Last night's Killers concert was well, Killer. Brandon Flowers rocked the house. He was so high energy, so damn adorable, and we were all putty in his hands.
Brandon's actually a thin guy, not to mention tiny. So, my dreams of him sweeping me off my feet have been a bit dampened, but not much. His singing voice is swell, and he's quite the talent, jumping from guitar to piano to keyboard, all while singing and running around the stage like a child hopped up on candy. Standout songs included the opener "Human" and their new single "Spaceman."
They did all their hits and then some, which had the entire floor flowing like an ocean wave and jumping in unison. We watched as one girl crowd-surfed her way to the front not once but THREE times. It was a mosh pit I'm glad I wasn't a part of! It was nice to sit right next to the stage and stare at Brandon with no one jostling me! It was a great crowd - everyone was into it, nobody chattering away during the show (though it was so loud I probably wouldn't have heard them), and I even forgave the pot smoker in front of me who asked me to take his photo, cause he was nice and he was cute, but mainly cause he was cute.
The Killers put on an electrifying show!! Complete with pyrotechnics and falling sparks!! Brilliant!
Richard Marx was a treat last night. He played all his hits, and a few new songs that actually sounded pretty good. It was unfortunate to see that the venue (the size of a lecture hall at a college) was only 3/4's full. Ah well, everyone seemed to have a good time, including Richard.
He sang Hold On To The Night and Right Here Waiting both on acoustic guitar, rather than piano. Guess he was trying to keep things interesting for himself, since I'm sure a lot of people were expecting him to do these songs on piano.
There's something about Richard Marx' voice that just makes me feel...sad/nostalgic. It makes me think of the poor kid in class who you later found out via the 6 o'clock news died in some horrible death. The kid who wore high tops and ripped jeans and was just a bit on the dirty side. Why does Richard Marx conjure up those images for me? I don't know. But THAT'S how sad his voice makes me feel sometimes.
Anyway, he spoke quite a bit to the audience which was great, making cracks about Billy Bob Thorton, poking fun at his old mullet, and talking about his hit song Hazard, which he almost didn't write but ended up finishing to spite his wife, who told him it was the coolest song he'd ever written.
Here's an acoustic version which is what he did last night, of his biggest hit, Right Here Waiting:
The rumour mill is spinning. It's pretty much secured that for Vancouver Pride this year, we will be graced with the presence of the one, the only, Miss Nina Flowers - Loca!!!
Apparently, she'll be performing at the annual Rapture party, held at the Commodore, for Pride. But that's not all. Organizers are scrambling and trying to land another drag queen whom Rupaul told to "sashay...away!" Keep your fingers crossed because we just might also be getting the one, the only, ONGINA!!!
What I need to know, is why the fuck they haven't tried to get us Miss Fuckin' Fabulous herself, Tammie Brown, goddamnit!!! Excuse You Me???
The story goes like this: I bought tickets for my niece, they were too expensive and she didn't want them, I planned to hawk them on Craigslist but Ticketmaster wouldn't release them to me until the day of the show. Erego, I found a friend who wanted to go so we went.
Now onto the good stuff.
We arrived late so we completely missed the Pussycat Dolls opening!! I mean, really, it's Vancouver, and no one ever starts concerts on time here! We strolled in at around 7:30 and the PCD were pretty much done their set.
We found our way to the floor and ended up being literally right next to the stage. It was insane! But not as insane as a club night concert with Lady Gaga (i.e. no drunk ho's rubbing their crotches into our back). But then again, this was a stadium and not a nightclub, and tickets were not $30 each. Maybe that's the way to see concerts from now on? Pay for the highest priced ticket you can find in order to avoid all the riff-raff?
You've most likely heard about the clusterfuck that took place at the show last night. Britney doing 3 songs and then disappearing for 30 minutes leaving the audience bellowing in the dark, only to get an announcement that the show would not continue until everyone put out their cigarettes and joints.
I for one applaud her for doing it! I mean, even at the Madonna show, Madonna had to say to the audience, "Please don't smoke near the stage." Why does this shit only happen in Vancouver? I don't understand why people feel they have to toke up at concerts. I mean, if you want to get stoned, go ahead, but maybe do it outside or before the show? I just find it inconsiderate to light up during a show with everyone around you. I'm not uptight, I'll smoke a doobie with you if you want, but let's not do it in a stadium full of people and then blow it into the performer's face. It just makes me embarrassed for our city, having people think we're inconsiderate and a bad audience, therefore possibly turning off other acts who might want to come do a show here...
