Friday, August 27, 2010

Not so Gaga...


Okay, I recognize that I’m going to very unpopular but I have to admit I wasn’t too impressed with Lady Gaga’s show last night.

Firstly, her opening act, Semi Precious Weapon was terrible. Admittedly, I’m not a punk fan. But their drummer was mediocre, their guitar players weren’t great and dude couldn’t sing his way out of anything at all. And so crude. I knew we were in for something when there were viewer discretion signs on the way into Rexall and I’m pretty open minded. But I’d be very concerned if a kid of mine (or neice, nephew, cousin, neighbor’s kid) was in the audience. Every second word was the F-bomb and I seriously felt they were hiding being vulgarity and over-the-top showmanship to hide their lack of talent. It wasn’t clever and it wasn’t spectacular by any stretch.

‘Nuff said about SPW.

On to Lady Gaga. Now, I’ll admit, there were some definite flashes of brilliant talent. My favorite moment of the concert was Gaga in her bikini at the piano. The woman can play. And she definitely has some pipes. The songs she did in this portion of the concert was fabulous and it just left me wanting.

And some of her messages were actually quite cool – throw away your insecurities, accept and love people, equal rights – all things I totally agree with. The message about seeing yourself as beautiful and not listening to what others say is something girls (I say girls because that’s how I relate) actually brought a tear to my eye.
But I think there were a lot of negative messages around it – no concept of right and wrong, the “anything goes” mentality, and my personal favorite for obvious reasons – seeing this icon and role model smoking away like a chain smoker on a 50 foot video. It will be interesting to see if the rate of smokers in young people rises.

When it came to her viewpoints on Christianity and Jesus, it was interesting that my husband and I had different views on the show. I was offended a little bit. And saddened. I felt it was extremely mocking and from someone who is pretty open-minded about the Gay and Lesbian community who is also a Christian, I was offended. My husband said the opposite. He took it as that religion says Jesus loves you only if you are “insert criteria here” but that her viewpoint on Jesus was He loves everyone. I just felt there was enough mocking in the presentation that most people would see it as a slam against my faith rather than supporting it. It makes me sad to think that people might see me in this light.

And I admire her dedication to helping homeless teens who have been kicked out by families due to sexual orientation. I admire her wanting to change attitudes and raise awareness. I just have to wonder if it wasn’t so in your face and mocking, that more conservative people would listen. It seems to me that it was set up in a way that pushes people further away from acceptance.

So what about the music, which is the most important thing for me? Well, again there were moments, mere moment of fabulousness, sandwiched in between terrible videos that were too drawn out and a “story line” that I thought was just kind of dumb. And while I loved some of the costumes (the fair/angel costume was so pretty and cool), some of them were just plain stupid (like the Cousin It/Sweetums costume from the Muppets.) I was actually quite bored during the first half and the second half got a little better.

Anyway, there is some talent there for sure. I understand the appeal. I still like some of the songs. Will I ever go see her again?

Maybe if she did a “Barebones, Adams-like” tour at the Winspear.

Thursday, August 26, 2010

Gaga for Gaga

We, we are here... Waiting for the Lady Gaga concert to start. It is INSANE in here!


There are people dressed up like lady Gaga everywhere! The atmosphere is unlike anything I've ever seen! Can't wait for it to start!


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Wednesday, August 18, 2010

Told ya he's awesome! Great Bryan Adams review

Today I was curious what the reviewers had to say about the the Bryan Adams concert on August 13. The Edmonton Journal review captured the spirit of the concert effectively.

The concerts was definitely enhanced by the venue. "It felt like more like a house concert in many ways, the sort of show where you know you’re getting something different from the next one down the line." And I think that was true. There really was an intimacy there that you dont' get from a big Rexall Staduim-like concert. You could really feel the warmth that he felt for his fans and the audience.

"The affection running between performer and fan was visceral, and a privilege to see."

Bryan's music has been qued up on my iPhone all week. I fell in love with Adams all over again. :)

Sunday, August 15, 2010

Got the Music in Me

It's been a pretty good Sunday. Last night, we spent the evening doing one of my other favorite past times; playing boardgames with our best friends. It was a super late night. We didn't hit the pillow until way past 3 am.

I had to get up at 7:30 for band rehearsal before church service at Renaissance Community Church. It was rough but I'm always amazed once I'm there. We start playing and all this energy fills my spirit. I'm sure it's the combination of the music and really feeling what we are trying to communicate. All that exhaustion melts away for that two hours of playing time.

Once we start playing, I can't stop from getting lost in the music and my feet just can't keep still. I just gotta move! A guy from church came to me afterwards and told me how much he loves that when I play. It sure fed my spirit to hear that!

I mat not be the best player yet, but that love and passion for the music is something that I'm very thankful for. I'm truly blessed to be able to play with wonderful people and for my Lord. I love having music in me!

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Saturday, August 14, 2010

Bare Bones Bryan a Blast

Last night was Bryan Adams's Bare Bones concert at the Winspear. What an amazing time. I really felt like was 13 again and I rediscovered some fantastic songs that are going on my iPod TODAY. I can't believe they aren't already there.

Firstly, I love the Winspear. It is such a fantastic venue. The sound is so crystal clear and the setting is very intimate. By far my favorite place to hear great music. Bryan thought so too...he gave the venue a round of applause.

An Bryan sounded just as good as he did 26 years ago. He was charming and engaging. He even spotted two girls in the very back of the whole venue and upgraded their seats to front row.

Of course he did all the classics which actually translated really well to an unplugged arrangement. I was really hoping he'd play something from his "Into the Fire" album because it was very underrated and I loved it. Sure enough, he played "In the Heat of the Night."

All in all, awesome. Totally will go again. Now to upload some tunes to my iPod!


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Tuesday, August 3, 2010

At the studio!

So I'm sitting in the studio at Blackman Productions. We are doing a spoof on "YMCA" and it has been so much fun. The song is going to be used for Alberta Innovates-Technology Futures float for their Vegreville office parade.

I can't wait to hear the final produce!


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Location:Blackman Productions