Richard Thompson - Killed In Action

[quodlibet (Ian)]

Fortunately not, but this was posted on FB just now by Mark Burnell.

"Last night i saw RT with a 17 piece string orchestra, in a small jazz club that holds about 150 people. 1st set was the debut of a new RT concept album/song cycle called 'Killed In Action and Other Songs', reflecting the horrors of WW1. 2nd set was more usual RT songs with the strings. a remarkable and unique performance.

set 2 - Sight Unseen, Broken Doll, Aldie Riggs, Al Bowly's In Heaven, Razor Dance, Sorrows to the Seas, Clive Smythe, Shenandoah, Out of Time, The Great Valerio, 1952 Vincent Black Lightning, Fergus Lang, and Eleanor Rigby."

Venue: Le Poisson Rouge, NY.

Didn't see that coming.  



[Photo over 400 days old. Removed by Admin.]

[Chris]

If you were on the RT email list, you would have done....

Pity that as it was originally commissioned here in the UK, that it wasn't premiered here too. I wonder what 14-18NOW think?...

[Hans Valk]

If you were on the RT email list, you would have done....

Pity that as it was originally commissioned here in the UK, that it wasn't premiered here too. I wonder what 14-18NOW think?...

You haven't been paying attention, lads.. According to this brochure:  https://dl20et2wuzscm.cloudfront.net/uploads/2016/01/1418NOW-2014-brochure.pdf Thompson has been touring in the UK with this song cycle in 2014.

Or did this tour never start and did the ways of 14-18NOW and RT part before it could..?

[Henry Tompkins (Pete)]

Fortunately not, but this was posted on FB just now by Mark Burnell.

"Last night i saw RT with a 17 piece string orchestra, in a small jazz club that holds about 150 people. 1st set was the debut of a new RT concept album/song cycle called 'Killed In Action and Other Songs', reflecting the horrors of WW1. 2nd set was more usual RT songs with the strings. a remarkable and unique performance.

set 2 - Sight Unseen, Broken Doll, Aldie Riggs, Al Bowly's In Heaven, Razor Dance, Sorrows to the Seas, Clive Smythe, Shenandoah, Out of Time, The Great Valerio, 1952 Vincent Black Lightning, Fergus Lang, and Eleanor Rigby."

Venue: Le Poisson Rouge, NY.

Didn't see that coming.  

A shame really that he chose to debut the concert in the US, given that they didn't declare war on Germany until 1917. IMO.

[quodlibet (Ian)]

Yep, it passed me by completely.  

[Chris]

You haven't been paying attention, lads.. According to this brochure:  https://dl20et2wuzscm.cloudfront.net/uploads/2016/01/1418NOW-2014-brochure.pdf Thompson has been touring in the UK with this song cycle in 2014.

Or did this tour never start and did the ways of 14-18NOW and RT part before it could..?

He premiered about three snippets from it on his last tour, with no accompanying musicians. So not really a full premier, like the set above.

[RobertD]

I had seen this listed and thought about going but time and budget defeated me. As to the premier factor these special projects have a way of evolving quite often. What some may consider a slight, availability and choice of the right partnership for this may not have developed to Richard's way until now perhaps and could have taken place anywhere to be fair. In addition, Richard's statement proclaims it to be about the horrors of the war in general, and not based on who entered the war when. IMO

[quodlibet (Ian)]

Maybe he's just practicing & saving a full UK premier for a special occasion.  

[RobertD]

Maybe he's just practicing & saving a full UK premier for a special occasion.  

Definitely! And hoping I get a chance to see it over here again too  

[Henry Tompkins (Pete)]

Maybe he's just practicing & saving a full UK premier for a special occasion.  

Of course, that'll be it Ian!  

[ThomasB]

The show last night was great. Since I didn't see one of those libretto sheets until after the show I was completely taken by surprise by the first part of the show. I fully expected the whole show to be a mix of solo acoustic songs and songs with a small string section. Instead there were about 15 musicians on stage, and hearing approximately 50mins of unknown material was a nice treat. I am very glad that I got a ticket, nice little venue too.

[David Blake]

There are a number of songs on Youtube

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCaK8iGYUbciYQE5kQbO7Hkg