Once upon a time, I used to write ridiculously self-indulgent second by second video breakdown blogs, only then TLC f***ed off and I’ve never really been all that motivated to write them for anything else (which is stupid, really, since the one time I wrote a Take That one, it got more hits in two days than I usually get in a month). To be fair, the process of going through a video frame by frame is fairly time consuming and my source material is usually in the form of 3-4 minute music videos. A 30 second promo, however…? Well, that’s a very different matter & I’ve had a rough day that was only really made bearable by the release of this little videographic gem. So I decided to indulge myself… Enjoy 😉
So, to start with, here’s the video; a behind the scenes look at a photoshoot for the forthcoming American Idiot UK tour…
And in case there’s even the slightest chance that you’re reading this without prior knowledge of who I’ll be talking about, here’s a helpful guide…
Aren’t they beautiful?!
Although I think Lucas may have feared he’d be mistaken for an exotic fruit arrangement in the background if he stood too still, so a second or so in, he starts waving energetically at the camera… Meanwhile, Steve gazes longingly at his new Johnny… and Sexy Lexi continues to live up to his new nickname *swoon*
Skip past the arty shots of makeup brushes and lights and we have boys. I like boys. Yay for boys. And Steve is living up to his nickname too (Mr. Sexy As Sin). And Alexis is smirky and smouldering and generally hot as hell. Also, Newton’s pulling a face, so I have high hopes that he’ll fit in just fine…
We then get a snippet of ‘raargh’ Lucas. I like that kind of Lucas. Well, I like all kinds of Lucas, but ‘raargh’ Lucas is particularly hot. And whilst there will no doubt be a fair few pineapple themed jokes in here before I’m done (because his hair is ridiculous – although I mean that in the nicest way possible), side on, his hair looks f***ing insane…
Anyway, we then cut away to a cute & pensive looking Steve… Dreaming of Newton perhaps?
I mean, he does seem to perk up a bit when Newton re-appears in shot… but then he also seems mildly amused when Alexis attacks…!
Well perhaps more than mildly amused! Would you just look at that smile?!
They can be serious, however, and here’s a nice (Addams) family portrait… In which Alexis looks smokin’ & Steve looks like he needs a cuddle. To quote Katniss Everdeen; I VOLUNTEER!
Although Alexis did seem a tad preoccupied at first… perhaps Lucas’s hair was making him peckish?! And Newton just looks confused, although maybe he’s just wondering when Emcee got replaced by the pineapple (albeit a very hot pineapple wearing a very sexy shirt).
We then get another look at boys, this time from a different angle, with a cheeky faced reminder that the Steve/Alexis bromance is back and better than ever…
Long live the bromance! And long live Steve’s smile. Just look at him!
And then the way they all giggle…! Steve’s practically glowing!
And then… more of the same… we get it boys, quit with the pigtail pulling/ear poking. Although, while we’re stopped here; Lucas. Cute. Cute cute cute. Also, cute.
And actually, Newton cute too. I’ll confess myself intrigued…
I like this bit too; little monkeys…
But I guess Steve isn’t over Newton yet…? Bless 😛
He may even have some competition from Lucas too if he’s not careful! Although Amelia does look ready to fight for him and in the meantime, Steve doesn’t look too cut up about it after all – but then, who would be when they’re being manhandled by Alexis like that?! (Side note: I adore Steve’s exasperatedly resigned expression in this bit. He’s so frickin’ cute).
And that was that… Or so it seemed…! The final clip is full of all sorts of brilliance. For one thing, have I mentioned how much I’ve f***ing missed St Jimmy? There’s just something about Lucas’s expression that hits me right in the ‘I still miss Idiot so much it hurts’ feels. And dear G-d I can’t wait just to have it back in my life, but the thought of seeing his St Jimmy again… of seeing him flip back that hood in Boulevard… of seeing that irresistibly smouldering smirk… Can. Not. Wait. *ahem*. I might maybe may kinda miss him a bit.
Although that’s not to say I don’t miss Lucas’s silly faces too…
And I’m still not over Sexy Lexi… Or Mr. Sexy As Sin who I haven’t seen in frickin’ AGES… Raargh indeed.
And yes, Newton, I will most definitely be catching you on tour. Many, many times… Which may explain why Lucas is starting to look a tad concerned…
Oh no wait, it’s not me, he just knows Steve and Alexis far too well…!
And Lucas is done, the poor, frightened little pineapple… So, I’ll just enjoy Steve’s inability to keep his clothes on and Alexis looking really quite scary, yet somehow still sexy…
See ya on tour 😉
Peace, love and rock ‘n’ roll,
K xx
PS. Disclaimer: This was intended purely as a bit of silliness. I adore Lucas and do not actually think he looks like a pineapple. In fact, I think his hair looks frickin’ awesome. I’ve missed his mohawk (and the rest of him for that matter – including the padlock necklace, which I bizarrely didn’t notice for ages, despite pouring over these screencaps for ages) and I’m genuinely impressed at the height he’s got on his hair in this video. I also feel bad about including a few less than flattering screencaps, but the fact I end up crying with laughter every time I see them overruled my more charitable side. I needed a laugh today. Finally, I obviously don’t think Amelia is at any risk of losing Steve to Newton or indeed to Alexis. I do, however, think Alexis is still looking insanely hot; just for the record. Can it please, please be tour time now?
