Concert Review: An Afternoon at the Movies

A guest review of The Westside Community Band’s October 23rd concert.

An Afternoon at the Movies performed by The Westside Community Band October 23, 2022, at Mount St. Joseph University Theater.

Source: Google Images

Today, the Inverted Gentleman reviews a live musical performance by The Westside Community Band, which can be watched here. However, I am associated with this band and feel reviewing my own work would be awkward at best and a conflict of interest at worst. For that reason, I invited C. A. to be a guest reviewer.

C. A. writes the newly founded The Intrepid Wayfarer here on Substack and is an aspiring author. Although his review was slightly edited by me, his opinions are completely his own.

~T. C.

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The Westside Community Band (TWCB) is not a full-time, professional orchestra such as, say Chicago Symphony Orchestra, or Trans-Siberian Orchestra. Unlike those orchestras, one very important element of this review should stand out: the members of TWCB are part-time musicians, they all have day jobs and devote hours of their precious free time to the advancement of musical arts.

One of the most striking aspects of music, is its power to transport us, to transcend time, distance and space, cementing us in a perfect still-frame in time. The ability to elicit a total recall is what makes music so unique in human perception. TWCB did not disappoint in this aspect.

Mr. Kenny Bierschenk directs and conducts a cohort of eclectic instruments: from brass and woodwinds, to flutes and percussion, TWCB has an inspiring array of talent. Notably, it is a concert band, meaning no stringed or keyboard. This allows the band to participate in marches, light classical music, Broadway classics, and other popular music genres. TWCB also lacks the larger, more sophisticated facilities of most professional bands, but make excellent use of the space allotted.

As eclectic as the musicians, TWCB performed faithful renditions of movie scores spanning the eras: from the 1961 classic, El Cid to the early days of Harry Potter, to 2015 Star Wars: The Force Awakens; there’s something for everyone. The energy and enthusiasm of the band members is evident throughout the performances. Some pieces in particular capture the invigorating spirit.

The full list:

1. El Cid

2. Richard III

3. The Magnificent Seven

4. Dances with Wolves

5. Patton

6. The Lion King (highlights)

7. Superman (theme song)

8. Harry Potter Symphonic Suite

9. Empire of the Sun

10. Far And Away Symphonic Suite

11. Star Wars: The Force Awakens Symphonic Suite

12. 1941 (The March)

TWCB opened with “El Cid,” immediately setting the tone for the evening with an upbeat, fast-tempo opening befitting a Turner Classic Movies film. The brassy stentorian score captured the homogenous energy of the band and audience, beginning and ending in forte dynamic.

The band excelled in their delivery of the “Harry Potter Symphonic Suite,” delighting and conveying the audience through dynamics and tempos like Harry Potter in quidditch. From the iconic, adagio xylophone intro to the mezzo piano moments masterfully handled by the brass, to the swelling crescendo of the theme song, every musician played their part well.

From there, the audience was transported back in time, to the Japanese internment camps of World War II portrayed in the 1987 film, Empire of the Sun. The woodwinds led the score with a compelling piece reminiscent of traditional Japanese music, hōgaku. Here, music painted a vivid picture of war-torn countrysides, prisoners of war, the struggle to survive and the will to live. The crowd enthusiastically applauded this piece.

The next piece took another step back in time to epic Western expansion in America, specifically the Land Run of 1893, as portrayed in the film Far and Away. The piece, originally screened out of competition for the 1992 Cannes Film Festival, was dutifully recreated in the unassuming Mount Saint Joseph Theater. This particular performance was an absolute crowd pleaser.

While Disney’s artistic direction of the Star Wars franchise is a much debated and hotly contested affair, the music remains a beloved staple of the franchise. TWCB did not disappoint with this piece either. From the opening note, the room buzzed with anticipation for the slow build-up to the crescendo of an iconic franchise. The music evoked images of storm troopers marching through the crowd, Han Solo’s Millennium Falcon swooping overhead, and Rey Skywalker brandishing her lightsaber against the insidious Empire. Every instrument resonated in the theater's space, especially the drums, bass clarinets and tubas as they contributed their somber timbres in sonorous melody.

Overall, TWCB’s strongest musicians are found in the woodwinds and percussion sections. There were a few unfortunate moments when various sections of the band struggled with the score. For example, in “Richard III,” the brass instruments had moments of discordant fluctuation, slightly off-tune in the first half of the piece, while the remaining sections carried the song. One other moment, during “Dances with Wolves,” occurred after a strong trumpet solo at the beginning of the song; the lead trumpeter played a few notes off-key as the song transitioned to a thicker texture. These moments, while few, were enough to demonstrate that most, but not all of the musicians in TWCB are committed to their roles. Indubitably, TWCB would benefit from a larger auditorium with better acoustics, but the band capitalizes on the space afforded to them.

Is The Westside Community Band perfect? No, but therein lies the beauty. They are not expected to be perfect - and if any of us are willing to admit it, that moment in the space/time continuum where music transports you to, was probably filled with at least one flawed detail. Yet in the aspect of musically gifted people who participate in this as a hobby, TWCB is an excellent option for anyone interested in experiencing a musical journey.

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