Musical destruction: masterpiece or madness?

Hey everybody,

This weeks assignment was to look at the following performance of The Who's famous song My Generation, as well as the following performance by Jimmy Hendrix singing Wild Thing. Both can be seen below when clicking the links below:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nr81olQ1ibk

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gPvehX2aWb8

The thing that these clips have in common, is that they both feature the destruction of instruments at the end of the song. Destroying the instruments you have just played with sounds very strange, doesn't it? I mean, you destroy the tool with which you have just played your heart out.

When I saw both clips for the first time I was kind of shocked. It does not seem logical to me, for the above reasons. Still, when looking at both again, I must say that I do understand the destruction. I think that both artists have different motives for the breaking of their instrument...

In the The Who clip, I think the destruction of the instruments was part of their image, and also part of the point they wanted to make with the song. My Generation is about the new generation that has occurred, and how they do not want the older people to get involved with this new movement. A way to show this is by doing something new, something that offends the older generations and that distinguishes them from others: they destroy their instruments. The Who wanted to be this rebelling group, and so they showed that in this performance. Looking at the explosions and the smoke, by the way, I have the feeling that this destruction was planned long before they started this particular performance.

Jimmy Hendrix on the other hand really feels the vibe of his music. He completely loses himself in it. The music really stirs him and the crowd up. It is as if he is in some kind of trance. He is completely mesmerized by the music, and this makes him live up to the title of the song: he becomes a Wild Thing, and destroys his guitar.

Soon more posting, also on a concert I went to: Beatles in Symphony. Several singers singing two complete Beatles albums accompanied by the Metropole Orchestra.

See ya!

Blogging again: 80 dB 2010

Long time no posting everybody, I know. Let's just say I was very busy with school and music etc.

The annual musical spectacular of our school has gone by without further notice this march, so I thought I'd catch you guys up with a small evaluation of it all.

This year’s edition of 80 dB, as the event is called, was one of very mixed quality. There were some songs that were very good, and others that disappointed me quite a bit. Several songs were very good, such as Peace Without the Rest, Stand up to Cancer, Son of a Preacherman and I Don't Need no Doctor. On the other hand, (and I apologize to those who participated in the following numbers), Mamma is Morgen van Mij, Happiness and Empire State of Mind were somewhat disappointing. This was not always due to a lack of quality in the band, but some songs just lacked that little indescribable thing. The singer in Empire State of Mind, for instance, was extremely good, but it just felt empty without the rap part.

Another thing that bothered me sometimeswas the lack of presentation of in a song. Maybe this aspect should be included in the audition process in addition to the singing. In an event as 80 dB, singing well is not the only criterion for a performance to be good: the song has to be presented as well. I understand that people are nervous, but you can still perform a song properly, right?

When it comes to the band I think that the level of musicianship was very high. I have deep respect for the band that accompanied the song Moeilijk Bescheiden te Blijven. This song was sung by Chris Zeeuw van der Laan, a guy who has no sense of rhythm whatsoever. The band had, therefore, to constantly correct itself in order to follow him. They managed very well, which is very hard to do.

Also deep respect for Brian Abraas. This guy is an extremely good rapper with a very, very nice flow. Performing the song Peace Without the Rest, whose lyrics are not easy, he managed to get the entire crowd to go wild.

What worked quite well this year was the variation in the program. Not only with respect to the different genres, but also the time from which the songs originated and the age of the singers. I think that we have gotten some great new singers into our school with Noor Thierry and Isabel Leur. The latter, especially, is not only an amazing singer but - also very important - a good performer.

Last but not least, I would like to say thanks to Mr. Speelman. This man has directed the L&B Horns for many years, but is now retiring, and has announced that this would be his final 80 dB. We will miss him greatly. I hope that I can be a good replacement as the director of the L&B Horns, which I will try my best to be.

I will post other things soon.

See ya