So HANDS. And also HANDS. And did I mention frickin’ *HANDS*?
So, in case that wasn’t enough of a hint… The Last Carnival released their latest video yesterday. There are HANDS. I am happy.
In fact, it’s rather nice to know I can still be this happy over it, as in beaming-at-my-screen-like-a-loon happy, especially after the way I’ve felt for the best part of the last four months. It will probably never quite be the same as it once was – I guess I’m still a little broken (and being almost entirely ignored by someone really isn’t helping to fix that. You’d think I’d be used to it by now and I know it shouldn’t still hurt this damn much, but oddly enough, knowing I’m an idiot doesn’t actually make me feel better. Meh), however I do seem to have finally managed, after a fashion, to pull myself back together again. The cracks are definitely visible, in fact, I’m positively crazed (geddit?!), but I can function. Well, except when there are HANDS. Then I occasionally have a little trouble… 😉
I wasn’t quite sure what to think when they first announced the comic book concept for this one. I wasn’t exactly expecting a Take On Me style creation, but I was hoping for more than a handfull of stills and some fancy animation. Fortunately, I got what I hoped for and I like it a lot. I know, shocking, right? I like a Last Carnival video, who’d have thunk it?! Anyway, the point is, there’s a lot more to it than I was half expecting and I really enjoyed watching it. It’s been brilliantly shot and edited and there are some very nice effects used too, which enhance the live performance footage rather than detracting from it. I love the snippets of lyrics (partly because a good chunk of them I hadn’t been able to quite make out before) and the mix of straight footage interspersed with edited/colourised frames and effects.
So, can we begin by taking a moment to appreciate Russ’s awesomeness? Yes? Good. Russ is awesome. See? First shot. Proof.
Russ Is Awesome
Ok, so technically it’s not the first shot, there’s a blurry-ish frame of the band just before this in the earlier part of 0:05, but I think my point still stands. Anyhoo, we then fly straight into a nicely edited mash-up of band footage and coloured, comic book style stills with Russ continuing to be awesome throughout. Far too cool for school, that boy. There’s even a HANDS shot at 0:12. And yes, I know it’s not Justin. Shut up. Although… on the other side of the pretty pink bit… *coughs*… 0:15 isn’t bad really… I like the effect on the video… *looks shifty*
HANDS
Pretty Pink Bit
HANDS
So. Umm. 0:18. The vocals start and I’m still on my Russ is awesome trip, just so you’re aware. See? He’s just cool. However, can we take an additional moment to check out Kieran? Suave, man, very suave. Not even playing, but he’s there. He’s on it. Or ‘nailed it’ as he might say (before coming out with something completely inappropriate… Perhaps we should move on…).
Nailed It
Although before we do (there’s another great Russ shot coming up, just wait for it) I do have to mention the band footage at 0:22. Kieran, still not playing, just styling it out on his piano stool… :P. However, I do think Mike may steal the suave prize in that frame. He looks very beardy. More so than on tour perhaps? Or maybe it’s just lighting. Anyway, I’m not usually a beard fan, to be honest, but I really rather like it. Speaking of which and while I’m on the subject of style in general – Russ and Adam look so odd in t-shirts! I can’t even remember the last time I saw Russ dressed that casually. Before the smarter look of the past tour he was all about the leather jackets. I guess the fact Mike and Kieran are still rocking the shirts and waistcoat/braces look emphasises the difference even more. Then there’s Justin, bopping along in his New Rocks and Bowie embroidered jacket, looking much the same as always. He apparently didn’t get the memo re:dress code on the last tour either :P. Anyhoo, if Jus and Russ could lose the sunglasses, that would be fine too, but Russ does look rather smooth with his on, so I suppose they can stay.
Moving on, as I mentioned, there’s a nice shot of Russ after that, which morphs into a comic strip partway through. It looks ace and was particularly amusing because I inadvertently paused it on the below frame… whilst typing up the line about Kieran being inappropriate. I’m sure he could do plenty with this one…!
Fill in the gap…
So. 0:33. HANDS. Comic-ified HANDS, real HANDS, Mike HANDS… And then just in case that wasn’t enough, at 0:43 there’s more. And a knee. I’d kinda forgotten about the knee thing.
HANDS…
HANDS…
HANDS… & Knee
There’s even more at 0:45. And then, then, umm, more…
More…
Seriously though, so many HANDS. Before I watched it through for the second time, I figured I’d just been a bit dazzled the first time and perhaps over-estimated the HANDS to everything else ratio, but nope, there’s just loads of it. In fact, if I’d edited the video myself I wouldn’t have added much more. To be fair, I was expecting it a little after the promo screencaps they posted in the run up to release, but still…! Anyhoo, I haven’t mentioned the awesomeness of Russ in a while so here’s a nice shot from 0:48. I’ll gloss over the rapid movement a second later that I’m tempted to add here, but can’t quite capture and instead I’ll post one of Adam. Hiiii, Adam *waves*.
