“Overture” by Patrick Wolf

Back in April I randomly saw Patrick Wolf perform at Hiro Ballroom. I had never heard of him previously and was totally floored by one song in particular, “Overture.”

The song was INSANE live — so multi-layered, with a huge buildup, and played so tightly and with so much energy. Plus there’s violins, which I’m a sucker for. Now, normally I avoid discussing music in any sort of review-esque way because my connection to it feels too personal, but that night you could feel the entire audience being taken to a whole other plane all together as the song progressed & built up & exploded.

The studio version of “Overture” is great & all, but it’s nothing like hearing it live. And the clips I’ve found online don’t capture the feeling of being in the audience that night. But maybe you get the idea from this partial clip?



Did you see me??? I didn’t either.

If you’re curious, I found two other videos of the song in its entirety from shows I wasn’t at — one from San Francisco in May and another from a more recent European gig. Both are decent but still don’t come even remotely close to capturing what it felt like to be at Hiro that night.

Anyway, I’m thinking about this because (1) “Overture” was one of my favorite songs of ‘07, and (2) I hope 2008 will bring more unforgettable experiences like that one. Those five minutes in April made such an intense impression on me — in a way that can’t be re-experienced, only remembered — and I want a New Year filled with lots & lots of incredible moments like that.