Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse Live in Concert
On 23rd October, I had the pleasure of visiting the York Barbican for a night to catch Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse Live in Concert, and if you are a fan of the comic-book character, the film itself, or the medium of animation in general, you will not come away disappointed.
Thanks to the success of both the original 2018 film and 2023’s Across the Spider-Verse, Sony Pictures Animation’s take on the beloved webslingers – especially Miles Morales and Gwen Stacy – have become favourites among the general moviegoing public and avid film lovers alike. I am no exception. As someone who knows Into the Spider-Verse like the back of my hand, thanks to endless re-watches racked up over the five years since its release, getting to hear composer Daniel Pemberton’s original work played live was a real treat.
For the unfamiliar, Pemberton’s score itself is one that has been lauded since its release. Successfully blending traditional orchestral melodies and themes with hip-hop, trap beats and scratching, the score reflects both the cultural soundscape of Miles’ Brooklyn home and his own budding heroism. Most of the score is replicated and performed seamlessly by the musicians as a score-muted version of the film plays.
London’s own DJ Blakey is deserving of a special mention – scratching records alongside the orchestra, making for a unique hybrid orchestra experience. The strings section is key to selling the most emotional cues of the score, and those moments arguably sounded better in tone and dynamic live than in the film. There are even moments of visual comedy on stage. Musicians take the limelight to tap away on computer keyboards as sound effects, or simply click a pen away into the microphone for a key scene with the film’s villain, Kingpin.
Despite my overall enjoyment, though, I did leave the Barbican with a few small qualms about the performance itself. My prior familiarity with the film played a big part, but I did feel like the orchestra felt stretched thin in certain portions of the runtime. There was a sense, especially during the more musically complex and demanding action scenes, that the concert would have benefited from more musicians to create a more layered soundscape in line with the theatrical score. The French horns, trumpets and trombones numbered two each, with a string section of four, which felt like barely enough to cover all of Pemberton’s assigned compositions in the score. Noticeably absent, too, is the tuba, leaving the bass-heavy Kingpin motif to be played by the film’s audio mix instead of live, which proved particularly jarring.
Overall, I still had a blast watching Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse Live in Concert and would highly recommend it to fans of the film and orchestra screenings alike. The orchestra is currently touring in the UK until the 1st of November, with future stops in London, Glasgow and Sheffield, so be sure to catch it while you still can.
Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse in Concert is currently touring the UK. Tickets are available via Ticketmaster from £41 at Nottingham.
