Technology, Books and Other Neat Stuff

Little camera at the back of the hall - what else do you expect!

Last Friday Thomas Dolby played another small gig at the Scala in London. Like the earlier concert marypcb and I saw back in March in San Francisco it was an intimate event, with a lot of interaction with the audience. TMDR is obviously playing because he wants to, not because he has to...

And last Friday night he was coming home...

The set started out with a system reboot a few chords into Leipzig, so TMDR gave a short talk about his life, his music, and why he was playing again. Then on with the songs. Leipzig was followed by One Of Our Submarines. The video rig that was being tried out in SF had matured over the tour, and I Live in A Suitcase and Flying North, two of my favourite travel songs, showed off the mix of live images and video clips.

Much like the video clip from TED he blogged a few months ago, The Flat Earth showed how he used his collection of equipment to build up songs from snippets of sounds. Windpower introduced a little experimentation, that led on from some of the work on his studio last album, The Gate To The Minds Eye, turning data from the SOHO satellite into sounds to build a new introduction to a familiar song. Europa and The Pirate Twins was a blast (as always), and we were in the home straight with a ride through Hyperactive, She Blinded Me With Science, and a complete reworking of the George Clinton collaboration Hot Sauce.

The show ended with a final blast of Airhead. Unfortunately the Scala's early curfew brought things to an end too quickly, though we did get nearly two hours of prime Dolby.

It's been a blast seeing TMDR twice this year. Well worth the 23 (or is it 24?) year wait, from those Saturday afternoons with an early interview and session on the Stereo Sequence, and then finding a cassette of The Golden Age Of Wireless.

And of course the evening rounded of nicely with a drink with drpete and sneerpout...

Yes, I have ordered the T-shirt. Both of them!