#show reviews | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

nix-whythisfilm · 1 year

Text

15 Fantasy-based shows that I would recommend to anyone interested

As a hardcore fantasy buff, I cannot remember the number of Fantasy shows, movies and books that I have hoarded through the past two decades. The shows range from a variety of genres, but they all have some levels of fantasy fiction in them. Do let me know your thoughts in the comments!

The Witcher (2019)

The show is based on the books and the video games, unclear which inspired the other, written prominently by Andrzej Sapkowski and Lauren Schmidt Hissrich. The first season was directed and played out in a haphazard style that kept the suspense going, inspired by Christopher Nolan's Dunkirk. This high fantasy show is set in a pre-technology era with magic, magical creatures and plenty of violence. The show stars Henry Cavill as Geralt of Rivia for the first two seasons, with news of a changed actor in the coming seasons. The witcher has numerous perspectives that make it a compelling watch, along with the complex issues of that time addressed independently with the heart of the story being steady.

Having watched it belatedly, I found the direction of the first season mind-blowing, the details brought into the screen, and the storyline finally making sense with each episode. The characters are shown various levels of growth and evolution throughout the two seasons and so many little things that we can hook into. Not wanting to spoil much of the show for potential audiences, I would safely say it is a strict adult show but has numerous life instances shown that makes it one hell of a watch. Do look out for the ladies of the show who are all stunning and leave you wanting to see more strong female leads!

The Shadowhunters (2016)

Again, this is another show based on the book series The Mortal Instruments, written by Cassandra Clare. As someone who hoards her books, I was deeply upset about the show. But once I read up on why the show ended up that way, it made sense. The show was juggled around by channels a lot, with each season being directed by different people, but the story as a whole was approved by the author.

So as someone who read the books and then watched this show, I would say that the show can be viewed as an alternate reality of what was in the books. And as someone watching the show with no prior bias or idea about the Shadow world, it is a good watch. The show has vampires, werewolves, demons, mentions of angels, and especially angelic warriors. The main character is pretty stereotypical, but the others absolutely steal the limelight as the story progresses. Though it is not accurate to the books, the characters have been woven very well to not disappoint about the show's end. As a special mention, Harry Shum Jr. was an absolute stud in the show, as was his character in the books.

Stranger Things (2016)

As a running show in 2022, this show had an elaborate fanbase for the various trends in America over those years that have been very neatly captured though it is unrelated to the main story. The story involves a missing boy in the first story, with the following seasons covering for the various repercussions that come after that first season. While the show has no touch of modernity and is very era specific with everything, it is set in a small town facing so many things that it was not meant to. With numerous characters, all teenage and those who act their age, the show's fantasy foundation is based on Dungeons and Dragons.

As someone who watched the show only this year, I deeply regret not having watched it earlier. It had an excellent storyline, genuine characters and sensational direction by the Duffer brothers. This show felt like a throwback after the many shows I have watched, with it being old-school style. With so many characters barely in their teen years, the performance on screen is astonishing and unimaginable bearing in mind the storyline of the show. With Millie Bobby Brown as one of the main characters, this show is a strong recommendation.

Game of Thrones (2011-2019)

This show has been all over the internet since it began and the fandom brought together fans from every possible age. The merch is everywhere, and the drama about the last season was everywhere too. And as someone who mostly watched completed series to avoid the anxiety of waiting for the next episode, this show was a lot. It spanned nearly a decade, and we can see the growth and the decline of some significant characters in the show. The unprecedented fantasy element in this show was the dragons, tree spirits and the main antagonist, the night king.

Is the show as good as the hype? In my opinion, absolutely. The story is so well written with such requisite considerate details for each individual in the story. George RR Martin's story was followed as closely as possible till the second season, however, the following seasons were shot with the novels as a whole rather than one novel per season. I believe that the reason most people were upset by the end of the show was that the story was given an outline by the writer, but written by different directors. While stories have been continued by different people in many instances, the ending felt like it went in an inexplicable direction, considering that the story was built with high expectations of a climax. In all honesty, the show spoke of a lot of things, but something that changed it for me was the amount of nudity. Unexpectedly, it did not seem vulgar after some time, as people like to assume but rather normalized bodies of every kind and did not discriminate against people in general. It even helped my body dysphoria and made me feel human.

Teen Wolf (2011)

The show is old news, I know. It was such gossip for a long time about being a chick show with mainly teen girls watching it for the good-looking guys as some of the main characters. Does this rumour have substance? Yes, it comprises some good-looking actors focussed on the previous era's standards for beauty and trends. But is it baseless and unentertaining? Lord no. It was such a surprise when I watched the show, that issues far more advanced from that time were normalised, and that it was not mentioned anywhere. It speaks of family relationships, friendships, and the importance of trust and diversity. And for once, the characters that were homosexual were not used for queer baiting.

The humour was my favourite bit of the show, and it rarely had any toxic positivity or toxic relationships. The show had genuine characters who were not brought in for the plot and then ripped off; they even had a credible plotline with varieties of antagonists. The characters were not specifically black or white. The fantasy elements were werewolves (obviously), mutated versions of other transforming creatures, banshees, dryads, kitsunes, and so many more. Thankfully it had no vampires because I cannot fathom how they would fit into this show. Honestly, this would be a 10/10 show, with no regrets of watching it after finishing the series.

Chilling Adventures of Sabrina (2018)

Honestly, this is a highly adult-rated show, not just for the explicit scenes and heavy gore, but also for the questionable morality shown throughout the seasons. I don't refrain from much, but this show was dark and pretty explicit in terms of violence both physical and mental. The plotline seems simple and apparent in the first few seasons, but if we pay attention, it speaks of many things. The show deeply spoke of family relationships, attributes of trust and how most societies work. They're not simple, but they can be functional. The fantasy elements are highly based on satanic beliefs with witches, demons, angelic believers, eldrich terrors and more.

The show was different for me but also familiar. It is attached to the Archiverse and has mentions of Riverdale, with this show set in Greendale. The story has its uniqueness of the main character being half-witch and half-human. It was interesting how all the characters were inherently petty and childish but were also mature and deeply self-aware. There are innumerable instances of redemption and many morally grey arguments. P.S. the black cat was my favourite character.

Shadow and Bone (2021)

This series too was based on a book series Grishaverse written by Leigh Bardugo and is very well directed. The show stars Ben Barnes and numerous actors who have done excellent work in the first season. The second season is yet to come out, but the cinematography is beyond imagination. Often, people who read books feel that the show wasn't as good, but then the characters might be up to it, but the CGI is a letdown. But this show has a CGI enough to compete with The Witcher. The characters are varied, with one society being excessively civilized in a pretentious form of government, and the other is chaotic but thriving for hustlers. And when they all come undone, the characters work to find their place.

The book, when I attempted to read was extremely challenging. In truth, it was a little everywhere and made little sense when I tried the first few chapters. While the show is much quicker, the confusion is evident in the series as well in the beginning. The show, in a change of pattern, inspired me to read the book series. It also showed elitist attitudes, racism and discrimination very well. The roots of the show give an aura of being set in Russia. The characters are challenged with their belief system, which I liked because that is something about the youth years that is rarely highlighted in many shows, morality and personal values.

The Vampire Diaries (2009-2017)

Telecast a little over half a decade, this show became news due to the never-ending drama and the wave of memes it brought on that still runs. The show prominently has three prominent characters-Elena Gilbert, Damon and Stefan Salvatore. Yet another show based on books, the series was ten times better than the books. Does it have a lot of drama? Yes, but the story gets more nuanced and actually interesting after the first few episodes. The drama never ends, but it has substance and even gets entertaining after a point. And for the people who like drama, this show is a gold mine. The fantasy elements don't stop with vampires and werewolves but also have witches, hybrids, sirens, and psychics.

It's a lot, and not for the light-hearted, to go through all the seasons and still have the interest to watch through the sequel series. But for people who are into series and long-standing shows, it unquestionably gives you something to hold on to. As someone who read the books, about three series written by the original author L. J. Smith. The books were widely different from the show but had most of the same characters in the show. The book began to irk when there were endless deaths yet they kept coming back to life through ridiculous circumstances. The show, however, made it a little more credible, even though it is highly fiction.

