>>PREVIEW
THE BELL ORCHESTRE
High Performance Rodeo
January 6 and 7
Vertigo Playhouse
(Tower Centre)
Proclaiming The Bell Orchestre’s Richard Reed Perry to be one of Canada’s busiest musicians alive wouldn’t be much of a stretch – in fact, it would most likely be taken as a compliment by a man currently juggling the world of neo-classical improvisation with the grandest rock-to-riches story of the past decade. As part of The Arcade Fire (he’s easily recognizable as the tallest band member with glasses, who hits things and is most often photographed with his mouth wide open, yelling), Perry’s past year has been all but consumed by the group’s seemingly never-ending world tour in support of its already monumental Funeral album. Nonetheless, he’s somehow found time for the steady shepherding of his other project, that instrumental beauty The Bell Orchestre.
Perry’s reflection on the past 12 months leaves him, in his own words, breathless. "Oh, my God – the year that we have had," he says. "Good Lord, lots of travel – me myself, personally, I played about 170 shows this year, which is pretty crazy. It makes you stop and think of life, like, ‘That’s insane, and it’s no wonder I feel kind of crazy all the time.’"
In the thick of Funeral’s ascent last January, The Bell Orchestre’s five members (three of whom also appear regularly as part of The Arcade Fire) retreated to the wilds of The Banff Centre for a month-long residency to complete recording of the ensemble’s debut album, Recording a Tape the Colour of the Light.
"That was the one moment that Bell Orchestre had from the period of last fall until the early spring, really," says Perry.
Now the group is heading back to Alberta to play One Yellow Rabbit’s High Performance Rodeo.
While it certainly fits in with much of the Montreal instrumental neo-classical scene (still forcefully driven by the Constellation record label), the difference between The Bell Orchestre and those who tread similar waters is the group’s easily apparent love and wonder for the sound they create. Where Godspeed You! Black Emperor’s sense of awe in their own abilities to harness the most epic beauties was all but lost by the time of their swan song, Yanqui U.X.O. (by then they had an empire to crumble, pretty glockenspiel movements be damned), The Bell Orchestre’s Recording a Tape is an album strictly dedicated to the music as the message. A stunning piece, veering from delicate tone poems to fully orchestrated and driving classicism, it sounds like the work of musicians who’ve spent a lifetime playing off one another. It’s a gorgeous gem that provides a perfect counterpoint to The Arcade Fire’s Funeral.
For a band so young, The Bell Orchestre’s range and ability are staggering, made even more impressive by the plans already in motion for the next phase in the group’s catalogue.
"We’re working on combining quasi-choral stuff through a megaphone choir as well as using foot percussion like the step-fiddling hammering typical to Québécois fiddlers. Right now we’re working on a long piece of music from a classical perspective, with full movements and sculpted as a bigger work from a compositional standpoint," he says. "It’s all very exciting."
It should come as no surprise, given The Arcade Fire’s well-deserved reputation as in-concert wonders, that The Bell Orchestre further blur the line between audience and band, mere gig and capital-E Experience. During The Bell Orchestre’s first appearance in Calgary last winter, the band members began the evening’s program from within the audience, walking through the assembled masses towards one another and converging onstage.
The performance ranged from pummelling, violin-driven workouts (violinist Sarah Neufeld’s prodigal fingers a constant blur) to captivating horn-based drones (French horn player Pietro Amato and multi-brass instrumentalist Kaveh Nabatian swapping lines and tones from across the room). Quite obviously, we’d experienced something special. We can only hope to witness more of that magic during their two nights at the Rodeo. At the very least, expect the unexpected.
"There’s no rules, which is one of the exciting things about playing in The Bell Orchestre," says Perry. "Any idea is an idea worth trying." |
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