Talk about timing..first off, I’ve been looking forward to this show for months, when I got word from Peter’s management about getting hired to shoot the show in Montreal, opening night and all. Envisioning the perfect shots in my head, getting Peter with the conductor conducively performing in one shot, blah blah blah..man, my head can spin in so many directions about project’s like this..thinking 3-dimensionally while dreaming…just to get the perfect shot of shots.

Have to say, visuals aside, Peter is a guy who never disappoints when performing. I knew in advance about the two sets: first set, all covers from the recent album “Scratch my Back”, second set from Peter’s catalog.

Peter’s timing for opening night couldn’t have been worse. Wouldn’t you know it, he’s opening on the night of game 7 of the playoffs with the Canadians going against the Capitals in Washington. Montreal is a HOCKEY town, period. The biggest sports bar for hockey in Montreal also happens to be in the Bell Centre, so you’ve got Peter performing, and absolutely crazy in delerium hockey fans in the same venue, if you can imagine that.

I bring this up for a reason. Playing your songs with a full orchestra brings delicateness into the picture..softness added to the music..nothing like trying to appreciate the strings in an orchestra, and then off in the distance hearing thunderous applause from the Canadians scoring a goal in the first period. Canadian fans aside, I’m more than pleased with Peter’s performance and presentation.

I Haven’t heard his upper-register sound this clear and soulful in years..every note he sung was spot on..I mean SPOT-ON! Maybe it’s because of age, not playing 130 shows a year anymore, who knows..hearing him perform opening night is breathtaking to behold.

In my opinion, adding an orchestra, no guitar, no drums, provides a reinvention of the songs, both covers and Peter’s own music..the strings the tympany, only add nuances to Peter’s voice..It simply makes you appreciate Peter even more.

I’m personally flummoxed at some of the criticism being thrown at Peter for his new album “Scratch my Back”. I think all the songs work. Excellent choices throughout. Guess what? They sound even better live. So who cares if it’s not all original material? So who cares how long it takes for him to conceive and produce new songs..personally, Peter told me he has been busy with a lot of projects over the past few years..collaborating with Hot Chip, Trent Reznor, the soundtrack to “Wall-E”, let alone this massive undertaking with a full orchestra..
Too bad there’s only 5 dates total for this gorgeous tour..2 in Montreal, 2 in New York, 1 in Los Angeles..such a massive undertaking, done up “Peter Style”, requires big bucks..Hence no big tour.

For the lucky few who can attend: You’re in for a treat..a treat indeed..

LADY GAGA ARRIVES IN CHICAGO, COMMANDING YOUR ATTENTION

Let us begin before the show, before the doors open to the venue of the Rosemont Theatre, on this cold Friday night. Local news crews are out en masse, filming up and down the crowd seeking fan reaction for there 10:00 news feed. Next to me stands a mother with her daughter, calm, collected, until the white light of the news camera lights up..then the mother “lights up” too: “I think Lady Gaga is pure filth, with a capital F!!!..I’m only here because my daughter likes her!” I chime in: “Ma’am, have you seen her tour before?’ “No!” She says, “I don’t need to!…I just know that she’s vile…just VILE!!’ “Ma’am, you know what your mantra should be for 2010? DON’T – FEAR – ART!! And so it goes.

What happens next before Lady Gaga goes on is also a sight to behold. The mixers and crew at the back of the house decide to interject 6 songs of Michael Jackson to the delight of the crowd…everything from “Beat It” to “Smooth Criminal” to “Don’t Stop ‘Till You Get Enough”, and on and on. There is a reason for this, more than getting this crowd pumped up,, Michael Jackson’s camp were actively pursuing Lady Gaga during his rehearsals in LA before the round of London gigs were set to begin at the O2 Arena. Aparently Micheal was interested in her doing a song together, in which Lady Gaga would get artistic control, including choreography…alas, it would never happen, hence the celebration of Michael’s msic before Lady Gaga’s show begins. Needless to say it works in getting this crowd punped up!

Questions: Is Lady Gaga’s show over the top with multiple costume changes? YES.
Is Lady Gaga’s show colorful and full of performance art vignettes? YES.
Is Lady Gaga’s show raunchy and full of some nasty dialog? YES.

And that is the point. Like Madonna (an obvious influence), Pink, Kylie Minogue, Britney, etc, Lady Gaga is pursuing a brand of pop that is more of a spectacle, where visual, choreography, shock value is just as important as the music itself.

