LOCATION: The Hayden Orpheum Cinema, Cremorne
DATE: Sunday 22 February, 2009
WITH: Vince, Nole, Phil
Newcastle University Choir
The award winning Newcastle University Choir were first on this wonderful double bill. I had watched them from the get go on Battle of the Choirs and although they were undoubtedly the best sounding choir I was worried the more showy (read choralography) choirs might get voted through rather than 'correct' sounding ones. Luckily talent shone through and they won. At this concert they sung some of the modern songs featured on the TV show and some of their traditional choral work. Most of it was wonderful, some soloists were not that good and I am not a fan of Australiana songs, and I could have lived without hearing Queen's Bicycle again. However, songs like Sarah McLachlan's Angel were completely inspirational. It was lovely to see them in the flesh and enjoy their beautiful voices.
Young at Heart
Given we saw the choir at a cinema it was fitting that this film followed. I had not heard much about this film, but I urge you all to see it. What a great film! It is a documentary following an American choir of seniors with an average age of 82 and the oldest being 92. They meet weekly and sing punk, rock and disco! (Their song choice is supremely better than that chosen by my choirmaster!) Their choirmaster is fabulous with the group and very patient (mostly!) and he chooses incredible songs for them to sing. I found the song choice most interestig, besides being songs and artists most of them have never heard of and often not the type of song they even like, the songs really do fit. Songs like The Ramones's I wanna be sedated, Bowie's Golden Years, Stayin' alive and Forever Young take on a whole other meaning when sung by this group. The documentary follows their preparation for some concerts and the sadness of members passing - an inevitability given some of their ages and health issues. The documentary is shot with equal doses of humour and drama and I laughed till my cheeks hurt and could not hold back tears in some parts - both joy and sorrow. I will forever remember the glorious opening - The Clash's Should I stay or should I go and the intenseness of Coldplay's Fix You.
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2 comments:
Unfortunately, I missed the series of 'Battle of the Choirs', although the little bits i did see had some pretty dodgy singing and even worse choralography.
By all accounts, the Newcastle choiir were deserved winners, and their performance here was of a high standard.
The song selection was a little up-tight for my tastes, and there were no really outstanding soloists, but there were many things to enjoy, including twirling PVC pipes for sound effects.
The documentary was a revelation, both on an artistic level (with the seniors bravely taking on material which must have been like an alien soundtrack) and emotionally, in which you became personally attached to certain key members and their fate.
This movie was very funny and very sad, and quite exhilarating.
I would have loved the Newcastle Choir to take some of the risks that these senior citizens seemed willing to take; it would have raised the artistic and entertainment level to another level.
I agree with you about the choir Vince, and most choirs I have seen that are decent..I would love to 'produce', choose songs for them. When there is sooo much great music out there in the world to choose from, bad song choice is just not on!! (Maybe I am overreacting and really talking about my own choir experience, LOL!)
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