The Originals (2013)

Aired over half a decade this show is a sequel to the Vampire Diaries. It has continuation stories of characters initially antagonists in the previous show, featuring mainly the Mikaelson family. It has pretty much the same fantasy elements but also covers some more nuances into the witch world, exploring nature spirits and more. This show is more into the detailed family drama of this complex family and doesn't require having watched the vampire diaries. While the show is much drama, it also has a lot of violence with the main character being extremely questionable with his morality.

In some ways, I liked this show way more than the Vampire Diaries, considering how it was not based on characters surviving in high school with ridiculous supernatural challenges. While watching the vampire diaries is entertaining, this show had many contradicting core values that stuck. Their values and beliefs on what a family is and the constant struggles they face together. But the evolution of the main characters was the palpable part of the show, which became much more evident and intriguing. A little spoiler, with some of the main characters being centuries-old vampires, the perspectives are always gripping and plausible.

The Legacies (2018)

Another sequel to the series, this series is a direct sequel to the Originals. While the plot is based on teenagers in an unusual school for supernatural folk and people of this decade. The characters are direct descendants of the previous two shows, so fair warning to not watch this before those two if you like no spoilers. This show is quite different compared to those two, with a different pace and drama. But it does have a ridiculous amount of fantasy characters. This show decided to bring in the history of nearly every myth possible and question its reality. While the storyline is questionable with so much going on for the new audience, the base stays constant while connecting to people who watched it after watching the prequels.

While this was a completely different scene from the intense prequel shows, it covered a lot of good current issues in the series that were not given much importance in the previous shows. The importance of mental health is given a huge priority in this show, with various characters facing so many issues and taking it positively that they require professional help. The ending of the enormously lengthy story was a little questionable but as someone with a penchant for fantasy, this show covered a wide spectrum from greek muses to gargoyles. It was wild, but it was given a full circle ending with so many plots that began through all the previous seasons and shows.

The Wheel of Time (2021)

Having just finished watching this show, I am still in awe at how spectacular the show is and cannot wait for the following seasons. Based on the books written nearly three decades ago, the series is mind-blowing having the characters woven so neatly (pun intended). The show is based on magic and involves the fight against darkness. It is a classic storyline, light against the dark, but the interesting facet is that magic users are only allowed to be women. Something magnificent was the way the music albums were made for this series. Sure, many shows make music for the show specifically, but this show has music that feels like music for the soul of the story. The cinematography also has graphics of such detail and beauty whenever magic is shown on screen.

Something I deeply liked in this show was the characters and the music which synced with it. The way their fates are all intertwined is fascinating to watch through the episodes, and it is understandable how they closely depended on each other with their various backgrounds. The colours and architecture in the show are beautiful beyond imagination, and the story is quite compelling. It has chosen one trope that seems cliche, but it also has things in the story that are not cliche, and bonds that are heart-wrenching.

Merlin (2008)

It is an old show, and the fantasy elements are a little over the head, but it is a long and tedious watch that is worth it. It's a one-time watch, especially if you want to watch something half distracting and half interesting. While there are many versions of the story of King Arthur, Merlin and Morgana, this show gave a plausible story in a way the story came together. The show starts with the characters all in their youth, new to each other and not having known each other. There are classic English fantasy elements in the series that are dragons, magicians, dryads, and nature spirits.

It was taxing in the beginning, with it being an old show and particularly slow-paced. But once I adjusted to the pace, the show was good. It was thorough with the plot, all the characters are given a detailed perspective and storyline and have very old-school story narration. Though personally, I believe some of the characters were signed off unfairly, the show went in an unexpected direction after a point. It was not until after I finished the show that I missed its familiarity, its antique theme music, and the slow life that is shown on the show. We rarely see any shows today that are slow as a whole. Something I have repeated but will say again is that the old-school characters and the lack of toxicity in their personal lives and twisted relationships are very light and good for the heart and mind.

Wanda Vision (2021)

As a huge Marvel fan, this show was my first watch of this era of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. It is the story of Wanda Maximoff after the events of Avengers: Endgame. It begins off-key and makes no sense in the beginning as to why the narrative is as it is going. But as someone who has been into Marvel for over a decade now, I cannot guarantee what this show looks like to people who have no idea about Marvel and the main character. But then again, a lot of the background is given in bits to the story. The fantasy and CGI are mindblowing with the entire power play that comes into focus at the end of the show. While the show is mostly fiction and fantasy, it has a lot of science fiction as the basis.

While I have my prejudice against the characters in the fandom from previous movies, Wanda was a personal favourite with the potential her character has in the comics. Her fashion sense stuck with me, and so did her spirit. With the number of tragedies in her life, this show gave a lot more perspective into her story than any previous movies could have. She was a strong woman, and I significantly looked up to her.

Loki (2021)

This was one of the few shows on Marvel that was more mythology and fantasy than science fiction. While there is plenty of science fiction in the show, Loki was one of the favoured antagonists in the fandom, with many who admired him for his never-tiring spirit and mischief. He was the God of Mischief in Viking mythology but also someone with an explanation of his existence in science fiction. The story moves in a direction that no one predicted him in, where he gets incriminated as a criminal by the time authorities. It is a fascinating narrative for him to be in the situation that he is in. With not much that can be said without spoiling the show, I will say that it is witty, humorous, brilliant, and thoroughly scary at the ending it leaves you with.

As someone who thought Loki was brilliant, an idiot in his circumstances for the things he wanted, but brilliant in his own style, this show was highly entertaining. The god of mischief trying to do right by the time authorities is ironic but a good watch. Does this show need any information about the Marvel Universe for new watchers? Not really, but it helps to make sense of his morality and understand his character that evolved through the eras. All the shows in Marvel Phase 4 are stunning, but this was one personal favourite.

Moon Knight (2022)

This show was entirely alien to me when I began, with no previous introduction to the characters or this supernatural universe. This show is highly based on mythological fantasy rather than science fiction, but not as fantasy based as the other shows in this list. The show stars Oscar Issac as the main character, and it is quickly revealed that he is enduring a mental health condition, which he uses to his benefit. It is set in Egyptian mythology and modern adaptations of what those myths could mean in today's world.

The show was different from anything that was previously in the MCU. It had a struggling main character, phasing in and out of his episodes and through situations. In all honesty, this show was a little above my head. Not very believable in my eyes, but a good watch nonetheless. It could be the various Egyptian mythology stories I have devoured through the years that were nearly not covered sufficiently in the show.

19 notes · View notes

normalaboutitpod · 1 year

Text

youtube

Shadow and Bone Season 2: Episodes 5 & 6 Review!✨

Wesper is carrying the show, they changed a twist, took a scene from fanfiction, and forgot a really important line! We have one question: What's all this then!?

What did you think of these two episodes of the second season!?

#shadow and bone #grishaverse #six of crows #wesper #malina #kanej #sab netflix #show reviews #Youtube

9 notes · View notes

anxiouspark · 8 months

Text

VINCENZO

Hot n happening + mafia + comedy + psychopaths and blood + weird combo but fun watch

RUN ON

healthy relationships

A BUSINESS PROPOSAL

Cliche but like inspired by cliches but a slap to actual and few toxic cliche tropes and cute

VAGABOND

A dayumnnn kd. My favv action show. Has plot and the best actors makes you want tons of seasons + ends with cliffhanger but is worth watching

EXTRA-CURRICULAR

Makes you question the existence of humanity and sanity but a peek at the darker and shady sides of the world we live in + tiny kd + netflix og

THE WITCH PART 1 : THE SUBVERSION (kmovie)

Crazy very crazy and bloody and tf is going on kinda but worth watching in a very twisted way + action, mystery, sci-fi

MOVE TO HEAVEN

10 or 12 ep masterpiece. Genre is melo idk but it's one of the most painfully beautiful things I've ever watched

#Kdrama recommendation #Recommendation #tv show recommendations #reviews #Show reviews #Vincenzo #Business proposal #Vagabond #Extracurricular #Move to heaven #The witch #movie recommendation

4 notes · View notes

z0mm3rp3ngu1ns · 10 months

Text

i might become a movie review/show review acc bc i watch lots of things and i have lots of opinions, if you have and recs js ask pls :)

#film reviews #movies #show reviews

5 notes · View notes

missing-sock-misto · 2 years

Text

Cats Show Review: Denver 5/24, 5/25, 5/28

So this is a bit late. 😅 These notes have been typed up for a solid 2 weeks, I just never got around to finalizing them. :P

I went on three different days (it was kind of a mistake of scheduling, long story, but I regret nothing), and this review is going to be covering all of them together. The cast was the same for day one (5/24) and two (5/25), but different for Saturday’s (5/28). So the first two shows were pretty much the same, and the third had the most differences. (I do refer to Saturday’s show as “the third day/show” because it was my third show. It was not chronologically the third show they performed.

