The Cribs

THE SANCHO PLAN – “THE BLACK PAGE”
TYNESIDE CINEMA
24TH SEPT 2009

On Thursday night the Tyneside Cinema played host the world premiere of The Black Page – the latest performance by audiovisual group The Sancho Plan.

A combination of real-time animation and live music, The Black Page had the group performing on stage while simultaneously controlling the action onscreen – as a lost wanderer comes across a surreal desert landscape, where a strange Guardian holds the key to his way home.

Before this the audience were treated to The Sancho Plan’s ‘Greatest Hits’ – a sequence of four other performances that featured head-banging geishas, robots, Lovecraftian creatures and all manner of musical sea life.  As well as being marvellous pieces in their own right, the medley worked to both introduce the technology and show the development of the group’s vision from the earliest work to the breathtaking finale of The Black Page itself.

Unlike other cross-platform ‘interactive’ art works, The Sancho Plan’s work is truly a combination of sound and imagery.  Take the sound away and it is just a computer animated showreel.  Remove the images and it’s just some guys in white t-shirts banging away on drums.  Put the two together though and something very special happens.  It’s almost like they got bored playing Wii Music and decided to make their own game instead.  Only much, much better.

The Black Page in particular is amazing, finding the group taking their concept to new heights – bringing in new instruments to compliment the drumming (bass and keytar) and elaborating on the visuals to bring narrative into the mix.  Part Frank Zappa drum solo, part Dali tribute, it truly is a wonder to behold.  Seeing the group perform it leaves you positively buzzing with thoughts of where they could take their work next.

Whatever that may be, I recommend that next time The Sancho Plan in town you should get yourself a ticket.  This may be the future we’re looking at – and it’s got robots and geishas in it.