The Awesomeness Of Russ
Adaaaaaaaaaaam
I should probably mention the Mike HANDS at 0:53 just cos, however for lack of easily cap-able moments I’m just gonna stick a band shot here because I like it, so there. Deal with it. Plus in retrospect it does seem a tad overdue…
The Last Carnival
Of course, then there’s 0:56… And I mean, you didn’t really think I was going to stop with this, did you…?! As you may have realised by now, the awesomeness of Russ is not the overarching theme of this post. Although he is, in fact, awesome. Anyway, here’s a guitar. With some cuffs and a sleeve. Fascinating stuff, eh?
HANDS
And a guitar…
So you probably feel like you’ve been reading this forever? Can’t even remember a time before you were being inundated with inane commentary and too many slightly blurred screencaps of HANDS? Have forgotten that HANDS is normally a lowercase word? Well sit tight, because we’re actually only a minute in. It ain’t over yet… 😉 Seriously, though (well ish), I’m going to start skipping (through the video, not around the room) or we really will be here forever…
I love the section that starts around the 1:00 mark, with the golden accents picking up the guitars in the otherwise black and white footage and the split screen, comic book layout. It’s a nice tie in between the straight live footage and the comic-ified parts, as well as just being visually pleasing to me. The fact that it’s the guitars which are highlighted by the colour filter just makes it better; I do love a pretty instrument. (And yes, yes, the guitarist HANDS help, but it’s not just about that, honest. I mean, there’s a Kieran HAND too :P).
Golden Boys
And golden HANDS
I’m also still liking the way they flick smoothly between effects over the live action, as in the below example from 1:13, which I chose completely at random and not at all because at that exact moment it appears as though the Strand Of Torment has returned. I’ll make no pretences about the third cap, however, I just like it. Raargh. Also, I was amused by Russ’s pointing for no apparent reason.
Before
After
Raargh
And speaking of raargh (although, quick heads up, HANDS, 1:15, you’re welcome)… Whenever I listen to this one on Jukebox Medicine, I have a little mental Justin rock screaming over every wail of the guitar (as in, a mini Justin image in my head, not an insane guitarist shouting at me…). I’m not even sure where I got that from as I don’t specifically recall him doing that on tour. Although maybe he did and I just didn’t actively notice? Or maybe I simply picked it up from the Beat Inside video and merged it with the rest of the tracks on the EP. Either way, the mental image is always there with no obvious source. Now I still don’t have a source (except a possible hint at 0:15 not even strong enough to warrant a screencap), but still, it seemed like a relevant point to make. And it gave everyone a temporary break from HANDS. Raargh.
Anyhoo, there’s a lovely little sequence around 1:25 that I’m just going to leave here… We begin, we go up, we come back down, we dream…
I’m…
Dreaming…
Baby
And then there’s a moment at 1:31 that made me giggle from the start, but even more so since I watched it in slow motion for screen-capping purposes. I’m not quite sure what was behind it (wild guess: nothing), but it does look a tad like Justin’s shaking his head at his guitar in the same manner one might address a beloved pet – ‘Aren’t you a good boy? Yesh, yesh you are, you’re a very good boy’… But who am I to judge a man’s relationship with his instrument?! (I’m not even sorry for that crack – although I’m slightly sorry for not being sorry for it, so sorry). The duck face just makes it even more brilliant.
Who’s a good boy?
Anyway, I really am going to start skipping through now because even I’m beginning to forget there is life outside of this video. We continue on in much the same vein as we have up until now. There’s live stuff and comic-ified stuff and HANDS and awesome Russ. There’s also this effect from 1:47 I just happened to catch by accident and really rather liked, plus Mike looking exceptionally dashing a couple of seconds later.
Shaking to…
The Beat
*swoon*
For about 10 seconds from around the 1:56 mark, we get some nice close ups of Ads and Kieran.
Bang Bang
Plink Plink
Plinkedy Plink
And HANDS. Can’t forget the HANDS. There’s also a nice silhouette just before that – although the poses and positions do amuse me slightly more than they necessarily should… And an even nicer comic book freeze frame at 2:15
HANDS
Silhouette in Blue
Mmmmm
At 2:20 we get the solo, which is awesome anyway (Russ. Awesome. I’m sure you get the picture by now), but I love the way it’s been filmed/edited too. The silhouetted live action looks very effective and I like the way the edges (the hair and the glasses) and the highlighting (Justin’s guitar strap) give it a bit of depth and texture. In fact, this isn’t the first time they use that effect and I was going to mention a few lines earlier but thought it fitted better here. Moving on from there, I like the various filters and effects used on the same footage – the sideways scroll past multiple solo-playing Russes and then the same again with the coloured split frames.
Paint…
With…
All the…
Colours
Then there’s the bit that I really love at around 2:28. In fact, it jumped out at me the very first time I watched the video; it looks awesome. It’s hard to explain, but I love the sort of strobe effect on the silhouettes with live action footage within the shadows. Ok, that makes no sense. This. This is what I mean:
The added HANDS makes it that bit better, but to be honest I didn’t even notice them properly until I started capping. Still, I ain’t complainin’. Speaking of which… 2:38. HANDS, knee, yum. And incidentally, the shakey head thing (with pout) is apparently less amusing when I’ve just been HANDS-dazzled. That’s a thing now. Although it’s not a valid Scrabble word as it’s hyphenated (just so we’re clear). Anyhoo, the bouncy, golden guitar-ed HANDS a few seconds later are also fairly spectacular and only improved by a multi-HANDS split screen.
