Few filmmakers have developed such a signature style in their approach that you could know you were watching one of their movies watching any randomly selected thirty-second stretch of it. With Wes Anderson, the dialog is verbose, punchy and sharp, and every frame of the film feels laboriously, meticulously crafted. There is an abundance of detail so rich, it’s almost dizzying to watch through as you could freezeframe any instant and sit analyzing every tiny detail. Bursting into the public consciousness with his second film Rushmore, the director/writer has built a loyal following over thirteen full-length features, each featuring a more-and-more eye-popping list of ensemble performers. Like television’s breakout champion Taylor Sheridan, Wes Anderson can pretty much count on casting any actor he could dream of. Most of the best and brightest have already been in his films, and many among them (Bill Murray, Owen Wilson, Jason Schwartzman, Willem Dafoe, Edward Norton e.g.) have been in a multitude over the years. In addition to perhaps the sharpest eye for elaborate detail, he’s also had a killer tastemaker’s knack for music supervision. Choosing songs that are either cooler than any you usually listen to in your friend circle, or where they are used with a tongue firmly in cheek to drive home the absurdity of a moment. It’s with this affinity for the creator’s film output—many sporting Steve Sizzou hats—that an elaborate concert (a three-night stand to be precise) at the famed Hollywood Bowl was constructed and at least in terms of marketing materials headlined by Beck. It was our pleasure to be present for the third and final night of these immense concerts, dubbed Music From the Films of Wes Anderson.
It took a small army to make this show happen. At times, the full Hollywood Bowl Orchestra conducted by Thomas Wilkins was on stage supporting the performers (Wilkins also conducted our favorite show ever at The Hollywood Bowl, The Muppets Take the Bowl). At others, it was Beck’s crack band of performers with and without the H.B.O., Joey Waronker, Gus Seyffert, Jason Faulkner, Roger Joseph Manning Jr. and Justin Meldal-Johnsen (who also served as the night’s musical director). Various other guest soloists and choirs were plugged in as needed, and with a few segue intros by Bill Murray and Jason Schwartzman aside, it was just one rapid-fire song and guest performer after another throughout the evening. The one piece overtly missing from this smorgasbord of musical delights was all that much footage from the films that were the centerpiece of this concert’s premise. Some songs would show a brief, 30-second stretch of the sequence the song soundtracked, but that was essentially the extent of their inclusion. Most songs were named in the side-stage screens, but some songs there was no obvious indication of what their film association was unless you were already familiar with it. It was not clear if that footage brevity was because of licensing issues, or just wanting to keep the focus on the massive array of performers. But that was the largest complaint in otherwise a night positively overloaded with stellar music talent.
In addition to cunning song selection, Wes Anderson has often worked with a bevy of top-notch composers in the creation of film’s original soundtracks. DEVO’s Mark Mothersbaugh led off the night as the ensemble performed “Attack on Ping Island” and “Ned’s Theme Take 1.” Bill Murray introduced almost the entirety of DEVO that played their rocking cut “Gut Feeling (Slap Your Mammy).” And while the advertisments may have made this feel like a Beck fronted affair, he appeared more as the spiritual leader of the entire evening, only serving as lead vocalist on two songs and then singing with other vocalists for the remaining three. The two Beck did sing lead on were incredible. First the haunting and lovely refrains from Love’s classic “Alone Again Or” and then near the end of the show, a dead-on rendition of Elliott Smith’s “Needle in the Hay” (Anderson fans will remember this soundtracking the moment that Luke Wilson’s character decides to attempt suicide in The Royal Tenenbaums).
Rilo Kiley’s Jenny Lewis and Karen Elson had fun and sweet inclusions to the night’s repertoire, covering respectively The Chas McDevitt Skiffle Group / Nancy Whiskey song “Freight Train” and Francoise Hardy’s “Le Temps De L’Amour.” One of the night’s biggest cheers came when Murray introduced a special extension to the orchestra in the way of the Ukrainian Mosaic Orchestra. In turn, they helped provide one of the night’s best moments in the performance of The Grand Budapest Hotel song “Canto at Gabelmeister’s Peak” that Alexandre Desplat wrote for the film. My Morning Jacket’s Jim James performed a beautiful cover of The Kinks’ “Strangers” (trust me, you know this song, but you just might not realize you know it). Brazilian artist Rogê was joined for the last song of the first part of the set by Bill Murray, Jason Schwartzman, Beck, Jenny Lewis and China Forbes from Pink Martini for a playful cover Oliver Onions’ Zorro film theme “Zorro is Back.”
