{"id":2758,"date":"2013-11-26T14:48:25","date_gmt":"2013-11-26T22:48:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bloodinyoursaltwater.com\/?p=2758"},"modified":"2013-11-26T14:52:37","modified_gmt":"2013-11-26T22:52:37","slug":"flashback-gaurunteed-to-blow-your-mind-london-england-03072009","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bloodinyoursaltwater.com\/?p=2758","title":{"rendered":"FLASHBACK: Guaranteed to Blow Your Mind! – London, England – [03\/07\/2009]"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"MM!<\/a>It should have been terrible, it really should have been. I mean, it\u2019s almost an \u201chow dare they\u201d\u2026.but it wasn\u2019t\u2026it\u00a0 just so wasn\u2019t.<\/p>\n

I had a feeling it was going to be a full-out show when I read the warnings on the doors, under the expected \u201cstage smoke and strobe lights\u201d warnings was in big bold print :<\/p>\n

The sound levels used in this show may cause damage to your ear drums\u00a0<\/em> <\/strong><\/p>\n

I grinned\u2026<\/p>\n

If I could do the groupie\/fan whistle, I would. As it is, my throat is raw from screaming, and I can\u2019t get the smile off my face, and my rib cage is still thundering with the echoes of the baseline\u2026granted being two rows from the front in a rock show will have that effect on people\u2026.:)<\/p>\n

We Will Rock You \u2013 despite everything that screams out that it shouldn\u2019t \u2013 lives up to it\u2019s name.<\/p>\n

Take the power of a live show, and combine it with the addictive energy of a true rock concert, and add an audience that is 99% composed of Queen fans. The cast played up to the audience, and played *back* to the audience. At one point someone cat called the main villain [justifiably so, more on that later], and she looked around, smirked, turned to her lackey who had also acknowledged and preened at said whistle, and then promptly dead-panned<\/p>\n

it wasn\u2019t for you\u2026moron<\/em><\/p>\n

and then slid right back into the script.<\/p>\n

It hooked you right from the beginning, the lights dropped and as the chords of \u201cInnuendo\u201d blasted out from the band a screen started flashing up milestones in rock n\u2019 roll history, starting with real stuff (the Beatles craze, Queen\u2019s hit single in 1973 etc etc,) then going to modern stuff (Simon sent from hell to destroy rock and roll), and then into FUTURE stuff:<\/p>\n

2019: the first computer generated star takes the top spot on the charts, <\/em>
\n2021: Kids have to have a license to own an electric guitar, <\/em>
\n2043: ALL musical instruments banned<\/em><\/p>\n

And from there the curtain went up on Radio Ga-ga\u2026the only case where they did slightly alter the words, but it was done in a way that made sense, and the new lyrics were written by the same band member who wrote the original (Radio Ga-ga wasn\u2019t a Freddie written song).<\/p>\n

Which brings me to the dancing. Which brings me to an incredibly superficial observation: can we say something about the eye candy? Yes, yes I think we can. And no, I don\u2019t mean because of the occasionally skimpy costumes (though I WANT the Killer Queen\u2019s wardrobe!) I mean the moves. People shouldn\u2019t be able to bend like that. One girl at one point was lying on her stomach *facing* the audience, and her leg was bent completely above her head, as in it looked like it was turned the wrong way\u2026.she *must* have been double jointed. And they were SINGING while doing this! I think really, that this topped Chicago for the sexiest show I\u2019ve ever seen\u2026perhaps it was just more blatant, but it was just\u2026shiver-worthy. But at the same time, it wasn\u2019t over-the-top so, it didn\u2019t *play* on being sexy, and it was never sexy at moments where it wasn\u2019t appropriate to be so\u2026but when it was, it \u2026was.<\/p>\n

Because I was sitting so close to the front, I was almost *in* the action. At one point part of the set rises out of the stage and swings out over the audience, and it was, literally above my head. At which point I need to mention that the Killer Queen really DID steal the show, so saucy, so confident, and so\u2026just bloody gorgeous, (okay, so the full length, fitted leather coat might have had something to do with that),but not in the typical way, she wasn\u2019t the toned edge perfect that we so often associated with beauty these days, she had curves, and dammit she *knew* how to use them. Think Queen Latifa only slightly thinner (and only slightly) and Caucasian, but that kind of attitude. She just kicked ass and had some awesome cutting dialogue which she delivered with truly excellent form (\u201c*ahem* what part of \u201cdon\u2019t stop me now\u201d don\u2019t you understand\u2026\u201d)<\/p>\n

However, also worth mentioning that the lead girl was an understudy, and WOW, I think I was privileged, because she was amazing, though I pity her voice in a few years, Queen isn\u2019t kind to the vocal chords!\u00a0 I adored her character though, watching her go from shy and awkward outsider to someone who actually had the guts to believe in herself and fight for something she would have walked away from\u2026she was a character I could relate to, and she was played very very well. \u201cFor the first time in my life, I don\u2019t hate myself\u2026.\u201d. Indeed\u2026<\/p>\n

But the one that sticks in my mind is the girl (yes girl) playing Ms Meatloaf (it\u2019s a long story, find the synopsis, it explains all), sexy, sassy and bloody well not letting ANYONE get in her way,\u00a0 she had the most heart-wrenching and touching song in the whole show, one of the only full solos in the whole story, without even a backup chorus or a single dancer to back her up\u2026the rebels were all sitting in their camp (which by the way, was a fantastic rendering of a very run down Tottemhem Court Road Tube station \u2013 which is only funny because the *real* station is actually directly under the theatre)\u2026trying to explain to the lead who they were and where they\u2019d taken their names from (they were all named after old rock stars)\u2026and one of them says:<\/p>\n

