Saturday Music

Saturday in San Pedro, California, at the Warner Grand Theatre the music of Stu Philips will be performed by the Golden State Pops Orchestra, in honor of Stu's 80th birthday. Bear McCreary will be there to world premiere a new BSG composition, that former BSG FX artist Mojo got to experience at the rehearsal the other night:

As Bear mentioned in his blog, he’s written a completely new piece of music that combines elements from both the original series and reimagined version to create an ”ultimate Battlestar theme.” I wasn’t really sure what to expect from this, maybe a mish-mash of stuff we’ve heard before – but what Bear has done is far more than cut and paste – he’s created a BSG masterpiece.

It begins with his moving rendition of the ”Colonial Anthem” as heard in the second season episode “Final Cut,” (which gives me goosebumps every time I hear it), but then morphs into a swirling, mysterious and intense version of “Exploration” ( including the There Are Those Who Believe music). This version retains the familiar middle eastern flavor of the original, but amps it up to the level of Led Zeppelin’s ”Kashmir.” I don’t want to spoil where it goes from there, but suffice it to say that Bear has somehow managed to distill the entire series of Battlestar Galactica into one epic, violent, mysterious, melencholy and bittersweet piece of music.

Yes, I’m serious. All the emotion you felt while watching four years of Galactica are encapsulated in his new composition and the only time it’s every going to be played is this Saturday night by the Golden State Pops Orchestra (with members of Bear’s band) in San Pedro. You really have got to be there.

Buy your tickets here, for this exciting sci-fi music event to celebrate the work of Stu Philips.

Also, check out on Mojo's blog a CGI FX shot of a classic original BSG camera move showing the Galactica's launch pod.

And Bear McCreary reports that he's once again performing at the fourth and final Johnny “Vatos” Tribute to Halloween and Oingo Boingo, Thursday, October 29th at 8:00 PM The Grove of Anaheim.