(Note: Travis was Tugger all 3 days. They just forgot to put his name on the board as a cover for the first two).

Bows: 5/24/22 Bows: 5/25/22

I also use the Broadway 2016 Revival as my biggest point of comparison, along with comparing the shows with each other.

I do take the opportunity to talk about the Broadway Revival choreography. I do keep it generally positive though.

If I refer to a stage direction, I’m talking about the audience’s pov. Note: -I am a huge Misto stan, so I basically tracked Misto through the entire performance. Most of the notes are on him. I’m also a huge Tuggofflees shipper, [though I will say in this version, I’d probably read as a poly Misto-Tugger-Bomba. Very, “Hi, this is my boyfriend Tugger, and this is his boyfriend Misto”]

—

(I did run into some formatting issues where paragraphs would get doubled, and if I deleted the duplicate a *different* paragraph would get deleted and doubled. If you see a paragraph get doubled, I’m sorry, I tried.)

I will start out by saying that I like the Revival choreography. While I enjoy the original choreography, (and there are some pieces that I do prefer the original for, or I’m sad that certain elements were removed), I overall really like the Revival choreography and the additions and changes it made, especially for Tugger and Misto’s songs. I think the Jellicle Ball is the one I feel the most conflicted about. It is absolutely ok if you do not agree with me on this, it is my opinion, but I do like it.

While Day One was good, I definitely thought it was the weakest performance. I’m guessing the altitude shift of going from sea level New York to “the Mile High City” of Denver combined with travel really hit the performers hard. I noticed people running out of breath during their performances or panting really hard at the end of a number.

However, by the second day, people seemed to have adjusted somewhat. And Saturday’s performance was fantastic. Definitely my favourite. Nick (Munk), Vinny (Alonzo) and Chelsea (Bomba) have deeper/lower registers, and having them there really helped increase the diversity of the vocal pallet. It’s still a very young sounding cast, but I definitely noticed a more filled out ensemble when they were there.

Plus, both Chelsea and Lauren (Demeter) have incredible voices, both powerful and show stopping but unique from each other. Having them together for Macavity and Glamour Cat was awesome.

I really enjoyed the cast

- Surprise standouts

Jennyanydots

Bustopher/Gus

Demeter

Due to the limitation of the tour set:

- No Aerial capabilities & no pyrotechnics

No trapeze,

No “climb up a wall”- with a cat scaling a wall on a wire, though Bill Bailey was hanging from the ladder

No aerial entrance for Misto

No wire removal for Griz

No pyrotechnics at the end of Misto’s number.

- Inflatable set so no trunk boot opening.

- Lighting- No “window” grids. Generally more limited lighting effects when compared to the Revival.

Overture- Invitation

Gorgeous lighting

Baby Griz gets the line “When you’re walking alone”.

Great enunciation. For the 98 film, I need subtitles in order to understand what they were saying. These guys, I could understand clearly.

Misto grabs the boot and passes it off to Tumble (I think).

Hand motions and symbols to represent the different “types of cats”. I thought this was a cute addition. For example:

Ie “Skeptical cats” the cats do a wide stance and put one hand on their chin, the other on their elbow.

Romantical Cats- Demeter & Munk hold hands and look at each other and smile. (I will say, while I preferred Nick’s voice, I think Taylor might have had better chemistry with Lauren).

Critical cats- they do a calculator typing motion?

Skimble takes the “There’s a man over there” line.

Gumbie:

First good look at Misto’s performance (well besides Invitation but run with me)

He has soo much energy, always smiling, and doing hard choreography. I have no idea how Paul is alive right now.

Due to the limitations of a tour setting, they took out several of Misto’s “magic tricks”. In Gumbie Cat, he’s supposed to create a light spot to conjure a window, spread the light open, and then open the car boot with magic. Misto does still create the light spot, but because of the lack of window grid lines, the light doesn’t look like it spreads? So he’s just twirling on the floor for what looks like no reason.

Plus, then the car boot doesn’t open with magic, she just crawls onto the boot, so he just goes “Ta Da!” It really makes Misto look like he’s showboating for no reason 😅

I don’t mind too much, because I love him, but it does look a bit off

Michelle’s an amazing Jenny, she’s gorgeous, beautiful voice, great tapper, loved her. A number of Gumbie Cats I’ve seen can be very “shrill”, but Michelle’s voice is super sweet, I got “motherly” vibes from her rather than “Mother Superior” vibes.

The kittens mess with the Gumbie Trio’s tails while doing the “and tie it into sailor’s knots” piece.

They only have 3 cockroach costumes, but they look nice, more like wheels than garbage bags. They use them less though.

Misto DOES NOT like the cockroaches. When they came out he would go on all floors and hiss/bite at them, then look at Jelly for approval.

While some cats are scrubbing the floors, Misto on top of the oven scrubbing the top of it. Others are cleaning the sides and throw their rags to him.

No exercise balls (Revival). Honestly, this was a good adjustment for me. I thought the exercise ball dancing was a recipe for disaster. I don’t know if this is a permanent adjustment or a tour adjustment.

Rum Tum Tugger

All right, I went in with low expectations for Travis, ngl. I basically bought tickets after seeing Zach’s TikToks and loving them, and being like, “yeah, I can trust this guy to do a good Tugger performance”. So when Zach left, Travis had big shoes to fill, and I had a LOT of baggage about (and investment in) this character.

I’ll admit, I didn’t like him in his first performance. I started warming to him after his song finished, but I was still pretty wary of him. (In his first performance, he was at an 11 in theatrics and very nasally, which I’m not a huge fan of).

However, I liked him more the second day, once I knew what his deal was, and actually enjoyed him on the third day. It was also interesting, cause he changed his performance slightly each time. Each day he dialed it back a little bit more. The first day he was particularly nasally and “immature” and he laughed hysterically in his entrance. For the second, he toned it down a bit. On the third, he sounded more… pouty? He lowered his voice and it sounded like he was pursing his lips or something a bit more while singing. He also barely laughed when he came out (and didn’t say “boop” when he kicked Munk’s butt, like he did the first two days. [That was a shame, I liked the “boop” :P] ).

(Note, he’s changed his makeup. When it was first announced he was taking over for Zach, he had an extremely contoured face that made his chin very narrow. By the time he’s gotten to this performance, he made it more natural, doing the cheek stripes and following the shape of his face better, and didn’t use as extreme contouring. I think this is a plus, I didn’t care for his initial makeup look).

Overall, I enjoyed his performance, it just took me a while to actually warm up to him.

- Misto:

Tugger and Misto look at each other very affectionately while doing the “And there isn’t anything you can do about it” leg sashays.

FYI Misto does not smack Tugger’s bum, that is an illusion on uppastthejelliclemoon’s boot due to camera angle. HOWEVER, it is pretty dang suggestive. I would say it was more of a “Hey there” or “call me later” something? Hard to describe.

After his quick dance with Tugger, Misto was ogling Tugger on all fours from on top of the car boot. Around the “bureau drawer” line, Skimble comes out and Misto excitedly paws at him and points at Tugger, like “Isn’t he great 😍” and taps at himself. Then Skimble leans in and starts lecturing Misto, and Misto is clearly not internalizing this message, (On the first and second day, he just full on ignores Skimble and continues watching Tugger excitedly. But on the third day he has the decency to sit back and look a little less excited… until Skimble gets off to help Jenny, and Misto goes right back on all fours and stares at Tugger with huge heart eyes XD).