To have the show in a 3-D ish perspective sloped down into a gigantic picture frame adds to the allure of pure showmanship. Each song is meticulously thought out as if to see an exhibit in an art gallery- some pieces attract your attention, others, you simply walk on by. Personally, I would’ve put the kabash on the constant stage banter..some- ok- but not all the time between and during songs. Case in point: What stops a show dead in its tracks? 5 minutes of chatting to the crowd, at the keyboard during a slow rendition of “Poker Face”, which seemed to take F-O-R-E-V-E-R to complete. It needlessly doesn’t provide any musical nourishment to me at all, to the point where that I wished I could’ve stretched out to take a short nap.

Shows like this, spctacles like this deserve so much more. If given the chance, make it a non-stop dance party. I would want my audience drained, exhausted upon leaving the venue, period, end of story.Yes, Lady Gaga’s show is high voltage fun. Yes, I left gratified, feeling that I accomplished visually, capturing visually the essence of her show. The drawbacks that I feel are common to my past experieces with shows of this type, including the Madonna’s, the Pink’s, etc..that is that downtime absolutely throws the show to a halt, with not only the fans, but the artist as well. You stand around dumbfounded until things pick up again.

Maybe between costume changes you can launch into a DJ, positioned either stage left or stage right, doing a mash up of your hits with other artists….something…anything..
The Lady Gaga wannabees, imitators were definitely out en masse, including one guy dressed in a giant panda outfit, with a sign taped to his chest: “PANDAS FOR GAGA”. The poor guy’s panda head was so big, he was asked by security to remove it becuse it was obsrtucting other ticketholders view of the stage.
Definitely, Lady Gaga commands your undivided attention.The only dilemma’s left: Venue size when she tours again (figure arena size from here on out).

What the fans will wear the next time she comes through town?

The Lollapalooza lineup is finally out and its ridiculous, I would expect no less from this show.

The acts include [links to Lollapalooza band page]:

The rumors are flying and some of the ones that come from credible sources like Greg Kot at the Chicago Tribune sure make me all warm and fuzzy. Mr. Kot mentions four acts in this article ( Tribune Website ) The Killers, Tool, The Decemberists and Lou Reed; Do i need to say more?

If you must insist the Forums at lollapalooza.com has a compilation of the rumors and semi-confirmed, which include:

• The aforementioned bands
• Neko Case
• Atmosphere
• Kaiser Chiefs

Of course non of this means anything untill they are written down in stone, but the sources seem solid, and I for one ( Bobby assures me of this ) believe Greg Kot is a good source, with good sources. The wait is killing me.

I tell you what, Metallica is the way to start your concert year. Sure it was at the end of the month and we had been waiting for it for a long time but it was worth it.

Let me start with the setlist:

1. That Was Just Your Life
2. The End of the Line
3. Creeping Death
4. Ride the Lightning
5. One
6. Broken, Beat and Scarred
7. Cyanide
8. Sad But True
9. Wherever I May Roam
10. All Nightmare Long
11. The Day That Never Comes
12. Master of Puppets
13. Blackened
14. Nothing Else Matters
15. Enter Sandman

And the encore:

1. Last Caress (Misfits cover)
2. Motorbreath
3. Seek and Destroy

As you can see they played a good amount of classic songs, but definitely showcase their new material, the playing was hard and fast as a Metallica show should be. Mind you we didn’t get good tickets but even up in the rafters the noise and the beat were pounding and heavy ( oh and i could feel the flames! ). Seeing Machine Head open, you get a sense of how hard it is to play on such a large stage for an audience that big! It seemed almost unfair for them, they looked so small, not to mention that the sound was muddled where we were … can you have muddled and too loud at the same time? well it seemed like that.

When Metallica jumped on stage you could see the potential brought forth in that kind of stage, with James moving around the stage to each microphone on the perimeter, and Robert Trujillo doing his troll under the bridge scaring the children walk around the stage ( that man is intimidating when he gets going ), Lars in the middle playing to the crowd and  Kirk, well Kirk was just what you expect, the cool and collected guitarist, to cool for the rest of us ( he is mind you ).

Overall, despite hanging out with the pigeons in the rafters the show was phenomenal, enjoy the pictures.

of note: I would like to thank Nikon for not sponsoring this post, but making a camera that survived a fall and rolling under the stage pyrotechnics. I am glad Bobby Talamine didn’t hurt himself, but would have liked to see him flailing to the ground and thankful for rubber matting.