“It makes you proud of the city. They don’t build things like this anymore,” says an elderly man gazing up in wonder at Leeds Town Hall’s magnificently decorated ceiling. He’s right. Architecture is on its arse. And this issue is analogous to a problem in popular music too: so many contemporary releases seem pre-packaged and disposable. Where has all the love and craft gone from melodymaking and lyricism? Yes, it is amazing how a record like Anaconda is produced and marketed to sell millions of times over. But it just doesn’t have that classic feel to it.

This concert was out to preserve that classicism in songwriting, in display of the music of Burt Bacharach, a man who is debatably the greatest songwriter of all time. You may never have heard of him, but you will certainly have heard his music. He is responsible, along with lyricist Hal David, for a plethora of classic sixites and seventies hits: Walk On By, They Long To Be (Close To You), The Look of Love, This Guy’s In Love With you. These are the finest easy listening songs ever recorded. But when performed live, with the full body of Leeds’ own Opera North orchestra (another reason to be proud of our city) behind them, they are also rousing, heartbreaking and immensely satisfying.  It is easy to imagine that, for many members of the audience, it was a dream come true to hear these anthems – these stunning evocations of teenage courtship and maturation – performed in such a way.

It is unusual to see a review of a ‘concert’ (as opposed to a ‘gig’) in The Gryphon. But this writer is willing to compromise the publication’s level of cool in support of songwriting that, like the monumentality of the town hall, stands the test of time.

Oli Walkden

photo 1: milnersblog.files.wordpress.com
photo 2: leodis.net