Fritz Lang's "Metropolis" with live score by David DiDonato
Mohawk
∙
Austin
Thursday, March 7 at 7 pm CST
Bar
Concert Venue
Rooftop
Thursday, March 7 at 7 pm CST
Bar
Concert Venue
Rooftop
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No Options Available
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Description
Screening of Fritz Lang's Metropolis with Live Original Score!
Performed by David DiDonato
| ABOUT THE FILM |
Metropolis is a 1927 German expressionist science-fiction drama film directed by Fritz Lang. The silent film is regarded as a pioneering science-fiction movie, being among the first feature-length movies of that genre. [7] Filming took place over 17 months in 1925–26 at a cost of over five million Reichsmarks.
Made in Germany during the Weimar Period, Metropolis is set in a futuristic urban dystopia and follows the attempts of Freder, the wealthy son of the city master, and Maria, a saintly figure to the workers, to overcome the vast gulf separating the classes in their city and bring the workers together with Joh Fredersen, the city master. The film's message is encompassed in the final inter-title: "The Mediator Between the Head and the Hands Must Be the Heart".
---
David DiDonato (born October 27, 1973) is an American guitarist/composer/multi-instrumentalist/producer, best known for performing the World’s Longest Guitar Solo on May 13-14, 2012 and for being in a wide array of bands; including the Ultimate Dragons, J-Church, Funeralizer, Modok, Ipecac, H.R.M., DFI, and Ratking. Most recently, he scored Fritz Lang’s Metropolis.
DiDonato’s first band, The Reptiles, disbanded in 1984 when he moved from Connecticut to Michigan. He switched from drums to synthesizer in 1986, then from synthesizer to guitar in 1987. In 1988, DiDonato moved from Michigan to Virginia. In defiance of the “trendy” punk rock ethos, he vowed to teach himself how to play guitar before starting a band.
DiDonato’s high school band, The Jolly Mortals, performed a handful of shows in their native Williamsburg, Virginia. In 1992, they came in second place at their annual talent show to a band named Killing Cycle, whose guitarist later went on to be in Lamb of God. Later that year, the Mortals relocated to Richmond, VA. There, they performed countless local shows, toured, and released two 7” records and one 12”.
After a brief stint with seminal noise-rock/metal band Ipecac, DiDonato formed the metal/noise-rock band H.R.M. Following that, he was in a list of bands too long to be listed here; spanning genres as diverse as electronic, goth, Vaporwave, death metal, surf rock, soft rock, classical, hardcore, and jazz. One of these bands, the Ultimate Dragons, later went on to change their name to The Sword.
In 1999, he (armed with the Boss DR-550 drum machine) delved more deeply into programming and sequencing with the one-man band DFI. Their (his) eponymous CD was released on November 12, 2002 – the same day as Missy Elliott’s Under Construction, though with less commercial success.
DiDonato’s guitar/programming/production work piqued the interest of Lance Hahn, guitarist/singer of seminal Bay Area punk band J-Church. He played lead guitar in this band for 2 years, until forced into semi-retirement by a family emergency. During his tenure, J-Church put out 3 albums and toured 3 continents.
During his semi-retirement, DiDonato created a primitive soundtrack to F.W. Murnau’s 1922 silent film Nosferatu, fusing classical guitar passages with instrumental black metal. He also self-released countless home recordings and was in a list of bands too long to be listed here.
In early 2014, DiDonato began work on the soundtrack to Fritz Lang’s Metropolis. He is said to have spent roughly 2 hours on each 30-second long piece of the 2-hour and 28-minute long film. The soundtrack was finally completed in June of 2018, and has been performed in front of rapt audiences in Austin, Detroit, Raleigh, and Dallas.
In early 2019, DiDonato began reworking his 2006 soundtrack to Murnau’s Nosferatu in anticipation of a Halloween release.
https://daviddidonato.bandcamp.com/releases
https://blog.moodmedia.com/artist-interview-david-didonato/
https://rateyourmusic.com/release/album/dfi/dfi.p/
https://www.punknews.org/review/3349/j-church-society-is-a-carnivorous-flower
https://riffipedia.fandom.com/wiki/Ultimate_Dragons
https://archive.org/details/WhatsNewInterviewsDavidDidonatoAboutMetropolis
Time Magazine link about David beating the record for Worlds Longest Guitar Solo:
http://newsfeed.time.com/2012/05/16/austin-guitarist-breaks-record-for-worlds-longest-guitar-solo/
Screening of Fritz Lang's Metropolis with Live Original Score!
