Despite what I told my children, this was not a cage fight between two distinguished composers. So apologies – if that’s why you clicked on this post, you’ll be disappointed. Maybe get in touch with the makers of 90s classic “Celebrity Death Match” and see whether they take requests.
What it was though, was a fun afternoon out that justified us doing nothing more exciting on NYE night than eating spring rolls, knitting and watching “The Mitchells vs the Machines”. Yup, welcome to NYE live from Casa LWAT. It’s not going to be a classic one but we did gorge ourselves on the classics this afternoon so that’s OK.
The concert was at 2:30 and for some reason I thought church would be in some way shorter than usual today. It wasn’t, which made us a little tight on time to lunch and get to the Barbican. I went to My Favourite Cafe to order takeaway bacon sandwiches, chips and halloumi but we missed a couple of 56s while waiting for it all to be ready and so we ended up getting the secret train from Essex Road. Luckily, the secret train never lets us down and we made it to Moorgate with 20 minutes to spare. We didn’t even get lost around the Barbican complex for once so, even accounting for lengthy loo queues, we were still in our seats well in time. Granted, the kids ate lunch very much in transit – either walking down Essex Road or sitting on the platform of what seems to be an abandoned station – but that’s standard LWAT stuff.
It’s also worth a quick reminder at this point that I no longer own anything resembling a toddler. I don’t think I’d attempt a two-hour classical concert with a tiny one. But with a teen who made his own meme about how much he likes John Williams’ music? Yeah, that sounded doable.
The orchestra were the London Concert Orchestra, conducted by Robert Emery, and included a small group of singers as well. The set was pretty simple but dressed for Christmas, with giant snowflakes along the back wall. There would be a few visual treats along the way but it was mainly all about the music.
And what awesome music! They started off strong with the theme from “ET”, which is always evocative for us 80s kids. The conductor told us a bit of the background to ET – how Harrison Ford’s wife wrote it with Steven Spielberg on the set of “Indiana Jones”. The Indy theme itself wouldn’t pop up until the end of the first half but it was interesting little tidbits like this that kept the concert flowing. Apparently the role of Jack Sparrow almost went to Robert deNiro…who knew?
I can’t remember all the pieces that were played but I think there was music from “The DaVinci Code”, “Inception” and “Saving Private Ryan” in the first half, along with the aforementioned Indiana Jones. There were lovely effects with the lights so that the theme from “Pirates of the Caribbean” had the orchestra members drenched in a sinister green light whereas the more superhero-themed tunes had bright reds and blues. The “Imperial March” was a clear highlight of the first half, with the audience attempting to conduct (cmon guys, it’s a simple 4/4…why can’t you do this?) and special guests turning up to patrol the audience. I was worried about whether Eva would be able to sit still for such a long stretch but the interval came round before we knew it (around 1 hour 10 in) and, although there had been some wriggling, both kids had nothing but good things to say.
Was Eva quite so positive about the interval queue at Benugo? Let’s not speculate. But she did get a can of Coke a slice of lemon drizzle cake out of it so we survived. She looks like she’s enjoying the queuing experience, doesn’t she??
Of course, the can of Coke would have some side effects later, causing us to miss a chunk of the second half and hear the Star Wars theme and “Duel of the Fates” from the loos but you have to expect these things from days out with kids. Also, you really can hear well from the gender-neutral loos next to door 10 so don’t worry too much if you too have to make a swift exit.
I thought that the second half might be weaker than the first, seeing as there was so much good stuff packed into the first. But we still had “Jurassic Park” to go (red and green lights and I managed to not sing the Nick Mohammed lyrics, so that’s good) Plus “Gladiator” and a quirky, clarinet-led piece from “The Terminal”. Then the loo trip for me and Eva and we made it back to our seats, stumbling in the dark during the applause and sat down just as the house lights went up. Yup, that could have been useful a few moments earlier. The conductor was inviting kids to join the orchestra on stage for the very last piece. As we were in the balcony, it didn’t seem possible for any kids sitting near us even though some seemed desperate to go. My own were unbothered so that’s OK. Eventually, the kids from the lower levels and the stalls made it on to the stage, settled themselves in using any space they could find and order was resumed. I felt for the conductor, trying to not to whack any nearby children as he waved his baton. I was in a similar situation at the Chingford Mount tree lighting a few weeks back. No children were harmed in either case.
It was a big success with the kids and a really nice way to finish the year. Some of the very little kids in the audience were a bit restless at times but it was on target for mine, especially Reuben who is the massive Star Wars fan and is well versed in the soundtrack. We bought the tickets as part of their Christmas present and, if you’re wondering how to present such a gift on Christmas morning I’d suggest skipping the easy option of just printing the tickets off. Why do that when you can puzzle them with a box containing Star Wars lego, a pirate-themed beer, some Caribbean spices, a Barbie surprise egg and a number 2 candle? Well, it kept them busy for a bit anyway….
Happy New Year everyone! See you in 2024 🙂
