Paul
Loraine (keyboards), Ian ‘Dodge’ Paterson
(Review by Russell).
The long holiday weekend, the
weather fine, the Slowlights’ EP launch set for the Star and Shadow Cinema. An
ailing Ian Paterson sufficiently recovered to ensure the show went ahead, there
was a palpable sense of anticipation in the air. The box office turned people
away. There is a jazz trio at the Bridge
Hotel said the ticket seller, attempting to placate the disappointed (note
to the ticket seller – NE4 were at the Bridge, a quartet, a clue is in the 4,
as opposed to a 3).
The Star and Shadow’s much improved
cinema space – it looks like a cinema – couldn’t have been fuller had there
been an in person Q & A with Jack Nicholson! All seats long gone, last
minute arrivals stood or sat in the aisles. The Slowlights occupied one half of
the stage, a string quartet (conventional instrumentation – two violins, viola,
cello) the other. The cinema screen behind them, the show started right on
time. In Flight, the limited edition
EP (five tracks, all composed by Paul Loraine), featured, as did several other
signature Slowlight tunes. Repeated listening of the EP suggested the addition
of strings in a live setting would work wonderfully well. It did. Tom Quilliam
(tenor) said the two quartets met for the first time earlier in the day. The
strings’ commitment to the project admirable, their interpretation of the music
placed in front of them deserving of the highest praise. A third element, film,
combined documentary material of pre-war
The fusing of the Slowlights,
strings and film produced stunning results. The audience, very much on side,
applauded the solos, the strings’ sectional work and the moving image. A
memorable occasion, an unalloyed success and with or without the Slowlight
Strings, make every effort to catch the Slowlight Quartet live, the band of the
moment.
Russell.
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