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''Birmingham (Live with Orchestra & Choir)'' is a 2013 live album by Steve Harley & Cockney Rebel, featuring the Orchestra of the Swan and their Chamber Choir Orchestra Conductor Andrew Powell, who was the man who did the string arrangements on the original studio albums. The album, a Comeuppance production, was released by Absolute via Universal. A DVD version of the performance was also released at the same time. ==Background== The album was recorded and filmed live at the Birmingham Symphony Hall, England on 24 November 2012. The band, with the orchestra and chamber choir, made up about 50 performers together, and performed the band's first two albums ''The Human Menagerie'' and ''The Psychomodo'' in their entirety - with some of the songs entirely new to the stage. The sold-out show was a one off performance of the two albums, and also included Spandau Ballet's Steve Norman on saxophone and percussion.〔 Aside from the two albums performed, the band also played three additional tracks on the night; "Judy Teen" (the band's UK Top 5 hit single from 1974), "Stranger Comes to Town" (the title track from Harley's 2010 album) and "Black or White" (from the 1976 album ''Timeless Flight''. Harley commented ''"It's been a long time coming - something like 39 years. Now we're here, at last, with an orchestra and a choir and a big rock band, to play those first two albums pretty well the way they appeared on the original vinyl. Maybe some things should never change, in spite of progress. Welcome, my old friends."'' The double-CD album, released almost a year later, consists of 24 tracks in total. Aside from the 18 songs, the additional six tracks on the album consist of either introductions or speeches from Harley. A two-disc DVD version of the performance was also released on the same date under the same title as the CD, with a duration of 116 minutes. On 26 October 2013 the album had entered the UK Independent Chart at #36 as a new entry and peaked at that position, lasting on the chart for the single week. On Harley's official website, a diary entry from 31 January 2013 featured Harley revealing he had been in a studio in the West Country mixing the Birmingham recordings. He noted ''"They sound good. Very good. At last I am hearing what you heard! What a night it was! What a crowd! What a band! What orchestrations!"'' In another entry from 4 April 2013 Harley announced he had just finished mixing the Birmingham recordings and noted they were "Sounding good" and that the double CD might be for sale at the end of June. He noted ''"Even now, there are moments in there that still stir my hackles. The memory of that night is now right up there among many memories from a long career that I can almost warm my hands on."'' In regards to the DVD, on 4 June 2013, a diary entry from Harley noted that he had been mixing the DVD with Fay and Piotr of Goodmedia. He stated ''"It will be a really good film. Looking at the footage, I am glad, really glad I decided to go for it."'' To follow-up the show, on 8 November 2013, three more performances of the same show were revealed, two of which when an exclusive link was issued on Harley's official website to a ticket pre-sales area for Orchestra & Choir concerts of both albums again at Gateshead Sage, Royal Albert Hall in London as well as the Symphony Hall in Birmingham. The link, exclusively available through the website, was open for three days only before tickets were made available fully to the public. The same show was also announced for The Bridgewater Hall in Manchester in April 2014. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Birmingham (Live with Orchestra & Choir)」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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