son et lumière

I had planned not to follow anything about the actual concert today until full good-quality audio became available in the next couple days, but became so interested in witnessing the scene unfold on Twitter, along with discovering the several sources for live cell phone streaming video and pictures, that the sense of event pulled me in. I'm very glad now I followed it, and all I want to say at this point is that the obvious star of the show is the Claw.

Willie Williams has so much more than outdone himself... I mean, just stunning beauty that leaves you gasping. For me it brings to mind first the son et lumière shows one sees staged on summer nights with some of the great European cathedrals as their screens (sample video here), and second, Willie Williams' own previous works with churches or cathedrals as his canvas: e.g. the mirrorball at all Hallows, or his Easter Vigil installation at Canterbury Cathedral. Except now, there are none of the intrinsic limitations of trying to do light-art on an aging, unchangeable building. Willie has a cathedral designed to his own dimensions and specifications, and he can make it do tricks.

Of course you have no real sense of a show from bits on YouTube and cell phone videos -- but my reaction to what I've seen is that the band themselves came off as more completely in the role of servants to the overall process than ever before. Astounding. Is this rock 'n' roll?? (However, lest I sound too glowing, it's 2009 and you can't play "One"?)