John Carpenter Live at Colston Hall - Review
Posted on: 2016-10-31
Our rating:
Awesome night and if you are a diehard fan of horror like myself, you feel extra lucky having the chance to see such a spectacle, and a mastermind of horror.
I'm a huge fan of John Carpenter and have been since I was a kid, I remember seeing Big Trouble in Little China and was left mystified as a young kid wondering what all these weird and wonderful creatures were, and who could have created such things.
John Carpenter has created music to go with most of his movies; he credits this to his dad giving him the gift of music, and his mum giving him the gift of fantasy, hence why he took it upon himself to have a big say in the music in his movies - not just the direction. He had a full band with him (complete with his son Cody Carpenter on lead synth) this night and Colston Hall was nice and full, people of all ages, but to be honest the demographic seemed to be late 20's to people nearer John’s age (68).
He opened with the theme from Escape from New York, so an immediate impact, while the songs were playing the visuals from key scenes in the Movies were playing on large screens behind the band, which was awesome, imagine reliving epic scenes like the giant fight scene between Roddy Piper (RIP) and Keith David (They Live) to the intense scene in The Thing where the characters are testing each other’s blood with red hot copper wire to see who has been infected. It was excellent and gave you a new appreciation of the movies. When the main theme from The Fog was playing, a fog surrounded the stage - it's simple, and obvious, but was very affective and looked very cool.
"Horror Movies live forever" was the statement from John that preceded the theme from Halloween, which in my (and many people’s opinions) is one of the best horror movies ever made, and at the time it was one of the most successful (it was made for $300,000, but did extremely well). The theme and the visuals again together sent a chill up my spine.
There were a few tracks played from his Lost Themes albums, namely "Vortex" and "Wraith" and these tracks really brought the live band into it, letting them express themselves a bit more.
He finished the show with "Christine" (a Movie about an evil car with a mind of its own) and advised everyone to drive home safely! Lengthwise the set was spot on; he played the classics and some non Movie tracks. To be honest he was never going to play anything from Ghosts of Mars or Escape from LA, but I think maybe those were two of his movies which struggled a bit more and don't have as much of an endearing cult feel than other movies like The Fog.
Brilliant night. The man himself obviously showed he was enjoying it and shows you don't have to be boring and sit watching Columbo all day if you are pushing the grand old age of 70. Awesome night and, like I say, if you are a diehard fan of horror like myself, you feel extra lucky having the chance to see such a spectacle, and a mastermind of horror.
5/5
Article by:
Nick currently works in the private security industry in Bristol, but is currently studying to move into Health & Safety. Nick enjoys most music, but is a diehard metalhead.
He also loves Football (he supports Hull City, for his sins) & he's a bit of a Movie buff (also known as a Geek). He enjoys training Boxing with friends,and the outdoors - getting out in nature, stuff like that! He practices meditating and breathwork when not listening to death metal or watching obscure 80's horror movies, or taking care of his pet Snakes, Tarantulas and Scorpion.
