Forum Home Forum Home > Progressive Music Lounges > Live Performance Reviews
  New Posts New Posts RSS Feed - Peter Hammill - ARTmania Festival, Sibiu, 07.08.14
  FAQ FAQ  Forum Search   Events   Register Register  Login Login

Topic ClosedPeter Hammill - ARTmania Festival, Sibiu, 07.08.14

 Post Reply Post Reply
Author
Message
Ricochet View Drop Down
Special Collaborator
Special Collaborator
Avatar
Honorary Collaborator

Joined: February 27 2005
Location: Nauru
Status: Offline
Points: 46301
Direct Link To This Post Topic: Peter Hammill - ARTmania Festival, Sibiu, 07.08.14
    Posted: August 09 2014 at 07:51

To this incredible, bright artist do I owe my very brief return here, in order to relate with great excitement, for whomever might take pleasure in reading it, my experience at this concert - or, more appropriately and truthfully, this recital. This sort of rekindled passion was probably my biggest surprise. It's safe to say that prog is something I've grown out of, the past couple of years (as well as getting out of touch, even if with sincere apologies, with the community). That doesn't mean, of course, that I've stopped listening to the masters, paying attention to new finds (even though though I find myself growingly impatient with fresh releases rather than with the older stuff I may have neglected) and going to any significant concert I might get the chance to. But these things are usually fated with mixed results; for instance, my long dreamed attendance at a Tangerine Dream concert - basically my favourite band ever - turned into an utterly dire affair, with music that felt almost dead at its core.

This, however, was an entirely different matter. First of all, it was pretty much a phenomenon for Peter Hammill to be playing for the very first time in Romania. The fans, whether local or foreign (given that Sibiu / Hermannstadt is a highly multicultural city), certainly didn't shy away. The rather intimate and improvised venue, inside Brukenthal Museum's inner garden, ended up being packed, with a dozen more people standing beside the 350 or so seated. Heavy clouds loomed dangerously throughout the entire evening, but didn't break upon us in the end - not that it seemed likely that this would have discouraged anybody, Hammill least of all wary or anxious about it! A mixture of hype and the feeling of meeting a musician you probably listened to and liked your whole life naturally amped the enthusiasm - Hammill himself going from gracefully acknowledging the loud cheers he received even before playing a single note, then nodding with a both cheeky and purely happy look to the audience after each song, to feeling absolutely pleased as punch by the end of it.

Of course, one can get such pleasures from any prog gathering in the company of legends of the genre. Years ago, at concerts like these, I would joke about feeling like a rookie or a greenhorn amidst veteran fans, who'd pull out and wear their favorite band shirts for the occasion, would geek about the music, the records and "the days" and would cheer and clap at the first sounds of every classic or favourite song. But perhaps my own years as a progger (closing on a decade, as much as I can remember) weighed in this time. Not sure how much I declared this on the forum back in the days, but Hammill along with VdGG were probably the ones I ended up identifying with the most (once they suddenly clicked to me, that is), with their intellectual, poetic, mysterious and slightly knotty ways of making music. Having already seen VdGG, I guess that - Hammill duos with Gordon or Lucas notwithstanding - the circle is pretty much closed. But Hammill's recital alone probably resonated with every fan there, young or old, in the same manner.

What made it all the more special for me was hearing Hammill precisely the way I imagined, the way I recognize and acknowledge him on his music (something I also felt about Laurie Anderson, when I heard her live a few years ago) - not only did he not give up on his (old) virtues, but actually brought forth nothing else, never trying to change or spice up anything. In its simplicity and almost candidness, in the form of accompanied chansons (played from the heart, except for The Mercy from the still quite recent Thin Air), was this recital at its most gratifying.

Switching from the piano to the guitar and back, it was a very balanced three-part show. In his own words, he leaned more on the older material, interspersed with "comparatively newer" songs, given the occasion of playing for us for the first time (but, to be fair, this sort of playlist did pretty much resemble his recent concerts which he recorded and released in the PNO GTR VOX collection). Of course, "older" for him meant just as well playing his better or familiar songs from the 80s rather than actual 70s classics, though he did grace us with a couple, like The Comet, The Course, The Tail and Modern, as well as a handful of VdGG songs (I failed to recognize any apart from the encore, which I won't spoil for now; if The Siren Song and Last Frame, from the late 70s Quiet Zone, could slip perhaps anyone's memory, I did, to my shame, forget how Still Life sounded).

