Glee! Live - L.A. May 22, 2010
_lisalisa_ and I had SUCH a good time last night. She came up so we could go to the Glee Live show at Universal Amphitheater, and it was So. Much. Fun. Of course, we started off the night with a little Adam Lambert - his set at the Boston KIIS FM show took place just before we had to leave, so we got to watch him tear the place up via the radio station's excellent live stream.
Then it was off to Universal Citywalk. We'd bought tickets though a package that also gave us a little pre-show party, so we checked in to the party, got some food and drinks, and hit the merch booth (moonmelody, I got your tote bag) before they gave us souvenir tote bags, t-shirts and water bottles, which was cool. Then we wandered in to find our seats - which were spectacular: 4th row center. It couldn't get much better than that, so were were stoked.
The opening act was LXD - the League of Extraordinary Dancers - of which Glee cast member Harry Shum, Jr. is also a member. LXD were pretty amazing, and you have to give props to Harry for dancing with LXD and then doing the Glee show, too. He did double duty very well. And credit to Lisa's observational skills - Lil C, one of the judges and choreographers for "So You Think You Can Dance," was dancing with LXD, too! That was pretty awesome. Of course, it was a SYTYCD night, as former contestant and soon-to-be-All-Star-on-SYTYCD Lauren Gottlieb was one of the Cheerios passing out barf bags before the show and was one of the dancers in the Glee show. Lisa got a cute picture with her (even though the pic is too dark to see much, I swear they both looked precious). We also saw Mark Kanemura, one of my favorite SYTYCD contestants ever who will also be an All Star this season, at the show. We elected not to approach him as it wasn't a good time to do so, but he looked amazing and had shaved the goatee off since his performance with Gaga on "American Idol" a few weeks ago. And randomly, Perez Hilton was sitting about five rows back from us and drawing a consistent crowd between the opening and main acts.
Then it was time for Glee! All of the main cast high schoolers were in the show. The regular set list was as follows:
1. Don't Stop Believing
2. My Life Would Suck Without You
3. Push It
4. Don't Rain On My Parade
5. Beautiful
6. Sweet Caroline
7. The Boy Is Mine
8. Lady Is A Tramp
9. Defying Gravity
10. Bust Your Windows
11. Bad Romance
12. Dancing With Myself
13. It's My Life / Confessions
14. Halo / Walking On Sunshine
15. Rehab (Vocal Adrenaline)
16. Mercy (Vocal Adrenaline)
17. Jump
18. Faithfully / Any Way You Want It
19. Like A Prayer
20. True Colors (encore)
21. Somebody To Love (encore)
So, we got everyone we wanted to see, except that Jonathan Groff, who plays Jesse St. James, is not part of the live tour. HOWEVER, Lisa's and my wish came true, as just before the regular encore, Lea Michelle came out and, tearing up, proudly introduced her "very best friend," Jonathan Groff. Jonathan came out and they sang, "Hello," which was incredible. It was relatively rough, as I doubt they had the kind of time to rehearse it as the cast had rehearsed the rest of the show, but even knowing that it was less rehearsed, it was amazing. And since I never got to see them together in "Spring Awakening," it was wonderful to get to hear them sing together live. The genuine emotion between them is beautiful.
The show was just the most vibrant, enthusiastic event I've been to in forever. The cast was just so thrilled to be singing together and singing for us. I can't imagine the energy they were getting off the crowd, because while L.A. crowds generally are not real enthusiastic, on the whole this crowd was. Lisa and I did get a little love from the cast, because we were up dancing and singing right back at them, which was fun (and while everyone in the pit was on their feet, most were just standing and not as noticeably into the performance as we were, I guess). It was particularly noticeable on "Sweet Caroline," when Mark Salling was standing in front of our section of the stage but it felt like nobody else was doing the callback of "so good, so good, so good" with him except us - we got a grateful smile, lol.
If you get a chance, check out the show in Chicago and New York. It was such a positive experience.
Then it was off to Universal Citywalk. We'd bought tickets though a package that also gave us a little pre-show party, so we checked in to the party, got some food and drinks, and hit the merch booth (moonmelody, I got your tote bag) before they gave us souvenir tote bags, t-shirts and water bottles, which was cool. Then we wandered in to find our seats - which were spectacular: 4th row center. It couldn't get much better than that, so were were stoked.
The opening act was LXD - the League of Extraordinary Dancers - of which Glee cast member Harry Shum, Jr. is also a member. LXD were pretty amazing, and you have to give props to Harry for dancing with LXD and then doing the Glee show, too. He did double duty very well. And credit to Lisa's observational skills - Lil C, one of the judges and choreographers for "So You Think You Can Dance," was dancing with LXD, too! That was pretty awesome. Of course, it was a SYTYCD night, as former contestant and soon-to-be-All-Star-on-SYTYCD Lauren Gottlieb was one of the Cheerios passing out barf bags before the show and was one of the dancers in the Glee show. Lisa got a cute picture with her (even though the pic is too dark to see much, I swear they both looked precious). We also saw Mark Kanemura, one of my favorite SYTYCD contestants ever who will also be an All Star this season, at the show. We elected not to approach him as it wasn't a good time to do so, but he looked amazing and had shaved the goatee off since his performance with Gaga on "American Idol" a few weeks ago. And randomly, Perez Hilton was sitting about five rows back from us and drawing a consistent crowd between the opening and main acts.
Then it was time for Glee! All of the main cast high schoolers were in the show. The regular set list was as follows:
1. Don't Stop Believing
2. My Life Would Suck Without You
3. Push It
4. Don't Rain On My Parade
5. Beautiful
6. Sweet Caroline
7. The Boy Is Mine
8. Lady Is A Tramp
9. Defying Gravity
10. Bust Your Windows
11. Bad Romance
12. Dancing With Myself
13. It's My Life / Confessions
14. Halo / Walking On Sunshine
15. Rehab (Vocal Adrenaline)
16. Mercy (Vocal Adrenaline)
17. Jump
18. Faithfully / Any Way You Want It
19. Like A Prayer
20. True Colors (encore)
21. Somebody To Love (encore)
So, we got everyone we wanted to see, except that Jonathan Groff, who plays Jesse St. James, is not part of the live tour. HOWEVER, Lisa's and my wish came true, as just before the regular encore, Lea Michelle came out and, tearing up, proudly introduced her "very best friend," Jonathan Groff. Jonathan came out and they sang, "Hello," which was incredible. It was relatively rough, as I doubt they had the kind of time to rehearse it as the cast had rehearsed the rest of the show, but even knowing that it was less rehearsed, it was amazing. And since I never got to see them together in "Spring Awakening," it was wonderful to get to hear them sing together live. The genuine emotion between them is beautiful.
The show was just the most vibrant, enthusiastic event I've been to in forever. The cast was just so thrilled to be singing together and singing for us. I can't imagine the energy they were getting off the crowd, because while L.A. crowds generally are not real enthusiastic, on the whole this crowd was. Lisa and I did get a little love from the cast, because we were up dancing and singing right back at them, which was fun (and while everyone in the pit was on their feet, most were just standing and not as noticeably into the performance as we were, I guess). It was particularly noticeable on "Sweet Caroline," when Mark Salling was standing in front of our section of the stage but it felt like nobody else was doing the callback of "so good, so good, so good" with him except us - we got a grateful smile, lol.
If you get a chance, check out the show in Chicago and New York. It was such a positive experience.