(03-23-2015, 07:54 PM)john Wrote:

(03-23-2015, 07:40 PM)My Alter Ego Wrote: Good find, John. The intro of that video is soooo reminiscent of early sixties TV themes (both visually and aurally). That it definitely has that "Henry Mancini" sound, and that musically it's almost, but not quite the theme to the Pink Panther (the ultimate "cool") is so funny to me.

Definitely has that Pink Panther look and feel. He did a good job with it.

Quote:The Tootsie Rollers @TheTootsies · Mar 22
Very excited to see @scottbradlee tonight! @CollectifLondon @TheO2 #postmodernjukebox

Quote:Haley Reinhart: The world is her Oyster, she sent chills with her stirring performance of "Creep", for me, the best performance of the night (I'm slightly biased Wink ) She displayed her cheeky side mixed with a little irony in her performance of Habits and dove into the fun of All About That Bass as she beautifully harmonized with Morgan and Ariana. She has never disappointed in the many live performances I've seen. Among so much talent, she brought up her game and displayed all of her promise and potential, yet leaving a sense that there's so much more to discover about her.

(03-23-2015, 07:51 PM)Tusk Wrote:

Postmodern Jukebox tour Finale at the Indigo O2, London England

Preface:

Scott Bradley. He is where anything PMJ related begins and ends. The thing you must know about Scott is that his ability to orchestrate, yet sit back and let other's take the spotlight, is a major reason PMJ has been the creative success that it has become. He is the literal representation of the "Rising Tide that lifts all Boats" By allowing other performers to sparkle with their talent, he creates a musical community that reflects this philosophy as they all support each other to be the best they can be.

I first learned of this Musical Maestro the way many new PMJ fans did, their much loved cover of "All About That Bass" with the Ultra talented Kate Davis.

Let's backtrack a little, with the song, "All About That Bass". The song came into my consciousness for the first time when I witnessed Haley Reinhart and Casey Abrams perform it for the first time at Room5 in Los Angeles. Their spontaneity, musicality and synergy on full display, it quickly became an instant hit with fans.

I learned that the song has actually been a hit for some time. Although I'm not a fan of the original song, I started searching other covers. Then I came upon PMJ and Kate Davis. It wasn't that I liked Kate's cover 'better' than Haley and Casey's cover, there was definitely something undeniably infectious about PMJ's iteration. It wasn't about which was better, it was I liked them both, one as much as the other.

Doing more research, I discovered I really enjoyed many of PMJ's other covers. Every different performer brought a different flavour to the performances. While the Singer was always front and center, there was this slightly disheveled Gentleman in the background, quietly tickling the keys of the piano, every once in a while, looking up with a slightly bemused glance or a nod of acknowledgement for the singer. Every one in their videos had this relaxed 'cool cat' way about them, confident in their talent, performing as naturally as they did taking a breath of air. The mixing and matching of performers produced a spontaneity and 'freshness' to every cover they attempted

Soon enough, the worlds, came together. It is said that Jacob Scesney, Casey's oft performing partner on the Sax, apparently introduced Scott to Casey or Vice Versa. Before we knew it, Casey was the newest member of PMJ with their cover of "I'm not the Only One".

Not lost on me was Scott's meteoric rise in popularity and subscriptions on YT, in no small part to Kate's PMJ cover of "All About That Bass". As a long time supporter of Haley Reinhart's, I saw that Scott/PMJ and Haley had a kindred love of music and musicality. I hoped that one day, Haley might get to perform with PMJ, whose fan base, I believed, would love her as another facet of the PMJ picture. I thought, maybe, if I tweeted a video or two of Haley's performances, I could help grease the wheels, in some small way, for Scott to include her among his menagerie of performers, not really expecting a reply.

