Omnia Theater Tour 2012 Review

Rezension zum Thema Musik

von  ThalayaBlackwing

Setlist:
Bran
Old Man/Tree
Jabberwocky
Sheenearlahi Set
Niiv
The Raven
Cernunnos
Noodle the Poodle
-----BREAK-----
Moon
Toys in the Attic
Auta Luonto
Richard Parker's Fancy
Wytches Brew
Saltatio Vita
Epona
Etrezomp Ni-Kelted
-----END----
Fee Ra Huri

Friday 26th October late evening or early night??   my 8th Omnia Theater Tour gig was over. And I felt happy and sad at the same time. Happy because I had a fantastic time during those last two weeks and sad because two weeks will have to pass till I can go to the next one or two.
But what is it that has fascinated me so much? Well it's easy, isn't it? It's Omnia, pure music and pure magic.
And what is Omnia? That my friends is really really hard to explain. You can't say it's like this or that because there is nothing like Omnia. To understand you have to be there, you have to listen and to feel the music and magic. But I try to give you a read.

The first thing I remember when I think about the Theater Tour gigs is in fact that they are at the theater, wonder oh wonder
My first thought after a full summer of festival craziness was 'How should that work? Sitting? During an Omnia-gig?' And so I first entered the theater, took my place and waited. As the light went off every single person in the audience went silent and so we didn't miss one single note.
Bran was the opening song. A fully instrumental song written by Steve Sic and Jenny for Steve's son Damien. 'Bran' means in ancient Welsh 'raven' and the ravens Hugin and Munin are the eyes and ears of the god Odin and whenever I listen to the song I get pictures of flying ravens and what they may see through their eyes.
The song begins with Steve and Daphyd playing together filling the theater with the sound of mystic and old stories. Jenny takes over then with her harp and  brings lightness and the feeling of freedom in the song soon rejoined by Steve now on his neo-celtic double flutes (instead of the low whistle). An instrument I haven't seen or heard of before is the Shrutibox during Bran. Rob plays that instrument. And it gives the song a deep personality as well as the didgeridoo played by Daphyd and finally joined by Philip on his guitar (which newly is wonderfully painted by Steve).
What a beginning! And then Steve greeted us. Said that this evening will be an evening full of stories. Some of them just music, like Bran and others with texts, like the following which he said is true.
Old Man Tree. And you feel the truth of word and story instantaneously. Jenny opened the song playing the piano, joined by Philip and Steve started singing about listening to nature, stopping to fight wars that aren't your own and praise the Earth as she is our mother.
The song itself was given to Steve and Jenny by a very wise old Oak tree. Although old like the roots of the Earth itself, the song is still fresh, still actual. And you felt that more and more people awakened, ready to 'put brother Flame to sister Gras' and 'celebrate the Pagan mass'.
More stories followed. The one with the weirdest text was coming now: Jabberwocky. The text is a poem written by Lewis Carroll (the one who wrote the Alice in Wonderland books) and is written in part English and part 'nonsense-language' with words Lewis made up by himself. The story is easily told. It's about a boy, an evil dragon (sometimes I wish one could read the words the way the people, in this case Steve, have spoken them) and a magical sword.