HANDS
Kiss The Air
Pure Gold HANDS
Before I move on, however, I’d like to backtrack a second or two, to 2:41. Now, you’d never notice it whilst watching normally because it can’t be more than about 5 frames worth. It whizzes past faster than you can focus on it, but the thing about doing these breakdowns is that I skip back and forth a lot, frame by frame, in the hunt for the perfect screencaps. So, we slide down from a red backgrounded Russ to Adam at the start of the gold highlighted sequence mentioned in the above paragraph… via a shot of Justin. It’s like subliminal messaging or something and felt just slightly weird once I noticed it. Like I wasn’t meant to, somehow. Incidentally, I also don’t think I need any help implanting guitarists into my thoughts… Anyhoo, more awesome Russ at 2:52 (it’s all about the eyebrows) followed by a cool blue silhouette a second later. Although when Russ gets the cool blue treatment, he turns it pink – which is naturally better.
Cool Blue
Hot Pink
3:00. Mike. Hells yeah. And then, you know, HANDS, but that’s not important… Well it’s important enough for a screencap, but otherwise, not important. *cough*.
Magic Mike
HANDS
And then there’s just a little bit more of everything; More Russ is awesome. More band. More cool blue. And more frickin’ HANDS. I do love this video so very, very much.
Oh. My. G-d. I love them so much. That was brilliant. And dear G-d it was good to see them again. And apparently I’ve got my head around the idea of Jason, because I was ok with him not being there. In fact I only missed him afterwards, but to be fair I think that was more an overdose of ahhhh they’re back! I was too distracted by having three of them to worry about not having one of them. Still, I do miss him and I always will.
So! It’s funny as hell, SO cheesy and there’s some serious Barlow bulge in those blue trousers! Plus the bit when they’re getting changed and someone shows him a pair of tiny shorts – the open shirt he’s wearing then… holy f***… And when he touches the guy’s arm in the church. I totally understand that reaction. The three of them in bed together is brilliant – I love the idea of them actually living like that! On tour anyway (note: not that I think they do, I just wish they did for comedy (and fantasy… :P) reasons). And there’s Howard with the duck. THE DUCK. Just spotting it made me laugh and then he turned it around…!
The breakdown:
So I watched it when I first got into work this morning and was unimpressed to be interrupted on two separate occasions, neither of which was in the slightest bit important. The first was only a couple of seconds in when my gmail calendar stole the focus to inform me of a meeting I did not need informing of. Then bang in the middle, someone interrupted just to get me to pass something across the room. I mean really! Priorities! 😛 Anyhoo, I watched it through once and then put it away until I had time to do it justice. Here is me doing it justice… Although that might not be quite the right word… #barlowbulge
We begin in earnest around 8 seconds in, when Mr Donald strolls onto set (it’s an actual set) in his jimjams, sipping from a mug. He passes The Captain and Markie a couple of seconds later, who are also in their jimjams, but looking rather less sexy than Dougie. Not that Gary is capable of looking un-sexy, he would just look sexier in this particular instance had he been dressed in striped trousers and a vest rather than tartan pjs and a satin dressing gown. Mark just looks cute cos he’s Mark. And then they get into (a vertical) bed together. There are a lot of ‘there were three in the bed and the little one said’ jokes going around, but I’m more of the ‘there were three in the bed, but there’s clearly space for a little one’ persuasion. Assuming of course, that the little one is me-shaped… ;). Anyway, a cute-as smile from Markie and an exaggerated ‘gimme space’ yawn/stretch from Barlow and we’re off…
Sleepy boys
Not so sleepy boys
Gaz sings a bit with his hair all fluffed down over his forehead and an almost sleepy expression on his face and ohhhh… Surely there’s space for me in that bed?! So. Then Mark and Howard join in. Mark still looks cute as a button (maybe I can pop him in my pocket and then steal his space in the bed?) and Howard looks somewhere between sexy and ‘I’m playing this very seriously, don’t you know’ – until he grins at 0:37 and tips the scales firmly in favour of ‘sexy’. So, 0:47 – teeth brushing. Not so much with the sexy, but definitely amusing. Mark’s side to side head action makes it. Plus there’s a tiny bit of Barlow eyebrow action if you watch out for it. And yes I did watch it three times so I could check each set of facial expressions. And a few extra times on top just to be sure I hadn’t missed anything important. And then one more time to fully appreciate the eyebrow.
Brush-a brush-a grrrrr
DUCK! There’s a duck! And Howard turns it to face the other way (highly amusing, especially with additional connotations) before beginning to remove his shirt… I watched that one a couple of times too. Because I like ducks… And hot men taking their shirts off, obviously. Combinations of the two are even better, however that’s another story… *ahem*
Duck…
Duck…
Strip!