One day I tweeted Haley's performance of "Pathetic" from Room5, just taking a shot. To my surprise, Scott 'favorited' it.... Might this mean Haley might actually be welcomed into PMJ? I'm all about any exposure for Haley, feeling that one only has to hear her sing to immediately fall in love with her. I'm not saying I initiated Haley joining PMJ, I'm sure Scott had already recognised Haley's talent though Casey and or Jacob. Haley has a knack about her that immediately endears her with people that work with her. Scott's 'favorite' of my tweet was an indicator that the wheels had already been greased, a PMJ collaboration with Haley was on it's way. Soon after Haley would cover Tove Lo's "Habits" successfully with PMJ

So what brought me to fly all the way from the US to England to witness PMJ's Finale performance of their Successful European tour? Of course, with me, it starts and ends with Haley. I've always believed the British would LOVE Haley, I'd always wanted to see it, if Haley ever got a chance to sing in the UK. Even better, it would be with Postmodern Jukebox.

The Show:

When you go to Postmodern Jukebox show, you can expect to be highly entertained with an infusion of talent, humour and energy. Add to that, a final show of the tour in front of the biggest crowd PMJ had ever performed in front of in a major city? You can expect a singularly epic and memorable show. That is what you got the night of March 22nd, 2015 at the IndigoO2 in London.

I got to go to the Meet and Greet before the show, you can sense among the performers they knew how special this was going to be. Don't get me wrong, there were no nerves present, they were all 'cool cats' as we got treated to performances of "Habits" from Haley and "Maps" from Morgan James, Ariana Savalas and Michael Kilgore at sound check. There was definitely anticipation in the air.

Outside, the anticipation was greater, as PMJ fans began lining up 3 hours ahead of the show, dressed in their finest vintage attire.

There was a 50th Anniversary concert of the remaining members of The Who that was going to be going on at the same time as PMJ's show. Many of the packed crowd in the arena were dressed in Union Jacks, a majority of their fans in the 'older' age range. It wasn't lost on me the difference between the energy of the larger number of fans of the Who to the smaller, yet more enthusiastic fans lining up to see PMJ. Don't get me wrong, there was a wide age range of fans in the PMJ community, I met PMJ fans who were grandfathers, who were going with their daughters, groups of youthful, excited fans, all in great anticipation of PMJ, many had already seen a show on this tour, or the last time PMJ made it through Europe.

Once the Indigo opened their doors, the floor filled up quickly as helpful ushers were all around to assist guests to their seats. You would expect the PMJ fans who would be on the floor to be the ones dressed up in Vintage gear, but as I headed up to my balcony seat, I saw that fans seated up there were also dressed up in Vintage wear. There was a couple who sat behind my seat, the excitement for the show brimming as they attempted to take a selfie of themselves dressed in their vintage attire. I offered to take the picture for them. I had to laugh when the lady handed me her phone to take the picture, as the camera app they had on the phone had a vintage design. The Photo that would come out, would look 'old' or vintage... even their technology had a vintage theme . They thanked me for taking the picture and resumed being affectionate with each other.

I decided that my balcony seat was too far, and I wanted to feel the energy that would come from PMJ's show, so I made my way down to the quickly filling up floor in front of the stage. Some thoughts on what I saw.

Haley Reinhart: The world is her Oyster, she sent chills with her stirring performance of "Creep", for me, the best performance of the night (I'm slightly biased ) She displayed her cheeky side mixed with a little irony in her performance of Habits and dove into the fun of All About That Bass as she beautifully harmonized with Morgan and Ariana. She has never disappointed in the many live performances I've seen. Among so much talent, she brought up her game and displayed all of her promise and potential, yet leaving a sense that there's so much more to discover about her.

Casey Abrams: What can I say about this man... Controlled Chaos? Casey has done a TON of touring on his own and has learned to finesse his stage presence, always approaching the edge of insanity but never losing sight of his ingrained musicality, a force to be reckoned with, that you don't mind when he upsets your notion of music until you realise, there is a method to his madness. Always entertaining and always full of energy. Be prepared for a musical work out. PMJ's Tasmanian Devil

Scott Bradlee: The steadying paternal influence of this whole affair. His fingers skipped and flowed over his keyboard effortlessly providing an upbeat, yet loose structure to the show. Having talked to him after the show, I'm struck by his humility, you can see in his eyes the gratitude of seeing his efforts, with his musical family, being rewarded by the response of the fan base he has carefully nurtured. He's not ready to rest on his laurels, striking while the iron is hot, already planning his next step as he readies for a US PMJ tour.

