Photo: Press
If you think of any iconic soundtrack in the past two decades, chances are Hans Zimmer has been whirling the orchestration behind it - from The Lion King to Pirates of The Caribbean to Inception. Tonight the soundtracks to everyone's favourite movies are brought to life in the presence of the man himself with a smattering of faithful medleys in celebration of his career so far.
It’s a night which marries that important bond between the moving image and music, which is executed in stunning style. The pieces are carefully arranged to adapt to a live show setting with a rock aesthetic without any of the grandeur taken out of it.
- MORE: Read our interview with Hans discussing Johnny Marr, rock n' roll and his upcoming projects
"I wanted to get rid of the convention and old-fashioned idea of this pompous composer who sits at a grand piano," Zimmer told us in an in-depth interview. "That's not quite who I am. I come from rock n' roll. I can't help it.” Hans Zimmer places himself in the centre of the stage set up behind synthesisers with a huge 70-piece ensemble looming behind him, from the sheer scale of the stage alone this is a real one of a kind show.
The churning evil of 'Angels & Demons' features chilling choral melodies woven in between an incessant beat, which at one point drops off into a percussion showdown between the band’s drummer and his rhythmic accompaniment which is flared in an awesome technicolour spotlight. We later hear snippets from the vocal-led Gladiator soundtrack which casts a haunting somber tone to the show.
For a man who has stated his intentional aversion from the stage he is truly a natural: “I spent my life in fear of being on a stage, you can’t have fear all your life”. He chats and retells anecdotes in between the set featuring early morning phone calls from Ridley Scott and late nights in The Louvre, “During the making of The Da Vinci Code I was granted access to the Louvre after hours, I found myself in touching distance of the Mona Lisa thinking ‘should I?’” He rolls up his sleeves and gets stuck into the mix, juggling the keyboards, timpani and guitar throughout. He is thoroughly endearing and entertaining.
The Lion King section requires no introduction and is triggered by the uncanny African howl which brings up the sunrise on arguably one of his most celebrated pieces. Zimmer is joined by original vocalist from the recording Lebo M in a gorgeous epic lilt which sails the orchestra and choir in harmony to a great height which is suddenly sucked into the thundering stampede of African rhythm and vocals – a real highlight. The showmanship shines throughout, string sections walk to the centre stage to play their parts – most striking is cellist Tina Guo who leads the melody of Pirates of the Caribbean from its waltzing start to its dramatic climax.
Cinematic lighting is brought forward to match the heights of the sound created, most prominently on the Thin Red Line medley, a hypnotising red ticker tape flickers and slips across the screen which eventually looms and drapes over the orchestra as the piece soars to its most intense. The light is orchestrated by Marc Brickman who is behind a whole host of Pink Floyd shows, his ownership of the big rooms is heightened by the cinematic influence.
Johnny Marr is introduced in the second half of the show which is mostly dictated by Zimmer’s hand in superhero blockbusters. ‘Electro’ from The Amazing Spiderman 2 effectively uses the choir’s whispers creating an unsettling undercurrent to the chirpy and major key start. The demonic aspect then surfaces and takes over led by Johnny Marr’s spider-like guitar riff, later the unique mixture of a punky-distorted call to a stabbing choral response proves for a real collision yet ground-breaking use of sound.
The Dark Knight medley is a well-received highlight, Zimmer takes time to reflect upon it, “When I heard about Heath Ledger’s death I thought about stripping it all back to basics, but in honour to him I had to go for the gritty punk stuff – I got really into that.” Next up is a beautiful yet stirring piece called ‘Aurora’ which is dedicated to victims of the chaos which currently surrounds our world – “my orchestra is of all nationalities”, this combines a whole host of global influences into one tender piece. The curtain is brought down by Inception which snakes through epic towers of cascading sound which builds and builds until it is pulled away with Zimmer solitary on the piano playing the fading parts of ‘Time’ – gentle, moving and the perfect ending.
The show demonstrates Zimmer’s forward-thinking attitude, marrying electric guitar to electronic trickery to a traditional orchestra and choir. It pulls you into varying pockets of experience, you’ll be immersed in evil one minute, shifted into happiness and soaring heights before being picked up and dropped into thick devastation; the ultimate immersive cinema soundtrack experience.
Hans Zimmer played:
‘Driving Miss Daisy/Sherlock Holmes/Madagascar’
‘Crimson Tide / Angels & Demons’
‘Gladiator’
‘The Da Vinci Code’
‘The Lion King’
‘Pirates Of The Caribbean’
‘True Romance’
‘Rain Man / Green Card’
‘Man Of Steel (ft Johnny Marr)’
’Thin Red Line (ft Johnny Marr)’
‘Electro (from The Amazing Spiderman) (ft Johnny Marr)’
‘The Dark Knight (ft Johnny Marr)’
‘Aurora’
‘Interstellar (ft Johnny Marr)’
‘Inception (ft Johnny Marr)’
Hans Zimmer's upcoming tour dates are as follows, with the ones featuring Johnny Marr marked with an asterix*. Buy tickets and get more information here.
Wed April 06 2016 - LONDON SSE Arena Wembley*
Thurs April 07 2016 - LONDON SSE Arena Wembley*
Tue April 12 2016 - BIRMINGHAM Barclaycard Arena
Wed April 20 2016 - BERLIN, Mercedes Benz Arena*
Thu May 26 2016 - DUBLIN 3Arena*
Sat May 28 2016 - BOURNEMOUTH BIC
Sun May 29 2016 - MANCHESTER Arena*
Sun Jun 5 2016 - ORGANGE, Theatre Antique D'Orange*