We briefly stop off in the kitchen where Mark is making his breakfast in much the same way as I would be if I was listening to These Days at the same time. In other words, far more cheerfully and exuberantly than normal. He also has a teapot, which I only mention as someone online pointed out that he does seem to have a thing about teapots! Then we’re in the oh so cool living room, with a slipper clad, shuffley Barlow, a synchronised sit with Dougie and then Mark marches in and turns on the TV and that would probably have been less funny if I hadn’t accidentally paused it with Mark in mid-march, but now I can’t help noticing it, along with his windmill arm motion. Although according to the clock on the sideboard, it’s already 11:15 – they’re apparently having a lazy day, since they’re still in their jimjams at this point.
Mark goes marching on
Having said that, a second later (1:14) they’re suddenly up, dressed and in space, so perhaps I can’t be too harsh on their late morning (not that I would ever criticise someone for a lazy day, of course). I’ll confess the blue suits aren’t exactly my taste, but Barlow looks damn hot with his ruffled, no longer fluffy, hair and slightly furrowed ‘I mean what I’m singing’ brow. I’m not even sure what my thoughts are on the spinning class (so much for lazy) so I’ll fleetingly move on to something that I was so surprised by (although I’m not sure why), that it temporarily distracted me from the boys. Bradley Clarkson is in the video! I’ve not seen him since Tailor Made Man finished – I was thrilled!
III
So, zoom in on the salon scene and we find Gaz and Mark at the back of the set, with their heads in hood hair dryer thingemies, flicking through magazines (so camp, I love it). Barlow looks completely at home and slightly superior, darling. I can’t decide if it’s more amusing or attractive. The eyebrow when he glances up at 1:43 definitely pushed me towards attractive. Until the hoods come up at which point it’s definitely amusing. Although I still would. Naturally. Mark just looks cute. Again. Although his little self-deprecating smile when he drops the magazine is even more adorable. When they look at each other though… Barlow’s face! Barlow’s EYEBROW! Is it wrong to swoon here? I seem to be doing it anyway.
Forget the hair, it’s all in the eyebrows
And then Dougie. Spray tan. Little pants. Mmmmmm…
Tan-k you very much!
Then we’re somehow in… Church…? And they’re vicars. In sparkly jackets. And Howard still isn’t wearing any trousers. Are vicars meant to be that hot? And then they’re dancing (ish) and there’s a full on Barlowen moment with adorable grins. I’d forgotten quite how much I loved Barlowen until that moment. Only Dougie’s lack of trousers really is quite distracting. Gary’s expression when he looks in the same direction as me is also fairly entertaining. It could just be angles but I can definitely picture him shaking his head in a ‘oh dear, not again’ sort of way.
Barlowen is back!
It’s a shame when we come back to them at 2:26, Howard appears to have located the rest of his wardrobe, but it does allow me to fully appreciate the cheesiness of the next scene. It’s everything from the costumes, to the ‘choreography’, to Mark’s huge cheeky monkey grin, Howards ‘hmm, this is quite fun, I could get used to this’ expression and Gary’s ‘f*** me now’ smirk (wait, that’s not what it is? My bad) and ‘oh dear G-d’ eyebrow movements. Plus the fact he manages to give a man an orgasm with just a touch. Although, given my first-hand knowledge of quite how tightly Gary can grip when he clutches someone’s arm, I can totally sympathise… *crosses legs* *fidgets* *ahem*
Orgasmic hands
So, since I was totally fine with the previous scene and not at all flustered by it, I was naturally going to be perfectly fine with the next scene at 2:39 too. And the two coming one after the other definitely wasn’t going to cause me any problems. Barlow struggling to get his flies done up. Yup. Standard.
…
…
…
Sorry, what? Did you say something? Oh. Right. Indeed. Video. Where was I? Ah yes, Barlow getting changed, doing up his trousers… whilst wearing a sexy as sin waistcoat that is far too small, therefore making him tug on it in the most delicious manner… and an almost translucent white shirt that’s so tight the buttons are barely holding…
…
And it’s not even done up over his pecs…
…
I really can’t handle that scene. Although, if you could just excuse me for a couple of hours while I watch it on repeat, that would be lovely…
So. Umm. Apparently there are other people in that scene? Who knew?! So yes, Mark hopping up and down on one foot trying to get a boot on, with his hair falling every which way. SO CUTE! And Barlow is still stood next to him in that shirt… Howard, bless him, seems to be doing ok in this one, although he seems to be the least impressed by the cut-off denim hot-pants that the stylist appears to be offering them. Which is slightly ironic given the shorts he was wearing in the spray tan scene, but hey ho. Barlow is still there in that shirt, so… And speaking of which, I do love Gary’s reaction; the way his mouth opens just a little and he nudges Howard as if to say ‘they want us to what…?’. I’d also just like to throw in the fact that there’s a mirror behind Gary’s arse in this scene. Just in case it wasn’t perfect enough.
I…
Can’t…
Breathe…!
That…
SHIRT!