Tugger dances enthusiastically with Cassandra

During the mirror sequence: Misto does an extra jump. [vs Revival]

The cats surrounding the Mirror do not stare at Tugger, but instead face at the audience. [vs Revival]

Misto is doing the Big Boy Choreography with Munk and Alonzo on the right side (Skimble’s doing it on the left side)

Tugger mockingly does the Big Boy arm wave, then scrapes his foot at Munk before pulling in Misto to do the lighting dance.

He still does the hip thrust when Misto goes through his legs! [Ok, part of me wants to talk about the different styles of hip thrusts that he did on different days… but I also really don’t. But they were different].

Misto was Absolutely Enraptured when started Tugger doing the “abouts”. This cat wanted to hear his boyfriend riff.

For shooing away his fan club, on the first two days he does a more annoyed “Ah ah ah ah” like “Do you mind?”. The third day he laughed first, did the “Ah ah ah” again, though it sounded slightly less annoyed, and also some “Tss tss tssts”, with a final “Meow.” I laughed.

Glamour Cat:

Tayler my beloved. Her voice is incredible.

There seems to be an interesting history between Jenny and Griz in this version. Jenny is usually the first to approach Griz, before turning and running away. I didn’t know how to read it, and it kind of depends on the age you want to put Griz at. She could be an old friend who lost her way, or maybe a kitten Jenny had helped raise.

Munk literally gestures for Griz to leave the stage, like “There’s the door. Get out.” Before Demeter starts singing. (Lauren’s Demeter is incredible. Her voice is smokey and powerful and just awesome. I saw she got to go on as Griz in June and I’m so happy for her, she has the voice for it).

And Chelsea as Bomba 🤩. These three powerhouses singing together, fantastic.

Bustopher Jones:

Is greeted by Alonzo, then later guided by both him and Munk

Misto slides off car boot and Victoria helps him fluff his fur

No street light for Misto to light up (Again, this kind of makes it weird that Misto gets a solo moment with a spotlight with Bustopher, because there’s no point for him to be the center of attention if you don’t know that that was a trick that was in the show).

I really like the dinner napkin flowing into a table illusion.

I like that they do the Macavity scare and then Bustopher says “Toodle Pip!” It makes the line make sense.

Mungojerrie and Rumpleteazer

Amazing performance. This performance helped me realize that [in my opinion], this is probably the hardest number of the show. It’s JUST these two, and they have to do some very tricky, physically intense choreography, while singing well. And they have to be in sync.

They have nothing to distract from them and no one to support them besides each other. Super tricky number, huge respect to these guys.

I adored Allison as Rumple, her voice is sweet but strong. And both Mungos (Max and Brian) were great!

Old Duet

Victoria crawls to the front stage right to greet Duet first and is waiting by the wings when Misto brings him back.

After the song ends, Tugger helps Deut sit, and nuzzles his fur

Jellicle Ball

This is the piece where I think the rechoreography is weakest for me.

They do significantly more lifts in this version, and also throughout the whole show. I like lifts, this is a positive. But they took out and changed a lot of things I’m fond of.

After the Macavity scare, Alonzo Munk stay out, and Tugger is the first to come out when Old Deut starts singing. I am… not really a fan of this. It feels very, “the Big Boys are the brave ones” which feels more… stereotypical(?) than having the young and innocent girls (Victoria and Jemima/Sillabub) to be the first ones brave enough to come out.

Deut and Gus sing “Rollie Pollie” and “Gavotte and a jig!” I liked this, it made them seem like old chums who were jovial and got along,

Only Misto sings “Reserving our terpsichorean powers!” Not him and Munk together. (He also does a magic trick, I thought it was cool. He spins and moves the spotlight around the stage.)

Minuete- Tugger and Misto do a bit of the minuete together! The cats only do like one dance step, so it’s very quick, but I saw it and was very happy.

Lol, on the Saturday performance, the audience did NOT know when to clap. They tried clapping twice when all the cats paused when in the triangle formation. But at least they wanted to clap!

They took out the Boy Ballet, I was not happy. I knew it would happen, but I like that sequence for obvious reasons. (Honestly, they seemed like they took out quite a bit of Misto’s dancing in the ball. They did increase Jerrie and Teazer’s roles though).

When Bomba does her sexy girl cat dance, All the boys stand to attention and do bobs and arm raises, and Misto just leaves. (While he’s not the only boy cat missing, he is the only one to actively leave, and he also kind of draws attention to it by doing an arm flourish) I laughed so much. This cat is too gay XD

Tugger and Bomba run off together to… presumably have some fun.

After Tugger comes back, Misto sits on the car boot with Tugger and they hang out. On the first day, when Misto gets up to join the back of this line for his choreography, he paw bumps Tugger and Tugger gives him a little encouraging wave.

They reduce the number of whirligigs to one. I like whirligigs, this is a big negative.

Griz comes out early on, and mimics Victoria when she’s doing the pre-Pas de Deux with Plato. I got the sense that she *was* the Victoria of her generation, and was reliving her youth. It was… melancholy. I liked it.

(I also like that they establish more Plato/Victoria moments throughout the ball. That way Plato doesn’t come out of left field with his petition. They seem very cute and earnest, very “young love”).

Misto looks paired off with Jelly during the ball?

God I like this Pas de Deux choreography so much better. You mean Victoria doesn’t need to get her breasts raked by a guy while lying on top of another guy every night? Thank you.

When Misto is drawing attention to Griz to scare her off, he lights up the area around her, then runs center stage to do the head bobbles. He, Jelly and some of the others try to scare Griz off in the background, while Deut is actively trying to stop them. It isn’t until Munk scratches Griz when she runs off. Deut looked shocked and disappointed.

I did see/hear/read an interview where they said that Victoria is touched by every tom during the show. They did seem to keep this in place. (I paid attention when she and Tugger do a small bit of the choreography together and went ‘huh’.

After passing Princess Louise and until Ecstasy, instead of having everyone dance in a mass, they basically broke it up so two-four cats would do a piece of the choreography before passing the next step to a different group. I personally think this takes away a bit of the impact of the choreography, because there is something awe-inducing of having 22 or so people just dancing in unison.

My friend who I saw two of the performances with disagrees with me, as they felt that breaking it up made the stage feel more active and dynamic. Just to give the perspective of someone who wasn’t hyperfixated on the show.

I do like in the end after they do the “Drags”, they collapse in like a circular staggered pattern. It felt cool and flowed appealingly.

Memory:

Goddamn it, Tayler has a fantastic voice. Like, I cannot stress how much I loved her delivery.

ACT TWO

Gus

John Bow is a Great Gus. His voice is deep and resonant, and he has a fantastic charisma that just pulls the audience in. (He also made me feel better about Griz getting picked. I could believe this cat could make it another year for the next Jellicle Ball).

The audience laughed at the appropriate moments.

Throughout the first performance, Misto and Tugger kept trading glances over jokes. Tugger liked the oven and would sit on top of it a lot.

On the first day, when Gus prepped to do the “wail to bring on the ghost”, he coughed to clear his throat, and the audience broke out in a loud applause. Gus paused for a moment looking a bit confused, then went, “I haven’t done it yet!” in kind of playful exasperation. The audience settled, and then he did the wail, and the audience brought the roof down with their cheering.

By the second performance Gus learned his lesson, and didn’t clear his throat.

When Gus said the line, “I knew, how to act, with my back, and my tail”, Jenny flicked Skimble’s tail.

Pekes and Pollicles

Great dramatic lighting, very fun.

Am I a little sad that Munk didn’t get to be a director? Yes. But at least he was able to help, and frankly, anything that gets rid of Growltiger I’m all for. Plus they made little melody homages to Growltiger, which I thought was a nice touch.

When everyone’s getting ready to put on the show, Misto’s lighting the stage lights at the front, and in the back, Munk and Skimble are shooing Tugger off stage. He’s like “all right, all right, I’ll move XD”.

I might be reading too much into this, but screw it. So they have Misto and Tugger sit on the car boot together and they paw bump, so they’re obviously friendly. Then when the Pekes and Pollicles are coming out, they have Misto move so he and Tugger sitting in the back on opposite sides of Old Deut (Misto on tire, Tugger on car boot), like they’re trying to frame them as “opposites”. Idk, it feels like an enforcement of the “opposites attract” trope, which I’m here for.