The next song is indeed a set of three songs. The first part is a solo by Jenny on her harp backed by Steve on his Low D-whistle. It has the name 'Me bonny wee Sidhenearlahi'. It was written by Jenny for Steve. The second part has the name 'Jam it in lower'. It is a flute tune based on the first one. And as one may imagine because of the title it is in a lower key. And last but not least we have the third part. It is very fast. The typical Omnia rhythms add a special weirdness to the song which is a variation of the second tune. The title of this last part is 'Push it harder'. In this part Jenny took the Bodhràn for the first time.
After the song was finished it seemed for the first time that the audience was alive. Cheers and clapping. But it faded really fast and Steve still catching his breath started an explanation what the difference between festival and club shows and theater shows are. The applause was way shorter in theaters than on festivals. At those festivals the whole band could have a full three-course meal during applause, enough time to get their breaths back. This was the time for the audience to give it a new wave of applause and every time they needed more time Steve or Jenny gestured for more applause and got what they needed.
Following the 'applause-explanation' Steve announced a love-story between two who can't really find each other. One coming from the world of nature, a perfect world, and one coming from the world of humans, a world of shit. Is love stronger than the gap between those two worlds?
Afterward Philip, Daphyd and Rob left the stage. Steve and Jenny were left there alone and Steve explained that they wanted to play a really sad and depressing song now because everyone was so cheerfull. The text of the following song was written in the early 19th century by a man called Edgar Allan Poe. A poem in music and you could feel every word. The song is in the words, the words are in the song, perfect harmony.
The next song following that depressing song was Cernunnos. Steve played his new flute, a Bawu, he's gotten from china some weeks ago. During the first shows they just played. After the intro played by Steve on his new flute joined by Jenny at the Shruti-box and Daphyd with his Slideridoo there was the “normal” song. Later they added text between intro and song. It was the 'Intro' from the Paganfolk live at the Fairyball-cd just slightly changed at the end. It fitted in so perfectly. I've gotten goosebumps all over. The summoning followed by the hunt. Definitely one highlight of the show this song.
After that amazing song Steve gave us a few more moments with that feeling and then announced a break. Omnia wanted to stick to the tradition in theater making a break after half of the show. They explained that it is needed because, well we were all sitting and due to that the blood can't circulate as normal and when it clumps and we stand up it will send with the blood up into our brains and we will drop dead. And because they don't want us to drop dead, unless we bought cds, we should use that break to massage each others bottom and get a drink as well. But not before they played a last song. A nice spiritual piece dedicated to an imaginary friend of Omnia. Steve excluded Mohammed and Buddha and Jesus, they were all imaginary friends as well but not the one he was speaking of because they were anthropomorphic personifications, for those having trouble with long strange words they are people-shaped imaginary friends. But they want to sing a song for a poodle-shaped imaginary friend, a so-called poodleomorphic personification. This imaginary friend is indeed a poodle and his name is Noodle. And so the song had the name 'Noodle the Poodle'. During that song it was really hard to stay sitting in the chairs.

