Jason Webley rocks my f***in' world!
Tonight was just awesome. I've been to see Jason a few times now, but this was one of the best. He really went all-out to make this show something special. The Moore Theater was actually a slightly smaller venue than I was expecting, and it was completely packed with folks who clearly like to have fun with their clothes shopping and personal appearance. Lots of colourful hair, quirky facial fuzz, utili-kilts, patterned tights, and stompy boots. In short, my kind of crowd. I saw lots of familiar faces from past events, especially Camp Feather, the slumber party Jason threw earlier this year.
Jason was marvelous as always. He is a born showman, no matter how large or small the venue, and he has this warm, friendly way of working the crowd that always makes it feel like there's nowhere he'd rather be than right there with those people. He had his band with him tonight, which is not something I've seen before. He does such a wonderful job as a solo performer that he doesn't really need backup, but they were very good, and they had the effect of making the whole experience much larger than it usually is.
Partway through, Amanda Palmer joined him onstage to sing "Icarus" and then "Elephant, Elephant". I'd never seen her perform, but you can see their close friendship and their joy in working together in the way they interact on the stage. And then Neil Gaiman came out, too, and introduced special guests Evelyn Evelyn, the musical conjoined twin sisters who are usually portrayed by Jason and Amanda, but tonight were played by the Shook Twins, and they performed "You Only Want Me 'Cause You Want My Sister". Then Neil told the story of the night before his wedding to Amanda, and the "party" Jason arranged for him, and he read a poem he had written about it. There was so much happy hugging onstage between all the performers that it was just a joy to see. Jason is an awesome guy, and it warms my heart to see how he is loved and respected by all these other enormously talented people.
There wasn't a lot of room in the aisles, but Jason encouraged everyone to get up and dance, and there were giant red balloons bouncing through the crowd for the second half of the show, as well as plastic bottles with a few pennies in them to shake for noisemakers. Jason talked about how he loves the life he's been blessed to lead, but all the touring means he doesn't really get a chance to connect with people as much as he'd like, so he's going to be taking some time off from performing. Maybe a year or more. Lucky for me, he lives just up the road, and will probably continue throwing small events even during his "off" time.
At the end of the show, Jason grabbed a bouquet of giant red balloons from the stage, and invited everyone to come for a walk with him. We walked from the theatre down along the waterfront to the park, hundreds of people continuing to hum the final refrain along the way. I think we freaked out the park security guards a bit. When we got to the rocky beach, it was midnight. We stood there, still humming, by the glow of a few tiki torches as Jason tied his beloved, well-worn hat to the bunch of balloons, and sent them sailing up into the clear night sky, toward the full moon. Then he stripped down to his underwear, dove into the water, and swam to a waiting sailboat.
My feet hurt from walking, my throat is sore from singing and yelling at the top of my lungs, and my face hurts from smiling. It was an awesome and magical event.
Jason was marvelous as always. He is a born showman, no matter how large or small the venue, and he has this warm, friendly way of working the crowd that always makes it feel like there's nowhere he'd rather be than right there with those people. He had his band with him tonight, which is not something I've seen before. He does such a wonderful job as a solo performer that he doesn't really need backup, but they were very good, and they had the effect of making the whole experience much larger than it usually is.
Partway through, Amanda Palmer joined him onstage to sing "Icarus" and then "Elephant, Elephant". I'd never seen her perform, but you can see their close friendship and their joy in working together in the way they interact on the stage. And then Neil Gaiman came out, too, and introduced special guests Evelyn Evelyn, the musical conjoined twin sisters who are usually portrayed by Jason and Amanda, but tonight were played by the Shook Twins, and they performed "You Only Want Me 'Cause You Want My Sister". Then Neil told the story of the night before his wedding to Amanda, and the "party" Jason arranged for him, and he read a poem he had written about it. There was so much happy hugging onstage between all the performers that it was just a joy to see. Jason is an awesome guy, and it warms my heart to see how he is loved and respected by all these other enormously talented people.
There wasn't a lot of room in the aisles, but Jason encouraged everyone to get up and dance, and there were giant red balloons bouncing through the crowd for the second half of the show, as well as plastic bottles with a few pennies in them to shake for noisemakers. Jason talked about how he loves the life he's been blessed to lead, but all the touring means he doesn't really get a chance to connect with people as much as he'd like, so he's going to be taking some time off from performing. Maybe a year or more. Lucky for me, he lives just up the road, and will probably continue throwing small events even during his "off" time.
At the end of the show, Jason grabbed a bouquet of giant red balloons from the stage, and invited everyone to come for a walk with him. We walked from the theatre down along the waterfront to the park, hundreds of people continuing to hum the final refrain along the way. I think we freaked out the park security guards a bit. When we got to the rocky beach, it was midnight. We stood there, still humming, by the glow of a few tiki torches as Jason tied his beloved, well-worn hat to the bunch of balloons, and sent them sailing up into the clear night sky, toward the full moon. Then he stripped down to his underwear, dove into the water, and swam to a waiting sailboat.
My feet hurt from walking, my throat is sore from singing and yelling at the top of my lungs, and my face hurts from smiling. It was an awesome and magical event.