Hypnotica's Gig Reviews 2008
Yellow Magic Orchestra @ Royal Festival Hall, Southbank Centre, London, UK Sun 15/06/08
Massive Attack's Meltdown Festival
Support: Pivot
Tickets £25-£35
Summary:
I can't believe I just saw YMO live! Did I dream it?
Setting the scene
With that in mind I nearly fell off my chair when I heard completely by accident from a friend that they were doing this one off date in London!
I feel I'm pretty well connected to the electronic community, but knowledge of this had completely escaped me. To my knowledge, YMO hadn't done any new material for decades and with no official YMO website and precious few fan sites or forums I remained in the dark...
Still, armed with this knowledge I had to go at all cost! Frantically I searched for tickets but with the gig only days away it was almost completely sold out. How everyone else knew is beyond me! but all that remained were a few scattered tickets up in the gods...any seat was better than no seat - I was going to see YMO!
Journey & Venue
London again! This gig lark is starting to cost me a fortune, I should just move to London and be done with it. Every band big or small, 'world tour' or one off date ends up in London at some point - which is fine...if you live in London...
Traipsing back and forth to 'the smoke' from Oop North is a costly business - especially at short notice. Mr train company loves to triple the price of tickets for last minute tickets too. They were £200 each way when I first looked! luckily I got some at a saner price in the end but it was still a trip that only the die-hard YMO hard fan would contemplate...
Leaving just after 4pm on the day of the gig (Sunday) for an almost three hour trip down to London getting in at 7pm, it was going to be a close thing to get across London to the venue in time to see the support act at 7:45pm - my return ticket was 11pm...
Like a scene from the film 'Clockwise' I charged around the tube system almost getting severed in half by an over keen train door at one point, I turned up just in time to glance over the merchandise stall & get into my seat up 'on the 6th floor! '3' minutes before the start!
There's no escaping it, the Royal Festival Hall is a nice venue but it's just too big to get around if you are in a hurry...
Merchandise
I think the DVD was £45! many other CD's £20+ each but the HASYMO - Rydeen 79/07 cds was a reasonable £7 considering it was an Import and nicely packaged. There were also solo CD's I think, but predictably the people on the stall never know anything about what they are selling so it was all a bit of an unknown quantity to me
There was several compilation CD's, three I think and all looked great but I had all the tracks already so couldn't justify the huge expense - especially after the cost of getting to the gig (and Yazoo a few days before....and Sparks a few weeks before that....)
Support: Pivot On stage 7:45pm
Nearest musical reference points for me would have to be the 'Single Cell Orchestra', a more psychedelic / electronic 'Sigur Ros' or a more acoustic version of 'The Black Dog'
That's quite an unusual bunch I'm sure you'll agree but Pivot are quite unusual too, they certainly put their all into their 'loud' performance. I guess their eclectic approach appealed to the 'avant-garde' side of Ryuichi's own song writing
The band lineup consisted of a guitarist/keyboardist, drummer and another keyboardist who seemed to be handling the computer sequencing / control side of things
I'd not heard of the group before the gig and as it was all so short notice had had no time to check them out but I felt the set got better as it went on. At times the sounds was quite rocky but there's no doubt they had something.
For me there were two clear highlights. One track seemed to start quite unusually with the band clapping, that track progressed into something excellent
My favourite track began with one of the band dropping a keyboard as he was setting it up, a scale of notes shrieked across the PA and he picked up the mic and said 'Its all rock n roll' - nice recovery :-)
What followed was quite different from the rest of the set, a track that was centred around deeply melodic chords. From subsequent research it may have been 'possibly' "Blood rise red dawn" but I couldn't say for sure - maybe a set-list will appear online somewhere...
Overall - an unusual choice but an enjoyable one
YMO: On stage 8:40pm
Bit
As the crowd cheered, the screen above spelled out the names of
The final text read
I know YMO are a Japanese group but I was still surprised at how many Japanese people were in the audience - they really turned out in force! I sat next to Japanese lady who said she had seen YMO in Tokyo in 1988 I think she said, must have been amazing. She told me that she'd only found out about the gig two days ago too, but she read it in a Japanese newspaper!
