Music and Theatre 101, Entry Numero Sept

Since in July I Couldn't attend any concerts or musicals, I saved up the Tim McGraw concert for the month of July!  I had SUCH a blast at this concert!  I sang along to every song and re-lived some great childhood memories!

"Just to see you smile I'd do anything that you wanted me to.  And all is said and done, I'd never count the cost, it's worth all that's lost.  Just to see you smile"

The bar was set pretty high for Tim McGraw:  From what I heard, his 2010 tour was a nearly perfect example of a seasoned artist at the top of his game. This years "Emotional Traffic" Tour definitely didn't dissapoint.

Popular newcomers The Band Perry opened the three-act bill, rushing through a set that sadly varied little in tempo or feel.

Storming the stage next with flashing strobe lights and random AC/DC riffs, was Luke Bryan,  who specializes in the kind of frat-boy country that makes you feel naked if you don't have a have a beer in your hand.  Let's just say I wasn't the biggest fan...

Tim McGraw finally appeared on a small riser in the middle of the packed amphitheater, and kicked off the show with some of his hits: "Something Like That,"  "Where the Green Grass Grows"  and "Last Dollar."  It is easy to see why he has been voted entertainer of the year so many times.  Tim sounded great and looked great and won me over.  He is by far one of my favorite artists I have seen live, and despite the somewhat pitiful opening performances, this show has moved up into my top 3 favorite concerts I have been to.  For country music lovers, Tim McGraw is definitely a must-see!

Music and Theatre 101, Entry Numero Six

In June, Brett and I attended the Forever The Sickest Kids Concert.  The crowd was small, but the quantity didn't matter because the quality of the audience was epic!

 "I candy-coat and cover everything, but I'm still hiding underneath.  It's been a long time, it's been a long time.  A thousand faces looking up at me.  Hands all pointed to the ceiling, oh, what a feeling!"

 

 FTSK released their new album just a few months ago. The recent departure of their former keyboardist Kent Garrison, left me uncertain as to whether they could go on with their electronic sound without him.  Their new songs proved that they can.   FTSK’s energetic music shook the floor of Slim's in San Francisco and the fans did nothing to help it stay still. Their set consisted of a perfect combination of hits from all of their three records including “Whoa Oh!” and “She’s a lady” from Underdog Alma Mater, “She Likes” and “Hip Hop Chick” from The Weekend: Friday and “Keep On Bringing Me Down”, “Life Of The Party” and “I Guess You Can Say Things Are Getting Pretty Serious” from Forever The Sickest Kids. Live, their music sparked off some crazy crowd-surfing and pretty loud sing-along.  This band loves their fans, therefore the excitement continued after the concert was over.  FTSK came outside to do a short meet and great with their fans, and four FTSK concerts later my dreams came true.  I finally got to meet the band's lead singer Jonathan Cook.  

Music and Theatre 101, Entry Numero Cinq

In May, Brett and I attended Sunnyvale Community Player's (one of my second homes) production of "Cabaret".

"I used to pretend I was someone quite mysterious and fascinating. Then I grew up and realized I WAS mysterious and fascinating"

Set during the decadent final days of the Weimar Republic, and based on Christopher Isherwood’s Berlin Stories, Cabaret tells the interlocking stories of a cabaret singer, Sally Bowles; the American writer, Cliff who takes her in; a malevolent Master of Ceremonies; and the other locals who are mostly oblivious to the looming threat of Nazism. This dark, daring, and provocative musical offers a hard look at why life is most definitely not a cabaret.

Leanne Payne, as both director and choreographer brought together a well oiled cast of talent and strength.  The show was clever and impeccably smooth.  The cast as a whole sounded like a professional cast, which made me quite warm and fuzzy inside to know that a community theatre program was working hard at bringing exceptional performances to the audience.  Overall this show was one of my favorite I have seen at SCP.  Each performer was quite talented with unique strenghts and together the actors brought a real backbone and power to the show that has been lacking in past productions I have seen.    

Music and Theatre 101, Entry Numero Quatre

In April, my sister Taryn and I attended the 30 Seconds to Mars Concert....I came home with nothing but bruised arms, a bloody scalp and complete and utter disappointment.

 "I tried to be someone else, but nothing seemed to change.  I know now, this is who I really am inside.  Finally found myself, fighting for a chance.  I know now, this is who I really am."

