John Barrowman Live
... Not even Chekov's Gleeface can express my delight right now. But I don't have anything more appropriate.
I just got back from watching John Barrowman perform live in Blackpool with ice_Elf. Tonight has honestly been one of the best ever. I loved every moment of the show - it couldn't have been better.
So, in no particular order, I shall tell you all about it. Oh, and please forgive my potential incoherence. :)
OK, so my night was pretty much made by the following things - he put on a suit made out of sequins and glitter, and he sang 'Don't Rain On My Parade', 'I Am What I Am' and 'The Doctor and I'.
He couldn't just done that and nothing more, and I'd've been happy enough. I've wanted to hear 'The Doctor and I' since ice_Elf informed me of its existence. It was just as incredible as I'd hoped - and he sings it so well. And we all know that 'I Am What I Am' is his song! He sang it as his encore, and it made an excellent finale to the show and to the evening.
Another highlight (and for every one I'm mentioning, there's another thing just as awesome that I can't remember quite as well because it's all kind of blurring into one giant ball of fantasticness) was 'Man I Feel Like A Woman'. Yes.
He started singing. And then his (very manly) two male dancers came on. Dressed in thigh-high boots, hot pink minidresses with sparkly tassels, and loads of lipstick. They looked mortified. It was hilarious. And then at the end, John reached out, grabbed the dresses, and ripped them off. Apparently, 'that's for the ladies. And the men'. :P BUT IT GOT BETTER. He then ordered them to turn around and take a bow. And they (embarrasedly) did.
Hot damn. Thank you for that, John. It honestly was much appreciated. :P
(I know, I know, I have no morals - but seriously, you expect me not to ogle when presented with two mostly-naked, very fit, rather tasty-looking young men who had already proved several times in the show that they're very flexible? You try it some time!)
Then they tried to go over and kiss John (so that he'd be covered in lipstick as revenge, hehe!) but they didn't manage it. Sadly.
Speaking of the sexy male dancers (and the dancers generally) - they were so good! We somehow managed to semi bump into them twice - once before and once after the show! They brushed past ice_Elf as we headed for the stage door at the end. So that was exciting.
One of my favourite bits with the dancers was pretty close to the end, when John sang Barry Manilow's 'Copa Cabana' (which I always expect to be 'Star Wars Cantina' - even in contexts where I know it won't be, like here). They acted out the plot of the song through dance, and ... well, just wow. It was incredible.
I feel that I should probably mention Jodie Prenger, who was supporting John and sang a really good duet with him at one point. She sang some really good songs (all of which I love and loved when she sang them). She has an incredible voice. (Also, she made John laugh a lot, which was really funny.)
Anyway, she at one point sang 'Mambo Italiano'. (She sang it really well, but that's ... not really why it's memorable. *shallow*) The male dancers came on and danced to it. Um. One word: PHWOAR. *fans self*
On a slightly more sensible note - the first song Jodie sang was 'Cry Me A River', which is probably one of my all time favourite ever songs. She sang it incredibly, and the lighting and choreography were brilliant for it. She also sang 'Proud Mary' (which always reminds me of Glee; also, yay for audience participation!) which was a lot of fun to listen to and watch. :)
Now, back to John. :P He followed 'The Doctor and I' (which was accompanied by a series of appropriate images of Jack and the Doctor) with 'Rule the World' (the Take That song from Stardust). I sat there listening to it, and I think it's a beautiful and haunting song anyway, but ... I couldn't think of anything but Jack and Ianto at the end of Children of Earth. *wibbles* (Just look up the lyrics.) It was brilliant, anyway.
Another song he sang - and possibly my favourite (apart from 'I Am What I Am') - was 'From This Moment'. Now, I like this song, it's OK. I like the way Shania Twain sings it, although it's not my favourite of her songs. Maybe it was because John preceded it with a little speech about how grateful he is to his fans for helping him to realise his dream. Maybe it was because he dedicated it to the audience. Maybe it was just because of the way he sang it.
John Barrowman's version of 'From This Moment' is absolutely beautiful. It felt like he meant every word. He closed the show with it, and got a standing ovation that went on for ages. (And apparently made him teary-eyed - he said something like, "Don't make me cry, I won't be able to sing!" It was half a joke, but you could see he also half meant it.)
