Big Blue Flash

Following up on Part 1 , here's Part 2 of my personal roundup of 2023's gloriously entertaining Eurovision spectacle. Yes, I'm new to this world of Eurovision fandom. Yes, I have the zeal of the converted. Nevertheless I'm attempting to describe how and why I was converted. I'll try and wrap up by explaining why this year was different, and how I'll approach Eurovision 2024. But in the meantime, let's start with my review of all the Grand Final performers. Just the bottom-half finishers to start with in Part 2, otherwise this post would be way too long. Spoiler: 7/10 of my personal favourites finished in the bottom half! To recap, I invented a scoring system, first for the song composition itself, incorporating the studio recording: no stars = if I had control of the playlist I would turn it off or skip ★ wouldn't skip if it came up on shuffle ★★ on my "2023 Eurovision Favourites" playlist on Spotify ★★★ spent my own money getting a digital dow...

This year, I became a true Eurovision fan. Anyone who's spoken to me in the last 2 months, or read my previous gig review , or my analysis of Australia's entry , knows I became an instant and absolute Voyager fanboy because of this year's contest. But having come for the prog metal, I stayed for the whole varied flamboyant mess, which this year included so many other things I like: flamenco, dark electronic dance music, a good clutch of strong vocalists, weird song concepts, contestants doing covers of each other's songs, and stupid but wholesome social media nonsense. It's getting on for 2 weeks after the 2023 Eurovision Grand Final and I'm still thinking about it. So here's an attempt to wean myself off Eurovision for a bit and gain some closure on the whole thing. This is Part 1 of my personal roundup of this glorious spectacle. Let's start with acts that got knocked out at the semi-final stage. For the first time, I paid attention to the Semi-Finals ...

Every now and then the algorithm really knocks it out of the park. Like that time I was buying a t-shirt online and the website asked me if I'd like to buy a mini blowtorch fuelled by ordinary cigarette lighters (why yes, I would, thank you!). As I described in an earlier gig review , it was the YouTube algorithm that first piped Voyager's "Promise" into my ears without me asking for it. Promise is so good it shocked me: I couldn't believe what it achieves in just 3 minutes. It's arguably formulaic in some ways, but then there's hardly any music that isn't somewhat formulaic when you really analyse it. The trick is to work with the formula and balance novelty with familiarity, comfort with shock. Voyager have done that, and composed and recorded (and will hopefully perform) a perfect example of the 3-minute pop song... except it's metal. As a metal fan myself I was obviously biased towards liking it, but it clearly has appeal beyond the musical nic...

This is an old article dating from early 2021, probably sometime in February. I initially intended to submit it to a musical journalism scheme being run by Radio 3 (the BBC's classical radio station). I missed the deadline but completed it anyway in the next day or two for my own satisfaction. Performances of any sort have been challenging to organise during the COVID-19 pandemic. Along with other performers, classical musicians have had their ability to perform live severely curtailed. During the pandemic, dependent on individual circumstances and the current coronavirus regulations, it has often been illegal to gather and make music as normal. And even where music-making might strictly be legal, it might well still be inadvisable. So with Lockdown Number 3 still ongoing, how have classical musicians, both amateur and professional, been managing? And how might they manage in the future? One approach has been to produce "almost-live" experiences, where musicians perform t...

This a re-post of an old review I did in brief Twitter thread form. It was the first live concert that the Hallé Orchestra had done in front of a live audience for about 15 months, and the first time I'd listened to live music indoors for about the same length of time. A genuinely moving experience. Programme: Glinka -  Ruslan and Ludmilla overture Stravinsky - Petrushka Elgar - Enigma Variations The Bridgewater Hall, Manchester: an expanded stage and a very spread-out Hallé Orchestra. Though I don't believe in souls... this was good for the soul 😁 My top bits: Double basses in "left wing" position meant I won my gamble to sit in the opposite gallery: perfect view of some insanely difficult playing! First full-orchestra section in Petrushka: invigoratingly loud and a giant leap away from 2 earbuds. Relief that the percussionist wriggling on the floor wasn't having a medical emergency, he was just getting ready to play the tambourine (can't drop it during a qu...

I became a Voyager fan some time between 15:17 and 16:05 GMT on Monday the 13th of March 2023. According to my WhatsApp messages, 15:10 is when a friend of mine from choir posted a link to Austria's Eurovision entry . Having listened to that (it's good!) the YouTube algorithm decided to follow it immediately with Australia's entry, Promise . I had autoplay enabled, and was concentrating on a work task, so the song started without me really realising. I only paid proper attention when the bass dropped together with the first appearance of distorted metal-style guitars in the first chorus. I immediately re-started it and watched the whole video from the start. 3 minutes later, I was a Voyager fan, and digging through their back catalogue looking for more. By 16:05 I was back on WhatsApp raving about them. I have fanboyed out to the max ever since, so when I found out Voyager had just one proper live gig ahead of the actual Eurovision Song Contest, I had to get a ticket. I pla...

Programme: Fauré - Pavane Poulenc - Organ Concerto -interval- Dobrinka Tabakova - Orbis Factor: Sanctus Saint-Saëns - Symphony No.3, ‘Organ’ It's not often I go to classical gigs because of who's performing. Usually I go based on the pieces to be played or sung, and if it's a professional orchestra of any sort, I know it will likely be perfectly adequate at least. This time I mainly came to hear Anna Lapwood after following her on Twitter for her top-notch organ content. Particularly eye-opening for me is the footage of her closing out a gig by Bonobo in London's Albert Hall, having literally only met the band by accident the day before - I don't think a pipe organ has ever been cheered so loudly by an audience before! So I was really interested to hear her play live, especially with two of my favourite organ works in the same programme, being played on my doorstep in Manchester. The Hallé opened with Fauré's Pavane, which I had honestly forgotten was on the pro...