Morgan James: Her cover of "Fooled around and Fell in Love" on youtube strikes me to my core as she weaved a bluesy tapestry of vocal gymnastics. Hearing her sing live was definitely one of the things I looked forward to in this show. She did not disappoint, in her powerful and finessed cover of "Sweet Child of Mine" as she flexed those Juliard trained vocals of hers... As with the other PMJ ladies, her voice was equally spectacular when she harmonized with Haley and Arianna

Mykal Kilgore: I did not know much about Mykal, but Scott perfectly cast him as the MC of the proceedings. The man had the crowd in the palm of his hand with wit, humour, flawlessly moving things along with energy and aplomb.

Ariana Savalas: Of the PMJ ladies, I knew the least about Ariana, but she held her own with the rest, infusing a 'change up' in her performance demeanor. While Haley and Morgan provided powerhouse vocals, Ariana was more subtle, combining a Femme Fatale 'wickedness' and playfulness as a contrast. She was also adept at using humour within her performances to keep the crowd entertained. I met her briefly after the show and I sensed a real sweetness in her as she spoke to us.

The rest of PMJ were also very friendly, the musicians keeping pace with the manic differences in the performers they supported. They followed Scott's lead perfectly, not a sour note or misplaced timing. Adam Kubota and Chip Thomas provided a solid back bone of rhythm while Ben 'The Sax Guy' kept things live and upbeat in the sax section.

Scott's addition of Christopher Erk's tapping energy and the LA Follies' flourishes showed that Scott is mindful of presenting a full colour of experiences and energy you can expect from a Postmodern Jukebox event. That's what you get when you go to a Postmodern Jukebox show, a full showcase of entertainment textures to dazzle your senses. A good time is guaranteed for all

(03-23-2015, 12:23 PM)Tusk Wrote: Thanks

I've said it often, and I know it sounds corny even as I hear myself saying it. It all comes down to a kind of inspiration/intuition... 'signs'

It's hard to put into words or explain... something takes over and things start falling into place. It feels like one thing leads to another which leads to another and so on. I'm just going along for the ride. It really does feel like what Haley calls 'listening for the signs' You can't force it, you just go along when it reveals itself to you. You realise it once you start going on the path that's laid out.

XAtlantic's example is the closest I can think of that's similar to what I've been lucky to experience... 3 years now? I knew XAtlantic was in the midst of the same kind of thing, and it all started to fall into place for him INCLUDING Haley's mishap with the plane that turned out to make his PMJ show, Haley's first in Europe. Remember, he had already apologized and regretted that he probably won't take video, but something compelled him to go ahead and try, then we collaborated with another Berliner... and we ended up with a video of Haley's first performance w/ PMJ in Europe!! As Harry said, we captured 'a first' for Haley

Something happens, an unforced inspiration that leads to something in the future. My laptop get's a virus at Lollapalooza that prevents me from ordering Carnegie Hall tickets, so I'm forced to ask HaleyHolic to order for me (we'd agree to go if it came to fruition previously) which put us directly in front of the Reinharts, my first meeting with the family... then I'm inspired by Irvin's Performance at Carnegie Hall, which makes me overcome my distrust of YouTube/Google to start a channel, which booms into 200+ videos and also allows me to attend an After after party in New Orleans, partly because Irvin knew of the video, which told him I did research about what happened to his beloved Father.

I had opportunity to use my miles time and again to go to a Haley show at any time... even to New Orleans. But something told me to hold onto those miles for something 'REALLY' special.

Miracle of Miracles, something I've wished from the very beginning, Haley performing in front of the British comes to fruition and for some unknown reason, that exact date range, the flight becomes ridiculously cheap, basically $200 + miles (one way to Paris costs 50% more miles PLUS $400, than the full round trip to London) It practically screamed "YOU ARE GOING TO LONDON TO SEE HALEY PERFORM FOR THE BRITISH"

You can't force this stuff, you just have to wait for the opportunity to take it when it does.

I know it all sounds crazy, I'm not making this stuff up, but it's all connected, I've just been lucky to have been able to take advantage when it reveals itself

I think the thing I have the most anxiety about in these things is if things will work out because I don't like to assume that I will get any time w/ Haley, or anything will happen at all. I've just been really lucky and like I said, I have no real control of it, it presents itself and I just go on the ride... can't explain it better than that