I love the man so much. And speaking of love - at one point, he made the lights in the auditorium go up, and told the audience to turn to the person next to them and hug them. :D It was lovely. (He also made it funny. :P Lesbian action in the front row! Orgies of over-65s in the circle! XD)
Speaking of lovely, he dedicated a song to his parents. He introduced them with the story of how they used to come to Blackpool for the summer every year (from the ages of 16 and 18) and go dancing at the Tower Ballroom. Awwwww. I can't for the life of me remember what the song is called, but it was so sweet. First of all, a couple of his dancers came on (obviously his youthful parents) and danced; then the stage went dark apart from his bit while he kep singing; when the lights came up again, his other pair of dancers were there, being his middle aged parents. The lights went down again. Now, I know that sometimes his mum and dad go on tour with him, but I wasn't really expecting them to be tonight. But they were! They came on and waltzed through the end of the song, and it was so lovely. It's obvious that they're still in love, even after 55 years.
Then, John's dad stole the mic. ...
John's Dad: Tonight, I'm wearing my James Bond suit. *Sean Connery impression* I'm Bond, James Bond.
John's Mum: *steals the mic.* And I'm ... Pussy Galore!
John: *nearly spits a mouthful of water all over the drummer, was totally not expecting that, OMFG*
Audience: XD
John: *takes the mic.* I am not gonna go there!
John's Dad: *steal the mic. again* Well, we all know that I did!
Audience: XD
John: *again, not expecting that, probably the closest he could come to mortified*
John's Mum: *takes pity on the boy, wrests the mic. from his dad and hands it over*
John: Shit.
Audience: XD
And then they went off, to much applause and me silently thanking them for giving the world the gift that is John Barrowman. :) Honestly, I can really see where he gets it from. It's blatantly obvious as soon as you see his parents! ;D
I also loved other bits of the banter in the show. The only thing I remember off the top of my head is the following:
John: *talking about Scott living with him* I'm a handful.
Drummer: *ba-dum-tish*
Audience: *LAUGHS HARD AND CLAPS*
John: Don't encourage him!
;D
And there was tons more where that came from!
There were other stories, too, as well as the one he told about his parents. Such as the story of his little neice who asked him why he doesn't sing stuff that's more modern - which prompted all his neices and nephews to gang up on him and press-gang him into doing just that. :P
My favourite, though, was probably his story of when Scott first took him skiing and he made an utter tit of himself. :P He didn't get off the ski lift properly and ended up on the steep side of the mountain - and had to get down in a really stupid way. He'd just started to get going when he got a text from Scott that basically ended with, "Oh, and when you've finished enjoying coming down the slope nice and slowly and enjoying the views, come and join me in the pub - there's a group of us watching some asshole come down the wrong side of the mountain." ... XD
I can't make it as funny as he did, because I can't show you The Mime that went with it. :P
Also, there was the story of when, on Fifth Gear, he crashed the car quite badly and his manager had a total freakout - because, in John's words, he "saw the pound-signs go away!" XP
The guy is just such a good all-round entertainer. It was a fantastic night - I haven't laughed, grinned and enjoyed myself at a show that much in a really long time. It was well worth the price of the ticket, well worth the price of the train home, and more than worth getting up at 5am to drive back to Warwick tomorrow.
Oh, but before I go and crawl into bed, another little anecdote - this one mine.
When we arrived in Blackpool, we decided to go and have a look for the Stage Door. We found a likely-looking place (out of which came JB's dancers, which looked promising!) and thought, "OK, we know where to come at the end." So we went to look for the apparently mythical Doctor Who section of the illuminations (which were not there D: ), had a wander up and down the pier, and had tea in Harry Ramsden's without incident.
Then, after the show, we hurried around to our stage door and waited. And waited. And eventually, another lady in the small crowd rang her friend and found out that there's another stage door - on the other side of the building. The building is like a massive block. We'd already been waiting quite a long time, long enough that we thought it was weird he hadn't come out yet.
ice_Elf and I looked at each other - and then we ran, in high heels, all the way around the building until we saw the Tour Busses and the little crowd around the real stage door.
We killed our feet, but we got there! In plenty of time, as well, because he didn't come out for ages after. Jodie came out and was lovely (and decided to spend ten minutes having a chat with some relatives - or at least people she knew - on the edge of the crowd, as if she was just nobody). Then, finally, John's mum and dad came out (and got a round of applause) followed by John.
I have been within arm's length of the man. (Hence the title of my first LJ cut!) That's good enough for me.
And now, if you'll excuse me, I shall be off. I have a lot to get done tonight before I can sleep, and I have to be up in 3 hours. (Seeing JB live was so worth it, I don't even care.)
