A big thanks to all the fans who turned up at the California Plaza in Downtown Los Angeles, last Saturday! The evening was a complete success. BrEndAn’s Band opened first, finishing their set with Brendan McCreary’s original song “When Will the Work Be Done,” that was featured in the “Battlestar Galactica” finale. As the sun set, the Battlestar Galactica Orchestra took the stage…
For the last song, Kara Thrace herself, Katee Sackhoff, joined me on stage at the grand piano to play “Kara Remembers” (from the forthcoming Season 4 Soundtrack Album). I played the left hand part, and she plucked out the Final Four Theme, just as she did in the climax of Someone to Watch Over Me. Once we had the Final Four Theme going on the piano, the band snuck in, building to “Heeding the Call” and finally “All Along the Watchtower.” The writers and director of Someone To Watch Over Me were in the audience, so this was a very special moment for Katee and me.
This is apparently what I look like when I’m conducting.
The lovely Raya Yarbrough joined us for “A Distant Sadness” and “Lords of Kobol.”
Katee at the piano
Brendan McCreary performing “All Along the Watchtower.”
Violin virtuouso Paul Cartwright
Woodwind specialist Chris Bleth brought his entire arsenal of bansuris, duduks, flutes and zurnas for the show.
Bassist Mike Valerio solos during “Dirty Hands.”
Cellist Tina Guo brought the rock.
Brendan McCreary in the opening act, BrEndAn’s Band. Nice jacket!
This concert was the world premiere performance of “Dreilide Thrace Sonata No. 1,” that will be featured on the forthcoming Season 4 Soundtrack Album. As I told the audience that night, the compositions Slick plays during that episode were my sketches, composed on set during the filming. Just as the character Slick searched for the soul of his music, so I toiled and searched, sketching various musical themes and motives. At the end of the episode, Kara plays the recording of her father performing his “Sonata,” but we only hear about a minute of it. The audience at California Plaza last Saturday became the first in the world to hear the complete “Sonata.”
Ira Ingber (L), whose slide guitar has graced countless film scores including Midnight Run, played an intense solo during “Dirty Hands.” Steve Bartek (R) has played on all my projects since the beginning and, of course, was the lead guitarist of Oingo Boingo for nearly 20 years.
Speaking of Boingo, drummer Johnny “Vatos” Hernandez held down the line of percussion in the back.
CA PLAZA 6/13/09
SET LIST:
A Distant Sadness
Precipice
Fight Night
Gina Escapes
Caprica
Gaeta’s Lament
Roslin and Adama
Wander My Friends
Dreilide Thrace Sonata No. 1
Baltar’s Dream
Dirty Hands
Lords of Kobol
Prelude to War
Kara Remembers / Heeding the Call
All Along the Watchtower
Encore:
Black Market
Taiko maestro M.B. Gordy in action.
Remember Nigel Tufnel’s solo in Spinal Tap, when he made THIS EXACT FACE? Pretty awesome.
Brendan sang the lead vocal on “Gaeta’s Lament,” a unique arrangement of it I made specifically for the concert.
The front line of guitars, Paul in the background.
I’m playing a particularly brutal keyboard part in “Prelude to War.”
Steve Bartek solos on “Black Market.”
Percussionist Jonathan Ortega plays Nagado Daiko.
Violinist Robbie Anderson
Vatos
Richard Cook played with us for the first time, lending his Irish Whistles and Uilleann Pipes to “Wander My Friends.”
Percussionist Bruce Carver brought his entire array of gongs, visible behind him.
Violist Tom “Dirty Brahms” Lea makes his Metal Face.
(Thanks to PopCultureGeek for the pic!)
After the concert, the entire band and I signed Battlestar Galactica and Caprica CDs, as well as limited edition “Music of Battlestar Galactica” posters that are only available at our live events. I’m hopeful that we’ll sell these online soon as well, so those of you who can’t make it out have a chance to get these two beautiful designs by artist Andrew Craig (who also took all these amazing photographs!).
During the signing, I met fans from all over the country who had flown or driven in to see this event, including a girl from NEW ZEALAND, who was here just to see us!
A thunderous performance beneath the stormy skies.
Even though the venue said it wasn’t allowed, many fans got video footage (thanks!) :) Here’s the ENTIRE concert, courtesy of Erik at FilmsInFocus. If you guys have more, post links either in the comments below or in this entry.
“When Will the Work Be Done”
BrEndAn’s Band, Opening Act
“A Distant Sadness”
“Precipice”
“Fight Night”
“Gina Escapes”
“Caprica”
“Gaeta’s Lament”
“Roslin and Adama”
“Wander My Friends”
“Dreilide Thrace Sonata No. 1″
“Baltar’s Dream”
“Dirty Hands”
“Lords of Kobol”
“Prelude to War”
“Kara Remembers,” “Heeding the Call” and “All Along the Watchtower”
“Black Market”
If you missed this incredible show, you can still catch us at the House of Blues in San Diego on July 23, 24 or 25th! Tickets are now available, but they will sell quickly. The July concerts will feature surprise guests as well as an expanded set list with even more new material from Season 4. And the HOB shows will be your first chance to pick up the highly-anticipated Battlestar Galactica: Season 4 soundtrack album! I will make more announcements about the July concerts in the coming weeks because there are exciting developments that are just a bit too early to share with you yet. So keep checking back here frequently.
So Say We All!
-Bear
It looks like it was a night of musical awesomeness to remember. Thanks to whoever uploaded the vids for those of us in faraway lands.
Just as I was feeling a bit sad, seeing all this and not being a part of it, Amazon sent me a notice that “Caprica” shipped. I thought, “When did I order Caprica??” Well, went to my account, and I still can’t figure out when I preordered, but hey, can’t complain!
It’s like The Internet smiled on me and said “Here is some of Bear’s music. That will make you feel better.” – and really who am I to complain to Amazon? ;-)
Left by plainsong on June 15th, 2009