aeblog

violin barbie

I almost want to write two reviews for the Bond show that I went to last Friday night at Paradise. One that says how entertaining it was, and the other that says how pathetically lame so many aspects were. But I'm going to not split it up in favor of just writing one schizophrenic review. Bear with me, please.

I was initially curious as to how the Bond girls were going to handle reproducing their sound for a live audience in a rock club, and this question was answered even before they took the stage. There was nothing on the stage but for their "wood" instruments (as they referred to them) carefully propped up for effect on the drum riser. I was disappointed that all of the supporting music was pre-recorded as it would have been really fun to see a full backing band. But alas, it was just the four of them, though I must admit I wasn't TOO disappointed by their physical appearance and attire. Being very good looking is as much a part of their show as the music, if not more. I was thinking to myself, how different would this group be if they weren't so hot? And then I realized that this was as unfair a question as 'how different would this group be if they didn't know how to play their instruments?' Music and appearance are both completely integral to the whole of what Bond is and they certainly don't pretend otherwise, much to their credit. To this end, the choreography was clearly worked out well in advance (though it could have been better rehearsed) and much of the fun of watching them was seeing how they dutifully rearranged themselves over and over on stage while playing. The dramatic upward reaching bow sweeps were impossible not to laugh out loud at and simultaneously appreciate for their unabashed ridiculousness.

OK, so what was totally lame? First of all, there was way too much support from their pre-recorded back-ups. They had the ultimate safety net, and that made it less exciting to watch. It was embarrassingly clear that the cellist was 'cello-syncing' to the first several songs and that was really really lame. Stupid, in fact. She did start playing later, but the fact that she faked it at all took away from any real playing she did later in my mind. Part of their set was 'acoustic' which was a great touch, but by not sitting down and playing a full on Schubert string quartet, they missed a fantastic opportunity to not only legitimize themselves as true classical musicians but also to educate the audience. Coming down from a bass thumping version of Swan Lake to a nicely interpreted, true to the original performance of a string quartet would have been very cool. And the final totally lame aspect was that the music was no questions asked, no doubt about it, full on cheesy. But hey, they're cross-over!

Despite these pockets of total lameness, I came away from the show not feeling disappointed at all. Bond doesn't pretend to be more than what they delivered, and, though I still do feel they could take the concept further, they provided a certain type of cross-over entertainment that was fun. They didn't take themselves too seriously and were fun to watch in their enthusiasm, their energy and, yes, their good looks. And amazingly enough, their beauty somehow didn't prevent them from actually being able to play their instruments! The first violinist and the violist were really good as far as I could tell; nice strong sound and tone and were not afraid of some pretty fast passages! I'm also going to guess that it does take talent to strut around stage in 6 inch stilettos while playing an instrument. I enjoyed hearing some of the greatest melodies ever written, and having them augmented by electronic drums and other loudness certainly lended a new perspective. The Bond girls really were getting into it, jumping up and down, shredding their bows and generally behaving as no one does, but everyone should, when listening to some of the great pieces they had arranged. I am risking serious contempt from a certain group here, but I will say that there are some things that the classical establishment could learn from Bond. Let me also say there are only SOME things; not very many, but SOME, nonetheless. Don't be close-minded.

I'm not sure why classical cross-over artists exist. I'd like to think that they have a mission of spreading a certain type of music to another group of people who had not yet been exposed to it. But I fear that many are manufactured to take advantage of a perceived market opportunity. In the end, though I am all for exposing different audiences to different types of music, I wonder how much Bond is really accomplishing in this regard (maybe they don't really care, but I hope they have a higher purpose). It seemed like they attracted an older crowd to a rock club, which is fine, but I would prefer to have seen a younger crowd attracted to a concert hall, or a younger crowd turn out for some really good, serious music, classical or not. There are already tons of rock fans, but the classical world could really use a shot of the youthful energy that Bond exudes. What would happen if Sonic Youth played at Symphony Hall with an orchestra or if there were more experimentations like Metallica's with the SF Symphony and Michael Kamen? The problem seems to be that classical performers are often so full of integrity and pride that they don't want to 'sell-out' to make money or spread their music. And rock musicians, if they are famous enough to command any influence, don't have music incentive to expose their audience to other types of music. Maybe cross-over is just a stupid idea that will never succeed in any substantive way. Or maybe cross-over is the only hope classical music has of not dying a slow and undignified death. Enough of that.

The fact is, Bond is entertainment, and they use a number of different techniques to succeed. This is not classical music; this is not the slightest bit serious music; it's hardly pop music for that matter, but taken as a whole it is light entertainment and there is nothing wrong with that. Bond is a band that I don't feel I ever need to see again, and I will certainly never purchase any of their cds (or t-shirts or, god help us, promotional posters), but am very glad that I saw them once and I am glad that they exist.