Reviews

Will Gregory Moog Ensemble review at the Bristol Colston Hall

Posted on: 2015-06-13

Will Gregory and his ensemble epitomised the scope of the instrument's cosmic musical reach, dazzling us with an eclectic, often giddying musical showcase.

---

 

Gig goers were wowed by one hell of a thrillingly unique sonic experience when the Will Gregory Moog Ensemble rolled into Bristol at Colston Hall's The Lantern on Friday 12 June 2015.

Gregory - one half of the electronic music sensation Goldfrapp - has formed a group that is very similar in aesthetic to Philip Glass's own ensemble in that it comprises of musicians playing synthesizers, occasionally accompanied by other instruments such as the saxophone. The actual music, however, is generally very different, although there are similarly a few nods and renditions of music cloaked in the minimalist style. The whole ethos of the ensemble - which was formed in 2005 - has been to use and manipulate synthesizers in a way which reinvents old sounds as well as creating new ones. 

The Moog synthesizer itself was developed in the 1960s by Dr Robert Moog and boasts a myriad of knobs, switches and buttons as well as keys which can produce a series of contrasting sounds, from low pulsating rumbles that could have been conjured from the very bowels of the earth , to high pitched squeaks, yelps and wails pitched to pierce those more sensitive ear drums. The commercial success of the Moog synthesizer came of age with the release of Wendy Carlos' 1968 record Switch-On-Bach in which she reinterpreted that composers compositions electronically. It has since been interpolated in a variety of adept, skillful and inventive ways in a whole slew of other commercial works. 

Gregory and his ensemble led a packed crowd through an uncompromising, diverse program of music - introducing them all himself - covering pieces by those Baroque masters Handel and Bach, then hurling us through a Moog-based musical maelstrom that covered Burt Bacharach, French composers Olivier Messiaen and Debussy, horror film legend John Carpenter, and original compositions by a few of the group's own musicians. A screen above the performers projected a swirling succession of spaced out, trippy, hallucinogenic images that were ideally matched to the hypnotic, thundering soundscape. 

The Moog synthesizer is an incredible instrument. It has the potential to be delicate and diaphanous but is at its best and most powerfully effective when it's howling out a cacophony of cosmic musical cries and relentlessly propulsive, dark bass ostinatos. It's unbelievably adaptable too, suited perfectly to the electronic musical reimaginings of classical composers yet giving an otherworldly, interstellar edge to new works. 

Will Gregory and his ensemble epitomised the scope of the instrument's cosmic musical reach, dazzling us with an eclectic, often giddying musical showcase. It's beautiful and bizarre, terrifying and hypnotic, avant garde and contemporary, subterranean and ethereal, astonishing and totally enthralling. One minute it was poised with the majesty and grandeur of an iconic Baroque masterpiece, the next the musicians were submerged in the grungy, thrashing funk of an acid-laced post-apocalyptic rave.

The Lantern has always prided itself on presenting some of the more idiosyncratic, offbeat performers and groups, resting comfortably on the cusp of the alternative scene's dynamic, evergreen heartbeat. With the Will Gregory Moog Ensemble it brought Bristol's out-of-the-box musical invention and thrill seekers one of the best rollercoaster gigs of the year.

5/5

Bristol gig review by Jamie Caddick for 365Bristol - The Bristol website.

Review date - 12 June 2015

---