Not to be confused with the album review(s) here & here.
So they released the video when I was on my way to Brighton, which seemed almost poetic; that I was passing their hometown whilst being unable to watch the video. Mostly, though, it was just irritating as hell! Especially when I knew I was headed for Concorde 2, where they launched the album of the same name (to say nothing of that fact that I’m still sad that I couldn’t go to that gig!). In fact, I nearly gave in and watched it on the train, but I wasn’t sure how much data it would use, plus I figured the connection would probably drop out halfway through and the low quality version I initially attempted just wasn’t cutting it. So I waited. And waited. And waited.
In the end I really didn’t have as much time to fangirl over this one as I’ve had for the others. I watched it at work on Tuesday morning, when I didn’t really have time (I just couldn’t bear to wait until lunch) and the internet connection in the office is so shocking that I had to pause it more than once to let it buffer before I could continue, which ruined the flow somewhat. Still… Hands! Hair! Did I mention hands?! And the faces? There’s even jumping! Aaaaaah! So good, so good, so good! And my initial impressions from the few seconds I saw Monday night weren’t wrong either. Lots of Justin to keep me happy! Though it didn’t really improve Monday’s I miss hiiiiiiim/them mood.
So, when I said I didn’t have time, I meant it. Other than that first watch on Tuesday, I didn’t manage to find the time to give it my full attention (whilst actually being awake enough to do it justice) until Friday! Friday! It was nice though. That song, especially when accompanied by the official music video, but just in general, always reminds me of summer. It came out the day before I went to Edinburgh back in August and I recall spending a good half of my 5 hour train journey just watching it on repeat. So, Friday lunchtime, with the sun was shining seemed the perfect moment to pay it its dues, even though I still didn’t really have time. It was weird, having only watched it that one time and in something of a hurry, it almost felt like I’d not actually seen it yet, only I didn’t have the same excitement as I did when I first watched it earlier in the week. Still, when I finally hit play, I nonetheless found myself biting my lip in anticipation!
Needless to say, I was not disappointed on the second viewing either or on the slow burn third viewing that supported my writing of this post. Admittedly this video hasn’t completely broken me the way the last couple have, but I still love it to bits. So here is my loving it… in bits…!
So! Two seconds in and we’re already getting some serious Russ rock face, which is always a good start. Four seconds later and I’m already screaming Justin’s name – not literally, that would be very awkward and highly embarrassing, since I’m sat at my desk in an office full of people (although they did notice that I was sat here essentially annotating a video second by second…!). Admittedly the headbangy hair flicking at 0:09 doesn’t help much with my attempts at self control, but so far, I’m still just beaming widely at the screen… *ahem*. The beaming pretty much just continues from there with a cute little half smile from Kieran around 0:12, another niiiiice shot of Justin at 0:16 and then Russ actually starts singing…!
There’s an interesting close up of Justin’s jacket at 0:36 which I’m still not quite sure what to make of. I mean his hands are in it too, but he’s turned to the side so the overwhelming impression of the shot is pretty much just floral printed velvet (Note: I’m not judging…). There is a nice glimpse of cuffs, chains and forearm though, so I’m not complaining. They also make up for the odd angle with a proper HANDS shot five seconds later, so I’m definitely not complaining by then… Especially with the slow sweep up his body afterwards. I would quite like to personally thank the cameraman for that one. And Kieran & Adam for putting it in the final edit. Anyway, I am now going to stop flagging up every single second containing Justin, but there are plenty more of them, they are very pleasant and there is HAIR.
Moving on, I love Mike’s little side to side boppy thing, which is nicely captured from behind at 0:58 and from the front five seconds later… nicely framing another Justin moment… And er, speaking of Justin (and no I’m not in the slightest bit sorry), I would just like to draw your attention to HANDS at 1:10. I mean really, HANDS! With the wail-y high pitched note to accompany them too… *dreamy sigh*. So… Kieran! Another cute sort of not really smile at 1:15 and then, er. Hands. Justin’s hands. Again. At about 1:21. I think I might be ever so slightly fixated. I wonder if there’s a support group? Although when the angle of the shot changes to a more zoomed out, full view of him, with guitar faces and all, I’m not really much better to be honest.
Moving on again, Adam. Drum face. 1:36. Love him. There’s an interesting shot at 1:44 of… the back of Justin’s jacket? I mean it’s certainly an interesting fashion statement, but it seems to be getting a lot of attention in this video! Still, the focus sorts itself out a couple of seconds later and we’re treated to a cute little shot of Kieran, followed by much happy, awesome Russ. I feel I’m not giving him enough attention in these. He’s awesome, I love him, his voice sounds great and I’ll be back to him for his solo in a short while. Before that, though. Have I mentioned Justin yet? 1:55. Headbanging. Hair. That is all. Oh, and 2:05. Hands. Fast hands. I’m saying nothing. So 2:13, really cute Russ smile. Yay for Russ smiles. I miss him! Aaaaand then we get his solo at 2:25. He doesn’t really get as much screen time during it as I’d expect, but the finger work at 2:28 is awesome. I also love Mike’s BVs at 2:30. It’s kinda rare to hear him on his own (except during the intro bits on tour) and he sounds fab. It always catches my attention no matter how many times I watch it through.