(A general note, it was very cute seeing how Misto interacts with Old Deut throughout the performance. They seem to have a good relationship, and Deut seems to care for him like a (4th) son.)

“Winsome Chinese” thank god. I like, sighed with relief every time I heard it, even though I knew it was coming.

No bagpipes 😔

Tugger actually seems pretty interested in the story. He kept smiling and leaning in and stuff. He sat with Old Deut and held his arm throughout the performance.

Instead of shaking, like the Pollicles did when the Rumpus Cat emerged, Tugger shimmied on the first two days.

Skimbleshanks:

Chris is a good Skimble! He’s energetic, has a good voice, I enjoyed him a lot. They kept most of the choreography the same, so I can’t say too much.

They did have it so that Skimble doesn’t fall asleep during Gus’ song, he is awake, says hi to Old Deut, and then goes on top of the car boot to mime being asleep. I like this, as it keeps more to his character of being perceptive and alert, rather than having him be actually asleep for his introduction.

Misto and Demeter were cute and playing with each other in the background.

(Paul’s Misto is such a cinnamon roll, he was *really* happy to be the light of the train. He also kept bopping around with Demeter who was one of the front wheels.

Catnapping

I significantly prefer the Macavity of the revival over the original. Like significantly. I like the costume design better, I like the catfight choreography better. There are some really neat parallels between Tugger, Deut, and Munk with Macavity in this version too. Instead of doubles, they had Macavity’s laugh echoing and moving around the theater. I also think it does a better job of establishing Macavity as having mind control powers, what with him puppeting the cats around. (As a kid, I had been very confused by the kidnapping scene from the original choreography. I was like “Why is no one doing anything?” This is much clearer) I also like how Munk tries to save Demeter from getting hypnotized.

Macavity:

Lauren and Chelsea are such a powerhouse couple. Fantastic rendition of Macavity.

Macavity fight While all the girl cats are grouped together in their ending pose, Macavity creeps in amongst them, and then jumps out, as if appearing from nowhere. (I think this was super cool, but I do think they need something to distract from center stage while he’s doing it, cause all the girls are very skinny dancers and don’t obscure his entrance super well).

- Macavity walks off stage with his henchcats and “Deuteronomy” is brought back.Demeter realizes it’s a fake, and does her hackles raised run.

But what’s interesting is that when she passed between Macavity and Cassandra and Tugger, they stopped and started shaking their heads, and on the first two days put their hands to their heads. (Skimble was doing the same motions on the left side of the stage. I think there was a 4th in the lower corner, but I couldn’t tell who it was)

Then while she’s running to the other side, the four cats do like “On guard” poses, getting on all fours and planking, which they seem to do to communicate that they’re paying “intense attention” to something. (They do it during the Ball quite a bit when the girls are being sexy).

This was the first time I actually thought “Oh, Demeter is breaking the illusion.” At that point, it’s not fully broken until the disguise is removed, but the other cats are also able to sense that something is wrong.

It was really funny, because I just… had never thought of it as an illusion before? I don’t know what I thought it was. I think I just thought “stage magic. He was Old Deut, now he’s Macavity, let’s move on”.

Personal note: This is a fun element to support my head cannon that Tugger (and Munk) have low level magic. Cassandra is kind of mystically coded, and Skimble seems to have heightened senses (he’s the third to react to Griz’s presence in the Ball and is often quick to react/see something as wrong, but he’s usually sniffing the air. He also traditionally comes out sniffing the air during Jellicle Songs, like he can detect the audience. [They kind of enforce this by having him be the one who says the “man over there” line in the revival]. And because I follow the “Mac, Munk and Tugger are the sons of Deuteronomy” head cannon, and both Deut and Mac are pretty magical, I like the idea of the other two having low level emotion magic. And Tugger being one of the first that the illusion weakens for is something I’ll use for evidence :P

During initial reveal:

Tugger looked pretty distressed that it wasn’t his dad, (though it could be he was trying to hide his face to prevent getting mind controlled). But he crawled to the back onto the tire and kept his head down, staying crouched.

I think Sillabub was the only female kitten to not get mind controlled by Macavity. (Cough cough, I headcanon Sillabub as the daughter of Mac and Demeter, I’m using this as evidence that she’s more resistant to his magic).

Catfight:

Munk is absolutely eating it.

(He doesn’t do the thing where he’s also one of the mind controlled cats in the background and breaks himself out of it. He kind of, stands there and poses for a bit, like he’s about to attack, but hesitating. Personally I prefer it when he breaks out of the mind control.

Alonzo pulls at his own arms before intervening to save Demeter, like he’s breaking out of the mind control. After he breaks it, it seems like it breaks for the other cats soon after. I read it kind of like, Mac can control the masses, but once he loses one, it’s easier for all of them to break out of it.

In lieu of pyrotechnics, they set off strobe lights and play a crackling noise when Mac shorts the circuit. Honestly, I liked this a lot, it was very effective.

After confirming Macavity’s gone, Munk collapses, and everyone rushes to check on him.

He and Demeter nuzzle each other.

Mr. Mistoffelees

Alrighty here we go. My boy. My favourite song.

[Deep breath] [High pitched scream] I LOVE THIS CAT SO MUCH, Y’ALL!

Brief interlude to talk about Paul’s Misto. Listen, I don’t think Paul is the most technically (as in dance technique) proficient Misto. His flexibility is good, but not off the charts, and some of his leaps aren’t “effortless” looking or as clean as say, Ricky’s. But goddamnit I love him.

He’s SO energetic and enthusiastic. I think he took the “electric” word note and interpreted it as that. He’s Sooo Happy, smiling and grinning the whole time in the background. Plus, it’s super cute cause he’s all dignified and “aloof” (back straight, reserved facial expressions, calm nods and motions deliberate) whenever an older cat like Deut or Gus is around, and then TUGGER shows up for his song and Misto is the MOST Into it, (his motions compared to say Sillabub when Tugger’s preening in the mirror the first time is HILARIOUS, he throws his ENTIRE body into every action, I love it). He is over the moon for Tugger, it’s very cute. Plus he just becomes super excited whenever he gets to do something and breaks his more “aloof” and “reserved” persona almost immediately. He’s just such a fun and enthusiastic character to watch. So yeah, my heart melts every time I see him. I love him so much. Huge cinnamon roll.

- General notes on the choreography.

I really like the rechoreography for Misto’s number. (Again, this is my opinion, it’s ok if you don’t share it).

While I like the original, the bulk of it is one guy doing relatively simple choreography until you hit the conjuring turns. There’s really not a lot to look at.

A lot of the serotonin I get is from my personal investment in the character, but if I wasn’t so hyper-fixated on Misto, I’d probably get bored 😅

Additionally, the other cats don’t really get a chance to react or interact much, cause everyone besides Tugger basically take a seat and watch.

I like the rechoreography because it:

Has awesome lighting effects

Gives Misto center stage, but incorporates the other cats to emphasize his actions and also the music beats.

Puts a lot of action on the stage, making the number exciting and dynamic.

The Broadway revival jacket is the best addition, you have no idea how much I love that jacket. They were like, “Ok, listen, we’re getting rid of the rainbow banner. But don’t worry, this entire cat is going to be rainbow, and he’s going to make the stage rainbow, and it’ll be great.”

(Fun fact, my friend also went to see Sunday’s performance. They said that Misto’s jacket was on the fritz, it wouldn’t stay lit during his number, and then it was going off during Memory XD. I was glad I wasn’t able to see that show, it would have made me sad :P )

Updates the Old Deut reveal, thank goodness. Even as a kid I was unimpressed by the blanket magic trick. I like that they have a blanket homage, with the seven kittens (also a very fun moment), but the new reveal is communal, interesting, and much snappier.

Plays up certain themes of community and actually includes the magical exhaustion trope.

