KEY POINTS:
I can't remember the last time I saw duct tape used as an instrument… or cornflakes or a deck of cards for that matter. Let alone a musician slowly gagging himself with aforementioned instrument of choice (the tape, not the cards) or having a tense padlock battle with
the others on stage.
And yet... the Spaghetti Western Orchestra gave me the distinct impression that it was perfectly standard where they come from, which is Australia, which I guess explains the padlocks and chains - or more to the point the bottles of Victoria Bitter Original Ale. I'll repeat that, because they did: Victoria Bitter Original Ale, bottles of, blown melodically with support from a double bass.
The more conventional instruments included a variety of drums, a vibraphone, keyboard, double bass and trumpet. But there were saws, knives, a nail file and some clear-as-a-bell whistling and strong vocals.If it all sounds a bit weird, that would be because it was - in a beautifully choreographed, hugely entertaining, quirky kind of way.
Five massively talented performers interpreting Ennio Morricone's soundtracks to spaghetti westerns, the sort where Clint Eastwood appears to have a ventriloquist throwing out his one liners somewhere out-of-shot. One or two one liners themselves, jazzy, Latiny, um, 'western-y' experimental music, filled with ambience and things like coyotes, lassoos and a clapper that desperately wanted to be a hefty horsewhip.
A few of the eerie silences were somewhat altered by sound leaking from the neighbouring Spiegeltent or possibly another outdoor performance at the festival's Red Square, but that was the venue's fault, not the musicians'.
Their performance was incredibly tight, reflecting years on stage (see website below). The SWO members were all multi-talented, comics, actors, dancers, and of course, experienced musicians. The introductory words sounded straight off the Concert Programme and the dialogue, well, straight off a Western - with a few twists.
Go for the music, the humour, the facial expressions or just go to find out where the cornflakes fit in. Kelloggs by the way. Tasty.
Review
* What: Spaghetti Western Orchestra, AK07
* Where: AK07 Festival Club
* Wed 21 to Sat 24 March
Wed & Thurs 7.30pm
Fri & Sat 9.30pm
* Reviewer: Susannah Cullinane