Cincinnati Pops' current show, Bond and Beyond is timed to coincide with the release of the 23rd James Bond movie, Skyfall.  And, me being a huge 007 nerd, had to go to the first of the only two performances.

Parked outside Music Hall was a new Aston Martin, courtesy of Cleveland Aston Martin.  And parked inside, on stage, was THE 1964 DB5 from Goldfinger:

The photo is from the 2011 Matthew 25 Ministries 5K.  (Which, coincidentally, the 2012 race was the same weekend as Bond and Beyond.) 

And you may be wondering, why is this car always in Cincinnati?  Here's where it gets confusing: The Cincinnati Pops thanks Aston Martin of Cleveland for loaning them the car.  However, many sources, including someone from Twitter who says he works for the owner, Harry Yeaggy from Cincinnati.  It's possible Mr. Yeaggy is connected with both.  After all, if you're able to pay $4.1 million dollars for a car, you can own a dealership.

On to the music:

The Pops, under the direction of John Morris Russell, opened with a lengthy version of the familiar James Bond theme, and I'm not a musical expert, but it seems to me, they changed the orchestration or the arrangement halfway through, reflecting how the theme has changed over the years.  I'm glad they opened with it, instead of playing it at the end, because it made me want to drive fast, and shoot at bad guys.

They played a lot of familiar Bond theme songs, and happily for me, a few that are a little less well known, like the theme from On Her Majesty's Secret Service.  And, they played something I'd never heard before: The original arrangement of the James Bond Theme from Monty Norman.  He composed the famous melody, but no-one was too fond of it.  It was a little too Firebird Suite.  Composer John Barry came in, and made it swing. 

There were some non-Bond songs, including Mission: Impossible, Soul Bossa Nova, and the Pink Panther.   And a medley of 60's crime shows.  (And a tip of the hat to whoever decided to turn on the flashing police lights at the end of Hawaii 5-0.  Nice touch!)

And it wasn't just an orchestra.  Vocalist Ron Bohmer took on Thunderball and From Russia with Love, and did an amazing job with one of the more recent 007 themes: You Know My Name, from Casino Royale.

Capathia Jenkins knocked me down twice: first when she sang the new song, Skyfall, perfectly.  The song just came out a couple of weeks ago, and the Pops didn't have much time to work on it, but they nailed it.  And then, they performed one of the lesser known songs, License to Kill, sung by Gladys Knight.  They did such a good job, they made me want to see the movie again, and it's not a good flick.

There was one encore, and it was a pumped up version of the one song they didn't play in the main program.  (No spoilers.)

The Cincinnati Pops presents Bond and Beyond again this Sunday, November 11, at 2pm.