‘The Man Who Fell To Earth’ inspires Raf and O’s ’Tommy Newton’. The Tour Online is dead, long live The Tour! Constellation Club, Inter-Pla-Net-Live, Shared Air Shows and Art Is Calling
September 18, 2021 § Leave a comment
‘Cause if you think of what it’s all about, you probably find it’s about creating.
.
Side One Of This Very Blog
GOODBYE TOUR ONLINE
Mission accomplished. 24 dates and one year later, Raf and O (aka Raf Mantelli and O Richard Smith) with our fans emerge from The Tour Online celebrating. Dependable, journeying together, ‘cause if you think of what it’s all about, you probably find it’s about creating.
Courageous and strong, varied and long, each show different from the next, The Metro’s newspaper featured Raf and O’s livestream shows among the best online. Punching through to the other side of the screen, interacting with the visuals we created for the shows, there were performances, tensions, drama, release, there were smiles, sounds, lots of sounds, live, smooth, edgy, dynamic. There were a lot of interactions with our fans. Intertwining interpretations of David Bowie songs (TMWSTW live video features on our previous blog) colliding with renditions, at time total revisions of the songs of Kate Bush, riding the collision through to the other side to meet Raf and O songs with a lot of the already released tracks freshly approached for the tour and a lot of the new, unheard and previewed for the eyes and the ears of the eager out there. O and I want to really say: A deep felt THANK YOU, you are the best fans and we are going to bring you more. You can find The Tour Online action shots album here
RAF AND O ‘TOMMY NEWTON’
INSPIRED BY ‘THE MAN WHO FELL TO EARTH
“Intoxicating, reflective, artistic and dramatic”
God Is In The TV zine
“A spellbinding lamentable love song … sublime”
Monolith Cocktail
Amongst the new Raf and O songs, one in particular is close to our hearts: ‘Tommy Newton’, which will be part of our new album is inspired by ‘The Man Who Fell To Earth’, the 1976 science fiction film based on the novel by Walter Davis directed by Nicolas Roeg, starring David Bowie in the role of Thomas Jerome Newton and Candy Clark in the one of Mary-Lou. It’s a love song I’ve written from the perspective of Mary-Lou, she’s talking to Tommy, but it’s really happening in her mind, she’s talking to herself and she’s talking to us. I loved the film all my life, just as I’ve loved Bowie. Performed for the first time ever on The Tour Online, the live video of this performance has been featured by the press and now is part of this blog too!
Continues below
Raf and O – ‘Tommy Newton’ Live on The Tour Online 12 June 2021
Side Two Of This Very Blog
Last month I published my stream of consciousness on social media.
“Some time we take our time to figure out where we may want to head out next. There is no clear path set, only the leading light of our imagination to determine our next steps. So, with that in mind, we’re at the end of the tour online and we may yet have to define what has to come up next, under the leading light of stars, some place afar.”
Raf Mantelli (2021)
So we’ve let our imagination flow and time has clearly grown, or has it compressed?
….. On the event horizon
2022
We’re launching two projects
INTER-PLA-NET-LIVE and CONSTELLATION CLUB
INTER-PLA-NET-LIVE
PHASE 1
5 shows
one every 5 weeks
like the points of a star
Starting January 2022
Building on the strength and success of The Tour Online, INTER-PLA-NET-LIVE will see Raf and O presenting new live shows in the ether, accessible from all parts of the world and who knows, the universe perhaps?
Reaching new territories – it’s in the DNA.
plus …..
CONSTELLATION CLUB
Are you a star in our galaxy?
A new club to see the birth of our NEW ALBUM.
Very excited. Details to be announced
plus …..