I would imagine the rest of the audience was full of YMO anoraks like myself, the press, 'arty' types and bands and musicians wanting to see this legendary group in action - it was a full house either way
Reactions
I think that with music gigs the excitement comes in two phases. The initial one is the build up 'before' the gig, what will they play? what will they start with? what will the encores be?
The second is of course the gig itself. This can be confirmation that your expectations were right or maybe you were miles off and you are in new territory. Either way, you are at last listening to your heroes in real life and each concert is a unique experience
In the case of YMO the excitement was heightened by the fact that I never thought for one minute I would ever see them live. As far as I was aware the early part of my life where I discovered YMO was long gone and the group no longer made music
Having only found out about the gig at the last minute I had no time to find out what 'if any' recent activities the band had been up to, so that led me to one conclusion... A one off 'Best Of' gig was what we would get...
YMO 'New material' shock!
How wrong I was! Still not found an 'Official' Set list but see opposite for the closest I can get (from Ryuichi Sakamoto's production company website apparently). As you can see, this was nothing like a YMO 'Best of' CD listing, far from it, but after all this wasn’t really a 'comeback' tour either, as they never officially split up. I guess what we saw was a ‘one off’ date showcasing the next stage in the development of YMO’s music. As I said, it transpired that I had laid out my barrow in a particularly inaccurate way….
I waited eagerly for the gig to start off with a blast. To be blown out of my seat by a 2008 ‘Tech-House’ mix of ‘Behind the Mask’, ‘Firecracker’ or even ‘Key’ but no. This was a ‘high brow’ event, a ‘night at the Opera’ – the ‘Royal Festival Hall’. Something altogether more challenging, esoteric and cultured was required, and the Yellow Magic Orchestra were set to serve that up
The last thing I'd expected from a group I thought had stopped working together decades ago was ‘new’ material, but that’s what we got. The opening few tracks were mainly HAS (HUMAN AUDIO SPONGE) tracks (Still YMO but different name) plus a few others unknown to me. I was ‘so’ convinced it would be old classics that we’d be hearing but despite having tons of YMO records I'd not heard ‘any’ of them before
Some of them veered towards the 'minimalist Electronica' genre. I'll be honest here - as a 'style', 'clicky', 'glitchy' Electronica which in the last few years has been increasingly common, is one of the 'very' few electronic genres I am not fond of
I'm all for innovation and experimentation in electronic music (or any music for that matter), but this ‘genre’ does nothing for me. It has no melody and is too random and unsettling to be relaxing to chill out to; even 'drones' give you some kind of vibe to get into, but with 'clicky' music as I call it - it's just noise and effects – ‘in my opinion’. Very few groups have done anything I like in that genre. Abfahrt Hinwil however, is one which by embellishing those noises with 'stunning melodies', stands head and shoulders above the rest
Luckily,
YMO only
‘dipped their toe’ in this genre for these tracks. I
can’t honestly say I can remember them now as I am writing this bit of
the review a few weeks on so it’s kind of a lasting impression I got.
I really hope I get a chance to hear this gig again
to give the first few tracks another chance - good job it was being
videoed :-) I am wondering if
it was maybe more of a nod to the
say
YMO were still firmly ‘down with’, and in fact ‘ahead of’ the kids on the new
electronic music block
Ryuichi
is no stranger to the unusual or
experimental though, so it shouldn’t be that much of a surprise.