And then they go back to bed. Because bed is exactly where my thoughts need to be going when I’ve just swooned seven hundred and eighty six times over a half dressed Gary Barlow. They don’t even take their shoes off. Bit desperate, aren’t they… 😉 but then they do just fall asleep, so perhaps they’re only sleepy. Gary’s head on Howard’s shoulder is possibly one of the cutest things I’ve ever seen too. It’s almost enough to make me forget that a few seconds ago he was wearing that shirt. But it’s fine. Because there’s certainly no Barlow bulge in the next scene (2:55) to mess with my emotions even more. Oh wait.
There’s actually quite a lot of bulging going on in that scene. Whoever designed those suit trousers deserves a medal. And that’s mostly that. There’s some cheesy dancing, but they’re in the background now so I have less detailed comments to make. Plus I think my brain has basically melted by this point and every time I blink all I can see is a tight white half open shirt… I think I might be broken. Although I’m not quite broken enough to miss The Barlow adjusting his trousers over his arse at 3:58, just before it cuts…
The Barlow bulge & friends…
So. That was These Days. Now do excuse me while I attempt to un-melt long enough to get myself home.
Peace, loVe loVe and tight white shirts,
K xx
PS. I’m not sure I did myself any favours by reading this article prior to writing up this blog… Benedict Cumberbatch talks Sherlock and sex. Sherlock, Cumberbatch, I don’t even care which of them we’re actually talking about, the whole article is a total mind-f***, but the fact he starts out talking in first person at one point really DOES NOT HELP. In fact, I’m just going to leave this bit here…
‘And then I would be devastating. I’d know exactly how to please a woman, I’d know exactly where to put my fingers, where to put my tongue, where to put my – his I should say – his fingers, his tongue. Think about violinists, think about what they can do with their fingers.‘
You know, there’s a reason I like watching Justin’s fingers on the guitar. Just saying…
So I’m still not quite speaking to them at present. Up until Sunday, my resolve was definitely wavering and though I hadn’t quite forgiven, I was at least trying to move past it. Only then the general tickets went on sale and it was yet another additional cost and it was very nearly the last straw (except that everything else was already booked so technically it didn’t make a blind bit of difference to anything except my irritation levels and overdraft). I know I wouldn’t actually have skipped tour just because of that & I can’t even blame them really, but… Meh. I was just fed up, I suppose – one thing after another. Still, there was the potential promise of the video and having already seen a heavily edited (& flipped…?) screencap on their site that made my heart skip (I don’t think it’s possible to look more rock star than that) and a shot Adam posted of himself too, I don’t think I’m quite deluded enough to think I could really skip a tour. The addiction goes far too deep. So I guess there’s little else to say for now. Here’s my addiction – in pieces…
Monday – the initial reaction:
Of course the video popped up just as I was about to leave the office and head to Dagenham, but I couldn’t not watch it. And then I couldn’t quite speak. ‘F*** me…’ was about all I could manage. My heart was going a mile a minute and… Dead. I don’t even know where to start and yes I need to do a breakdown, but argh, I don’t even, can’t even, ARGH! It’s different. Really different. Yet not. It’s brilliant though. Amazing sound. I only died a few times during Justin’s solo. He looks like a f***ing rock G-d in that warehouse (or aircraft hanger or something? whatever it is; big empty space) footage. And his solo? And his face at the end when he’s grinning at Russ? And I was so sure I’d be able to write one of these that wasn’t just Justin Justin Justin. Damn.
It’s so good though. A completely new song, which I wasn’t expecting, but I love it and I need them in my life and all the rest has to be worth that right? Guess I’m talking to them again [or maybe not…?]. At least they gave me that when I know I have tour to look forward to [rather than releasing it whilst continuing to leave me hanging]. Bloody hell I still can’t speak or type or formulate sensible thoughts. And now I have to go see Tom. G-d help me. Actually G-d help Tom…
Intermission:
So then I went to the theatre and I was a mess and I still couldn’t breathe, but then there were the screens and the show and the stage door and I practically forgot all about the video. By the time I left the Adelphi I was so buzzed that I decided to put this on hold until I felt emotionally prepared to deal with it. Besides, I didn’t want to taint my post-Tom(/Made In Dagenham) high. I put it off while I finished the Dagenham blog and then put it off even longer because I was scared of the strength of that initial reaction. They’ve forced me to keep my distance over the last few months and whilst the promise of tour put a hard deadline on how long that could continue, this video is what really marks a change in things. It’s like I’m standing on the edge of a cliff and if/when I jump, for a little while it’ll feel like I’m flying, but at some point I’m still going to hit the jagged rocks at the bottom and I haven’t yet forgotten how much that hurt last time. In fact, my current bitterness is proof that I’m still nursing some of those wounds. Still, I suppose it’s just about possible that a fluffy haired hero with a bowler-hatted sidekick in a Ford Cortina MkII might just save me at the last moment…
Wednesday/Thursday (it’s a time consuming process) – the return:
So with my personal hero in mind like some sort of security blanket, I finally managed to hit play again and… my heart still raced, my breathing still caught and there were still tingles aplenty, but it wasn’t quite as intense. I jumped, but for now I’m just gliding on the breeze and trying not to look down.