I like the ending of this song a lot better. With the original jump-splits, roll, then lift; unless it’s done extremely fluidly, it can be really easy for the audience to think the first sound cue is where they’re supposed to clap, because it’s a really dramatic choreography moment combined with a dramatic sound cue. But when he keeps moving for the roll and lift, you can hear the audience go “Oh wait, we messed up,” and it makes the ending lose some of its punch. By making it a musical reprise then solid music cue, rather than a double ending, it maintains the energy of the number and doesn’t make the audience feel bad for clapping, because it’s clear it’s not the ending. (Plus his ending pose being him holding his “bowtie” is cute 😝)

I like the idea that Misto tries bringing back Old Deut on his own with the Conjuring Turn (when his jacket is fully rainbow and pulsing, he’s at his max power), but he still doesn’t have the energy to do it. He collapses. So then he has to take a moment, regroup, and is like, “I can’t do this alone. I need the help of the Tribe.” So he distributes the magic to everyone (to charge individually or something), and together they are powerful enough to bring back Old Deut.

I could talk more about my thoughts on this, but this section alone is 1000 words, so no.

- So:

No aerial entrance. But… here’s the crazy thing… I think I like this entrance more? It’s great, cause they don’t do the “I’m just going to walk in from the wings”, which is my least favourite entrance cause it’s so… boring?

What they do is they have Tugger start off center stage elevated when he starts his introduction. Then he walks off the tire, they focus the spotlight on Tugger and darken the ambient lighting. Then Tugger moves to the front left of the stage to give the “you have seen it one moment- out on the lawn” line. Then with the musical cue; Misto appears centerstage on top of the tire, jacket pure white, spotlight on him, stars and string lights in the background flashing briefly. I honestly loved it, it’s snappy, fast, and looks magical, especially if you don’t know it’s going to happen and don’t look for the dark glimmer of Misto getting into position in the background. I can’t believe I’m going to say it but I actually like it more than the aerial entrance.

{Listen, if you made it this far, here’s an extremely grainy gif, congrats}

Tugger was doing a very good job being a supportive boyfriend. Very “look at this guy, isn’t he amazing?” He was constantly smiling and gesturing at Misto throughout the number.

When Misto lights up Cass’ fur, the light effect does more of a “bloom” than it just appearing. I liked that.

When Misto goes to the left to pass by Tugger before returning center stage to do the Conjuring Turn, he gives Tugger a little head bump.

Conjuring Turn: Ok, I know they took down the number of Turns from 24 to like 11. But I’m honestly really okay with this. It is a super hard move, and can be really hard to execute, and hard to execute well. And here’s the thing, in the original choreography, basically the whole song builds up to this one, extremely impressive, show stopping move. But… I’ve seen quite a number of Misto’s trip up here, and let me tell you, it sucks the energy out of the room. (Heck, it’s pretty rough on understudies, cause they don’t get to practice it as much.) I’d much rather have a more distributed spectacle, with a lot of things happening throughout the entire number, and have an easier Conjuring Turn that you’re going to get more reliable results with.

When Misto goes off stage to recoup, and all the cats are dancing, Tugger is dancing extremely enthusiastically in the background.

During the light flashes, after coming back from off stage, Misto does a few poses. I couldn’t tell what the first one was, but the second was the “paws together and extended” pose that Paul seems to like taking pictures doing, and the third he does a ‘tipping an imaginary hat’ move. When the lights come back on, he rubs his hands together in an anticipatory fashion, like “alright, here we go, try two!”

When Misto picks up the lights, there’s no one else besides Tugger on stage. Tugger looks around and starts waving people in so Misto can yeet lights at them.

After Old Deut is revealed, Tugger looks extremely happy, like “the mad lad actually did it look at that!”

Misto turns his back and starts preening, cleaning his fur, getting neatened up. Then Tugger says his name, he turns and does a dignified bow, then Deut does a “Get over here!“ hand gesture, and Misto does his running jump into Deut’s arms.

Before the hand hold step, Tugger and Misto shimmy at each other, and then Misto kind of combs his hand through Tugger’s ruff while he leans in like he’s nuzzling him.

They have my favourite hand holding orientation! Misto is centered, with Deut and Tugger on either side of him. (Demeter and Munk are holding hands on the second row). [My least favorite is when Deut is centered, then it’s Tugger, Cass and then Misto.]

Misto is SOO shiny, when they focused the spotlight on him, both in his reveal and his closing spotlight, his costume throws sparkles all over the theater. Like, you could see sparkles in the balcony, on the walls, it was great.

I had so much fun watching, I would literally just start shaking from endorphin overload XP

Memory- Heavyside layer

God, Tayler’s voice is so good. Her emotions, her vocal power, absolutely loved her. She killed it.

They have a paw shaped platform slide out from the left. I’m glad about that, I seem to prefer it if there is some sort of prop that takes Griz away, rather than her levitating away via wires.

So yeah, I really enjoyed the performance! If you got this far, congrats! Here’s a link to the boot I took on Saturday as a reward. :P

Act 1

Act 2

#cats the musical #show reviews

16 notes · View notes

selfcallednowhere · 2 years

Text

February 7, 2020 Providence, RI

My second time seeing them play at the very pretty and classy Columbus Theatre, again with my fandom pal Stephanie (+ her husband this time). There was some crazy-intense wind that day so I figured people wouldn't be lining up for long pre-show, so I was both surprised and concerned when Stephanie texted me to inform me that they'd just gotten in line and it was already a massive one. Fortunately, my AirBnB was only a couple of blocks away so I was able to hightail it over there, and we miraculously managed to snag three seats together in just the second row!

Stephanie's wonderful and I'm always happy to have a chance to attend shows with her, but I realized an additional benefit this time, which was the banter videos she often records. This is quite helpful for writing reviews like the very one you're reading right now (banter is the single part of a show it's trickiest for me to reconstruct afterwards going by my notes alone, though I do my best), but I already knew that part--the new benefit that occurred to me this time was that if I saw her recording something I didn't have to worry about frantically trying to scribble down notes like I usually do and could instead just relax and watch/take pictures of John, which I normally don't get a chance to do hardly at all and was very excited about because he's often being supercute, either doing his usual constant gesturing when he's the one talking or laughing when Flans is (since Flans is almost invariably being totally hilarious).

They again opened with "Dead." I noticed Dan making his entrance on stage towards the end of the song, and yeh I guess he didn't have any reason to be there yet since he doesn't play on that song, but it did still startle me a bit because I'm just not used to seeing the band members (other than Curt I guess) drift on and off stage.

Next came "They Might Be Giants," which featured Flans doing this move that was both dramatic and silly with putting his arm up in the air to punctuate the final "they might be GIANTS."

After the ever-rockin', ever-fantastic "Twisting," there was some talk about the venue. Flans noted the fact that there were no lights at all showing the balcony, but that was perfect and it would be the "balcony of mystery."

JF: But I see there are also--there are people--*gesturing to sides* John, what's the technical name for the-- JL: The boxes? JF: The boxes, people in the boxes. JL: Where all the Mobby people hang out. That's you guys. *pause* I'm gonna be dead. After this show. For making fun of the Mob. Cos that's what happens! JF: Wrong town, John. JL: Oh, it's the right town.

Then John asked something about whether they were doing "cold for comedy" (which I had no idea what it meant and had to do a bit of investigating later, apparently it's some sort of idea that audiences will respond better to seeing comedy performed if they're cold in the literal physical sense?), and that this was the coldest stage they'd been on "since that show in St. Louis," to which Flans replied "Usually it's 'smelly for rock.'" John said if they combined the two it would be perfect, then asked us if we were cold, and after some confirming yells said "Comedy! Right? Am I right?" (Even though I knew he was just being silly it felt about as adorably awkward as any attempt of his to ever do standup for real would surely be.)

John asked how we were doing, and of course everyone just excitedly cheered, and they brought the houselights up. Flans said that the ratio of beards to glasses was 50/50. Then he said they might seem nervous because "we almost never play shows where people are sitting down, sober, or facing us" (he said something very similar at the previous show at this venue a year and a half before), then explained how the show would have the entirety of Flood in the first set and then "other favorites" in the second set, and by the time it was all over "it will feel like Flood is 30 years old." He brought up some podcast I haven't heard of called Crimetown, which John said he loved but was unable to remember anything about. Flans said it was providing a local angle to the show since it's about Providence, and John said that works everywhere because every town has a podcast about it now. Then Flans said something about the dumb thing at some performances now where you have to put your phone in a sealed bag so you can't record anything, and how they must be protecting the really good jokes.

