Royal Albert Hall, October 20, 2017

A host of Hollywood’s directors joined composer Michael Giacchino on stage to celebrate both his 50th birthday and movie collaborations with him.

Conducted primarily by Ludwig Wicki (though Giacchino also waved the baton for portions) the Cinematic Sinfonia and English Chamber Choir performed an impressive set of the composer’s scores, reflecting his chameleonic range. After a video intro by his parents recalling how Michael has always wanted to be in the movies (complete with footage of his first visit to Universal Studios, Hollywood), The Simpsons’ David Silverman played out Happy Birthday on the sousaphone, a giant relative of the tuba. Adam Savage from MythBusters was our host for the evening and entered from stage-right in a Mr Incredible muscle suit to intro Giacchino’s brassy Bond-heavy score to the Pixar hit, The Incredibles.

Medal of Honor was written for the video game and showed from an early stage in his career how influenced the composer was by John Williams – Hymn for the Fallen from Saving Private Ryan being the case here. As happens in the best concerts, you get to hear music in a new light, and stripped away from the on-screen histrionics, Arranged Marriage from Jupiter Ascending was a powerful cue, backed by some punchy chorals.

Savage returned to the stage dressed as a Tyrannosaurus rex before introducing the first of the celebrity guests – director Colin Trevorrow – who simply asked the composer to “…take me dinosaur church” for Jurassic World. And what a suite it was. As with his Rogue One, Giacchino perfectly lifts Williams’ style while creating his own distinct extension.

For the Marvel Suite (Studio ident, Doctor Strange  and Spider-Man: Homecoming ) Savage was dressed as the good Doctor Stephen Strange, joined by Benedict Wong who deadpanned “You’re not Cummerbund!” before recalling how he used to buy comics from a shop in Salford and now had the honour of being in that comic book universe.

Half a dozen Stormtroopers (Savage was dressed as an Imperial Director) then led Rogue One director Gareth Edwards onto stage, who thanked Giacchino for performing the impossible by creating the score in just four weeks. He recalled how Michael had been thrilled about the pun-filled cue track titles he’d written (Live and Jedi!) and that he’d never been to a birthday party before where guests were charged £50 a head. The suite was wonderful, alternating the softer Jyn and strident Imperial material – it packs a huge punch performed live.

The first half ended with Lost producer Carlton Cuse recalling how the musicians on the scoring stage had applauded Giacchino for his  beautiful cue Parting Words which closed off the show’s first season. Then the composer himself was marched onto stage to conduct this emotional piece. Oh, and Savage was dressed as a polar bear!

The second half kicked-off with the composer’s Oscar-winning Up, the heartbreaking Married Life being performed by string quartet Bond. Director Pete Docter made the point that while composing is not a competition, his film Up is the only one that Michael has won an Academy Award for. This was then followed by One Man Band, a hilarious short, played in its entirety, about two musicians battling for a child’s coin.

Pixar legend Andrew Stanton introduced a rousing suite from John Carter of Mars. He was self-deprecating about the movie’s box office failure but read out the CD liner notes where he enthused about Michael’s exciting composition. The Oscar-nominated Ratatouille was represented by Jazz Fantasia and then a letter from Brad Bird was read out. He had intended to be at the concert but his plane was grounded and so he couldn’t introduce the Tomorrowland suite. Instead, Raffey Cassidy from the movie performed the honours.

One of my favourite cues by Giacchino is Roar!, the end titles from the otherwise music-free Cloverfield. Backed by full choir and blasting brass, it’s the Godzilla theme we never had, and went down a storm with the audience. The movie’s director Matt Reeves then introduced War for the Planet of the Apes [https://scifibulletin.com/film-reviews/science-fiction/review-war-for-the-planet-of-the-apes-original-motion-picture-soundtrack/],which he believes to be Michael’s best work with him, and it’s hard to disagree.

Biggest applause for the evening was probably for J. J. Abrams – there was clearly a large Star Wars and Star Trek contingent in the audience – and he recalled how he’d first employed Giacchino for his Alias TV show. The Star Trek Suite featured content from all three movies, the main theme being arguably the loudest and most exciting sequence of the evening.

Just before conducting Super 8, Giacchino was interrupted by the arrival of The Gonzo the Great, accompanied by original Muppet performer Dave Goelz. When his planned stunt to fly through a cow didn’t come to pass (the cow was appearing in Manchester) he instead performed I’m Going to Go Back There from The Muppet Movie. The regular programme then was completed by a rousing suite from Super 8, accompanied by Michael’s own, hilarious, scratchy 8mm home movies.

The special guests all took a bow (quite some lineup) and then Michael launched into the kinetic and colourful Speed Racer, a preview of new Pixar Day of the Dead animation Coco and another Bond-tastic cue, this time from Alias (Bristow and Bristow)

Verdict: A movie’s box office success is not a measure of the quality of its score, as demonstrated by the range of scores performed with gusto in the Royal Albert Hall. Everyone one of them is filled with the giddy joy of that child who always wanted to be in the movies, and for one evening we were all invited to be that kid again, in the company of Hollywood’s finest and brightest. Happy birthday Michael – see you at the 60th. 10/10

Nick Joy