On the Road to Hotel Utopia
The Blackheart Orchestra – Harbour Arts Centre, Irvine, 25th March 2023
The Blackheart Orchestra – Harbour Arts Centre, Irvine, 25th March 2023
With a rousing refrain the final notes of encore number 'Hey Pluto' (a joyous, celebratory chant for whatever ails you) sonically shimmer in the air before fading; there follows a heartfelt thank you from The Blackheart Orchestra (award winning multi-instrumentalist duo Rick Pilkington and Chrissy Mostyn) to the audiences of each and every show thus far undertaken on the band’s Hotel Utopia spring tour of the UK.
But that’s far from the end of the evening or engagement with audiences from as far apart as Southampton to here in the harbour town of Irvine in North Ayrshire.
Not for Pilkington & Mostyn the quietness of the dressing room or a quick unloading and out; such is their nature, their friendliness and love for those who come out to support live music, that by the time the audience have made it to their feet the band is out front and greeting each of them in person.
Latest album Hotel Utopia (released toward the end of last year) is the seventh studio album from the duo originally known as the more singer-songwriter orientated Blackheart, but live performance is, and always has been, at the heart of all they do – indeed it has been genuinely heartening to see the joy on people’s faces and to hear the many warm and appreciative comments made to the band after each gig.
The latter support is particularly rewarding as many of the shows on this tour are intentionally low-key, intimate affairs at community event venues or mini-theatre art centres where the majority of the audience, such as in Irvine, are out to support their local community – meaning this will be the first time they have heard or seen The Blackheart Orchestra (however comments such as "I had no idea what to expect but loved every minute of it; what CDs do you have?" at the post-gig meet & greet merch table were commonplace).
The above is all the more impressive when you consider the band are almost impossible to categorise (so invariably get tagged as "prog").
In broad stroke terms their music and Chrissy Mostyn’s vocals (complemented by Rick Pilkington’s backing, harmony, counter-point and occasional lead vocal) could be described as the soundscape layering of Mike Oldfield meeting a delicately voiced Kate Bush – nine minute piece 'The Flood' (a set highlight) carries just such progressively themed influences – but they have very much their own, multi-textured sound (including acoustic and electric instrumentation, vintage synthesizers and electro-percussion); one that is as musically atmospheric as it is vocally ethereal.
But that’s far from the end of the evening or engagement with audiences from as far apart as Southampton to here in the harbour town of Irvine in North Ayrshire.
Not for Pilkington & Mostyn the quietness of the dressing room or a quick unloading and out; such is their nature, their friendliness and love for those who come out to support live music, that by the time the audience have made it to their feet the band is out front and greeting each of them in person.
Latest album Hotel Utopia (released toward the end of last year) is the seventh studio album from the duo originally known as the more singer-songwriter orientated Blackheart, but live performance is, and always has been, at the heart of all they do – indeed it has been genuinely heartening to see the joy on people’s faces and to hear the many warm and appreciative comments made to the band after each gig.
The latter support is particularly rewarding as many of the shows on this tour are intentionally low-key, intimate affairs at community event venues or mini-theatre art centres where the majority of the audience, such as in Irvine, are out to support their local community – meaning this will be the first time they have heard or seen The Blackheart Orchestra (however comments such as "I had no idea what to expect but loved every minute of it; what CDs do you have?" at the post-gig meet & greet merch table were commonplace).
The above is all the more impressive when you consider the band are almost impossible to categorise (so invariably get tagged as "prog").
In broad stroke terms their music and Chrissy Mostyn’s vocals (complemented by Rick Pilkington’s backing, harmony, counter-point and occasional lead vocal) could be described as the soundscape layering of Mike Oldfield meeting a delicately voiced Kate Bush – nine minute piece 'The Flood' (a set highlight) carries just such progressively themed influences – but they have very much their own, multi-textured sound (including acoustic and electric instrumentation, vintage synthesizers and electro-percussion); one that is as musically atmospheric as it is vocally ethereal.
While Chrissy Mostyn often makes mention that most of the songs are (lyrically) sad or darker toned (three or four songs in to a set it’s common for Mostyn to let the audience know "that’s our happy songs all out the way!") the reality is that, musically, there is an uplifting spirit at play here (melody plays as big a part as any melancholy).
Even the conceptual focus of Hotel Utopia (the fear and mystery of what happens when we pass – is there an Afterlife and will it indeed be a utopia?) carries musical positivity.
