Orange and black are required colors for the creator of Halloween.

I've always had a strange relationship with the films of John Carpenter. With each new film a new interesting scenario is presented and the setting is always surprising for the viewer. We can be in an Antarctic base trying to figure out which person is not themselves or stuck in New York City in a dystopian prison city fighting to save the president.

There was a certain point in time where each movie was highly anticipated. You never knew what you were going to get in a film. On top of all this, John Carpenter is an accomplished musician often scoring most of his own films. This is a rare breed of individual that can do both so well.

Mr. Carpenter has since ceased making film. His last entry was in 2010 with The Ward. A film that doesn't capture the essence of his style and with none of his music throughout. In all honesty it doesn't feel like a film of his.

Over the years the bug named Carpenter has really bitten me. His music lingers with the viewer long after the films have ceased.

Soak up the atmosphere. This is only the beginning.

Carpenter has since moved on with his second act in life as a musician. He's much happier these days and guess what? Cody Carpenter, his son is in the band too. Having the ability to collaborate like this and spend his later years touring as a musician has done wonders for him.

Let's meet the band.

Thankfully for us we get to see a more fleshed out Carpenter clearly doing what he loves. This is where this concert footage Blu-ray comes in. Filmed in 2016 and spanning many countries the band went all out delivering to fans and newcomers something new and more importantly exciting.

The nice part about this concert experience is that it feels personal. There are plenty of nice tight shots along with the standard crowd pans. Apparently this was filmed in Chicago and London. These venues appear relatively small only further adding to the ambiance.

Whatever the style it's always something unique and memorable.

His music runs across many different styles. Usually the themes from his films are very basic that exponentially build over time. The tension lingers in your body waiting for the climax that sometimes doesn't come. He really does know how to play with your emotions.

The tour doesn't consist purely of the big hits from his films either. Only recently did I find his new material put out under the Lost Themes name. This is new original content from the mind of John Carpenter and the band.

These tracks show further expansion into more sonic territory than often found in the themes from his previous movies. The nice thing is that you can close your eyes and envision all types of scenarios where this music would fit perfectly.

The main title from In the Mouth of Madness plays while certain clips are projected behind the band. In a world of insanity a sane man is the insane one.

Carpenter, the horror maestro is both visually and aurally gifted. The title of maestro is not a term I throw around lightly either. For the longest time I was unaware that another maestro Ennio Morricone did in fact score John Carpenter's The Thing. Carpenter was well known for using synthesizers and electronic equipment especially during his early film output.

At least in the film world, a full orchestra was cost prohibitive. John Carpenter worked in the lower budget realm producing high quality work both sonically and visually. He would stretch the dollar of the budget and writing his own music was only part of this. Electronic music was still often not seen as professional enough so if was often dismissed much like his films at the time of release.

A shot from Prince of Darkness, probably one of my least favorite films of his and it's been growing on me after many years.
That's Alice Cooper in the trench coat for eagle-eyed viewers out there.

Only years later do we see a career's worth of work finally being appreciated. Not to mention the influence his music and his films have made on all genres of film. Horror and sci-fi are often not taken very seriously until recently and now everyone seems to know everything. I suppose the internet has a lot to do with this too.

The show itself looks like a great spectacle with screens behind the band showing clips from the film soundtrack they are playing or random imagery based on their new material. Luckily they have screens on the side for the folks who happen to be on strange angles so they can at least see something on the screen.

You can see the band is well prepared and have done this many times before. Carpenter once in awhile makes some brief remarks before a song is played but is otherwise silent. The band itself is introduced nicely by him at one point further showing that is a collaborative effort and not just about him. The new material is clearly written to give each band member a key role. Everybody has something to do and even when the lead guitarist isn't playing you can see him on the keyboards going the extra mile.

This is only the end of the show. There is much more music to be heard in the future, I know it.

The practice, talent and effort is here for anyone to see. All you need to do is block off around 80 minutes of your time to watch and listen. I've actually listened to this disc several times without the visuals and it works.

Soundtracks and themes are very hit or miss for me. The art of the score and themes are starting to become a lost trade in modern filmmaking. More than often sound architects and sound manipulation for an emotional response seem to be the flavor du jour. This type of audio work is generally forgotten by myself as you may not even realize the choices made are music. There will always be room for the care and effort taken to produce music that works in film. The big issue is money and time even with the cost of music production relatively affordable for all.

As for me, John Carpenter and his music has left a memorable impression with me. A few notes played and I can identify the song and film immediately. There's something about the magic of a quality theme matched with certain visuals that you will never forget.

This new chapter in Mr. Carpenter's life is a rejuvenation of his joy for making music and entertaining people as he always did. These new albums and tracks have already made an impression on me and I would consider them new classics. All I could hope for now is another film made by John Carpenter with a nice budget, quality script and most importantly his music.

You never know what might happen these days. Fingers crossed!

Here are some of the great new tracks put out on Lost Themes that are featured live by the band and one favorite of mine from the film Big Trouble in Little China.

Vortex

This feels like 10 miles of bad road. A driving beat to put the listener on edge until the breakdown. The 1958 Plymouth Fury named Christine might be pursuing you if you happened to wrong her. What a track!

Mystery

I'm thinking of Tubular Bells initially. That creepy and unforgettable theme from The Exorcist. This is only a teaser as we travel along to an unknown destination. Here comes the drums and guitar showing you the way. Enjoy the trip.

Wraith

Another vehicular based song in my mind that and it might have to deal with the word wraith as I'm thinking of Rolls-Royce's Wraith. Great supporting guitar work that pierces through the sonic landscape. The ebbs and flows are superb here.

Porkchop Express (Theme from Big Trouble in Little China)

The guitars are the memorable bit here. Good old Jack Burton will be taking on anything or everything here, or at least trying to. I only need to hear the opening guitar riff and the whole film springs to mind. Another fun and driving beat with overlaid synths throughout.

Thanks for the read 🙂

All media captured by myself from the original source.