Review: The Rock Orchestra by Candlelight

Girdy and Birdy went to the Edinburgh Playhouse to check out The Rock Orchestra by Candlelight, where they were treated to many recognisable songs with a classical, orchestral twist.

I wasn’t sure what to expect from The Rock Orchestra by Candlelight, but when Girdy mentioned it, I thought it sounded like a fun time. After all, I like rock music, I like classical music, and I like experiences – so why not?

Myself and Girdy were seated up in the balcony, second row from the front, and so as you can see from the photos, we had a great view of all the action.

Let’s check out the official description before we go any further:

The Rock Orchestra by Candlelight returns with an epic, new 90-minute concert, breathing beautifully dark energy into legendary Rock & Metal.

In ethereal candlelit settings, this band of 14 classical musicians unleash effortlessly enchanting melodies alongside powerful walls of distortion. Witness the unexpected union of Classical music and Metal.

Yep, I was ready to have a good time!

The format

Like many concerts, the show was split into two halves, with a 15-minute interval, and one encore at the end (if you’re lucky and make enough noise).

Some of the songs were purely instrumental, however there were also a male and female vocalist who would come in on some of the songs, and the show was all the stronger for it.

As it was in the Playhouse, you can imagine there wasn’t really any room for dancing, and that suited us just fine! I understand some of the venues for this show may have standing room where dancing may occur, though.

The vibe

Got to admit, where I first heard about The Rock Orchestra by Candelight, I had visions of a dark and dramatic setting, quite serious-like, with candles scattered around the venue as well as on stage – in short, what I was imagining was an enchanting fire hazard!

That’s not actually what we got tonight; instead, we got fun, dramatic lighting, skulls, LED candles aplenty, and a great big moving, singing, eye-darting zombie head! (Girdy apparently named this dude in his head, but I argued surely he has no right to do such a thing as dude probably already has a name.)

The vibe was dramatic, exciting, and with plenty of changing moods and lighting appropriate to each song. Plus, the band were all wearing skulls masks and skeleton attire! In other words, enough was going on so as not to get bored – and we could tell the audience were really getting into it, too.

The show itself

The performance was really engaging and technically flawless. There was a good mix of music from bands such as AC/DC, System of a Down, The Cranberries, Rage Against the Machine, Evanescence, My Chemical Romance, No Doubt, Guns N Roses, Papa Roach, Metallica, and more!

Overall, we really enjoyed ourselves, but we were glad that after the first two songs, we got some vocalisation after worrying the entire concert may be purely instrumental. Although, some of the instrumental covers – the System of a Down ones, for example – were played extremely well.

There wasn’t a single song I didn’t recognise, and my favourite of the night was Zombie by The Cranberries, which is also the song where the zombie head woke up and started moving around – which was unexpected by very fun.

A lot of energy went into each performance, and you could tell the 14-piece band really gave it their all. Great energy, great music, great effort, and that made for overall a fab evening of music.

Overall

If you’re looking for an experience that combines classical music with all your contemporary rock favourites, with a dark theme, I highly recommend The Rock Orchestra by Candlelight! We had an excellent time here at Edinburgh Reviews, and want to know the actual name of that zombie head.