Three years in the lockdown making the album, in terms of maturity, structure and complexity, is the band’s strongest work to date but those latter traits leads to the conundrum of how two musicians can replicate it in the live environment.
The answer is The Blackheart Orchestra remain refreshingly traditional in that regard; rejecting the easy option of using backing tapes, they instead play all instruments live, adapting to fit the restrictions of instrumentation and environment (at times even sharing the same keyboard).
In short, we get two versions of the same track, one studio and one live, with the latter remaining equally valid and rewarding to the listener (the live performance variations are particularly well demonstrated in the Hotel Utopia triumvirate of the stirring art-pop of 'Astronaut,' the hear-a-pin-drop delicacy of 'Dust' and the aforementioned 'The Flood').
While Hotel Utopia songs naturally make up the bulk of the current set list there is still space for past favourites such as the rhythmic march of 'Sebastien,' the enchanting but hauntingly primal 'Wolves' and the deeply poignant song of passing 'In Another Lifetime,' on which Rick Pilkington threads some expressive bass lines through atmospheric keyboard passages.
And, as a nice bonus for the fans, a taster of what is to come on the next album (currently being written) is heard via a brand new song entitled 'Night Circus.'
The Blackheart Orchestra are as equally at home performing to a sell-out crowd at the London Palladium or Royal Albert Hall in support of the mighty Hawkwind as they are playing community arts centres up and down the country, but there is absolutely no question the latter is now more important than ever…
Live music, particularly at club and small theatre level, is in a perilous position at the moment; it needs all the support it can get.
Venues and bands are facing an almost perfect storm of circumstances conspiring against them, yet acts such as The Blackheart Orchestra continue to push hard to deliver a memorable and personal experience that brings with it the feel good factor of seeing a band play live.
With more Hotel Utopia shows to come and undoubtedly more to follow, catch them when and where you can.
There's every chance the nearest gig (dates below) won’t be that far away from you.
James Barry & Ross Muir
FabricationsHQ All photos (from the Southampton show) courtesy of James Barry
Even the conceptual focus of Hotel Utopia (the fear and mystery of what happens when we pass – is there an Afterlife and will it indeed be a utopia?) carries musical positivity.
Three years in the lockdown making the album, in terms of maturity, structure and complexity, is the band’s strongest work to date but those latter traits leads to the conundrum of how two musicians can replicate it in the live environment.
The answer is The Blackheart Orchestra remain refreshingly traditional in that regard; rejecting the easy option of using backing tapes, they instead play all instruments live, adapting to fit the restrictions of instrumentation and environment (at times even sharing the same keyboard).
In short, we get two versions of the same track, one studio and one live, with the latter remaining equally valid and rewarding to the listener (the live performance variations are particularly well demonstrated in the Hotel Utopia triumvirate of the stirring art-pop of 'Astronaut,' the hear-a-pin-drop delicacy of 'Dust' and the aforementioned 'The Flood').
While Hotel Utopia songs naturally make up the bulk of the current set list there is still space for past favourites such as the rhythmic march of 'Sebastien,' the enchanting but hauntingly primal 'Wolves' and the deeply poignant song of passing 'In Another Lifetime,' on which Rick Pilkington threads some expressive bass lines through atmospheric keyboard passages.
And, as a nice bonus for the fans, a taster of what is to come on the next album (currently being written) is heard via a brand new song entitled 'Night Circus.'
The Blackheart Orchestra are as equally at home performing to a sell-out crowd at the London Palladium or Royal Albert Hall in support of the mighty Hawkwind as they are playing community arts centres up and down the country, but there is absolutely no question the latter is now more important than ever…
Live music, particularly at club and small theatre level, is in a perilous position at the moment; it needs all the support it can get.
Venues and bands are facing an almost perfect storm of circumstances conspiring against them, yet acts such as The Blackheart Orchestra continue to push hard to deliver a memorable and personal experience that brings with it the feel good factor of seeing a band play live.
With more Hotel Utopia shows to come and undoubtedly more to follow, catch them when and where you can.
There's every chance the nearest gig (dates below) won’t be that far away from you.
James Barry & Ross Muir
FabricationsHQ All photos (from the Southampton show) courtesy of James Barry
To purchase tickets head to: https://theblackheartorchestra.com/shows/