Review - Star Trek - Live in Concert
By ERIC SCOTT
PICTURES: Principal Double Bass John Fardon and Principal Cello David Lale prepare to boldly go where no-one has gone before.
Paul Goodridge and his daughter Ellen really got into the atmosphere of the night. Photos by Deanne Scott
One of my treasured bits of memorabilia – created at Universal Studios in Florida back in 20012. Pick the ring-in.
Star Trek - Live in Concert
Presented by the Queensland Symphony Orchestra
Royal International Convention Centre
RNA Showgrounds
Brisbane
Going to the movies will never be the same again after seeing this amazing production.
It was a unique and exciting experience and one I would happily repeat.
It was almost surreal to hear the soaring sound of the Queensland Symphony Orchestra playing Michael Giacchino’s Star Trek sound-track live and creating the tensions, action, and suspense of the story as it unfolded on the huge high definition screen. The music was at different times martial, stirring, inspirational, and relentlessly exciting. At other times it was gentle and pastoral
It was fascinating to discover how symphonic the soundtrack actually is. But then it was played by a world class orchestra which was conducted by Nicholas Buc on the night
The massive auditorium was awash with sound from the screen and the orchestra. It was a truly sensory experience that surprised me, but I enjoyed it immensely.
The technical difficulties of spreading the sound evenly around such a venue were enormous, but the technicians were well up to the job, for not only was the sound spread loudly enough for all to enjoy but the screen voices were always audible – even though there were subtitles at the bottom of the screen.
The precision of the orchestra too was amazing. Sometime I was so engrossed in the story line that I forgot the music came from the orchestra as the score stropped and started perfectly on electronic cue.
The musicians too had a ball. I was talking to Principal Cello David Lale after the performance and he said he enjoyed the experience very much and that he could ay the same for the rest of his colleagues.
The movie told the story of the original Star Trek characters from birth until the young James Tiberius Kirk was appointed caption of the USS Enterprise NCC 1701. Apart from the marvellous music it was good film to watch, with heaps of action, puzzling time travel, quirky fun and great young lookalikes for the original Television Enterprise crew.
I thoroughly enjoyed seeing the recreation of the TV series I used to watch years ago - Captain Kirk, Spock, Bones, Uhura, Scottie and Chekov - combined with whiz-bang special effects and thunderous noises from the screen as the sometimes heart-stopping action rolled on. It is a terrific concept and I hope we see more of this type of hybrid entertainment.
The enduring popularity of the Star Trek franchise was obvious as an amazing 3000 fans crammed into the huge convention centre. Dress-up Trekkies were few and far between but there were many people who you would not see in the concert hall enjoying the musical sweep of a full orchestra at work.
This was my first visit to the Convention Centre. There was a long line-up to get into the showground; parking was on the grassed arena and cost $12. Exiting looked to be a worry, but, after waiting fifteen or so minutes, we joined an orderly queue in which drivers were courteous and we escaped the venue without too much hassle.