.
I just got back from watching John Barrowman perform live in Blackpool with ice_Elf. Tonight has honestly been one of the best ever. I loved every moment of the show - it couldn't have been better.
So, in no particular order, I shall tell you all about it. Oh, and please forgive my potential incoherence. :)
OK, so my night was pretty much made by the following things - he put on a suit made out of sequins and glitter, and he sang 'Don't Rain On My Parade', 'I Am What I Am' and 'The Doctor and I'.
He couldn't just done that and nothing more, and I'd've been happy enough. I've wanted to hear 'The Doctor and I' since ice_Elf informed me of its existence. It was just as incredible as I'd hoped - and he sings it so well. And we all know that 'I Am What I Am' is his song! He sang it as his encore, and it made an excellent finale to the show and to the evening.
Another highlight (and for every one I'm mentioning, there's another thing just as awesome that I can't remember quite as well because it's all kind of blurring into one giant ball of fantasticness) was 'Man I Feel Like A Woman'. Yes.
He started singing. And then his (very manly) two male dancers came on. Dressed in thigh-high boots, hot pink minidresses with sparkly tassels, and loads of lipstick. They looked mortified. It was hilarious. And then at the end, John reached out, grabbed the dresses, and ripped them off. Apparently, 'that's for the ladies. And the men'. :P BUT IT GOT BETTER. He then ordered them to turn around and take a bow. And they (embarrasedly) did.
Hot damn. Thank you for that, John. It honestly was much appreciated. :P
(I know, I know, I have no morals - but seriously, you expect me not to ogle when presented with two mostly-naked, very fit, rather tasty-looking young men who had already proved several times in the show that they're very flexible? You try it some time!)
Then they tried to go over and kiss John (so that he'd be covered in lipstick as revenge, hehe!) but they didn't manage it. Sadly.
Speaking of the sexy male dancers (and the dancers generally) - they were so good! We somehow managed to semi bump into them twice - once before and once after the show! They brushed past ice_Elf as we headed for the stage door at the end. So that was exciting.
One of my favourite bits with the dancers was pretty close to the end, when John sang Barry Manilow's 'Copa Cabana' (which I always expect to be 'Star Wars Cantina' - even in contexts where I know it won't be, like here). They acted out the plot of the song through dance, and ... well, just wow. It was incredible.
I feel that I should probably mention Jodie Prenger, who was supporting John and sang a really good duet with him at one point. She sang some really good songs (all of which I love and loved when she sang them). She has an incredible voice. (Also, she made John laugh a lot, which was really funny.)
Anyway, she at one point sang 'Mambo Italiano'. (She sang it really well, but that's ... not really why it's memorable. *shallow*) The male dancers came on and danced to it. Um. One word: PHWOAR. *fans self*
On a slightly more sensible note - the first song Jodie sang was 'Cry Me A River', which is probably one of my all time favourite ever songs. She sang it incredibly, and the lighting and choreography were brilliant for it. She also sang 'Proud Mary' (which always reminds me of Glee; also, yay for audience participation!) which was a lot of fun to listen to and watch. :)
Now, back to John. :P He followed 'The Doctor and I' (which was accompanied by a series of appropriate images of Jack and the Doctor) with 'Rule the World' (the Take That song from Stardust). I sat there listening to it, and I think it's a beautiful and haunting song anyway, but ... I couldn't think of anything but Jack and Ianto at the end of Children of Earth. *wibbles* (Just look up the lyrics.) It was brilliant, anyway.
Another song he sang - and possibly my favourite (apart from 'I Am What I Am') - was 'From This Moment'. Now, I like this song, it's OK. I like the way Shania Twain sings it, although it's not my favourite of her songs. Maybe it was because John preceded it with a little speech about how grateful he is to his fans for helping him to realise his dream. Maybe it was because he dedicated it to the audience. Maybe it was just because of the way he sang it.
John Barrowman's version of 'From This Moment' is absolutely beautiful. It felt like he meant every word. He closed the show with it, and got a standing ovation that went on for ages. (And apparently made him teary-eyed - he said something like, "Don't make me cry, I won't be able to sing!" It was half a joke, but you could see he also half meant it.)