His form was overall really admirable, my early worries truly dispelled as soon as he started playing. Sure, there were slips of notes on the keyboard, risky falsettos and a tad too much obstinacy for long vibratos on syllables, as well as a bit of a stumble on the opening rhythm of The Comet..., but I believe all these were pardonable. At his 65-year-old, visibly frail constitution, his spirit nevertheless shone through, his voice echoing deeply across the garden, his charisma, emotion and intensity as bright as ever. I honestly liked every bit of this set, except perhaps for Driven, from the stronger, rocked out selection played on the guitar; also, while I initially felt the long and contemplative A Way Out was kind of stretched... out, I had to appreciate in the end the sheer delicacy of the soft, fleeting harmonies and weeping, breathed words. If Still Life was quite something, at the end of a gradually more satisfying set, he afterwards really melted our hearts with an encore of Refugees, in which every arpeggio felt poignant and every verse anguishing, all being nonetheless very fulfilling.



P.S.: I am god-awful when it comes to recognizing songs and such, but upon doing some research, I believe this was the playlist of the evening:

The Siren Song [VdGG - Quiet Zone]

Don't Tell Me (Enter K)

Just Good Friends (Patience)

A Better Time (X My Heart)

Stranger Still (Sitting Targets)

-------

The Comet, The Course, The Tail (In Camera)

Amnesiac (X My Heart)

Driven (Clutch)

Last Frame [VdGG - Quiet Zone]

Modern (Silent Corner)

-------

The Mercy (Thin Air)

A Way Out (Out of Water)

Traintime (Patience)

Still Life [VdGG - Still Life]

+ Refugees [VdGG - The Least We Can Do Is Wave to Each Other]

Back to Top
moshkito View Drop Down
Forum Senior Member
Forum Senior Member
Avatar

Joined: January 04 2007
Location: Grok City
Status: Offline
Points: 17556
Direct Link To This Post Posted: August 10 2014 at 11:21
Hi,
 
There are only 2 folks I would love to see before I leave this world.
 
Peter Hammill and Vangelis Pappathanassiou.
 
Sadly, I don't think they will ever make it to the West Coast of the US for anything.
 
AND, btw, "A Way Out" is the one song by Peter that I quote the most. Even from a psychic point of view, it is one of the best and clearest songs about the one thing that we're afraid to do and say, specially when it needs to be said ... we always find a way out to say it. And there is no appreciation I have more than anything for that.
 
Reminds me, of the ending of the film "Bad Timing" ... when one of the last lines of the film says ... sometimes you have to drop your pride to love a woman!
 
Same thing here!


Edited by moshkito - August 10 2014 at 11:23
Music is not just for listening ... it is for LIVING ... you got to feel it to know what's it about! Not being told!
www.pedrosena.com
Back to Top
Dean View Drop Down
Special Collaborator
Special Collaborator
Avatar
Retired Admin and Amateur Layabout

Joined: May 13 2007
Location: Europe
Status: Offline
Points: 37575
Direct Link To This Post Posted: August 11 2014 at 10:05
Excellent write-up Vic, and great to see you back, albeit as you say, briefly.Hug 

When a review leaves the reader with a feeling of envy of not having witnessed the event first-hand I count that as a good review - geography not withstanding I wish I had been there. From your description it sounds like a superb recital in what, (from images I can see from looking up Brukenthal Museum's inner garden on the interweb), looks like an impressive yet intimate venue, the setting can so often enhance the performance. 

I too struggle to recognise track titles and remember set-lists at concerts these days - sometimes you just get too caught-up in the experience to make mental notes or clearly access the memory-cells.
What?
Back to Top
Buddhabreath View Drop Down
Forum Newbie
Forum Newbie
Avatar

Joined: October 09 2014
Location: USA
Status: Offline
Points: 13
Direct Link To This Post Posted: October 09 2014 at 20:47
You painted a nice picture my friend, having seen PH several times I recall similar feelings and atmospheres to those you've described, but in a unique venue and colored with perhaps a special feeling of the venue, age and perhaps as you mentioned... frailty.

I remember your great contributions to some private forums and very glad to see your post and hope all is well!
There are more stars in the visible universe than grains of sand on all the world's deserts and beaches.
Back to Top
Intruder View Drop Down
Forum Senior Member
Forum Senior Member


Joined: May 13 2005
Status: Offline
Points: 2201
Direct Link To This Post Posted: November 10 2014 at 13:19
Is Peter ill?  Frail is an adjective I'd never think to use with PH. 
The venue sounded perfect - certainly a show to remember. 
 
 
I like to feel the suspense when you're certain you know I am there.....
Back to Top
Horizons View Drop Down
Collaborator
Collaborator
Avatar
Honorary Collaborator

Joined: January 20 2011
Location: Somewhere Else
Status: Offline
Points: 16952
Direct Link To This Post Posted: November 10 2014 at 13:33
I would too die to see Mr. Hammill in concert. 

I thought Modern was a staple for his shows so i was surprised to see it not on the setlist. 
Crushed like a rose in the riverflow.
Back to Top
 Post Reply Post Reply

Forum Jump Forum Permissions View Drop Down



This page was generated in 0.148 seconds.
Donate monthly and keep PA fast-loading and ad-free forever.