bemusiDarren
Street Food And Festivals Are A Perfect Match
FeastyFest
Have you ever booked tickets to a festival without much expectation of what you might encounter? I did, just last weekend. Family got in touch and asked if I fancied grabbing some tickets to FeastyFest, a festival in South London focussed around street food and live music.
Since it’s been some time since I watched live music I jumped at the chance, grabbed some tickets and made my way to the, as advertised “COVID safe festival atmosphere for 2021”! Who would have thought that would be a thing back at the start of 2020
What would come out on top the music or the food?
FOOD!
I think at this point it’s important to mention that my wife is Greek so it goes without saying food in our family is pretty important. If you know anything about the Greeks you’ll know that every Greek is a bit of a pro when it comes to the kitchen so eating out means the bar is always set pretty high.
Going to a food festival in South London I thought was a sure bet for top quality grub, even the Greek would surely be impressed! This would have been true if you could get to the front of the damn queue!
I’m sure I would have tasted more mouth watering treats had the queueing time been shorter. I think the time I stood in one queue I could have flown from London to Berlin, got a Bratwurst and flown back again! Instead I opted to be a polite Brit and queue quietly for an hour waiting for a Vietnamese culinary treat!
Less being pressed into someone’s armpit every food outlet was as busy as rush hour pre-pandemic London Underground; was the wait worth it? I thought ‘if the food is good it would be’, which as it turned out was mediocre at best and the Greek was not impressed but like all good Greeks, Oola had some pre-made tiropita to hand so all was not lost!
I did however find some unbelievably good Sicilian cannoli pastries. I love these delightful ‘little tubes’ so I promptly bought 10 and dished them out to the gang.
A crispy outer shell stuffed with different flavours such Italian cream, pistachio, vanilla, lemon and dark chocolate. Popular in Sicily and often a symbol of fertility for festival celebrations. Aside fertility they definitely made up for the not so authentic Vietnamese street food and the bowl full of mostly shredded cabbage was a thing of the past
Testing, Two, Two. On Stage And Live!
I’ve already mentioned in previous blogs that be musi is all about live classes where individuals can come together and share the common goal of learning composition. Going to a festival is much the same thing. People often go in groups, hang out together sharing a common interest, relaxing and enjoying good music. It’s such a joyous thing either being down by the stage in the buzzy (COVID safe) environment or up the field, eating, drinking and being with friends and family.
This was no different and the thrill of music is always best enjoyed when shared. The music was sublime all day but the particular act that really caught my attention was a tribute act called Legend – Bob Marley.
I love reggae, in fact the band I played in always had a nod to the reggae style. The rhythms and parts in reggae have always inspired me. The way the music is orchestrated, a number of parts playing, on the whole, what is usually relatively simple lines. Each part though is perfectly crafted to fit with all the other musical elements. It is truly a case of the ‘sum of all parts’ make up the whole.
Orchestral music when broken down is much the same, each individual lines can in some case be relatively simple, in fact simple vs complex in big arrangement often yields a better sound. When these simpler music lines are combined with the whole a complex tapestry of orchestral textures are created; a beautiful sinfonia emerges much like the individual elements of those cannoli’s combine into the symphonic burst of complex flavours.
Legend – Bob Marley didn’t just have the ingredients but executed them perfectly too. If I closed my eyes I could have sworn it was Bob Marley himself, the guitarist had just the right amount of feel swinging slightly ahead and behind the beat adding that perfect human quality that DAW’s often lack.
Like any good live music it was the drums and bass that created a tight, rock solid rhythm section. The drummer nailed the rhythm to the floor, laying down perfectly timed breaks whilst dishing out triplets over 8ths; no mean feat to do that while dishing out copious amount of feel to boot.
The bass, often overlooked in many styles of music provided the perfect second outer voice. Adding a richness of tone that rumbled straight through you, connecting you physically to the performers.
I love that about live music, you truly feel it passing through you, which is ultimately what make live music such a connected experience, you just can’t get when playing music at home, no matter how good your system is and how loud. Trust me I’ve tried!
Being Inspired
One thing I have missed about live music is how it can inspire you. I remember going to the BBC Proms a few years back and watching an original orchestral performance I’d not heard before. It was so inspiring and I couldn’t wait to get back to the studio to experiment. At the time of the Proms I was working on a collaborative album for Standard Music, which is part of Bucks Publishing. The music was orchestral in nature and the Proms was a great moment to get out of the studio hear live music, be inspired and reinvigorated to write something fresh and new.
It helped to provide and stimulate new ideas and new directions, playing and experimenting with sound and texture. In fact it led to some of my best work on that particular album.
Get Out There And Find Your Inspiration
Apart from the endless queues and mediocre Vietnamese street food getting out after such a long period of time, feeling and hearing live music was a brilliant experience. The joy to be amongst other festival goers and feeling the music pass through me was thrilling.
If you want to find inspiration and develop your creativity there’s no better way than to seek out live music. Even music you don’t love can help in finding new direction that you may not have thought of yourself. Look for every opportunity to learn something, be inspired by or even model; there’s nothing wrong with modelling something, which is different to copying; it could a busker, a band or even a food festival fuelled by great music with a soggy food base!
You never know, seeing live music might just inspire you to run back to the studio and try out new things.
It may even inspire your best work?
Stop Being Confused About Music
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