Los Angeles — Hans Zimmer's compositions have accompanied movie magic in “The Lion King,” “Gladiator,” the “Dark Knight” trilogy, and most recently, “Dune” and “Dune: Part Two.” Zimmer's award-winning scores will be performed live this fall.
This fall, his “Hans Zimmer Live” tour, which sold out in Europe, will visit the U.S. and Canada for the first time in seven years. Fans may remember the 2017 Coachella performance. Zimmer said he was encouraged after “refusing to get onto a stage for 40 years” by what his friends Johnny Marr and Pharrell Williams told him over Zoom from New York.
“Look your audience in the eye. A screen can't keep you anonymous forever. You owe it to your audience, they told him. “I can do this,” he declared after Coachella. After touring Europe, his orchestra is “at the top of our game at the moment,” he says.
Avoid classical music and piano concertos at “Hans Zimmer Live,” which has no conductor, no sheet music in front of the musicians, and no film clips. "I come from rock and roll and believe in putting on a show," he explains. “People stay with us because we offer a new experience... Life is hard. Life is hard now. People worked hard to get these tickets, so we best put on a show worthy of them.
“Hans Zimmer Live” begins at the Gas South Arena in Duluth, Ga. on Sept. 6 and stops in 17 U.S. and Canadian locations before ending at the Rogers Arena in Vancouver, British Columbia on Oct. 6. The tour visits Hollywood, Florida; Raleigh, North Carolina; New York; Baltimore; Boston; Montreal and Toronto; Minneapolis; Chicago; Fort Worth, Texas; Denver; Las Vegas; Los Angeles; Oakland, California; and Seattle.
Zimmer predicts a diverse audience. “I’ve looked out at the audience and there’s a mom with her grandson sitting next to a guy with a mohawk, a man in a business suit, and another bunch of bikers,” Zimmer said. “So it's multicultural and multi-generational.”
Zimmer recalls, “Two weeks after the invasion started, we managed to get about half of them out of Odessa,” referring to his Ukrainian orchestra. Zimmer met “The Lion King” theme singer Lebo M, a South African political fugitive. “And he thinks he can probably never go back home,” Zimmer adds of Venezuelan woodwind musician Pedro Eustache.
I have a really multinational collection of players, and part of what makes them emotionally engaged musicians is that they all have stories. The recently rearranged “Hans Zimmer Live” features works from “Gladiator,” “Pirates of the Caribbean,” “The Dark Knight,” “Interstellar,” “The Lion King,” “The Last Samurai,” and “Dune.”
He explains, "Each piece is connected with the adventure of actually creating it, making that movie, collaborating, and wondering, 'How did we get here?'" “Where did this journey begin? And how can we ensure it never ends? “Each movie is colored and influenced by the world. All have been wonderful journeys.”
These films and scores are very different, yet Zimmer's unique approach and arrangements are the common thread. A particular something makes a good score effective and moving. You must commit. Truthfulness is required. He thinks a good score shouldn't make you nostalgic. The performers are another factor. Consider that musicians are the last actors hired and featured in movies. I choose my coworkers carefully.”
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