Hans Zimmer may not have been wearing a still suit last night, but he took the stage at Madison Square Garden with all the confidence of a man who knows he is a leader. On the eve of his 67th birthday, the famed film composer took New York on a rousing tour from Arrakis to Themyscira, to King’s Rock and back to ancient Rome, with some welcome stops in the here and now along the way.
If you’ve never seen Hans Zimmer perform, you should know that his shows rock. Literally. Accompanied by Ukraine’s Odessa Philharmonic Orchestra and his Disruptive Collective, a group of immensely talented musicians from around the world including original “Circle Of Life” singer Lebo M, Johnny Marr’s son Nile on guitar and many more, the composer brought an energy to MSG that was as electrifying as any of his previous artists. While Zimmer’s scores have reliably carried characters into battles, across seas and through time itself, it’s still hard to comprehend just how hard flautist Pedro Eustache’s homemade PVC pipe construction or singer Lisa Gerrard’s Ancient Latin gladiator It’s hard to appreciate an aria hit in such an arena until you experience it yourself.
Zimmer and his band ended the first half of the show with a long prelude to pirates of the Caribbean riff that everyone of a certain age has had stuck in their head for two decades. In those four minutes, he managed to build as much anticipation for the eventual drop as any EDM act. After a 20-minute break, he returned to travel through the crowd while playing a suite of The Dark Knight on an electric guitar, as every author does when celebrating a birthday. During the show, the band also played suites from Wonder Woman, The Last SamuraiAnd No time to diecomplete with strobe lights, lasers, really big drums and during a beautiful Interstellar Segment, an aerialist dangling from the ceiling. At times it all felt a bit like a very impressive prelude to the system shock of “Paul’s Dream” by duneBut when the otherworldly singing of New York native Loire Cotler finally kicked in, it almost didn’t matter anymore. We had already been on so many trips.
But Thursday night’s show wasn’t all sandworms and wormholes. Zimmer took time out between each new film to talk to the audience about his process and the people who make it all possible. “I’m going to invite you all to a dinner party,” he said by way of introduction. “This is the dinner party, and we’re basically having a conversation.” It was an apt metaphor. Sometimes the composer was a colleague who had had one glass of wine too many and was a few too open about his true feelings. “Let’s just say that some of the films may not have turned out as well as we had hoped, but we really enjoy playing the music,” he said before playing a suite of X-Men: Dark Phoenix. (For the benefit of all: his work on the score for Hillbilly Elegy received no similar mention.)
At times he was incredibly serious. Zimmer has faced some controversy over authorship throughout his career, with claims that he either relied heavily on interns or had a history of taking credit for the work of other composers he supervised. While many have argued that this is just How to write scoresthe atmosphere on stage on Thursday did not feel like a hierarchy at all. Zimmer took the time to celebrate almost every member of the Disruptive Collective individually, with praise for musicians such as electric cellist Tina Guo, whom he described as “the true Wonder Woman”, and guitarist Guthrie Govan, whom he considered one of the greatest of our time. “King” James Earl Jones got a sweet shoutout during the (excellent) Lion King part of the evening, and in another beautiful moment, the composer praised the Ukrainian members of the orchestra for leaving their homes and families at such a difficult time. “It’s incredible how brave they are and how much music means to them,” he said. Even Zimmer’s daughter Annabel came to accompany her father. Start‘s “Time,” which he said they had never done before. It was truly a family celebration.
Even though Zimmer spent much of his 67th birthday putting others in the spotlight, he was still the undisputed star of the evening. At any other performance, loud heckling from the crowd might have been unwelcome or ruined the mood entirely. But on Thursday, as the lights went down and the spice blew away, the occasional shout of “Lisan al Gaib” ringing out in the darkness felt entirely right.