Next came "We Want a Rock"--at one point in the middle of it John was adjusting the rearview mirror he has on his keyboard stand now (which I adore because when he first mentioned wanting to do it I thought it was such a silly idea that he must be joking, and it still amuses the hell out of me that he actually did it).

Next came "Minimum Wage," "Your Racist Friend," "Particle Man," and "Hearing Aid." Don't have too much to say about any of these except that John again threw a bit of what I have since learned is a Sun Ra song into "Particle Man" and again did some screwing around with weird effects on his Kaoss Pad at the end of "Hearing Aid." Afterwards, Flans said that sometimes it felt too intense performing when we were actually paying attention and it was better for us to be distracted.

Then he started explaining how they were about to play a song backwards, and that doing so was "sort of like learning something phonetically rather than...factually." He said there are many ways to perform something backwards, but they'd looked at the recording and charted it to be played in reverse. Then he returned to the earlier topic of shows where they confiscate phones, and that if they hadn't done that here (which of course they didn't) we could "record this on your phone, take it home to your editing suite in the basement of your mansion, and flip it in your totally up-to-date Mac Final Cut Pro editing suite. As a 'for instance.'" Then he said they'd premiered it the night before and "we'll never get that magic back, but we're gonna play it again tonight even though it's just a big long downward spiral from here."

Then he explained that the performance from the night before was on Youtube, and that big labels are always checking Youtube postings "to make sure that artists themselves are not allowed to post their own material. But anybody else can," and he said the "sincerest flattery" was that the robot recognized the backwards performance as actually being the song.

JL: So even if nobody else likes this, the robot really digs it. JF: We found our ultimate demographic for this next portion of the show. Robots everywhere, rejoice! Says...the robo... JL: That's right. The robo reviewer for Robot Stone magazine.

Then Flans asked John if there was anything else that needed to be explained before they played the song, and John repeated that it was like a reversed recording.

JL: All the meaning has been drained from the song, and you will not enjoy listening to it. But--but--you will appreciate the work that we--we are--the thing about this band is we're about making it look difficult. That is the ultimate--our fondest wish is to, uh... JF: It's like fusion rock in reverse. JL: So this is like, y'know--this is the apotheosis of that idea. We're really working hard for an incredibly minimal result.

("Apotheosis" was a word I had to look up, and him using words I have to look up is always rather unbearably exciting to me.)

Flans said it didn't look like enough of us were recording, and "it's not about what's happening right now, it's about reversing it later."

So then they played the reversed "Sapphire Bullets of Pure Love." I don't have any real 0additional remarks about it beyond what I wrote for the previous show, but it was definitely once again (in spite of all the self-depricating introductory remarks) amazingly weird and amusing.

They played my beloved "Letterbox" next, and then there was talk about incorporating more backwards singing into the show. John said it was like being in a foreign country and having one really good phrase that you just want to keep utilizing (which of course reminded me of his classic "Useful Phrases for a European Tour" essay).

JL: We're talking about adding more stuff, but we're gonna--we're gonna continue test-marketing this idea, and if people don't hate us too much... JF: John, there just won't be any people left. JL: That's right. Well, actually, all the people who don't like it will leave, and the people who--the one person who thinks it's good when really enjoy it when we start adding other songs. JF: It'll just be bots. JL: Right. Clapping, electronically. JF: *starts making a weird noise to simulate the electronically clapping robots* JL: Ok. Drum machine clap. JF: *makes the noise some more* JL: Thank you very much.

Flans then said that he'd just read an article written by a robot that he'd meant to forward to John, and that it was so obviously like "English as an 18th language." John started to ask what the point of having such a thing be done by a robot, since it seemed like it wouldn't be hard for a human to do, to which Flans pointed out that humans need health insurance, which was "not a huge ask and not a political statement." TMBG crowds being what they are, this was of course greeted with a lot of cheering, which led to Flans raising a fist in solidarity, John pointing at us and validating the "woo"s, and then Flans proclaiming "Let's all vote at all!", and then John saying "Robots!", which I wasn't sure whether to take as meaning we should be voting for robots or that robots themselves should be allowed to vote (or both?), but either way Flans continued it with another proclamation, this time "Robot takeover now!" Then he noticed that the roadie Fresh was on stage doing some sort of microphone adjustment, and when Fresh's mere presence elicited more cheers, John pointed out to us that he is in fact "a human being."

Next they played "Lucky Ball & Chain"(definitely one of the Flood tracks I'm genuinely excited about seeing on this tour, meaning it's one of the few in the small Venn diagram overlap of "songs on the album I particularly love" and "songs I haven't already seen a million times at regular shows"), then "Hot Cha."

Then Flans started talking about the new Flood picture disc, with a copy on stage for demonstration purposes. He said the zoetrope on the back of it will be "particularly appreciated by audience members who are still taking LSD," because "if you shine a bright light on your turntable and film it, with your phone, or just look at it through the camera of your phone, it will create an animation that will continue your hallucinations for days." Then there was some joking about how they've signed so many copies of the album that the unsigned ones are going to end up being the ones that are actually worth any money.

Next they played "Whistling in the Dark" (another one of those songs where Curt's presence makes a massive improvement in the quality, particularly towards the end of the song where it's gradually building up to become more and more cacophonous), and then "Birdhouse in Your Soul," and then "Road Movie to Berlin" (deliciously atmospheric and spooky as always, and also as always plenty of the "I don't know anything but Flood but boy I sure do love Flood!" types being completely lost in their singalong when Flans throws in the extra original "king of liars" verse).

Then Flans said they had the "element of surprise" on their side because that was in fact not the end of the first set.

JF: There's more! Of the actual album Flood ahead of us! So now, let's wind our way through tracks 15 through...19. *pauses* Or is it...*dramatically lowers voice* 18. JL: Or...did we end the set two songs ago? *holds both hands up like he just dramatically revealed a shocking surprise*

Then Flans asked him if the next song was in G, which he confirmed with a simple "Yep." That next song was "Women & Men," which was followed up by "Someone Keeps Moving My Chair" and then "Istanbul." The last featured John playing the keyboard with his fists during the final crazy jam part (which I've seen him do before but always love), and also someone (a dude, by the sound of it) yelling "SEXY BASTARD" at Dan during his acoustic "Miller Time" intro (which I most certainly have not seen before).

Then there was the explanation of how they were going to be playing one last song and then would take a break which would last for either 15 minutes or a couple of hours, depending on which John you believed, and then they closed the set with "Theme from Flood."

The second set opened again with the Quiet Storm segment, and the first song of that was again "2082," which is really turning out to be fun live. I'm pretty sure John sang "there is much you can learn from the stage" rather than "sage," but not so sure that I didn't qualify it with a "(?)" in my notes. Would be an interesting Freudian slip if it were true, though.

Afterwards, there was some talk about how they should scream at the end of all their songs for this "spooktacular" segment, and John introduced the next song as being "another piece of booooousic," which was so cheesy and silly and (of course) therefore adorable.

The next song was "Music Jail, Pt. 1 & 2," and then John (tragically!) put down his accordion, which led to Flans talking about times he's done that with the mic accidentally still on, and how they should get a recording of those noises, which John said they could use as the rhythm section. Flans demonstrated what the noises sound like, and then John held up both his arms and said "Spooooky!" in a way that was (once again) extremely silly and adorable.

Then Flans asked John if he'd seen an article about the Mundanes in the local paper (I wooed rather embarrassingly loudly), and John confirmed that he was "alerted by one of the other Mundanes." Flans joked about how "that Google search for 'Mundanes' is finally paying off." John corrected him that what he was actually thinking of was Google Alerts, not just normal searches, and Flans replied that he has his alerts "set to 'sleep.' Blissful sleep. Blissful ignorance of all things in the world. I just said, '2016? I'm out.'" After more expected cheers, he reminded us to "just remember to vote for anyone."