As another recent review reminded me, the
B-Side to the
‘Fieldwork’ single had a 15
minute track called ‘Exhibition’ on it, which sounded to me like an engaged tone on
a phone going on and off! and
that was
back in 1985…
Whilst listening to these tracks I also had to remind myself that the genius behind ‘Forbidden Colours’ and ‘Bamboo Houses’ with David Sylvian, ‘Fieldwork’ with Thomas Dolby, ‘Illustrated Musical Encyclopedia’ and my personal favourite of his solo albums ‘Thousand Knives’ was none other than the man in front of me, ‘Ryuichi Sakamoto’ so it was nothing short of a miracle to actually be watching and hearing him live
By the time 'Riot in Lagos' began I was certainly ready for my fix of nostalgia though. The gig was warming up and Takahashi turned to the electronic drum kit. It was very visual as he hit the drum pad with the bright orange tipped sticks. The sound was phenomenal, the Teutonic ‘Klang’ of the hits were metallic and clinical and it reminded me a lot of watching Hardcorps doing ‘Je Suis Passe’ live on the UK show The TUBE back in the 80’s – a defining techno moment
Despite some well know names on the case, I was never
that impressed with the ‘Hi-Tech
/ No Crime’ Remix album
from 1992 so it was good to
hear YMO taking on a few of
their own songs and remixing them. It was not a standard dance remix
either, it was an interesting take on the original.
'Ongaku'
was next up and it was the vocals
that brought it home for me before recognizing the music.
After that brief diversion into YMO's past we were back into new territory with a track I now know to be called 'Rescue'. Of all the new material so far this was much more what I would have expected
It was kind of a return to their Synthpop roots but with a new chilled out twist . This was a brilliant track with all the components of a good Synthpop record, melody, rhythm, vocals and a good song behind it all.
The only YMO signature I think was missing was a sense of humour. Quite a few of their classic tracks appear light hearted or tongue in cheek but this was quite a serious affair, leaning more towards melancholic deep house (a genre I love!). It also had the best visuals so far to accompany it, cool retro look computer generated 8 bit graphics - nice
It was great to hear them sing too! Regardless of the music and instruments, the one constant that remains from '79 to '08 is their voices. It's the human element amongst what used to be a room full of modular Synths - the signature sound of YMO that I know and love and even though I didn't get to hear many of my favourite tracks it really brought home to me that I was listening to the real thing
Takahashi is also a brilliant drummer - his energy seems boundless and his beats were very tight on both acoustic and electronic drums. As the set drew to a close the tracks leaned towards jazz funk as Takahashi took up residency on the acoustic drums.
Techno Talk
Although I was a mile away, I could see what looked like a fairly substantial pile of gear on stage. Subsequently checking out Youtube videos of last year (2007) appearances, suggest the kit on view was probably the same used for this date
Ryuichi appeared to play synthesizers throughout, Takahashi both acoustic and electronic drums and Hosono bass guitar. As mentioned before Takahashi's electronic drum sticks / pad looked pretty cool
Sound Quality
Faultless. It was loud and clear from
where I was up in the upper balcony dead centre
Visuals
The pixelated graphics for 'Rescue' were the best ones reminding me of Karl Bartos visuals at the ICA a few years ago but weren't as hi-tech. I guess you build up your childhood heroes as gods so I was expecting their light show to be out of this world but it was quite simple really
Towards the end of the gig, computer graphics were swapped for real life photos and the images got stronger to accompany the sentiments of the songs, e.g. 'War and Peace'
Encores
As there were quite long pauses between each track and time was ticking
on I wasn’t sure where the official set ended and the encores began. The
last track ‘I’ heard was ‘Rydeen 79/07’,
which I now know to be the last
track of the main set. Having only bought the CDs at the gig I hadn’t
heard that version before either
I
had a
11pm train to catch so unfortunately I
had to clock watch constantly which did spoil things a bit for me. I
found it hard to concentrate on the music as I knew I had to ‘leg it’ at
any moment to get back to the train station the other side of
London. I really wish London transport
would sort out later trains out of London! 11pm is not late enough! Grrr
Anyway, it was literally ‘music to my ears’ to hear such a familiar
melody coming forth despite the radical changes made to the song as a
whole -
Rydeen was one of (if not ‘the’) first
YMO 12”
I bought. I have heard this version lots of times since and it’s really
grown on me but I’ll be honest, at the gig I was a little disappointed
it was such so far removed from the original which was something of a
dance track to be played loud!
