HANS ZIMMER LIVE AT THE PARK THEATER IN LAS VEGAS, NV– APRIL 21ST, 2017
Article by Dan Bringhurst
Photos by Don Barfuss and Adam Mast
Video by Adam Mast
I’ve been to a fair share of rock concerts, including the wild lightshow-driven spectacle that was Primus who, until now, had been responsible for the loudest and most head slamming live performance I’d ever been witness to.
Having grown up playing the trumpet– in and out of school and again in the Air Force–I’ve also seen a fair share of live orchestras. I, myself, have even played a couple songs straight out of the mythical John Williams score book.
Having said that, what I quickly realized on April 21st at Monte Carlo’s gorgeous Park Theater in Las Vegas is that as a performer, Hans Zimmer is considerably different than two of my all time favorite musicians; John Williams and Danny Elfman. Particularly in a live setting.
I’ve seen Danny Elfman perform in the past, and while I’m certain that Zimmer altered his live approach here to deliver something more entertaining on stage, it’s his own inclusion, his contribution to the instrumentals, and his rapport with the other musicians around him that made all the difference.
Whether he’s strutting across the stage while vigorously killing it on the guitar or while he’s hunched over the keyboard like a madman bringing his creature to life, Zimmer is a rock ‘n roll God and when his music transforms from the quiet, romantic whisper of an exquisite string section to the heavy metal opera that would eventually follow, I can only compare it to staring up into the night sky set upon by light that exploded from now dead stars as a gargantuan God engulfed the horizon, thus blowing me over with the bass from an orbiting cello and a screaming electric guitar.
Watching Hans Zimmer live was something like an out of body experience. It was the loudest, most outrageous, body shaking, bone cracking, and fantastically charged thing I’ve ever had the honor of taking part in.
This wasn’t simply music. It transcended music, and it transcended the concert genre entirely. It was a screaming, riotous, insanity-inducing rock fest with Zimmer not waving a baton, but slapping a keyboard, jamming out on a guitar with child-like abandon, and thrashing to the noise built upon by over fifty skilled musicians, all of whom took great score selections and made them explosive in a monumental way.
Saying that a guitar sang, that a trumpet screamed and that the percussion thrashed thunderously does not do my night justice but it’s a start, and one thing is certain; Hans Zimmer is my new favorite musician of the moment, surpassing even the rock and roll legends I’ve been taught to love my entire life.
Listening to Zimmer’s live renditions of CRIMSON TIDE, THE LION KING, PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN, THE DARK KNIGHT, INTERSTELLAR, INCEPTION, GLADIATOR, and so many others made it abundantly clear that however fantastic the music is (and it is fantastic!) and however much energy and spirit was put into the completed score, hearing this stuff in a live setting is an entirely new (and relentlessly exciting) experience and it’s one I hope to have again.
What a cool night!
Hans Zimmer closed out his epic set with a stunning piece from Christopher Nolan’s INCEPTION. You can check it out below.
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