This weekend, Seattle Rock Orchestra takes on songs by this weirdo.
I first saw the Seattle Rock Orchestra in action in 2010, when they gave the full orchestral treatment to an evening’s worth of David Bowie tunes. The collective, founded by bassist/composer/arranger Scott Teske, had been in existence for a little over a year, and that particular show was only SRO’s second full-orchestra gig following their much-buzzed-about interpretation of The Arcade Fire’s Funeral LP at Town Hall.
Both of those gigs, and a run of great live performances by the SRO and its various satellite configurations over the last five years, have converted a lot of people (myself emphatically included) into avid fans of the collective’s work. Things come sort of full-circle this weekend, with the Orchestra again tackling the Thin White Duke’s catalog alongside songs by T. Rex and the Electric Light Orchestra.
The Seattle Rock Orchestra’s primary MO—presenting specific rock artists’ classic songs and/or albums in a concert setting, replete with orchestral arrangements and accompaniment—frequently offers penultimate wish fulfillment for music nerds. Any Beatles fan who’s dreamt of hearing George Martin’s string and horn-laden productions replicated live got their chance during the SRO’s sterling tributes to Rubber Soul, Revolver, Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, and Let it Be. And Teske’s band of conspirators have offered similarly royal live treatment to other benchmark albums like Queen’s A Night at the Opera and The Beach Boys’ Pet Sounds.
Thankfully, the Orchestra’s proven to be more than just a sonically-ornate jukebox of rock hits. Their arrangements (crafted by Teske and a small team including Macklemore sideman/Passenger String Quartet leader Andrew Joslyn) add imaginative filigrees to well-worn rock chestnuts without becoming cloying or overbearing, and the Orchestra often takes familiar material into genuinely innovative territory: Their brilliant Radiohead tribute gave that band’s masterpiece OK Computer a distinctive life of its own by converting the record’s barbed-wire fence of electronic texture into a truly epic animal.
You’re also unlikely to see a grander showcase for some of the region’s best and most distinctive rock and pop singers. The SRO’s rotating guest vocal lineup’s been a veritable who’s-who of Seattle talent, including everyone from Head and the Heart’s Josiah Johnson to Macklemore to Katie Kate to Allen Stone to Sir Mix-a-Lot. Over the years SRO’s added another layer of freshness by frequently putting terrific female singers at the front of familiar, usually dude-fronted rock staples. This weekend’s Glam Rock showcase is no exception, with Pollens singer Whitney Lyman and SRO’s virtual house chanteuse Tamara Power-Drutis among the vocalists taking to the mic.
Part of the fun of this weekend’s grab-bag performances is guessing which songs the SRO will be tackling. Some of the material’s been announced already, and if you’re not excited to hear Bowie’s “Life on Mars” or T. Rex’s hard-charging “20th Century Boy” get the Full orchestral Monty, you should check your pulse. But I’m crossing my fingers for an appropriately swoonsome take on ELO’s gorgeous “Strange Magic” and some instrumental oomph behind a cover of T.Rex’s lazy strut, “The Slider.” Whichever glittery rock jewels make the cut, you best look out, you rock and rollers.
[Seattle Rock Orchestra Performs David Bowie, T. Rex, and ELO tomorrow at 8:00 p.m and Sunday at 7:00 p.m. at the Moore Theatre. Tickets can be acquired here.]
