As a film music fan, I have always had a list of composers I want to see perform live. Over the years, I have been privileged to be able to scratch most of them off that list until there was only one composer left, which was Bear McCreary. It has been a long time since McCreary traveled to Europe for a concert. I know he visited Spain twice just before I started to travel around Europe in 2011, and he had never returned for a film music concert since then – at least not until this year. Last year McCreary released his side project, the metal album The Singularity, on which he has worked for almost his whole life, with the oldest song on it written when he was a teenager. You can listen to a wide range of metal songs on the album, on which many famous celebrities have collaborated, including Rufus Wainwright, Joe Satriani and Slash. After the release of the album, McCreary announced his Themes & Variations Tour, during which he would perform music from The Singularity, but also some themes from the soundtracks he has written over the years. During the European leg of the tour, he would also come to Utrecht, the Netherlands, making it a no-brainer for me to buy tickets for that show.
The announcement made it very clear what to expect from this tour. With The Singularity being the primary focus, McCreary would be joined by other musicians to form a metal band instead of using an orchestra for which he has written most of his music in his long career. It was, however, still a pleasant surprise to hear all kinds of film music over the speakers before the concert started.
McCreary was joined by musicians who were also his friends for this concert. They were his brother Brendan McCreary as the lead vocalist, Omer Ben-Zvi on lead guitar, Pete Griffin on bass guitar, Paul Cartwright on electric violin, Gene Hoglan on drums and Morgan Sorne on all kinds of instruments and backup vocals. With two McCreary’s on stage, I will be referring to them by their first names from now on to avoid any confusion. The band, with Bear himself on guitar most of the time, played a 50-50 split between songs from The Singularity and metal versions of McCreary’s themes from TV, movies and games.
With Soundtrack World being a website dedicated to soundtracks, I will not focus too much on the songs from The Singularity. What I do have to say about them is that the originals were performed by some of the best singers and musicians from the metal industry, which now had to be done by the band members. This meant that Omer had to play all these parts from famous guitarists like Slash and Satriani, and Brendan had to replace someone like Rufus Wainwright, which they both did exceptionally well.
Being a metal band without the support of an orchestra, choir and Bear’s iconic taiko drums, meant that all the soundtrack themes had to be transformed for this band setting. Bear had created a wonderful selection from his soundtrack repertoire, with most of them being songs from them. It was amazing to hear “Apocalypse,” “Old Tom Bombadil,” “Godzilla” and “Blood Upon the Snow” performed live. It showcased the vocal range of Brendan very well, who had to replace the many artists who had performed those songs. Bear also performed the music on his hurdy-gurdy in “Blood Upon the Snow.” I have heard that song quite a few times by now, but this was the first time I had witnessed it with Bear being on stage with his iconic instrument. I love that he uses these unusual instruments. It adds his flavor to his music, independent of its genre, being orchestral film music or metal. He also used that instrument, of course, for the music from Black Sails.
While Brendan sang most of the songs that night, he was not the only vocalist. Morgan Sorne also sang a couple of songs, and Pete Griffin surprised the audience by doing the grunts for “The Last Ballad of Damrod.” For the theme from Child’s Play, almost all the band members sang while playing music on toy instruments, which was quite an experience to behold.
The last thing I need to mention from the repertoire being performed are the instrumental tracks. In addition to “Escape from the Machines,” which Bear wrote when he was only 16 years old, some themes from his scores were being performed as well, including music from Masters of the Universe: Revelation, Battlestar Galactica and music from Da Vinci’s Demons, which I had not heard from for over a decade.
In addition to Bear’s band performing, two additional events were happening that day. Because it was a traditional band concert, there was also a support act, which was done by Morgan Sorne, who had his setup of keyboards and other bells and whistles moved to the center of the stage. He used that setup to create all kinds of loops, but he also used his own voice to create musical patterns, over which he sang his own songs. It was quite an intriguing performance. The other event was a VIP session with Bear, during which you could listen to him perform some music on the piano. He would be answering some questions, and you had a photo opportunity with him. I was not present at this VIP event, but unfortunately, I have heard mixed reactions from the people who had paid and attended that event. While it is fantastic to meet your hero up close and personal, European film music fans are accustomed to being able to exchange a few words with their favorite composer and have some items signed, which, at least, was not allowed in Warsaw, Prague and Utrecht, resulting in some fans being extremely disappointed. I also heard, fortunately, that the VIP attendees in Brussels had a better experience. Hopefully, lessons are being learned to prevent that from happening again.
The concert was a fantastic experience for me. For people who do not know me that well, in addition to film music, I also like to listen to symphonic metal, and this concert was a perfect blend of these two worlds. It is also a concert for which I had my expectations straight. I knew I would not be getting an orchestra and a choir for this one, but instead, I got to see Bear use the accordion and his iconic hurdy-gurdy on stage, which I will not forget very easily. I have seen many metal concerts, but none of them had those instruments. However, it is something I would expect from Bear.
So the question remains if I can scratch Bear McCreary off my bucket list. I would answer this question with the famous and boring “yes and no.” I saw him perform live at an amazing concert with excellent performers, but I have not yet witnessed his full soundtrack experience. I would still love to see a concert dedicated to his music with a full orchestra, choir, taiko drums and, of course, his hurdy-gurdy. It is a good thing to still have something on the bucket list. It would be terrible to have nothing left, and Bear McCreary will remain on it for now. Maybe this tour will spark something in Bear to do a tour again that focuses on his soundtrack work. That would be even more fantastic than this concert already was.
Concert information
Where: TivoliVredenburg in Utrecht, the Netherlands
When: April 26, 2025
Band: Bear McCreary, Brendan McCreary, Pete Griffin, Omer Ben-Zvi, Gene Hoglan, Paul Cartwright and Morgan Sorne
Program
- “Overture” from The Singularity
- “Incinerator” from The Singularity
- “Redshift” from The Singularity
- “Apocalypse” from Battlestar Galactica: Blood and Chrome
- “Tatarigami” from The Singularity
- “Syzygy” from The Singularity
- Theme from Child’s Play
- “Masters of the Universe” from Masters of the Universe: Revelation
- “Type III” from The Singularity
- “Old Tom Bombadil” from The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power
- Theme from Da Vinci’s Demons
- “Dance of the Druids” from Outlander
- “God of War” from God of War
- “Last Stop” from The Singularity
- “The Last Ballad of Damrod” from The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power
- “Escape from the Machines” from The Singularity
- Theme from The Walking Dead
- “Midnight Sun” from The Singularity
- Theme from Black Sails
- “Blood Upon the Snow” from God of War: Ragnarok
- “Prelude to War” from Battlestar Galactica
- “The End of Tomorrow” from The Singularity
- “Tears for the Dead Life” from The Singularity
- “All Along the Watchtower” from Battlestar Galactica (composed by Bob Dylan)
- “Godzilla” from Godzilla: King Of The Monsters