The return of SHARED AIR SHOWS
We have a new name for those shows in the flesh, you know, the ones where we share the same physical space as the audience. ‘Shared Air Shows’, that’s how we will refer to them from now on. Alongside INTER-PLA-NET-LIVE (our future live online shows) we are testing the atmosphere soon to be leaving the capsule. Yes we will back wherever possible, performing in the flesh too, so look out for Shared Air Shows by Raf and O from soon into the future …
THEATRES, PROMOTERS, FESTIVALS, RAF AND O HAVE THREE EVER EXPANDING LIVE SHOWS TO BRING TO YOU!
THE SONGS OF RAF AND O
(Tommy Newton Live Video)
THE KICK INSIDE – THE SONGS OF KATE BUSH
(Babooshka Live Video)
CHILDREN OF THE BEWLAY BROTHERS
(TO DAVID BOWIE WITH LOVE)
(The Man Who Sold The World Live Video)
For bookings and more info email: info@rafando.com
plus …..
ART IS CALLING
The rekindling of another passion of mine – ART.
After years of making music and writing songs I’m making art again, I see them working like a seesaw. Maintaining a visual connection through album artwork creation, video visions, visuals and performance, this is only a step away, or the gestures of a hand. Below a couple of portraits, you may recognise the subjects.
Watch out for work and it will take different forms, from now into the future …
Commissions are of course welcome – info@rafando.com
plus …..
There is more, but you know… it can wait for now!
2022 will see us busy …. Raf and O ❤
Continues below
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This is The Tour Online, now mid voyage, come aboard! Raf and O play Underwater Blue and Bowie – The Man Who Sold The World: live videos
March 22, 2021 § Leave a comment
Six months ago we started The Tour Online and the performances brought in the press. We are very grateful
“Stunning” Pennyblackmusic
“It’s going to haunt my dreams” Joe Muggs
“Greatly strung out on heavens high as always.
Love it” Monolith Cocktail
Untrapping (can we do this?) our way out of this global overhanging shadow, with hope in sight we are still battling. Envisaging new ways to bring live shows to our fans, we embarked on one year long virtual tour, where we launched Children Of The Bewlay Brothers (to David Bowie with Love), a project to bring you renditions and interpretations of ‘the man who sang himself to Earth’ alongside The Kick Inside – The Songs of Kate Bush and the songs of Raf and O. We’ve been visually and sonically bathing in monochrome and colour hues, reticulations, guitars. and atmos, piano and upright strings and lots and lots of vocals down those internet cables, while the light of a century old moon bass drum overlooked unsuspectingly. (Continues below)
Fifteen shows down the line we have been performing live to our fans in front of the camera on the other side of the screen, a big big thank you to them, they have been exploring with us a new way we can perform. Some stills from the virtual tour are HERE , follow us on STAGEIT, the platform we use to perform.
Below, a couple of live videos showing a glimpse of The Tour Online, a peep hole, a key that you can turn, to come inside you must come on board or continue the journey with us. Each performance lasts almost an hour, always new surprises, the audience interact live with us through the power of the written word aka live chat, we, on the other hand interact with the spoken word and live sound & vision. You can find our remaining dates on our LIVE page. We are waiting for you!
Tickets are now on sale for the following shows:
Mar 27 – The Kick Inside The Songs Of Kate Bush – TICKETS
Apr 10 – The Songs Of Raf and O – TICKETS
Apr 24 – The Kick Inside The Songs Of Kate Bush – TICKETS
May 08 – Children Of The Bewlay Brothers – TICKETS
(to David Bowie with Love)
We have also relaunched our sisters FB and TWITTER pages as Raf and O play Bush & Bowie: The Kick Inside and Children Of The Bewlay Brothers. Give them a like and a follow and of course our main social media pages have journaled all stages of our tour so far – you can catch all updates HERE and HERE! See you soon on The Tour Online, in fact we’re back this Saturday with The Kick Inside – The Songs Of Kate Bush at this link. Totally looking forward to unleash some more surprises. https://stageit.com/raf-and-o/95673
With love and renewed energy
Raf and O XxX
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Raf and O 
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