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Posted: |
Jun 20, 2020 - 7:53 AM
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By: |
afn
(Member)
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My, those were the days…. London, August 17 and 18, 1989…. A Jerry Goldsmith double feature! First, an hour-long BBC radio concert in that rather (from what little I remember) small studio filled to the brim with about 100 (?) people … an hour of great film music played live, and that was just "part 1"! And, one day later, the grand concert in the huge Barbican Hall – something like this just won't happen anymore!
I still remember Jerry hastily entering a taxi at the BBC studio, making his way through all the fans outside, his white hair sticking out in the already dark street, away to his hotel, probably - where nobody knew him, I guess!
And then the Barbican concert - all that great film music played live by the freakin' LSO to a packed hall – several hundred people, I guess… with the maestro entertaining the audience with anecdotes and trivia between the pieces.
Who was there with me? Who remembers anything from that memorable night 31 years ago?
The only thing I can say is that I'll forever have the "questionable" :-) honor of having been thrown out of a concert hall by Jerry Goldsmith himself!!
We had already been at the Barbican in the afternoon and could somehow sneak into the empty hall to witness the rehearsals from high up. This lasted for about five or ten minutes, I faintly remember, before Jerry noticed us and shouted up to have us removed by an usher! Oh dear, I felt so embarrassed!!!!! Me, disturbing the great Mr. Goldsmith from perfecting his music performance for that evening….
Any more stories to share here…?
BTW: Who could forget that classic Jerry Goldsmith score to PATTEN? (see first ticket upper right corner)
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Posted: |
Jun 20, 2020 - 8:24 AM
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By: |
Grecchus
(Member)
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I probably attended that one. I always went whenever I could. Trouble is, it's getting to be so far back in time the details get blurred. In fact, I had such a hazy memory of one of the events - it wasn't until Graham pointed out that it was the BBC studios the penny dropped and I remembered, "oh yeah, I was there." Like the drunk who periodically pops up, does a slurred 360, then plops back down in a heap.
We know from Lukas JG had something of an aversion to fanboys. There was the Barbican concert where a pre-concert talk had been arranged but, being a bookworm I became lost amongst the shelves at Foyles when I looked at my watch and suddenly realised I was ever so late for a most important date. It takes at least a half hour to get to the Barbican at flank speed from Charing Cross Road. Still, I managed to get to the destination just before the talk ended. As I opened the doors to the auditorium, the host and Goldsmith were wrapping up their talk, having been slightly jarred by the noisy arrival of a 'fanboy.'
When I saw the crowd in actual attendance appeard to be so thin on the ground, the thought later occurred to me that in view of the fact so few people were actually there to begin with, maybe if I had arrived on time I could have put my hand up and with a sweat-filled brow suggested we make the session less formal, close up into a tight circle and make it a more personable free for all question and answer session. Can you imagine how Jerry Goldsmith would have reacted to a fanboy agenda setting out an ad-hoc film-score discussion at a venue like that?
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I saw him in November 1990 in Toronto with the TSO performing the same programme. It was phenomenal.
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I listened to it live on BBC Radio 2.
I still remember this bit:
JG: "Is anyone here a Star Trek fan?"
Crowd cheers.
JG: "Well I'm not one!"
Cheers
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Ahhh the GOOD TIMES the BEST of TIMES!
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Posted: |
Jun 20, 2020 - 1:24 PM
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By: |
Graham Watt
(Member)
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Yes, where is that old thread where we all spoke about this? I was living in Ealing at the time, and my brother came down from Scroteland to stay with me for a long weekend, so that we could get the two concerts in.
The Maida Vale one was fantastic. Informal, "school chairs", Jerry G in shirtsleeves and colourful suspenders (it wasn't being televised), and seemingly informal. My brother and I were about four yards/meters from him. A great selection, powerfully performed. I remember that JG stopped a piece (maybe WILD ROVERS) half-way through, because of a bum note. He asked for it to be redone from the start, knowing that it would be edited before the radio broadcast. Splendid stuff such as the battle music from THE BLUE MAX which would have had the spinsters in a twirl of knitting. And yes, as was previously mentioned, it was a very emotional moment when he spoke about the then recent death of Franklin Schaffner. JG was on the verge of tears. He was noticeably almost having trouble breathing...but that might have been due to a mixture of emotion, strenuous conducting and cigarette smoking.
Now, I'm not sure if it was after the Maida Vale concert or the Barbican one, but I remember that all the fanboys went down into a kind of basement area where there were a lot of LPs on sale. I don't recall buying anything, but I did notice a lot of people wearing Parkas, and the smell of unwashed trainers was unbearable. I remember reading in the other thread where we talked about this that Kev McGann claimed to be wearing Marty McFly gear, thus singling himself out from the rest of the fashion losers.
I also recall waiting in the hall that led out to the street, because I knew that that's where JG would have to pass through to get to his taxi. I think we were all bundled out into the road anyway in the end, but I got a good look at him as he got into the taxi. He didn't even recognise me.
The next night was the Barbican. Did Clive James really "live" there, Mark? Anyway, it was a disappointment for me after the Maida Vale gig. Jerry Goldsmith looked so ill-at-ease in that white suit, as if he were some kind of Mancini-like public figure. I think he was uncomfortable with that. The concert itself seemed bloated and spinster-friendly. No really challenging material, and blandly assembled. I liked the part when JG dismissed half of the orchestra so that he could get a more intimate sound for "The Artist Who Did Not Want To Paint" - perhaps his crowning achievement.
I actually don't remember if there were any post-concert events. It wasn't the norm, was it? I think I just went to the pub (if there were any still open).
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