tracyr@UUNET.UU.NET (jane smallberries) (07/19/89)
well, i finally got the opportunity to view these. thanks to my KaTe menTor Tom affiniTo, who led me into this whole world (tom's been a love-hound since his days back at princeton, and only recently lost newsfeed--i promised to forward him everything). thankyou taff! hammersmith first: i couldn't take my eyes off the screen. while she didn't have the slick, polished look of a professional dancer, her own style of movement and expression were intensely engaging. and keeping in mind that in 1979, most concerts were musicians standing on the stage singing (save for a few colored lights, perhaps), i found her performance especially creative and interesting. the costumes, the props, the drama! however, i wouldn't have minded seeing more of the big picture--at times there seemed to be interesting things happening on the stage, but the camera stayed focused on kate's face, close-up. i can only assume keef is smitten, and couldn't imagine anything more important to film (however, i did enjoy studying the close-ups as well--exaggerated as they were, for the stage). i noticed a very sweet-young-girl expression at the end of "feel it" and "oh england,...". anyone else catch those smiles? i only wish she didn't seem so detached while singing "oh england,..."--it's such a sad song. and ofcourse, it would've been nice to see her perform "oh to be in love"--i imagined a giant pendulum swinging across the stage... the whole story: i like kate with short hair. (sorry guys, i know it isn't as sexy.) i love the rain-maker machine (apologies for my lack of technical terms--i too would appreciate more discussion on the relationship between cloudbusting and the peter reich (spl?) book). and the army dreamers video! is that a *camera* i hear snapping when she blinks her eyes?? her originality is so delightful! i preferred this style to experiment iv--it was a bit too slick (and the song doesn't excite me terribly--not yet, anyway). and what can i say about the breathing video?! for a break between tapes, tom and i watched a bit of the joe jackson (in tokyo) concert video. he sings sunday papers (called monday papers in the video)--another song about the despondent state of the world. yet it's so literal. in breathing, kate is so symbolic, so artistic. sigh. ofcourse, i must see these several more times. happily, i went home with an armload of albums, including the cloudbusting single. i must say, i do like the extra kate voices (airy, like a breeze) and the additional violins. -tracy ...!uunet!sco!tracyr, tracyr@sco.com
dbk@mimsy.UUCP (Dan Kozak) (07/19/89)
> engaging. and keeping in mind that in 1979, most concerts > were musicians standing on the stage singing (save for a > few colored lights, perhaps), i found her performance Loved the rest of your review (I've got Whole Story, but have have yet to see Hammersmith) but this just isn't true. Pink Floyd were using quite elaborate light shows in the late 60's (certainly more than "a few coloured lights"), David Bowie had done the makeup bit in the Ziggy era (circa '73 or so) and then the amazingly choreographed show for the Diamond Dogs tour (before reverting to the all white light, Brechtian theatre inspired look for the '76 Station to Staion tour), The Mothers of Invention were using Theatre of the Absurd techniques in their 1968 appearances at the Warwick Theatre in N.Y.C., etc., etc. There have been and are still musicians whose artistic vision stops with music and a straightforward performance (which is fine by me, most people have enough trouble doing one thing, i.e. playing music, well) but those of a more theatrical bent have been around for a while. -- #dan Clever: dbk@mimsy.umd.edu | "For I was rolled in water, Not-so-clever: uunet!mimsy!dbk | I was rolled out past the pier" - MoB