Break! What a first half.

After the break we all got back. All? Sadly no. Some left. They missed another half of great music and stories.
It started with Moon. Jenny played on the Hammered Dulcimer, Steve and Philip playing the Dumbek. It was the right song to calm us down after the break. So we would be able to listen well and being attentive.
Steve asked us if we had had a nice break and massaged each others bottom. He had dressed differently. Or better he had put off some of the stuff he was wearing during the first half. And that he took as the beginning point for his new announcement. Many people in the audience agreed with Steve that they had thought during the first half he looked a little bit like Jack Sparrow from Pirates of the Caribbean, because of his bandana and his jacket. That was normal human behavior, because when something is strange and new we're searching for something that is similar. A box where we can put that new thing in. He had took both off now and his partly shaved head with his shamanistic tattoos was visible to all of us. He now looked different, like Steve, because there is no longer a box where he could fit in. The following part of the announcement Steve made only once (during my 8 shows) in Dutch and beforehand he apologized to the attending Germans he knew of but he had never made it in Dutch before and wanted to do it once. It was the first show in Veendam. Usually he made it in English. He asked us to imagine him walking through a local supermarket buying something ordinary like yogurt and the glances he gets from the humans shopping there as well. But his “weird” look is no sign of madness it is a way of creativity. All of us who are weird or “insane” have the same creativity showing on the outside. So yes, we have bats in the belfry, and lost our marbles, even have toys in the attic, but it's a good thing to have. Toys in the Attic is a song celebrating this creative insanity.
Following the expression of creativity it was time to draw energy, inspiration, power from our everlasting loving mother: Nature. Auta Lunto. The energy building was nearly visible. The text is finnish and taken from the “Kalevala”. A book that contains mediaval Finnish poetry and folklore. This poetry and folklore is full of living nature-magic and is an anchor to the Northern-European roots. This song is for all who already know and understand that the immortal living planet is all powerful. Mankind is just a joke upon it, a silly looking one.
The following song is again a set of three songs. The first one is a traditional Irish song played solo by Philip on guitar in an old style called sean nós, a way of playing without a fix rhythm. Jenny takes over then on her harp accompanied by Philip playing again a traditional Irish folk tune that is taken over then by the typical Omnia Pagan Folk in the third part. Traditional Irish folk meets Pagan Soul.
The next song is a curse. The text was written by William Shakespeare in one of his famous plays Macbeth. “Macbeth, Act 4, scene 1” With this words Steve started the song (during the later theater shows) and one could feel the building energy from the first word on. And it was released during the curse part and what a feeling as the whole audience chimed in. Hopefully the curse hit the people whom he was directed at.
Now it was time for the solo of Rob. He not only drums, he is making “percussion”. And he made us gawk. Fantastic how he uses his percussion-equipment. And every solo is different. So how will it be the next time?
Enthusiastic clapping changes into rhythmic clapping as Steve took over the lead and started playing Saltatio Vita. I had to dance, everyone was dancing on their chairs, Omnia was rocking the stage. And after that song full of dance and energy and weirdness there was no time for a break. The song dedicated to the Celtic goddess of horses Epona started. Two deceptive cadences made the audience clap too early. The cheers afterward were even more enthusiastic.
And now we had reached the end of the concert. Steve sad it to us, everything has an end. This show and all. He reminded us that our world as well seems to end. She dies, faster than we think. He calls upon us to do something. It isn't too late, yet. And the only part of this world claimed by 7 billion naked monkeys we have full control over is ourselves. It is us who has to change first. If we change theworld will change with us.
The last song was to awaken the nature-loving Celtic heart that still beats in our breasts. To awaken the souls of our ancestors within us. The gathering of the Celts. Etrezomp Ni-Kelted.
And that was it, wasn't it? Standing ovations, bowing and leaving band, “we want more”-calls and indeed. Steve returned to the stage. He told us that Daphyd has a new Australian Didgeridoo and hasn't played it here the whole evening and if we want to hear him play it. And of course we wanted. Daphyd is a heck of a Didge-player. And what he makes with it is magic. For my taste his solo ended too soon and the band chimed in for Fee Ra Huri. And often no one was sitting anymore but dancing.
And that was it. Too soon the show was really over. Everyone left and one could wait outside for a sign or a talk with the members of the band.

Some last notes to the shows. No two shows are the same, not only because of the different location but there are changes within the whole setting. Different announcements, different order of the songs, and even differences in the songs themselves. Just find out yourself.

The sound is pure and real and full of magic.

The light. Well the first show were just.... light... but now after Arvid rejoined the Omnia-family the light is not just illuminating the stage and the people on it. It's art. It's like a part of the music. Like an own instrument. A part of a perfect thing. I am happy that you rejoined, Arvid.

And one last thing: CD-booklets are really informative.


Anmerkung von ThalayaBlackwing:

Das ist jetzt mein unueberarbeiteter Erstentwurf, wer sich berufen fuehlt, zu korrigieren, moege dies tun und mir ne Nachricht schreiben

Ansonsten, wenns okay ist, bin ich auch zufrieden. Ist meine aller erste Rezension. Mein erster Versuch, also nicht zu hart sein.

Hinweis: Du kannst diesen Text leider nicht kommentieren, da der Verfasser keine Kommentare von nicht angemeldeten Nutzern erlaubt.

Zur Zeit online:
keinVerlag.de auf Facebook keinVerlag.de auf Twitter keinVerlag.de auf Instagram