The Cinematic Orchestra

Being signed to an independent label really has done wonders for TCO. Their original electronic jazz that seems to transcend time and space encapsulates the audience in a way that a mainstream manufactured label would never allow, maintaining the authenticity of the groups' origins.
Watching the artists perform live, brings a whole new sense to their music. Whilst on a recording, you are able to appreciate the skill, competency, and creativity of the tracks, seeing a live performance is really eye opening to the sheer talent of the group. Watching one man handle three keyboards at once with such precision is simply mind blowing to experience.
They worked through their back catalogue, playing their more famous tracks that have been played on numerous adverts, to which everyone was bobbing along appreciatively. The newer tracks, however, seemed to initiate a tranquility throughout the stadium. As the gig was seated, the entire audience seemed to raise a little higher in their chairs, engaged and enthralled in the performance.
An absolutely wonderful band to watch live, you will gain a whole new level of appreciation for these guys, can't wait to see them again.

The Cinematic Orchestra, like a tin of ronseal paint, it does exactly what it says on the label. The band creates cinematic, spanning nu-jazz sounds supported by a huge orchestra. Headed up by group founder Jason Swinscoe, the band has been touring since the late 90s and despite several lineup changes, the sound has remained unaltered.

The setup is classic yet the music is often experimental and there is a sense of unpredictability about the shows. The music created is chilling and really stop each audience member in their tracks as you are entrapped in the band's cinematic world. Opener 'Dream Work' 'Outer Space' and 'Lapis' all seem to merge effortlessly into one and other as the luscious percussion and string notes echo around the venue.

The crowd is captivated and willing to offer standing ovation for each track yet you feel you would be disrupting the band's personal zone that they each appear so transfixed within. Therefore as the final heavenly tones of 'All That You Give' fade the audience compensate for a reserved nature and gift the performers with a rapturous applause as the whole venue is on its feet.

Great show by a great group! :)
At last I could see them in concert which is a thing I had been waiting for forever.
A good balance between "old" (and so good!) classics and titles from the last album, which is great by the way.
The concert hall was quite small, which enhanced the intimate ambiance of the show, so that's a really good thing as it was a really nice place.
The only thing I would notice as a minus from my experience is that they pushed the sound level too high which revealed the limitations of their sound system, that gave me some ringing in the ears for a few hours after the show.
Given the size of the stage they could have easily lowered the sound by 10% and we still would have had enough sound to hear everything, without the saturation and distortion we had during some high energy moments of the show.
Other than that I really enjoyed the show and will go again listen to this great group as soon as they come back in the area! :)

A little disappointing... I've seen the Cinematic Orchestra four or five times now and it's always had something special about it. This time round it was billed as "a special event" but it lacked that magic that I've seen from them so many times before. Songs seemed to fizzle out in to extended meandering outros, solos lacked direction, vocals lacked passion. When I saw them at Hammersmith a year ago, it was so good that at one point I was reduced to tears. There was no chance of that this time around. Added to that, the Apollo was FAR too full. I don't know what the capacity is there, but something needs to be re-thought because it was massively overcrowded - I saw one person having to be helped out mid-way through the gig, and the entire experience was like being on the rush hour tube. I'm sure I'll buy tickets to see the cinematics again when they play next, but I'll do so with some hesitation

As far as I know, they haven't played here for 12 years. I'm surprised the Regency wasn't sold out, but I got to enjoy them more with less hassle. The band opened with a song from their newest release and quickly moved into an all-time favorite 'Man with a movie camera'. They are all very good musicians and singers and put on a great performance without antics. The lighting technician also did excellent work by casting shadows at important moments. J Swinscoe introduced all the players at the end and they all took a final bow, which was pleasantly unusual for bands these days.
I will not reccommend The Regency Ballroom as the prices for drinks are high, as anywhere, but they measure the quantity to the smallest amount possible. (Must be corporate owned)

The sound quality made listening to the music like listening to a reversing bin lorry filled with dog toys. On top of that, the balcony at the venue was like a Tokyo crossroad in rush hour. They sold way more tickets than they have seats, so we were stood at the back, near the bar, listening to music that sounds like it's being shouted through a motorola held near a megaphone, looking at the backs of the heads of other disappointed people. I drank a blue WKD out of sheer boredom, and in the vain hope my pancreas would fail and I'd be allowed to leave. In the end my wife and I agreed we should just go home 30 minutes into their set. We weren't the only ones.

Well what a stupendous concert that was. Shifting between gentle moody vocal pieces and driving electro-jazz, plus other musical styles in between, the Cinematic Orchestra gave a master class in mind blowing genre hopping.
Mixing some of the more known tracks with examples of recent pieces meant familiarity was blended with discovery as the carefully crafted songs were executed with top musicianship. Such wonderful musical landscapes, growing and shifting, some simple, some more complex, with chances for each musician to shine in a drum solo, a sax piece or on the violin .
I absolutely loved it! Thanks

A truly inspiring display of talent and beautiful music.
The cinematic orchestra's performance was one of new and old tracks each delivered with a captivating charm in a way only they know how,a particular highlight for me was Luke flowers effortless ability to hold it all together with some of the best drum chops you will ever hear!!
The sound in the Eventium Apollo was absolutely spot on making all the vocal performances rich and clear.
The only negative about the evening was the fact it finished!!! *****

The supporting band had way to much base going on , it drowned out the female singer voice , and near burst my ear drums in the process , the Cinamatic orchestra although very loud , had less base , and a better set up completely , after standing up for 4 hours , I was in need of a sit down , I think the new tracks sounded good and all the singers were top notch , I think their new album will be jazz orientated by the sounds , who knows , a top band but I was ready for home and a rest afterwards

Beautiful music, of course, but the sound was really muddy, and it's really not the right environment to enjoy such complex sound- people chatting constantly and drunken messing about ruins the atmosphere. You'd be better off getting a good soundsystem or headphones and turning it up loud at home TBH. Save your money, buy their albums, or go see them in a proper classical concert hall where you can sit down and people respect the music.