After the briefest of intermissions, Murray returned urging the crowd to quiet to allow Jean Yves Thibaudet to perform the plaintive solo piano cut “Moses Rosenthaler” from The French Dispatch. Jeff Goldblum came on stage and introduced the song he would perform giving a pretty trademark hilarious and crazy speech, explaining how “Blinuet” was a portmanteau of “blues” and “minuet.” Backed by three saxophonists, he did a solid jazz cover of the Zoot Sims piece made famous in Rushmore. From there, it was all double barrel firepower until the last notes. Jim James did a lush cover of Cat Stevens’ “The Wind.” Jackson Browne brought the whole crowd to a hushed silence as he performed two songs Anderson famously chose to use in his films by Nico that he had originally written. “The Fairest of Seasons” and “These Days” emanated with a delicate and world-weary grace that were as resonant in this moment as the original recordings from over fifty years back. China Forbes and Rufus Wainwright teamed up for “Rue Saint-Vincent” and then Wainwright led the band on a fantastic cover of Peter Sarstedt’s “Where Did You Go To (My Lovely).”
Beck, Jenny Lewis, Jim James, Bill Murray and Jason Schwartzman teamed up for a joyful cover of The Bobby Fuller Four’s “Let Her Dance” (from The Fantastic Mr. Fox), one of the first moment’s the capacity crowd rose to its feet and actually danced (which was supremely surprising given the night’s incredible compilation). Beck introduced Spoon’s Britt Daniel explaining the song about to be played was the one he personally campaigned to have included in the show. Daniel only had this one appearance in the night, but his raspy voice was the perfect choice perform The Creation’s “Making Time” (which famously soundtracked the masterful opening montage of Rushmore). And speaking of Rushmore, almost every performer present took the stage to end the show the only way it seemingly could be, a giant communal performance of The Faces’ legendary ode to aging, “Ooh La La.” This one had the entire Hollywood Bowl singing along, a glimmer in their eyes thinking of the beautiful end credits moment at the end of Rushmore.
What an immense show from top to bottom. Sometimes you have to catch your breath and just drink in a moment like this one. You will never see that array of talent on a stage all together like that ever again. And such immense credit is due to the multitude of crack musicians and Meldal-Johnsen for arranging an almost impossible Rubik’s cube of songs into a digestible night of music. The thirteen films Wes Anderson has created so far feature so much music, that beyond “Making Time” and “Ooh La La” there could have conceivably been eighteen different song sequences chosen for this show. For example, not one song that Seu Jorge’s famous David Bowie covers from The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou was used in the show. It’s an unenviable task to be sure, but if you’ve lived inside the staggering intricacy of Wes Anderson’s films as many have as loving fans, you were probably in heaven this night.
Setlist 7/12
“Attack on Ping Island” – Mark Mothersbaugh
“Ned’s Theme Take 1” – Mark Mothersbaugh
Billy Murray intro
“Gut Feeling (Slap Your Mammy)” – DEVO
Jason Schwartzman into
“Alone Again Or” (Love cover) – Beck
“Freight Train” – Jenny Lewis
“Les Temps De L’Amour” – Karen Elson
“Adagio” (Georges Delerue Cover)
“String Quartet in F Major” (Maurice Ravel cover)
Bill Murray segue
“A Prayer for Madame D” (by Alexandre Desplat) – Ukrainian Mosaic Orchestra
“Canto at Gabelmeister’s Peak” (by Alexandre Desplat) – Ukrainian Mosaic Orchestra
“Shinto Shrine” (by Alexandre Desplat) – Kaoru Watanabe
Bill Murray segue
“Strangers” (The Kinks cover) – Jim James
“This Old Machine” – Jason Schwartzman and China Forbes
“Any Fun” – Jason Schwartzman
“Zorro is Back” (Oliver Onions cover) – Roge, Beck, China Forbes, Jenny Lewis, Bill Murray
Intermission
Bill Murray segue
“Moses Rosenthaler” – Jean Yves Thibaudet
“Blinuet” – Jeff Goldblum
“” – Rajib Karmakar and Aakash Pujara
Jason Schwartzman segue
“The Fairest of Seasons” (originally recorded by Nico) – Jackson Browne
“These Days” (originally recorded by Nico) – Jackson Browne
“Mr. Fox in the Fields” (by Alexandre Desplat)
“Sparkplug Minuet” – Mark Mothersbaugh / Los Angeles Children’s Choir
“The Wind” (Cat Stevens cover) – Jim James
“Rue Saint-Vincent” (Yves Montand cover) – China Forbes and Rufus Wainwright
“Where Do You Go To (My Lovely) (Peter Sarstedt cover) – Rufus Wainwright
“Needle in the Hay” (Elliott Smith cover) – Beck
“Let Her Dance” (The Bobby Fuller Four cover) – Beck, Jim James, Jenny Lewis, Bill Murray, Jason Schwartzman
“Making Time” (The Creation cover) – Britt Daniel
“Ooh La La” (Faces cover) – All performers present
File photo: Brett Padelford
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