Thriller LIVE

This last week was “Thriller LIVE“-week!

I’d seen the show quite a few times before, first in 2008 in Frankfurt on its first tour in Germany, and I was definitely thrilled from the beginning. After Michael Jackson’s death in 2009, the show got a huge boost and came to Germany more often, played more venues and stayed for several performances. I cannot comment this any differently than with a quote by Robin Gibb of the Bee Gees who said: “If even a small portion of the praise that is bestowed on Michael Jackson now in death was given to him in life, he might well still be with us.”

Well, I definitely don’t blame the show for that because it was here before 2009 and that’s one of the good things about it. The producer, Adrian Grant, has been one of Michael’s most active fans for many many years, leading the “Off the wall”-fanclub, releasing two books, organizing MJ Days, one of which Michael visited himself in 2001, and finally producing “Thriller LIVE”.

The show itself takes the audience through Michael’s career, starting with hits like “I want you back” and “I’ll be there“. I always wonder where the producers get these young talents from that sing the early hits and portrait Michael as part of the “Jackson 5”. Next up are “The Jacksons” with “Shake your body“, “Blame it on the boogie” and “Can you feel it” all the way to Michael’s solo career and his groundbreaking songs and dance moves.

I especially like that the show does not try to copy Michael in every single way. It gives its own interpretation of MJ’s songs and performances – sometimes adapting parts, sometimes staging them completely differently. Yes, there is “Billie Jean” with all its signature moves, there is the gangster party and the lean in “Smooth Criminal“, there is “Thriller” with the zombies – and of course these are the songs and moves that the general public wants to see. But there are also less known songs like “Get on the floor” from the “Off the wall” album, and there are new costumes and new choreographies for many songs – but still everything has that Jackson touch. And that’s probably thanks to Adrian Grant and also LaVelle Smith, one of Michael Jackson’s long-time co-choreographer, who helped stage the show. The musical also does not rely on playback but there is an awesome band in the back and the artists sing themselves. Of course this also gives the songs a new color.

The cast this time is amazing. Many of them are artists in their own right. There is, for example, Tyrone Lee, one of the lead singers, who released his debut album “Invitation” last year. Very souly, very worth listening to! Then there is David Jordan. Some of you might remember him from his album “Set the mood” (2007) and his smash hit “Sun goes down“. He’s the “Solo-Michael” in the musical and does an awesome job. One of the very few impersonators I have ever seen that can almost spin like the King himself. The female lead vocalist is Cleo Higgins. Those who remember the 90s as vividly as I do will definitely know her as the lead singer of the girl group “Cleopatra“. “Cleopatra, comin’ atcha…” – got it? Of course one of their biggest hits was “I want you back“, a Jackson 5 cover. And I remember them talking about Michael basically in every single interview! So no wonder Cleo knows every single phrasing of the Michael Jackson songs by heart! She’s one hell of a singer and dancer with charisma like crazy! But also the maybe less known performers were convincing! For example Jesse Smith, who sings the more rocky MJ songs like “Dirty Diana“, but also has an awesomely gentle and soft voice for “She’s out of my life“.

In comparison to other musicals, the atmosphere in the audience is quite different. Prepare to get to your feet, to clap, dance and sing along and to cheer just because it’s that good. Especially the last part usually has more like a concert atmosphere – well, for me it could be that way the whole show long! I don’t understand how people can quietly sit in their seats hearing and watching THIS! But I guess that’s a matter of socialization or whatever – I was socialized on Michael Jackson concerts so there is no sitting still!

Anyway, I don’t think I have to add that I advise everyone to go and see the show – here in Munich until June 1^st or wherever they go next! Fact is: I now saw the show four times in just a week – I don’t think there can be any better praise!

Usher – OMG Tour and new stuff

Usher is preparing a new album! “Good kisser” is the new single:

I really like it. It sounds fresh, new, and still Usher. Moreover, it’s not this Eurodance-like ish anymore that was going on for muuuuuch too long! The lyrics…well… Anyways, I still kinda like the video, though. And I’m now really excited for the new album! 

When I saw the video, I kinda got a feeling as if I had been missing Usher for years. And that’s probably true, because he has long been one of my favorite musicians. The video not only brought back the memories of that time but also started something new. I’m glad he’s back like THAT!