And then they played "Wicked Little Critta," which Flans introduced as being "a song that takes us all the way to that faraway place called New England." My interest in this song live remains drastically reduced so long as they're doing it as part of Quiet Storm, meaning none of those supersexy hand closeups. If it's a song I already really love then I'm of course going to love it live regardless of anything like that, but since this is one I'm pretty eh about to begin with and so that's mainly what it has going for it for me live then yeh it does make a big difference.

Next they played the always-welcome "Meet James Ensor," and then once again showed the "Underwater Woman" to cover for the time needed for the roadies to clear away the Quiet Storm setup.

Then the full band returned. John was being cute "noodling" on his keyboard.

JF: I said no talking. JL: But yes to noodling. JF: No. No noodle. JL: *keeps adorably playing random notes on his keyboard for another minute anyway*

Then they played "The Communists Have the Music" (a song I have loved from first listen and am always happy to see) and "Wearing a Raincoat" (a song I only really began to properly appreciate on this trip but am happy to see now that I do).

Then John put his accordion back on, and the next song was introduced as being "from Apollo 18." I only had just enough time to think of what accordion song from that album I'd most want to see ("The Statue Got Me High," of course), before they started playing. The song wasn't that, but I couldn't be too disappointed because it turned out to be what would've been my #2 choice if I'd just had more time to think about it: "Turn Around"! Still such a deeply special and beloved song for me, ever since it held the spot as my fav of their songs when I started getting more deeply into them when I was in high school. On this particular performance I suddenly noticed how clearly I could see the veins in John's hands in all their glory, which was very distracting. I have this whole thing about his extremely prominent veins that I can't really explain, but I'd previously only really noticed/paid attention to the ones in his arms. I also noticed (through the opening on the left side of the stage that connected the stage to backstage) Dan dancing backstage to it, which was amusing.

They did "All Time What," and then Flans introduced the next song as being one they almost never play and so barely know how to. The song in question was "Museum of Idiots," which I've seen them introduce other times (including at their previous show at this very venue) with variations of the same line, which is kinda funny but also they do play it infrequently enough that it doesn't feel like a bullshit line ala "P.S.O.K." Anyway, you might gather from the fact that I named my website after it that this song is a particular special favorite of mine, so seeing it is always very emotional.

Next they played "Pet Name," which I'm really hoping will stay in the set since I'm finding it to be an unexpected live delight.

Then they did "Spy," which had its usual high concentration of weird and wonderful moments. Something I've seen multiple times now but I don't think I've written properly about yet is how cool Curt's long trumpet intros for this song are. John was standing off on the side of the stage for it, as he is wont to do when he's not having to do any playing or singing. For the improv part, the sample he used this time was "Take It to the Limit" (a baaaaad song that I wish I could believe he was only employing Ironically, but unfortunately I am prevented from being confidently sure of that due to my knowledge of the many other god-awful songs he is on the record as legitimately liking). Like the night before, he did some screwing around with stuff like altering the speed of it, but not for as long and not without the other guys also playing. Also, later Flans did some lyrical improv, making something up about how he "lost my regenerating melody machine," but then later found it in the backseat of his car, along with that CD he was looking for and so much other good stuff. I don't think I've ever seen him do this type of improv during the song before, but he's so talented and hilarious at it that I'd definitely welcome it being a regular thing, particularly since other bits that give him the chance like Spin the Dial haven't been in the set for quite some time.

Next they did "Why Does the Sun Shine?," with John once again doing his weird and usually extremely hilarious schtick that he's been doing since the autumn leg of the last tour, but I can't blame him for that since it's so rare for him to find something to do on stage that people actually find funny rather than falling completely flat (I say this with the utmost love of course--I find the things he says that fall completely flat adorable and charming in the same way I do with most other things he's less than fantastic at).

This time, he started off normally, but that only lasted as long as "The sun is so hot that" before he made his voice slower/deeper/generally weirder for the "everything on it is a gas" second half of that sentence, and then did the same normal-to-weird transition for the explanations of how if the sun were hollow a million earths would fit inside and the sun is about 93 million miles away. The things the heat and light of the sun were made by the nuclear reactions between included the whole band, or as John enumerated it for us, electric guitar, electric guitar, lower guitar, guitar made of round things you hit, guitar with black and white keys, and finally (pointing at his own) guitar that looks like a human face.

After "Let Me Tell You About My Operation" (most excellent as always), Flans informed us that we'd "reached the crucial part of the show where it could go either way--that's show-biz insider speak for good or bad." Then he did band intros (for Marty: "What is his beef with the drums? When will he settle the score?") and thanked the audience, including the unlit balcony, and then told us they were gonna do a couple more songs and then leave because, as John explained, it was their bedtime (which didn't feel like as much of a joke as it otherwise might since I know from my all-time fav interview with him that he voluntarily wakes up at 5 AM cos he's a FREAK).

Then some people were yelling stuff, and then:

JL: I don't know what you're yelling! But I want to respond. JF: It's just swear words, John. JL: Right back atcha!

They closed the main set with "The End of the Tour" and then "New York City," both beautiful songs that always make me feel very emotional.

At the start of the first encore, Flans did that thing he's so fond of doing at seated shows, insisting that everyone stand up and get in the aisles and move up to the front. Since we were already in the second row we didn't try to move any closer, but we did stand up, which doesn't really make any difference to me but I know Stephanie was really happy about it because she loves to dance and feels constrained by being forced to sit.

And the first song of the encore was definitely one very well-suited for dancing if you're into that sort of thing (so well-suited, in fact, that Flans often introduces it by saying it will be a "dance contest"): "The Guitar." Even as a non-dancer, the energy of that song is something I most definitely appreciate live. During the Future of Sound bit John was at one point playing the keyboard with his elbows, so I can add that (along with a single drumstick, his fists, just the sides of his hands as they're being held perpendicular to the keyboard, and--most memorably--his face) to the list of very silly things I've seen him play his keyboard with. Also he was waving on the last verse, which is always supercute no matter how may times I see him do it, and also there was a large mirrorball being employed, which is always supercool no matter how many times I see them play with one.

They played "Doctor Worm," and then disappeared and returned for the second encore. Flans then confided that because he knew they were among "show-business insiders" he could tell us that the previous night they'd ended with the next song, which had been a mistake because of the way they did the live fadeout thing. He said what they'd be doing instead this time to make sure that didn't happen again was just play two songs instead of one.

Then he started to repeat the same incorrect thing he kept repeating on the last tour, about how the next song was a b-side on their first EP (that would be Don't Let's Start), which yeh is most definitely not true and I even told Marty after one of the shows where I saw him say it to tell him it was incorrect, but Marty just kinda shrugged at me and then Flans said it again the following night. But I guess someone did tell him or he otherwise figured it out, because this time when he was in the middle of starting to say it again he caught himself and then said that no actually it didn't appear on any EP, but it was released on the Miscellaneous T compilation. As someone who is acutely concerned with accuracy in all matters, even ones that aren't really too significant in the grand scheme of things, I was happy that he finally got it right, and I was also of course happy to see the song ("Hey, Mr. DJ, I Thought You Said We Had a Deal," of course), which remains one of my absolute live favorites, especially with Curt there.

Then the promised second song was "Fingertips," which I'm pleased to report I've had a long enough break from that I can properly enjoy again (I really do love it and so I want to be able to enjoy it, I just have seen it so many times that I got burned out on it for awhile). Dan ended up appearing in one of the boxes The Johns were discussing earlier and remaining there to play the end of the song, which I'd previously seen him do in the balcony at a Fillmore show. I'm not sure if it's totally random or if he possibly personally knows the people sitting there when he does it, but either way it's great.

So that was it. Stephanie (via her husband) and I both managed to snag setlists, which was exciting because I haven't managed to get them two nights in a row since I was first going to shows years ago, which meant that in addition to just the usual awesomeness of getting a setlist I had the added fun of getting to compare the different shorthand Flans was using for the same song titles.

Oh and I am also contractually obligated to report that John was wearing that black pullover jacket of his, and his hair was absolutely perfect, and his spex were even perfecter (a statement I guess doesn't strictly make sense because by definition perfection is supposed to be the absolute best something can be and so something can't be even more so but WHATEVER).

#tmbg #show reviews

6 notes · View notes