night seems to me to be
the only sort of choir worth joining… calm, earthy and understated. No pomp or alarming warbling. Fine.
Intricately laid-out programmes – with illustrations and text that was part manifesto, part
description of the various bands – were rare and highly-prized. According to these, the event put the onus
on the audience, with the premise that “THE GUESTS will distil the various media performances
with the spontaneous use of their senses. This process shall be called 'the
greatness of the magnificence””.
This could have been dismissed as rather out-there but instead was embraced by
the many people that turned up, a good number of whom had acted on the
encouragement of the flyers to ‘dress with greatness or magnificence’. As a result there were enough outlandishly
bedecked and suavely turned-out folk to give the evening the requisite sense of
occasion and also a really positive atmosphere that allowed you to do your own
thing even if, as in my case, your own thing was to sit relatively still and
soak it all up.
“Gravenhurst: whose
guitar evokes the communal spirit of all trees and whose voice will
purify the blood. A shower of shiny gifts for the newly arrived guests.”On the
strength of Gravenhurst’s
performance this evening, I would say that their sound invites parallels with
several epic bands and singers. Comparisons
that I am sure they’ve already heard must include Radiohead and perhaps even a
little of Morrissey in the vocal delivery, but more interestingly, they come
across as very much their own men.A
sincere, introspective and strong guitar band, well received by the audience.
“Solar Mumuns : a static
theatrical musical oddysea with songs of timeless beauty.”
The otherwordly edge to the evening reached its peak for Solar Mumuns, with their
three female vocalists swathed in shimmering golden gowns and hidden beneath
golden flowing locks that fell past their shoulders and completely obscured
their faces like veils.For me, Solar
Mumuns evoke and espouse a spiritually uplifting state that it impossible not
to fall for.
One of the (many) noteworthy things from this point on in the bill was the
re-appearance of various of the musicians in various of the bands, frequently
playing different instruments.Within
the united forces of Solar Mumuns, Don Mandarins Applecraft and Morningstar are
some very skilled multi-talented musicians.
“Don Mandarins Applecraft: this nine or so peace combo
representing 3000 years of minstrelry realise a leaning towards the cabaret
with their poignantly crafted songwork.”
Don Mandarins Applecraft had
a powerful vocalist, several handfuls of good musicians filling the stage and
some great big music which we can only describe by inventing the ungainly
moniker ‘jazz-funk/acoustic’.[If
anyone reading this can describe their sound in more lucid terms, please help me out
on this one….]Truly a highlight of the
evening and I look forward to hearing them again.
Morningstar small orchestra and choir: more than 30 creatures will be performing with this
outfit equipped also with dance by Ballrooms Greatest. 'Songs from the abyss of
beautiful sadness' and 'in sorrow we will find joy'. Having
narrowly missed (a scaled-down) Morningstar on Bristol’s own Internal Travel
Agency stage at the Severn Revels earlier this year, it was great to hear
Morningstar small orchestra and choir (full turn-out) at last. Jesse, singer and multi-instrumentalist with
Morningstar and also playing earlier with Solar Mumuns and also
the organiser behind tonight’s event seems, appropriately, a man in his element
doing 101 things at a time, each with an air of extreme calm andfocus. Like Solar Mumuns this is music for the
soul, and capable of soothing savage breasts as ably as it quietly
excites.Ballrooms Greates provided a
mini-floorshow which gave many people the excuse they’d been needing to take to
the floor themselves.Amidst a soon
gathered crowd of pairs of people approximating all manner of partner dances,
emerged now and then the four Ballrooms Greatest folk, executing elegant
tangos.We really liked the fact that
what had been prepared as a cabaret performance became an inclusive experience
and coaxed such a lotof people into action.
It grew late, and after Morningstar we headed home.However, I
recreate a programme note description of The Blessing here, with misgivings
that we missed them: “The Blessing: a fitting finale for a night of
celebration in a concert hall called The Trinity. Individual modern-note jazz fire quartet of rapid accidental
loveliness. After Cherry and Coleman. Jim Barr, Jake Mcmurchie, Pete Judge and
Tony Orral. With mind blowing consequences.” Next time, I hope, if only just to see...
I found the evening as a whole a perfect antidote to hecticness and thoroughly enjoyed myself. Finally, any event that can play The Violent
Femmes’ Gone Daddy Gone, with Vanessa Paradis’ Joe Le Taxi hot on its heels,
between acts has obviously got it pretty spot on in my book.
For more information on the bands etc. contact jesse@coloursandsounds.freeserve.co.uk, or see their website www.coloursandsounds.freeserve.co.uk
Images taken by Bristolbeat at New Trinity Community Center
|
