Hans Zimmer Concert Review: A Cinematic Spectacle at TD Garden
"Hans Zimmer Live" showcased a rarely seen aspect of Zimmer's genius: his live performance.The night opened with a lone figure strolling out onto the stage, backlit by orange. She opened her mouth and a resolute note sounded throughout the arena — the singer’s pure, confident tone settling lightly in the air. And then — chaos. Electric guitar rang out, backed by powerful strings and a thundering bass drum as the electric screen “curtain” lifted to reveal a full orchestra and its director, Hans Zimmer, powerfully strumming his electric guitar.
Having finished the first piece of the night, “House Atreides” from “Dune,” Zimmer introduced the opening singer, Loire Cotler, as the voice of ‘Dune.’ Colter, who would go on to provide more incredible performances throughout the night, was the first of many to be introduced in between songs. During the concert, Zimmer made sure to highlight these individuals in the band and orchestra making his music possible.
Despite TD Garden’s monstrous size, Zimmer’s tone throughout was conversational. Jokingly making fun of latecomers and apologizing for his recent pneumonia, Zimmer apologized he wouldn’t be performing his “infamous tango steps and gymnastics.”
Pneumonia or not, Zimmer certainly gallivanted across his discography with all the confidence of a man with over 40 years of film scoring experience. The night continued with “Mombasa” from “Inception,” followed by a harrowing suite from “Wonder Woman” with frantically dissonant harmonies. “Wonder Woman” also introduced Tina Guo, Zimmer’s star cellist and a virtuosic Grammy-nominated musician in her own right. Guo played “Wonder Woman” as if she were fighting the cello itself, wringing its neck to produce inhuman sounds. Throughout the concert, Guo cemented herself as perhaps the most impressive of Zimmer’s incredible backing band, “The Disruptive Collective.”
The lead guitarist for the band, Guthrie Govan, also demonstrated extreme skill during his extended solo on “Man of Steel,” which patently overshadowed all other aspects of the song as notes flowed from the fretboard of Govan’s guitar seemingly of their own accord.
Despite this significant talent display, there were aspects of Act I that fell short. Technically, the mixing sounded a little strange — a muddy high end took some of the sharpness off the performance. The visuals projected behind the band and orchestra and on the raised screen above the stage were lackluster and provided neither context for the music nor sufficient focus on the performers. Although aspects of the songs were electrifying, overall they stretched a little too long and suffered their fair share of boring sections exacerbated by the subpar lighting choices.
Any misgivings, however, were persuasively cast aside by one piece: “Pirates of the Caribbean.” The suite is a masterpiece in tension — the entire arena was waiting for the main theme, teased by musical motifs, but only two minutes from the end did the classic notes ring out from the orchestra. And ring out they did. The arena erupted in cheers as the music summoned memories of an intrepid Jack Sparrow through a brilliant score. The end of the song closed the first Act, and expectations were high going into Act II.
For any disappointments in Act I, Act II rebounded twice as hard. The latter half of the show was incredible, with “The Last Samurai” and “The Dark Knight” immediately proving to be a step up from most of the first act. The lighting was magnificent, and during “Interstellar” a spotlight aimed at a giant disco ball scattered shards of light throughout the audience.
“Interstellar” also featured a beautiful and terrifying vocal performance by Molly Rogers, who reached inhuman heights with her voice. The performance was accompanied by a nerve-wracking acrobatic demonstration by Nina Treiber, who was spectacularly suspended on aerial silks.
“The Lion King” was the most upbeat part of the show, with the original singer Lebohang “Lebo M” Morake reprising his role in the Zulu call opening the song. After the jovial, dancey tune that was “The Lion King,” the show closed its regular-time Act II.
The encore started strong with “No Time To Die,” a jazzy, fast tune filled with solos from just about everyone in Zimmer’s band. “Time” from “Inception” ended the show, remaining faithful to its studio recorded version as a fittingly epic finale to a truly epic show.
The monumental legacy of Zimmer’s scores was clear to see in “Hans Zimmer Live.” The night was packed with blockbuster after blockbuster. But the show offered the viewer a unique glimpse into a rarer side of Zimmer’s magic — his performance. Through enthusiastic audience participation, vivacious arrangements bordering on metal music, and an unstoppable cast of characters supporting him, Zimmer proves that his flair for the dramatic extends beyond just his written music and into the live sphere.
—Staff writer Alessandro M. M. Drake can be reached at alessandro.drake@thecrimson.com.