I have found that I don't have much to say about this concert other than it was by far the worst concert I have ever been to.  The band's fans are a bunch of aggressive rude people that view the band as a religion.  Jared Leto is an absolute tool.  The band didn't sound great live and couldn't even come close to redeeming the egotistical pig that is their lead singer.  Jared Leto was awkwardly vulgar and the rest of the band members were a complete drag to watch onstage.  I still want my money back.

Music and Theatre 101, Entry Numero Trois...Part Deux...

Later in March I attended the Broadway tour of "Rock Of Ages" for my sister's birthday.  The show proved to be very different...not your typical Broadway musical.  It was rowdy, cheesy and sleazy...everything 1980's. 

 "back in the day if you had a dream, a fifth of jack, and a decent amount of hair there was nowhere else to be!"

"Rock of Ages"

"Rock of Ages," A Broadway jukebox musical spins the time machine dial back to the 1980s. It's a shamelessly silly and refreshingly self-amused ride for a good deal of the way. But it helps to have your nostalgia ticket punched in advance.  If the power chords of "We Built This City" or "Don't Stop Believin' " don't ring at least some kind of bell, you may feel left out of the "Rock of Ages" party. The music, freely cut, spliced, reorchestrated and repurposed, is by several arena-rock titans of the decade.

Chris D'Arienzo's book, set on L.A.'s Sunset Strip, is intentionally lightweight, occasionally clever and sometimes lame. The charming Constantine Maroulis plays a shy aspiring rocker who falls in love with a fresh-faced girl from Kansas (the vocally vibrant Elicia MacKenzie). True love behaves according to form, by not running smooth. Meanwhile a nasty developer and his son (did they have to be German?) are trying to wipe out the nightclubs and strip joints and replace them with strip malls. The performers, working on high octane in Kelly Devine's blunt, hip-heavy choreography, regularly break the fourth wall and invade the house. A narrator ( Patrick Lewallen) wears out his welcome with commentary about the other characters and the musical they're all in. Peter Deiwick delights as the preening but insecure rock star Stacee Jaxx.   

The show is full of gloriously awful hair and clothing. Teased, kinked, coiffed, brutally straightened or freely flowing, the tresses onstage are a wondrous phenomenon. So are the miniskirts, studded vests, the glam-rock and boy-band get-ups. You may get tired of the characters before you lose interest in how they look...

 

Music and Theatre 101, Entry Numero Trois

It's been a while, but I have been sticking to my New Years resolution!!  So here we go for March...

In March, Brett and I planned on going to the Good Charlotte/Forever The Sickest Kids tour.  It wasn't until we got to San Francisco that we found out FTSK and dropped out of two weekend shows and our just happened to be one of them.  We figured we would go re-live our jr. high years by attending the GC concert, however found ourselves a tad concerned.  Would GC have a terrible set with new music we didn't know?  Will they take themselves way to seriously?  Have they completely sold out and become major tools?  

...SURPRISE!!  

Out of all the concerts Brett and I have been to together, this still holds the #1 spot for best concert we have attended together.

"And if I make it through today will tomorrow be the same
Am I just running in place?
If I stumble and I fall
Should I get up and carry on or will it all just be the same"

So the GC concert started off rough...three absolutely tragic opening bands.  Painful and redundant. HOWEVER!! Good Charlotte was a most delightful surprise.  The band played their first two albums in entirety minus about 4 songs.  Only one song was played which Brett and I did not know.  Hearing "Emotionless" was a real treat because they almost never play that song live.  We also got another fun surprise when during the middle of their set the broke out into a cover of Blink 182's "Dammit".     From time to time when band members pause to talk to the audience one would pay whatever they had in his/her pocket just to shut the band up.  GC wasn't that way in the slightest.  They were funny, smart and very clean.  All in All it was a super fun show coming from a super fun and down to earth band that loves life, music, and mostly their fans.  We didn't quite realize how great the show was until walking back to my car.  When we realized we had almost lost our voices from singing so loud we felt a little lame, yet realized what a great time we had.  It looks like Good Charlotte was just as fun when we were 12 and 13 as they are now :)

Aaron Gillespie "We Were Made For You" (Official Music Video)

I love this video. I thought it needed to be shared.