I love the man so much. And speaking of love - at one point, he made the lights in the auditorium go up, and told the audience to turn to the person next to them and hug them. :D It was lovely. (He also made it funny. :P Lesbian action in the front row! Orgies of over-65s in the circle! XD)
Speaking of lovely, he dedicated a song to his parents. He introduced them with the story of how they used to come to Blackpool for the summer every year (from the ages of 16 and 18) and go dancing at the Tower Ballroom. Awwwww. I can't for the life of me remember what the song is called, but it was so sweet. First of all, a couple of his dancers came on (obviously his youthful parents) and danced; then the stage went dark apart from his bit while he kep singing; when the lights came up again, his other pair of dancers were there, being his middle aged parents. The lights went down again. Now, I know that sometimes his mum and dad go on tour with him, but I wasn't really expecting them to be tonight. But they were! They came on and waltzed through the end of the song, and it was so lovely. It's obvious that they're still in love, even after 55 years.
Then, John's dad stole the mic. ...
John's Dad: Tonight, I'm wearing my James Bond suit. *Sean Connery impression* I'm Bond, James Bond.
John's Mum: *steals the mic.* And I'm ... Pussy Galore!
John: *nearly spits a mouthful of water all over the drummer, was totally not expecting that, OMFG*
Audience: XD
John: *takes the mic.* I am not gonna go there!
John's Dad: *steal the mic. again* Well, we all know that I did!
Audience: XD
John: *again, not expecting that, probably the closest he could come to mortified*
John's Mum: *takes pity on the boy, wrests the mic. from his dad and hands it over*
John: Shit.
Audience: XD
And then they went off, to much applause and me silently thanking them for giving the world the gift that is John Barrowman. :) Honestly, I can really see where he gets it from. It's blatantly obvious as soon as you see his parents! ;D
I also loved other bits of the banter in the show. The only thing I remember off the top of my head is the following:
John: *talking about Scott living with him* I'm a handful.
Drummer: *ba-dum-tish*
Audience: *LAUGHS HARD AND CLAPS*
John: Don't encourage him!
;D
And there was tons more where that came from!
There were other stories, too, as well as the one he told about his parents. Such as the story of his little neice who asked him why he doesn't sing stuff that's more modern - which prompted all his neices and nephews to gang up on him and press-gang him into doing just that. :P
My favourite, though, was probably his story of when Scott first took him skiing and he made an utter tit of himself. :P He didn't get off the ski lift properly and ended up on the steep side of the mountain - and had to get down in a really stupid way. He'd just started to get going when he got a text from Scott that basically ended with, "Oh, and when you've finished enjoying coming down the slope nice and slowly and enjoying the views, come and join me in the pub - there's a group of us watching some asshole come down the wrong side of the mountain." ... XD
I can't make it as funny as he did, because I can't show you The Mime that went with it. :P
Also, there was the story of when, on Fifth Gear, he crashed the car quite badly and his manager had a total freakout - because, in John's words, he "saw the pound-signs go away!" XP
The guy is just such a good all-round entertainer. It was a fantastic night - I haven't laughed, grinned and enjoyed myself at a show that much in a really long time. It was well worth the price of the ticket, well worth the price of the train home, and more than worth getting up at 5am to drive back to Warwick tomorrow.
Oh, but before I go and crawl into bed, another little anecdote - this one mine.
When we arrived in Blackpool, we decided to go and have a look for the Stage Door. We found a likely-looking place (out of which came JB's dancers, which looked promising!) and thought, "OK, we know where to come at the end." So we went to look for the apparently mythical Doctor Who section of the illuminations (which were not there D: ), had a wander up and down the pier, and had tea in Harry Ramsden's without incident.
Then, after the show, we hurried around to our stage door and waited. And waited. And eventually, another lady in the small crowd rang her friend and found out that there's another stage door - on the other side of the building. The building is like a massive block. We'd already been waiting quite a long time, long enough that we thought it was weird he hadn't come out yet.
ice_Elf and I looked at each other - and then we ran, in high heels, all the way around the building until we saw the Tour Busses and the little crowd around the real stage door.
We killed our feet, but we got there! In plenty of time, as well, because he didn't come out for ages after. Jodie came out and was lovely (and decided to spend ten minutes having a chat with some relatives - or at least people she knew - on the edge of the crowd, as if she was just nobody). Then, finally, John's mum and dad came out (and got a round of applause) followed by John.
I have been within arm's length of the man. (Hence the title of my first LJ cut!) That's good enough for me.
And now, if you'll excuse me, I shall be off. I have a lot to get done tonight before I can sleep, and I have to be up in 3 hours. (Seeing JB live was so worth it, I don't even care.)
.