So, to re-live some Usher, here are some pictures from his last show in Munich. As I hadn’t really liked his last two albums then, “Here I am” and “Raymond vs Raymond/Versus“, I actually didn’t expect much, but Usher live is always an experience!

My friend and I waited for Usher afterwards and he did stop to say hello. That was the third time I met him. The first time was in 2001 in Cologne when he was still not widely known in Germany yet. He was awesomely nice, took a lot of time, signed autographs, took pictures, everything. Then  “8701” dropped and he became huge. The album is actually still my favorite and the tour will probably always stay my favorite. But unfortunately the success seemed to have gone to his head. He was really arrogant that time. Well, maybe he had a bad day, but that was my impression. Now in 2011 the real big hype was over and he seemed to be grounded again. He signed some autographs and did a little small talk with us about the show and stuff.

But no matter what, he is an amazing showman, probably one of the few all-round entertainers, and I cannot wait to see him back on stage! Fingers crossed for a European tour!

 

 

Robbie Williams – Swings both ways Tour

Robbie Williams is back on tour! But this time he’s not playing stadiums and he’s not presenting his biggest hits. This time it’s all about his very own musical passion: swing! Already back in 2001 Robbie surprised his audience by releasing a swing CD called “Swing when you’re winning” and an accompanying show in London’s “Royal Albert Hall”. With his new album “Swings both ways” he’s taking the concept on tour for the first time.

His gig in Prague was the second on his tour, so we were not spoiled by reports and youtube clips of the show yet but had the original experience like back in the days when every concert you went to was a huge surprise. The show itself was so different yet so Robbie. Those who came to hear his biggest hits certainly were disappointed as the only original Robbie song he sang was “Angels“. He did sing “Supreme“, but in the jazzy version it appears on the new album. He also added a medley of hits like “Millennium“, “Come undone” and “Old before I die“, but these also were newly arranged.

Instead of his popular reportoire, Robbie presented songs from his two swing albums as well as some of the classic tracks like Frank Sinatra’s “New York, New York“, which he spiced up by adding Alicia Keys’ “Empire state of mind“, sung by his background singer, as an intro. One of my favourite parts of the show was a medley of old Rock’n’Roll/R’n’B tracks, from Elvis’ “Trouble“, to Ray Charles’ “Hit the road Jack” and Jackie Wilson’s “Reet petite“. Another cover was R.Kelly’s “Ignition Remix“, which Robbie performed with four other guys from his band a capella in close harmonies. Very interesting adaptation! Robbie posted a vocal warmup of the song a few days later, so check it out:

In a very emotional moment, Robbie talked about being a daddy and how his little girl has changed his life, before he introduced “Go gentle“, according to him “one of the many songs” he’s going to write about her. Listen to the lyrics! It’s a very beautiful song of a dad giving advice to his child.

There was a tap dancer for “Mr. Bojangles”, Robbie’s dad Pete came out to sing a duet with him on “Do nothing til you hear from me” and for Dean Martin’s “That’s amore” he picked a woman (NOT a girl) from the audience to take her as his “showbiz wife” and married her on stage. As in all of his shows, Robbie showed a huge amount of self irony, culmanating in “No one likes a fat pop star“, a very “Les Miserables”-style song from the new album, during which he was lifted above the stage wearing a fat suit.

Apropos fat: At one time Robbie spotted a guy in the audience who was holding a painting he had done of him. He asked the artist whether he was the guy who had been to his show in Munich last year. It turned out that he was and Robbie quickly told the audience what had happened in Munich. This artist had shown up with a portrait of Robbie and his wife Ayda. Robbie saw it and said he looked fat in the picture and he would only get that guy up on stage if he painted a better picture. I remember that my friends and me had talked about that incident after the show in Munich and hadn’t liked it because we thought it was rude to tell that fan off. So when Robbie got that guy up on stage in Prague and apologized, it felt good.

Generally it really seemed like Robbie has grown up. Not in a bad way of becoming boring and stuff, but in a good way of behaving respectfully, being grounded, knowing what he wants, being himself and loving it. He’s still that good old funny and entertaining Robbie, but at the same time he is making his way, doing things he loves and thinks are right and taking chances. And that’s exactly what makes artists (and human beings!) grow.