Depressingly, I had to make a run for it as the final melody was
drifting off and the crowd started cheering. My last sight of
YMO was from the balcony
where the militant venue staff were virtually pushing me out of the door
rather than let me stand there for a moment
From
what I can gather, the two encores were ‘Chronograph’
and ‘Cue’. All I can say is
‘TYPICAL’! Two fantastic tracks
– the former a song by ‘Sketch
Show’ (Hosono and Takahashi)
which I have only just heard but is brilliant! Really melodic with
lovely vocals and something I instantly liked more than the initial
tracks of the gig
The
latter, a classic track from one of my favourite
YMO albums BGM – I bet
that sounded great but if I’d have stayed I’d have missed my train
Summary
It was
truly amazing to see YMO!
They were one of the most important groups to me at an age when I was
discovering electronic music – ‘The
Japanese Kraftwerk’
It was a
strange atmosphere at the gig though. I feel like a fully signed up
YMO
addict having been a fan for almost three decades,
owning a
large collection of
albums, singles and
spin-off projects on
vinyl, CD and
tape but felt a bit out of my depth in the first half of
the gig, I kept trying to hear familiar melodies creeping into the mix
but it wasn't until the sixth track until I actually recognized anything
I was
expecting a lively nostalgic gig playing
YMO’s well known tracks, but
much of the material was new to me, some of it was quite ‘glitchy’ and each track was punctuated with near silence rather than
an audience baying for more. I felt that the polite restrained reaction
from the audience dampened the 'buzz' of the gig a bit as you lose
momentum when the crowd goes too quiet
I think
it’s different when a group tour regularly, you have plenty of
opportunity to hear the ‘bread and butter’ stuff then on special
occasions you get something different, but as it’s been such a long time
since YMO have toured in the
UK, I would have thought it was the first opportunity for a lot of
people to see them live and because of that, I would expect a ‘best
of’ gig first. No matter how good the new material was I couldn’t
help feeling ‘I still’ haven’t heard all my favourite tracks live and
probably never will, so close but so far!
The
set-list wasn’t what I'd hoped for but it did prove that
YMO
are not a one trick pony - stuck in the
80's. Despite a long time away as
YMO,
they are still brilliant musicians continuing to embrace new technology
and along with revisiting older material have actually come up with
something new.
Watching video’s of previous YMO
tours, I was very jealous! I would love to have seen the original
80’s tour and the later
Technodon tour first to get my fix of the
‘essential’ YMO.
With that under my belt I think I would have been able to enjoy
this gig a lot more seeing it for the natural progression it clearly is
I
guess this all begs the question, ‘are
YMO are back in action?’ Is
this a one off before a new album and gigantic world tour?
With around six hours travelling in one evening for about ‘1 hour 40 minutes’ worth of YMO at a cost not far short of £100 and barely four and a half hours sleep before having to get up again for work, it was a slightly mad expedition that only a hardened YMO fan would contemplate
I can't deny I
was gutted to miss the encores either, especially as they were great
tracks
but as I
drifted off to sleep totally exhausted I thought to myself at last I’ve
‘finally’ seen YMO live –
NICE!!!
For more
reviews of the tour I can only suggest 'googling it'! There seems to be
a d
Review copyright Mat McKenzie www.hypnoticbeats.co.uk
PIVOT
YMO
| Nearest thing I could find to an official Set-list was from
here: http://commmons.com/staff_blog/index.php |
| 01: I-SHIN-DEN-SHIN 02: SPORTSMEN 03: FLY ME TO THE RIVER 04: MARS 05: FLAKES 06: RIOT IN LAGOS 07: ONGAKU 08: RESCUE 09: TURN TURN 10: TOKYO TOWN PAGES 11: THE CITY OF LIGHT 12: SUPREME SECRET 13: WONDERFUL TO ME 14: TIBETAN DANCE 15: WAR AND PEACE 16: RYDEEN 79/07 ENCORE-1 CHRONOGRAPH ENCORE-2 CUE |