Countryside Alliance/Whip Craic concertDespite
the mixed public views over the nature of the activities that the
Countryside Alliance in Britain supports (a rural way of life,
including the hunting of foxes with hounds), the concert at London's
Royal Albert Hall passed without any incident, either inside or out.
The audience for the show was chiefly made of CA supporters, huntsmen,
nobility, Conservative politicians, and the like. There was a small but
enthusiastic bunch of us Roger fans too!
From feedback we've received via
email, a number of Roger's fans were put off by the possibility of
trouble from the anti-hunting lobby, or by their own attitude towards
the aims of the CA, or indeed purely by the ticket price - which ranged
from GBP15 to GBP150. Those who were unable or unwilling to attend,
regrettably missed a performance that will certainly live with me for a
long time.
As seen on this site, the concert
was in part to perform the world premiere of the Overture to Roger's
opera, Ca Ira, which he has been working on for some years now (see
other articles on this site for further information on Ca Ira).
It
was also to show his support for the aims and ideals of the CA - it was
a chance for him to stand up and be counted, and to let "the powers
that be" know his feelings. The lack of empty seats in the august
surroundings of the Royal Albert Hall showed that he was not the only
one who wanted to do this.
As part of a bill that included
artists as diverse as Roger, Nicholas Parsons, Robert Hardy, US rapper
The President, Jon Lord (ex-Deep Purple) and Sir John Mortimer QC, the
evening was a mix of monologue and music - with pieces from the likes
of Verdi, Sondheim, and Sir Edward Elgar.
Roger's performance was scheduled
to start a third of the way into proceedings - he was a little late
starting, due to previous acts overrunning. Luckily though this did not
mean he reduced his segment of the show.
First off, was the performance by
the Royal Philharmonic Concert Orchestra, conducted by Rick Wentworth,
of Overture To Ca Ira. A beautifully, haunting, and moving piece, five
minutes long, which consisted of three main movements - the first being
a slow, stately piece of around three minutes, followed by a more
upbeat and uplifting second part, introduced with an insistent drum
tattoo, which moves into a strident third part.
Roger
was standing in the shadows, stage left, concentrating heavily on the
performance, head bowed. Occasionally, he turned to the person beside
him to explain or amplify certain nuances of the music, or perhaps to
explain how the work progresses.
The Overture finished, it was
time for Roger to be introduced to the stage. He had just flown back
from New York on Concorde but he seemed in fine form and none-the-worse
for jet lag. With him was his current band - Andy Fairweather-Low,
Snowy White, Chester Kamen, Graham Broad, his son Harry Waters, Andy
Wallace, Carol Kenyan, PP Arnold, Katie Kissoon, and Ian Ritchie
playing the penny whistle.
More than that, all the songs he performed were fully accompanied by the RPCO - which was wonderful and made a big difference.
He started with Wish You Were
Here (which had a slightly jumbled start; Chester seemed to start too
early), followed by a lovely Flickering Flame (introduced by Roger as
"a new song, you won't have heard of, a song about love, about
freedom"), which was made truly complete with the orchestral backing.
Finally, a great version of Comfortably Numb, which really raised the
roof, and gained the performers a standing ovation. Not bad considering
most of them would not have heard any of this music before, and weren't
necessarily the normal audience for this sort of performance.
The show finished with a rousing
performance of "Land Of Hope And Glory" with all the performers on the
night - sadly, with the exception of Roger and his band - rejoining the
stage to lead the singing.
The show was not filmed, so sadly
this great, historic performance will not be released. This could have
raised more money for the CA (quite a few thousands of pounds were
raised on the evening itself) something the organisers should have
thought of...despite Roger's appearance lasting just under thirty
minutes, it would be a definate recommendation for anyone's collection.
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