Jeff Wayne's musical version of The War Of The Worlds came out as a concept album in 1978. Blogger Alasdair Stuart remembers it vividly, and has recently been to see the live stage spectacular:
The Chances of Anything Coming From Mars
I first experienced genuine terror when I was five. My dad had been leant the War Of The Worlds concept album by Jeff Wayne, and I remember looking at the front cover and feeling the terror wash over me. The cover art was a ship, in the middle of a tumultuous sea, being blasted apart by what seemed to be a huge, metallic spider equipped with a laser. I hated spiders already but if they were huge AND armed? Clearly I was in much more trouble than I thought.
Last Monday, the Martian war machines returned and, for two hours, the world ended in the middle of Sheffield Arena. Thirty years after release, Jeff Wayne’s album continues to be a cult classic and even crossed over to the dance floors with ‘UlladubUlla’, a dance remix of ‘The Eve of the War.’ It was no surprise then to see the Sheffield Arena filled as Wayne took the stage along with the musicians of the UllaDubUlla Strings and Black Smoke Band as part of the 30th Anniversary Live Show.
The show is a frankly astounding piece of multi-media performance art, shifting gleefully between theatre, cinema, music, musical and animation to create something which still has the doom-laden atmosphere of the album but feels bigger, more expansive. This is driven home by the moment a Martian war machine descends from the rafters and hunches over the musicians, bellowing in triumph as the war begins.
Then, there’s the 12 foot tall holographic head of Richard Burton, the original narrator. Hovering on a screen to the left of the stage, Burton’s iconic narration has lost none of it’s power and as his deep, stentorian tones announce the coming of the Martians, it’s difficult not to get caught up in the moment. It’s not a perfect replica of Burton but it’s certainly close enough, and the moment where the head takes it’s curtain call and says ‘No one would have believed’ is equal turns charming and deeply unsettling.
Burton isn’t the only original cast member to return. Justin Hayward, as the Sung Thoughts of the Journalist has a natural stage presence and a gentle, understated voice that smartly combines with Burton’s deep, authoritative tones to give us a very rounded portrayal of the journalist that shows not only his professional, authorial voice but what he hides behind it.
This use of real actors to drive home the terror and horror of the invasion is simple but devastatingly effective, especially in the scenes featuring Parson Nathaniel, his wife Beth and the Voice of Humanity. Nathaniel, played by Australian Idol runner up Shannon Noll is encountered by the Journalist towards the end of the story. Driven insane by the events around him, he becomes convinced his wife is possessed by a demon despite her pleas. The interplay between the two is one of the best songs in the show, with Ellison providing the voice of reason and Noll having tremendous fun as the scenery chewing Nathaniel, a role originally played by Thin Lizzy’s Phil Lynott.
The horror that overwhelms Parson Nathaniel, the feeling of watching something unstoppable and deadly roll towards you is also embodied by the Voice of Humanity, played by Chris Thompson. Thompson sings ‘Thunderchild’, recounting the heroic sacrifice of a Royal Navy Ironclad and does so with exactly the right combination of flamboyance and poignancy. This is the song illustrated on the front cover that terrified me all those years ago and everything, the heroism of the crew, the joy at the first downed Martian, the feeling of impending doom is there on stage, as Thompson, the music and the footage projected behind him combine to create something which is part theatre, part musical and impossible to take your eyes off.
The Voice of Humanity represents everything good about us; the defiance, the tenacity, the strength. The Artilleryman, played with show stealing energy by Alexis James, is the exact opposite of that, a man who takes refuge in an idea he can’t hope to complete. James throws himself around the stage with maniacal energy, delivering ‘Brave New World’, his demented call to arms from a bridge lowered from the ceiling. He’s the blood-soaked leader of a revolution of one, a man so convinced he holds the key to survival he can’t even see how little he’s doing. It’s a powerhouse of a performance, manic and tragic by turns and interestingly, finishes with a hint of realisation. The Artilleryman seems to know how little he can do, but clings to the grand idea of an underground London because he has nothing else. This is the end of his world and he needs something to pass the time.
As the story darkens, the music darkens with it and ‘Red Weed’ is a particular standout, an off-key, serene instrumental piece played out against images of the Martian weed absorbing the English countryside. The players come and go, the Journalists’ options narrow and finally, he returns to London because he has nowhere else to go. Eventually, he resolves to give his life to the Martians, returns to the Common where they first landed and, of course, discovers that the war has been won. There are world wide celebrations as the Martians are vanquished forever. Or at least, until NASA’s next mission to the red planet…
It’s a show, which, superficially is easy to mock after all, the words ‘concept album’ are a cliché and in of themselves. But the energy of Wayne’s music and the unique way it’s delivered means this transcends those stereotypes, becoming an electrifying re-telling of one of the greatest science fiction stories of all time. If you get the chance and you’re even a little fond of the story, this is unmissable stuff. Just remember, the chances of anything coming from Mars are a million to one…
She's never listened to the album before, and she thought it was great!
