BY ANDREW MESSENGER
‘Thum Prints: a concerto contradiction for beatbox and orchestra’ by Gordon Hamilton, world premiere
Queensland Symphony Orchestra and Tom Thum
Powerhouse, Newfarm, 16 May, 2015
This is a strange concert.
Gordon Hamilton’s music, an entire 40 minute suite, accompanies the beatboxing stylings of Tom Thum, a local beats superstar. A small, mic’d, 16-piece Queensland Symphony Orchestra ensemble fleshes out Tom’s mouth percussion with some percussion of the real kind.
If you’ve ever seen the sick American group Naturally Seven, the feel of this gig is somewhat similar – except a lot more genuine, with less commercialism and swagger.
But there’s still that theme of showing-off; of sport-like exhibitionism of skill without any real meat. A more generous reviewer, perhaps, would call it “good clean fun”. Fun it may be, but not my sort.
This was a pretty trendy show, tricked out at Brisbane’s super-hot Powerhouse. Just Tom Thum, a mid-20s Brisbane dude wearing a sports jacket, black jeans and sneakers, and what appears to be a paisley or floral shirt (untucked, of course). And a substantial orchestra.
Tom is not originally of the musical world; his main love can be found within the broader hip-hop community. His act, if it can be compared with anything, is like a variety night with only one gag.
A lot of the point of his performance is comedy, both within and between the “movements” of his “concerto”. Now, like most Australians, I’ve got a lot of time for good comedy, and Tom’s comedy is simple and pure – a bit like depoliticised Adam Hills or The Idea of North. This isn’t the only similarity with TIoN. No doubt that in this case, the chuckles have been helped along by the fundamental absurdity of linking up a very traditional orchestra with a beatboxing hip-hop artist.
Musically, my favourite moment was ‘Movement IX’ – also called ‘Three Historical Movements’. The score was, if anything, a bit too good. It felt out of place; nobody comes to this sort of show expecting the next Haydn. I think people want something they know, with a bit of a twist – so writing a whole new (genius, fantastic) suite misses the point. The show was best when it recognised this point. Basically, you cannot go wrong if you take a classical number everyone knows – like Tchaikovsky’s ‘Danse Russe’ from The Nutcracker – and rejig it for a radically different and very specific style that everyone also knows (personal favourite of the sort: Man O’War’s hilarious metalified cover of ‘Nessun Dorma’. Puccini would be awfully pissed). QSO did drum-kitted versions of Bach’s Well-Tempered Clavier and a Haydn String Quartet. These two were possibly not memorable enough to work as well as the Tchaik, which was legitimately fall-out-of-your-chair hilarious.
Gordon Hamilton’s day job as chief conductor/composer of The Australian Voices has left him well-acquainted with all things weird and wonderful [full disclosure: I was once a member of TAV]. He was the obvious choice, I imagine, to compose and conduct a show as off-the-wall as this. The somewhat limited band, just 16 players, was as flexible as ever. Once again and as usual, the relatively newish principal trumpet Sarah Butler is the standout. Queensland is very lucky to have her. Hamilton’s writing, by the way, sounds like a big band playing film music: often quite thick orchestral texture, very melodic, but a bit off-kilter, often crunchy and dissonant. His writing for the brass in particular is very deft and quick-moving.
Gordo doesn’t often write for orchestra. This low level of action should not be allowed. As in last year’s ‘Ghosts in the Orchestra’, he has proven to be an unusually effective orchestrator and an imaginative melodist. He has a deep and abiding love for the ridiculous (for example, ‘Trash Mash’, ‘Toy Story Three = Awesome’, et al,. et al., et al.). But enough yuks: his next big program needs to be a serious, non-joking orchestral work. Doesn’t have to be long; a suite or a tone poem would do. But he needs to do this. There should be some kind of law.
But you didn’t come to this review to read about my plans for a compulsory composer draft system. You want to know: are you going to enjoy QSO and Tom Thum? If they put on another show, as Tom threatened to, will it be worth your money? Probably. It left me feeling a bit cold, probably because I’m a party-pooper. They called it a concerto, and the implicit and explicit showing-off through the gig was not my thing. I also can’t shake the feeling that if you need a microphone and looping equipment to blow your own trumpet, then you’re sort of cheating.
That said, I don’t like the orchestral pop arrangements, either (SSO meets Queen!, for instance) and normal people seem to, for whatever reason. But I had fun despite my tall-poppy party-poopery. So while orchestral beatboxing may not be my jam, that doesn’t mean it isn’t yours.
Image supplied.
