MAS Presents: Damien Rice’s O
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The Melbourne Album Series are proud to present their inaugural album recreation performance of Damien Rice’s seminal 2002 album O at Carlton’s Bella Union on Sunday November 30th.
Curated, directed and performed by Caleb Garfinkel, MAS’ O show will gracefully retell the story of O, channeling the raw energy and spirit of the highly emotive album. The performance of O will feature vocals from Georga Byrne and Diana Emry, and will be accompanied by a five-piece band and string quartet, who will lovingly recreate and reinterpret the intricacies of Rice’s much loved debut release.
Featuring the hits The Blowers Daughter, Volcano and Cannonball, O set a benchmark for heart-wrenching folk explorations of emotion within relationships and their aftermath. Recorded and produced by Rice on a small 8 track mobile studio, the album introduced the world to the beauty of a tortured and heartbroken lover and poet. Its’ raw but powerful production and orchestration became a staple influence for many musicians, and defined an incredible balance between intimate folk music and gigantic worldwide acclaim.
Rice established a worldwide folklore, heavily touring following his 2006 release 9. Following the break up of his relationship with musical collaborator, co-performer and arguably his muse Lisa Hannigan, he retreated from the public eye. MAS’ performance of O timely coincides with Rice’s latest release My Favourite Faded Fantasy, his first in 8 years.
The Melbourne Album Series retells the stories of contemporary music’s most influential and pivotal albums. In a time when the song reigns supreme and music is moving towards a disposable commodity, the MAS recreate albums in their entirety live on stage. Beyond simply covering the songs, the group reassembles each nuance and subtle texture and spirit of each album, presenting them as the rich musical tapestries that their creators intended.
Under the curation and musical direction of Caleb Garfinkel, the Melbourne Album Series gathers some of Melbourne’s finest musicians and vocalists to give music lovers the unique opportunity to experience their favourite albums lovingly prepared and performed in full.
MAS is not bound by genre, but focuses on albums whose existence has gone on to change the face of contemporary music in one way or another, for their beauty, artistic insight and cohesiveness.