I'm a long-time fan, and this is the first time I've got to see the stage show - and I thought it was fantastic!
If you have the opportunity, go and see this!
Posted by Steve Elliott (127.0.0.1) on June 25, 2009 at 08:50 AM BST
Website: http://phantom-enterprises.co.uk #
WOTW live was, I am absolutely heartbroken to report, a horrendous disappointment. From the totally unnecessary and suspense-destroying CGI intro sequence (which resembled the late-90's computer game of your choice) to the agonising long pauses while the live actors desperately tried to look as though they were doing something, the overall experience was a wash-out. There were some brief moments of brilliance, most notably the tingling first "dum dum dummmmmmmm" after the intro speech from Richard Burton (or "floaty head dude", to quote my other half). Also very impressive was Chris Thompson's brief "Thunder Child" passage, ending in a stunning top note which clearly put more than a little strain on his vocal chords. There were other nice touches as well, but they were all cancelled out by idiotic bits of direction - on which note, someone really, really needs to take the big pair of compasses/calipers away from the Artilleryman.
It was undoubtedly a feat fitting all the stuff from the tour into the Windsor Hall at the Bournemouth International Centre, famously lacking in stage wings. Unfortunately though, this meant that you could see the Martian tripod from the moment you entered the hall, so it's decent during the second number in the show was neither a surprise nor the menacing technical grand gesture I suspect it was intended to be. The least said about the pointless bridge, apparently supposed to be a representation of the sewers in which the Brave New World would take shape, the better. But the worst thing, and the thing that has stuck with me since Monday night, is the fact that they have so glaringly only commissioned a total of about twenty minutes of film and graphics, which is looped ad nauseum with no sense of climax or build.
Such a terrible shame and, without a doubt, the most disappointment I have felt during a live performance in many years. Perhaps I shouldn't have built it up in my head as much as I did, but come on - it's War Of The Worlds, for goodness' sake!
I thank you.
Posted by Queenie (127.0.0.1) on June 25, 2009 at 02:14 PM BST #
I saw WotW last week at the NIA. I'd booked it over six months ago. Have been looking forward to it for ages. Love the album, have done for years, like everyone else seems to. So, what could go wrong?
If I'm honest, the thing that sticks with me the most is a sense of embarrassment. The shoddy directing (totally agree Queenie, how crass?); the way the Martian came down at just the wrong moment to obliterate, not the audience, but the one bit of new footage playing on the widescreen behind it so no-one could see what the hell was going on; to the God-awful and truly school-play like level of the sound mixing...
I mean, come on... It's a bleedin' musical piece, right? You'd think they'd work out that sound which doesn't drown out the singers and make them inaudible might be a good way to go.
Let's not forget the stumbling around... sorry, acting... that took place on the front ribbon of the stage. All they could do was strut up and down. That was it. That was the extent of the directing. Strut left. Good. Strut right. Well done. If you're going to have actors, give 'em the room to act and don't make them seem like they'd rather be somewhere else. Like I felt.
Yeah, the CGI... Sorry, the Spectrum graphics. Shoddy. Cheap. Poorly done. It added nothing and detracted from everything. I wanted the Martians to invade after watching the first half hour.
I got through the show and thought the second half was better. The Artillary Man threw himself into it with real guts and I enjoyed his stuff even though I'm not a fan of that song ('Brave New World'). That was in direct comparison to my favourite ('Forever Autumn') which had an emailed-in performance from Justin Hayward himself, no less. He seemed bored and listless, standing without any effort at emoting and, as my mate said afterwards, managed to kill any emotion the song had. Which is saying something for that track.
The more time passes in the past week, the more disappointed I've felt. A real let-down. Not just so-so but downright poor. I wish, I really wish, I'd enjoyed it like Alisdair and Steve did - and I'm pleased it worked for them - but I really didn't. If you've not seen it and you've read this, go with lower expectations than this blog raises. I hope you totally disagree with me and Queenie and love every second of it. But at least you'll not be expecting the moon. Or Mars.
Posted by Seebo (127.0.0.1) on June 25, 2009 at 10:47 PM BST #