2:41 (& 3:05 for that matter). Justin. Jumping. Yayness. 2:47. Kieran close-up. A bit adorable. Especially the pouty rock face at the end. D’aww. 2:56. Hair. Hair, hair, hair, hair, hair. I still miss his old style though. It needs more height. Or more ruffling. I could probably help him with that… (Aww, I just realised I threw in a random RoA reference and I didn’t even mean to *reminiscent sigh*). Then there’s 3:24. The hands, the HANDS. There’s something about the angle. The focus on his left hand, perhaps? I probably shouldn’t say any of the rest of the things I’m thinking at this point… What I do have to say, however, is that I have a random love of Adam’s last drum (well cymbal) hit at 3:33. I don’t think I mention him enough either. I miss him too. Anyway, the video certainly ends well; a nice drawn out note and… Justin (3:36ish). I also quite enjoyed the way the camera drops to his arse as he turns away. It’s a shame the videos fading out by that point really! I really do have so much love for that cameraman!
So! *takes a few deep calming breaths* Another fantastic video, a great performance, an awesome editing job (I’m not biased at all…) and hopefully there’s still more to come. Well there must be at least one more, anyway. If they haven’t done No Hero I’ll (I was going to say ‘eat my hat’ but I don’t wear a hat, so instead I’ll go with…) ban myself from mentioning Justin’s name for a whole entire day (and we all know I’m completely incapable of doing that, so they’ll just have to have done No Hero, right? My logic is faultless, I’m sure). On that note, anyone remember the days when I actually had some shame?! I read back the old Call Of ’56 album reviews the other week and it’s so amusing to see how terrified I was of how he might react if he saw them and I barely said anything back then. These days it’s practically just 1500 words of ‘Justin, take me now, I’m yours’. What was that about subtlety again?! Still, it’ll be interesting to see how things change next month when I’m seeing him on a regular(ish) basis again, because right now, he’s not in the slightest bit real. Hell, he’s practically Gary Barlow (and what I wouldn’t give to see his expression if he did see that comment!). Anyway, I don’t think I’d be quite so brazen if I knew for a fact that he was reading these, and I also don’t think I’d be so bad if I was still talking to him all the time either. I don’t tend to objectify real people quite so much. (Note: I do know he IS real. I also know Gary Barlow is real. But right now, neither of them are real to me). I guess my somewhat meandering point is that I don’t have anything else to cling to right now and my excess emotions or feelings or whatever they are, tend to spill out in a flurry of fangirly insanity, because it’s the only outlet I’ve got. I miss the relationship I have with him, with all of them for that matter, when they’re on tour and without it, the stuff that’s left over is pure, undiluted fangirl and I suppose that can get a bit intense…
Anyway, moving on before I talk myself in circles again, I actually asked twitter, just after the release, what jacket Justin was wearing and one of my friends came through to inform me it was still the floral creation of the previous videos. That’s five now, so I’m beginning to think it’s unlikely that the red jacket will make an appearance. Surely there can’t be that many more to come? As I said, I’ll be very surprised if No Hero doesn’t happen, and I guess Luisa Rey is probably another relative certainty. I’d be pretty surprised if that one got skipped too, though I suspect Cadillac is unlikely, sadly. That one seems to be drifting out of the setlist, which sucks, but anyway. The point is, I can’t imagine what else they might have done. Unless they started going seriously into album tracks, which would, admittedly, be pretty awesome and I’m sure I had reason to hope for There’s A Road at one point… Or they decided to destroy me completely and have recorded Teardrops… what I wouldn’t give to see that song played live just once, even if it was only in video form. Hell, a shaky, bassy video from some old show would be better than nothing, I just want to see those guitar solos!
And that’s that, for now, I’m sure I’ll be back again later with the final post of the Room 94 tour!
Peace, loVe loVe and happiness, preferably in the form of chiselled guitarists,
K xx
PS. On a far more personal note, I was actually a little concerned about how I’d react to seeing someone in this, back before I first watched it on Monday. Much as I adore them all and would happily tackle-hug any one of them given half the chance, I’ve also been fighting the urge to punch one of them (not Justin, believe it or not! Although I am still irritated by the twitter conversation from the other day… I should probably let that go…) on the nose. Fortunately, however, it seems that I’m relatively over that now and my reaction was the same silly grin as always. Quite the relief, I can tell you. It would be highly awkward if I still felt that way when I hit tour (pardon the pun).
So Currently Captivated 
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