Brian Eno: This is Pure Scenius
Brian Eno is the guest artistic director for this year's Brighton Festival and there were two events we made an effort to see. His Speaker Flower Sound Installation in Malborough House off Old Steine is worth a look and is free to get in. It's a grand and beautiful building to wander round in and the installation is quite interesting but not worth a long journey for. If you're in Brighton anyway than make the effort. Below is a video of me walking through a couple of rooms to give you an idea of what to expect. Nice use of coloured paper on the windows.
We followed up the visit with the 6:30pm showing of Brian Eno's This is Pure Scenius. We were initially put off by the £20 price tag even if Underworld's Karl Hyde was performing because it was split into three performances. There was no guarantee to know which one Karl would turn up in but after speaking to the curator in Malborough House he was playing in all three. So for just £10 each we got excellent seats.
It was a very adult almost classical music performance where the audience seemed to be awe of the line-up and ego of Eno. Spotted just a few rows ahead was Oz rocker, Nick Cave. After a beautiful ambient electronica track, Eno spoke to the crowd as if presenting a lecture from the future explaining some made-up music genres & cultures. Slightly odd but funny at the same time.
The music continued with long, orchestra performances, a kind of grown-up electronica music. Karl Hyde added his own strange poetry, dark vocals and samples (recognised the King of Snake Asian voice monologue). The band themselves were made up of a drummer, classical bassist, guitar, electronic effects/piano, another pianist and Eno on laptop and conducting. At the front of the stage there was a lounge set up with a settee and coffee making facilities for musicians to take a rest from their duties! A personal highlight was the piano duel with every long chord allowed to ring out into silence followed by what I could only describe as a sonic raindrop dream and Karl Hyde quoting Mills & Boon literature. It all sounds very strange in written form and perhaps a little bit anal but it all worked beautifully. The same performance happened last year in Sydney which someone videoed which is lucky as Brighton Dome staff clamped down on anyone taking picture or photos.
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We followed up the visit with the 6:30pm showing of Brian Eno's This is Pure Scenius. We were initially put off by the £20 price tag even if Underworld's Karl Hyde was performing because it was split into three performances. There was no guarantee to know which one Karl would turn up in but after speaking to the curator in Malborough House he was playing in all three. So for just £10 each we got excellent seats.
It was a very adult almost classical music performance where the audience seemed to be awe of the line-up and ego of Eno. Spotted just a few rows ahead was Oz rocker, Nick Cave. After a beautiful ambient electronica track, Eno spoke to the crowd as if presenting a lecture from the future explaining some made-up music genres & cultures. Slightly odd but funny at the same time.
The music continued with long, orchestra performances, a kind of grown-up electronica music. Karl Hyde added his own strange poetry, dark vocals and samples (recognised the King of Snake Asian voice monologue). The band themselves were made up of a drummer, classical bassist, guitar, electronic effects/piano, another pianist and Eno on laptop and conducting. At the front of the stage there was a lounge set up with a settee and coffee making facilities for musicians to take a rest from their duties! A personal highlight was the piano duel with every long chord allowed to ring out into silence followed by what I could only describe as a sonic raindrop dream and Karl Hyde quoting Mills & Boon literature. It all sounds very strange in written form and perhaps a little bit anal but it all worked beautifully. The same performance happened last year in Sydney which someone videoed which is lucky as Brighton Dome staff clamped down on anyone taking picture or photos.
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