Anyway, the show itself was fun. I mean, yeah she lip synched her way through, her dancing was not on par with what she used to be, but it was pretty awesome to be THAT close to her. We screamed out "Merry Christmas!" to her a few times hoping she'd hear us. I wasn't very impressed with the setlist. I mean, she didn't do Gimme More or Break the Ice, let alone Toy Soldier!! I would've much preferred those songs over some of her choices i.e. Hot As Ice, Breathe/Touch of Your Hand, and Ooh Ooh Baby. Like, she's lip synching anyway so really what does it matter?
Overall though, entertaining and a great night out!
The new Vancouver Convention Centre opened its doors this weekend to the general public for an open house and I was lucky enough to be in the area and took a quick visit. First off, the place is GIGANTIC. There was room after room after room, on several levels. The "Green" roof they've got going is cool, with grass/gardens growing on them. One thing I didn't know is that they also set up a mini bee colony on one of the roofs, so that should be interesting too. Otherwise, it should be a great addition to the city and function as a great gathering spot during the 2010 Olympics!
Lady Gaga performed last night at the Commodore and it was ridiculous and fantastic beyond belief.
But before I get into the show, can I just comment on the crowd? For the most part, people seemed cool, but there was a bunch of b*tches near us who were basically drunk hos. Why do I always get stuck near these idiots? They're the ones who are so plastered they can't even stand straight, they have to lean on you for support, or they're busy flinging their limbs every which way and hitting all those around them.
When I wasn't being elbowed, I was being poked in the face. I made a big scene about it, pretending that the girl poked me in the eye and she felt guilty and tried to apologize but I just ignored her and she kept insisting how sorry she was and couldn't I see that!!! I really wanted to just shove her over, but karma had other things in mind for this wino. At the end of the show, she had fallen onto the floor and could not get up. The floor was filthy disgusting and it was amusing to see her crawling around looking for her shoe while people were dancing about around her. Yeah, that's what you get when you're an idiot and don't care about those around you - no one's gonna give a shit if you're on your hands and knees licking up the last drops of vodka that you spilled earlier when you were busy elbowing people next to you, in front of you, and behind you.
During the show, I fought off the evil elbowing losers by breaking out into my own hyperactive dance style. The first song was "Papparazzi" which was fabulous to watch just to see her outfit. I'd try and describe it but I wouldn't even do it justice. Let's just say that the set around her acted like an extension of her dress... So the next song was "Lovegame" to which I immediately started jumping up and down and elbowing back my enemies. They didn't like how it felt so they tried to out-dance me with their asses gyrating against me, but I didn't care. I got bootie, too, and I pushed back with my own and also shouted the lyrics as loud as I could near their ears, "I WANNA TAKE A RIDE ON YOUR DISCO STICK!!!!"
I won the dance-off as they slunk away to a different corner to annoy other people, so HA!
The show itself was cool because it had all the elements of a big pop tour: video images and interludes, back up dancers, changing sets, and change of outfits. Sure, everything was lower budget, with the videos being homemade (but in a cool artsy manner) and projected onto a white sheet instead of a million dollar jumbotron. But it worked. In the small club venue we were in, it was perfect.
My favourite outfit was her bubble dress! Shouldn't we all have one of these in our closets?
She did a piano/Broadway style version of "Poker Face" which was fun but a bit disappointing that it wasn't the full on original dance version. She did The Fame, much to Bellybutton's delight. I could've done without "Nothing Else Left To Say (Eh Eh Eh)" but I guess she needed to bring the energy down a bit. She performed a new song called "Futurelove" to which she commented that some of you "scallywags" probably going to record it and put it on YouTube.
Don't even get me started on the amount of cameras being held up throughout the show, recording, snapping photos. Remember back in the day when you went to a concert and had fun, instead of watching it through your digital camera's screen?
Of course she did "Just Dance" to which she again credited Canada with making it her first Number One (she said this back in November too, when she opened for NKOTB). Oh and you better believe that those digital screen sunglasses came out in full force!!
I went ballastic again when she did Beautiful, Dirty, Rich because it was sensational. "Bang, bang, bang, bang!" People went crazy for Money Honey and stomped their feet when she went offstage before her encore.
Returning in a police-hat with the word "GAGA" on top, she sang "Boys Boys Boys" which of course is the new gay anthem!
So finally, Lady Gaga babbled some more and then said, "I know what you're all thinking. You're all thinking, 'Why doesn't she just shut up and do Poker Face already?'" The room pretty much exploded at this point as she went into the original dance version of Poker Face. This was like masturbating for two hours straight and finally, at long last, finding that release.... YES!!!