Performed by David DiDonato
| ABOUT THE FILM |
Metropolis is a 1927 German expressionist science-fiction drama film directed by Fritz Lang. The silent film is regarded as a pioneering science-fiction movie, being among the first feature-length movies of that genre. [7] Filming took place over 17 months in 1925–26 at a cost of over five million Reichsmarks.
Made in Germany during the Weimar Period, Metropolis is set in a futuristic urban dystopia and follows the attempts of Freder, the wealthy son of the city master, and Maria, a saintly figure to the workers, to overcome the vast gulf separating the classes in their city and bring the workers together with Joh Fredersen, the city master. The film's message is encompassed in the final inter-title: "The Mediator Between the Head and the Hands Must Be the Heart".
---
David DiDonato (born October 27, 1973) is an American guitarist/composer/multi-instrumentalist/producer, best known for performing the World’s Longest Guitar Solo on May 13-14, 2012 and for being in a wide array of bands; including the Ultimate Dragons, J-Church, Funeralizer, Modok, Ipecac, H.R.M., DFI, and Ratking. Most recently, he scored Fritz Lang’s Metropolis.
DiDonato’s first band, The Reptiles, disbanded in 1984 when he moved from Connecticut to Michigan. He switched from drums to synthesizer in 1986, then from synthesizer to guitar in 1987. In 1988, DiDonato moved from Michigan to Virginia. In defiance of the “trendy” punk rock ethos, he vowed to teach himself how to play guitar before starting a band.
DiDonato’s high school band, The Jolly Mortals, performed a handful of shows in their native Williamsburg, Virginia. In 1992, they came in second place at their annual talent show to a band named Killing Cycle, whose guitarist later went on to be in Lamb of God. Later that year, the Mortals relocated to Richmond, VA. There, they performed countless local shows, toured, and released two 7” records and one 12”.
After a brief stint with seminal noise-rock/metal band Ipecac, DiDonato formed the metal/noise-rock band H.R.M. Following that, he was in a list of bands too long to be listed here; spanning genres as diverse as electronic, goth, Vaporwave, death metal, surf rock, soft rock, classical, hardcore, and jazz. One of these bands, the Ultimate Dragons, later went on to change their name to The Sword.
In 1999, he (armed with the Boss DR-550 drum machine) delved more deeply into programming and sequencing with the one-man band DFI. Their (his) eponymous CD was released on November 12, 2002 – the same day as Missy Elliott’s Under Construction, though with less commercial success.
DiDonato’s guitar/programming/production work piqued the interest of Lance Hahn, guitarist/singer of seminal Bay Area punk band J-Church. He played lead guitar in this band for 2 years, until forced into semi-retirement by a family emergency. During his tenure, J-Church put out 3 albums and toured 3 continents.
During his semi-retirement, DiDonato created a primitive soundtrack to F.W. Murnau’s 1922 silent film Nosferatu, fusing classical guitar passages with instrumental black metal. He also self-released countless home recordings and was in a list of bands too long to be listed here.
In early 2014, DiDonato began work on the soundtrack to Fritz Lang’s Metropolis. He is said to have spent roughly 2 hours on each 30-second long piece of the 2-hour and 28-minute long film. The soundtrack was finally completed in June of 2018, and has been performed in front of rapt audiences in Austin, Detroit, Raleigh, and Dallas.
In early 2019, DiDonato began reworking his 2006 soundtrack to Murnau’s Nosferatu in anticipation of a Halloween release.
https://daviddidonato.bandcamp.com/releases
https://blog.moodmedia.com/artist-interview-david-didonato/
https://rateyourmusic.com/release/album/dfi/dfi.p/
https://www.punknews.org/review/3349/j-church-society-is-a-carnivorous-flower
https://riffipedia.fandom.com/wiki/Ultimate_Dragons
https://archive.org/details/WhatsNewInterviewsDavidDidonatoAboutMetropolis
Time Magazine link about David beating the record for Worlds Longest Guitar Solo:
http://newsfeed.time.com/2012/05/16/austin-guitarist-breaks-record-for-worlds-longest-guitar-solo/