Adelaide Festival: Blow the Bloody Doors Off!!

Adelaide Town Hall’s elegant Auditorium hosted Terry Edwards’ Blow the Bloody Doors Off!! – A symposium of the music from four of Michael Caine’s best-known films from the period 1965-’71 (The Ipcress File, Alfie, The Italian Job & Get Carter).

Caine emerged out of the working class glory that was swinging ‘60s London. Music was a major aspect of those times and with creative sources the likes of Sonny Rollins and Quincy Jones the soundtracks to these movies were as exceptional as the times.

The first half begins with Alfie (Rollins) continues with The Ipcress File (John Barry) and ends with The Italian Job (Jones). In an act of inspired augmentation narrator Trevor Nichols introduced clips from the movies with anecdotal stories about the authors, actors, musicians and filmmaking process from the period. Singers Darren Percival, Tracie Hunter and Maggi Ronson did a wonderful job (with expert assistance from Edwards and the band) in capturing the euphoria of ‘Getta Bloomin’ Move On’ from the ending of The Italian Job.

[pull_left]Judging by the smiles, closed eyes and gently gyrating bums on seats . . . this show is bloody good![/pull_left]

Some punters felt short-changed as the musical selection from Alfie was limited but judging by the smiles, closed eyes and gently gyrating bums on seats – no one was too disappointed. The musicianship from the Zephyr Quartet, Edwards and the rest of the band was first-rate throughout the evening but drummer Seb Rochford received the biggest applause following some splendid Tabla work.

The second half is Roy Budd’s score from Get Carter. Due to a copyright issue no clips were shown of Get Carter, instead, Nichols reads from the novel the movie is based on. That dramatically changes the dynamics of the show and although it was brought about unintentionally it does work well for the audience as it stirs a more subjective participation and thankfully, Nichols doesn’t fall into the trap of impersonating Caine.

All of the music holds up exceptionally well, with or without the context of the films they were written for. This show didn’t blow the doors off (Jazz just can’t do that these days) but it is bloody good!