Don\u2019t you see\u2026their songs have been lost, but their names live on. We remember the ones who died young, Buddy Holly, Jimmy Hendricks, Kurt Cobain, Van Morrison, John Lennon\u2026.<\/em><\/p>\n

And she walks forward, and says, in a very quiet voice\u2026.<\/p>\n

Freddie\u2026..<\/em><\/p>\n

And goes into No One But You<\/em>\u2026<\/p>\n

Just\u2026just wow. It could have been separate from the show. It could have simply stood on it\u2019s own, it was\u2026one of the most touching tributes I\u2019ve seen in a long time. And it just seemed\u2026right. And for that, that actress gets the most kudos from me, because it takes guts, and talent to get up there and tackle something so important to so many people\u2026<\/p>\n

It took until about a quarter into the second act for the crowd to really realize that it was *okay* to get into it. Until then it was just me and a few other geeks in the front row.\u00a0 But when Under Pressure kicked in, you suddenly felt and entire audience gradually start clapping and snapping in all the right places\u2026and from then on, it was only a question of time. They were, after all, selling glow sticks at the souvenir booth (and yes ,I have one \":)\" ) by the time they finally hit the end and blasted into \u201cWe Will Rock You\u201d, you couldn\u2019t hold the audience back, the floor was shaking with the vibration of several hundred feet hitting into the base rhythm, and everyone\u2019s hands went up at the same time\u2026and eventually the lead actor simply turned the mic to the crowd for the chorus. And when the next number was \u201cWe Are The Champions\u201d everyone was on their feet and the glow sticks came out, and it was all downhill from there\u2026<\/p>\n

And just when everyone (well, not me, because I read the reviews and knew what was coming), thought it was over, another set of words flashed across the screen:<\/p>\n

DO YOU WANT BOHEMIAN RHAPSODY???<\/em><\/p>\n

And of course the screams echoed off the walls\u2026and the screen responded with:<\/p>\n

OH\u2026ALRIGHT THEN\u2026.<\/em><\/p>\n

And the entire cast, one by one, starting with the lead in a pin spot, took the stage to do a FULL staging of Bo Rap \u2013 including the opera section. Which Queen themselves never figured out a way to stage, though they worked on it for years, and when they were putting the show together, it was one thing that the remaining members insisted on, as it turns out it really does require 30+ singers to do it all.<\/p>\n

It was really interesting to see how they took such famous landmark songs and worked them into a totally fascinating and new storyline while at the same time changing so little to fit them it. It was very clear that the story was written around the words, not the other way around.\u00a0 It was all done with the *utmost* respect of the original material\u2026and the original artists. And by setting the story so far in the future, they were able to refer to loads of other pop-culture and song references by simply working them into the dialogue, (right at the beginning, when one of the rebels get captured, his captor comes out with \u201cwell well, do I see a little silhouetto of a spy?\u201d for example)<\/p>\n

It was just\u2026.an awesome night, and probably the closest to anything to do with Rock I\u2019ve seen in a long long while\u2026there\u2019s things I\u2019ve missed out, things I\u2019ll look back on later and wish I could remember. But there\u2019s too much. And you can\u2019t really describe the awesomeness that is a beat that rocks your ribcage, and forces your heart to go in time with it. Or the coolness of a rock band that\u2019s visible up either side of the stage (and at the end of the show, takes a major role speaking wise!). Or the amazing feeling of watching a character go through a transformation that is so close to what you\u2019re trying to master in yourself that you can look at the stage and think<\/p>\n

\u201cyeah, I wanna be that. And I think I CAN be that\u201d.<\/em><\/p>\n

And then at the very end, when everyone\u2019s getting up and shuffling out, Brian May\u2019s voice comes over the loud speaker and reminds everyone that the theatre and the production support the Mercury Phoenix Trust, and to please donate on the way out, and there were staff standing dutifully with donation containers at each entrance\u2026and it warmed your heart to see everyone toss something in ,even if it was just a small amount. Two pounds was all I could afford, but it was at least something.<\/p>\n

There were other things that made today an awesome day, a day spent in the sunshine watching Covent Garden street performers, the purchase (finally) of a long sought Claddagh ring, the finding and purchasing of a seashell exactly like the ones my grandmother left me. The self-indulgence of getting Buffy omnibus volume 3 and wandering around the biggest Waterstones Bookstore in the city\u2026there are other things\u2026but this show\u2026just\u2026<\/p>\n

rocked\u2026plain and simple\u2026.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It should have been terrible, it really should have been. I mean, it\u2019s almost an \u201chow dare they\u201d\u2026.but it wasn\u2019t\u2026it\u00a0 just so wasn\u2019t. I had a feeling it was going to be a full-out show when I read the warnings … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2758","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-flash-backs"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p3GtNE-Iu","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bloodinyoursaltwater.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2758","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bloodinyoursaltwater.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bloodinyoursaltwater.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bloodinyoursaltwater.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bloodinyoursaltwater.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2758"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/bloodinyoursaltwater.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2758\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2761,"href":"https:\/\/bloodinyoursaltwater.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2758\/revisions\/2761"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bloodinyoursaltwater.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2758"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bloodinyoursaltwater.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2758"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bloodinyoursaltwater.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2758"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}