Claudio Simonetti’s Goblin – Roadburn Festival 2015
Claudio Simonetti’s Goblin perform Dawn Of The Dead: Director’s Cut
Saturday 11th April, Roadburn Festival 2015, Tilburg, Holland
In 1982 we got our first video player and I, then aged 11, discovered that you could hire three films for 50p if you got them back to the store (The Video Eye) by 5pm. Dawn Of The Dead was a repeat hire – I could simply watch that film all day (well, until teatime anyhow).
There are worse ways to nurse a hangover than by joining a sprawled Roadburn audience in the giant, multi-tiered 013 auditorium on a rainy Tilburg mid-afternoon to watch arguably the best zombie film being soundtracked live by the musicians who wrote and recorded the original. Claudio Simonetti’s version of the band Goblin is a tight ship –they’re great players and hit all the right buttons. Simonetti’s keyboard playing defines “wizardry” and their live score is suitably LOUD (it is Roadburn after all) shaking the audience to the very core. A jagged bass riff underpins the revamped soundtrack and fortunately (accidentally?) the bass guitar is incredibly high in the mix, coming back time and again to punctuate the film’s splatter. There’s a subdued buzz from the Roadburn audience for what is effectively a cinematic experience – no moshing, no horns and the air is barely punched. The biggest cheers however are saved for the celluloid action (Tom Savini paring a zombie’s face with a machete is awarded one of the loudest cries).
Both George A Romero’s ’78 film and Simonetti’s Goblin receive standing ovations, confirming this as the best way to watch your favourite zombie blow-out: a huge screen, a sympathetic audience and a live score to give your guts a pounding.
Louis Comfort-Wiggett
Goblin performing Dawn Of The Dead at Roadburn Festival 2015
Roadburn’s official website is right here: www.roadburn.com