And I really do love the song. It’s got a different edge to it, but it’s somehow still classic Carnival. I think it helps that Russ has such a distinctive voice, but it’s more than that. The sound has evolved, but it hasn’t fundamentally changed. It’s catchy and upbeat, with an awesome hook. I can tell it will be a great one to hear live and… I’ll get to the solo later… As for the video. It’s simple, but effective – mostly featuring footage of the band from a couple of different sessions, presumably shot some time apart (although admittedly I’m basing that theory purely on Justin’s hair & it could just be styling, but hey) with some additional clips of a woman (I believe her name is Leah Debrincat) dancing & swinging a fancy looking sword around. I could leave it there, but where’s the fun in that, eh?
The website background – flipped the right way around
Before I get to the ridiculous bit, however, I want to go into a bit more detail on the song itself – I wouldn’t like anyone to think I’m really so shallow that all I care about are rock faces, what jackets they’re wearing and close ups of Justin’s hands. Still, I’m only human and a very fangirly human at that. The video was a distraction, even after watching it a dozen times, so I made myself listen to it without the footage to confuse my feelings and weirdly I like it… more? I don’t even know how that works. I love watching them play more than anything and the video is mostly just that. Perhaps it really is just an appreciation thing – I can focus more on the music without the visual imagery? To be fair, those jackets really are very distracting :P. So, as I said earlier, Russ has a very distinctive voice and that’s a big part of the TLC ‘sound’ all on its own. I think he’s sounding better than ever on this track. I haven’t quite caught all the lyrics, but the vocals are strong on this one and I particularly love the chorus. It’s wickedly catchy and I really like the keyboard on it too. The instrumental after the guitar solo (which, naturally, I love melodically just as much as I do visually) will be awesome live with an audience clap clap-clap clapping along (although it will presumably cause extra problems for the rhythmically challenged…). It has a similar vibe to Get Crazy (I still don’t actually know the official title of that one) or Drop The Needle On The Vinyl, or at least it feels that way to me. It’s admittedly fairly hard to judge given I’m comparing songs I’ve only ever heard live to a track I’ve only heard the studio recording of, but still. It’s a powerful rock ‘n’ roll number and I cannot wait to see it on stage.
And now for the frivolity… We begin with dancey lady, but at 0:04 we’re already on the band. Or rather, we’re on Justin’s hands. Seriously. 4 seconds in. First shot of anything band related. HANDS. There’s a flash of Russ and Mike too, more dancey (she’s cool, the footage is fantastic – it’s very prettily lit and it flows nicely through the video, but funnily enough, she’s not really what catches my attention, so don’t expect me to mention her again!) and then the video starts in earnest at around 0:09 with the first lyric and a proper shot of Russ in a very snazzy looking jacket. There’s still plenty of flitting between footage and angles, including a decent shot of Mike’s hands, but it’s 0:18 that chokes me. It’s a wider shot of the band, though Mike doesn’t quite make the frame (he has just had a hands shot and he gets a solo moment soon after, though, so I’m sure he doesn’t feel too hard done by), in the massive empty space and Justin looks… um… *clears throat*. He’s wearing the red velvet Noose & Monkey jacket and shades, with his hair slicked back and even though he’s not even playing (he’s just sort of bopping, it’s almost cute) he looks more like a classic rock star than ever. Unreal, somehow. He looks amazing, but untouchable. I think it’s the hair. And the shades (I mean, really – he’s inside!).
The band
The band feat. camp Justin
Moving on before I pass out, we get some fairly good hands shots between Mike & Russ, before 0:34 when we finally get a nice wide shot of them all. I like seeing them in such a large space; it brings stadiums to mind and one day I truly hope I’ll get to see them do that for real. Anyhoo, it continues on in much the same vein for a while (we’ll gloss over Justin’s rock scream in time with the wailing guitar at 0:40 *fidgets*), before the black and white footage from the exclusive little party (or whatever it was) begins to take more of a dominant role. Justin (or rather his hair) looks exactly as he did on tour in the summer and therefore a little less inaccessible (appearances can be deceiving, hey?). For one, when he headbangs at 0:42, his hair actually moves… Although there’s too much jumping around to worry about the Strand Of Torment, so that’s a relief? Maybe? I kinda like it… Anyway, we get a fleeting close up of Adam just before that and then at 0:46 we get some Kieran. It’s the first decent shot of him and his hair is looking pretty epic in all it’s curly voluminous glory. The white shirt and braces combo is pretty dapper too ;). At 0:50 we get another nice wide shot of the whole band *mutters something about Justin’s rock star pose* and then a couple of seconds later, we get another snazzy jacket shot – this time in the form of Kieran’s black and red leather number. (There’s a better shot at 3:18 in which he looks like a little biker – so cute :P)
Cute Kieran
Biker boy
1:00. HANDS. *ahem*. Then a decent length shot of Russ singing (I feel he’s been a bit under-represented in this post so far, sorry Russ) followed by HANDS at 1:05 and MORE HANDS at 1:06 with an upward sweep & a pouty open mouth shot that I shouldn’t mention but seem to have done anyway… There might have been a bit of swooning going on… 1:12 is more of the same footage and more bopping. Why is the bopping cute? He always bops. Yet; cute. (I think I may have lost control of this paragraph…)
So *coughs*. Nice shot of Adam’s, er, knees at 1:13 with a blurry Tony the Tiger in the background – all black and white, very arty. Speaking of which, he hasn’t had a lot of screen time so far. And having said that, 3 seconds later we get some serious drum face from a very dapper looking Adam. The waistcoat suits him. 1:19, Mike doing backing vocals on ‘sensation’ (I love that lyric) and looking very, er, sensuous. That shot is definitely ones for the Marchant fans and beautifully illustrates why he was my favourite for 30 seconds when I first saw them before the ballerina on the left at 1:20 stole my attention and refused to relinquish it.
Sensations…
HANDS again at 1:25, made even more distinctive by the vibrant colours of the burgundy blazer and golden Gibson in amongst the black and white (or almost black and white) band shots. A nice Mike (I think) forearm shot (no I don’t know why that caught my attention), another Justin ‘raargh’ face at the party, with a little skip(?!) in the warehouse, then Kieran at 1:32 and he looks so cute! D’aww. I just want to ruffle his hair and squidge him! Although if I were actually there I’d probably ruffle his hair and ping one of his braces instead. I’m just nice like that :P. Adam makes another brief drum face cameo at 1:35, still dapper in waistcoat and tie, but this time in an all black ensemble rather than the contrast white shirt of the warehouse footage. 1:40, colours, HANDS, belt…?, *coughs*. Ignore that. 1:46, Adam again, looking even more suave sans drum face. It’s a nice shot. And that’s about all I can manage before melting into a puddle…
HANDS
Dapper Ads
Rock screams & snazzy jacket
1:47. Guitar solo. And it starts with HANDS. There’s also drums and bass (and before that, very fleetingly and slightly out of focus, cute fluffy Kieran), but from 1:51 we actually get to watch Justin play (on and off). And he rock screams. And pouts. And plays a frickin’ solo. I do, however, like the shot of Russ singing before the instrumental ‘ooh’ bit, followed by the nice bright light at the end of the tunnel effect thing. Russ looks awesome, as does Adam a few seconds later. I also love Russ’s face at 2:14. I can almost hear him riling the crowd, it’s just so Russ!
Model shoot
Falling for you
2:23 looks like a modelling shoot. Or Justin looks like he’s modelling anyway – definitely too cool for school. He makes up for it by appearing to be on the verge of losing his balance and falling into the crowd in the party shot immediately after though. And while I’m on the subject – I like the contrast between the two sets of footage – the huge empty space, versus the small cramped and crowded room. In the latter it’s fairly obvious that the band are set up in a tight circle in the centre, but with all the close up shots, we don’t see that too clearly. One of the few wider shots is at 2:33 with a ‘through the crowd’ clip of Russ & Justin that I rather like.
Party people
HANDS HANDS HANDS
Stars in your eyes
As is my usual style with these blogs, I get very slightly less detailed as the video progresses and believe it or not I haven’t actually flagged up ever single second of HANDS (although I’ve probably caught most of them). Still, 2:40 is a particularly good one…! Anyways, the video is beginning to wind down by this point and therefore so is this post. I love Russ’s face at 2:48, he looks all happy and his eyes are all glowy :). At 2:53 Justin has his personal light in the tunnel moment, only he does it half upside down (feat. his limbo move) and I’m not sure what to make of it really. Although that’s mostly because I happened to hit pause right in the middle of it and the silhouette made me laugh for thoroughly inappropriate reasons relating to the positioning of his instrument… I’m not even sorry. I’ll make up for it with a more constructive comment about 3:15 when Russ and Jus get the tunnel light treatment together. It looks absolutely amazing and I love the camera work; the way it sweeps round them. It’s also timed well with the music – a very nice piece of editing.
Lights…
Camera…
Action…
And finally. It killed me the first time I watched it and it still does now. Justin’s smiley pouty face when he’s looking at Russ at 3:21. In fact, it caught my attention so thoroughly that I tried to screencap it, only it didn’t really work as a still. What I managed to do instead was to rediscover the Strand of Torment. Sigh!
The Strand Of Torment
So… feel the love, eh? I may have been keeping my distance of late, but (as I think should be fairly obvious by now) it doesn’t mean I don’t still care. I need time and space, but I’ll get there. Hopefully with a slightly less mental outlook (although I’m promising nothing). And I am getting there. After all, I did favourite one of Kieran’s tweets the other day…! (A keyboard warrior of a different kind. More of a keyboard worrier, if you will.) It made me laugh and if there’s one of them I’m definitely not mad at, it’s him, so… baby steps. In fact, when I first started this exercise I thought it was doomed to failure, but actually it’s done a fairly good job of reminding me what matters. I’m not sure I can ever truly go back to how things were before – those rocks are still down there waiting for me and the fear of them clips my wings a little, but I can continue to glide and hope for the best. And at least this time I have access to my fluffy little unwitting hero if ever I need a reprieve*.
So I was going to leave it there, only they just announced another gig… Literally. Just announced it. Five minutes after I finished the first draft, the announcement popped up and I didn’t even see it through them initially. Love|Less are the main support and I actually saw their post first. It took me a second to realise that they weren’t just playing one of the tour dates. Admittedly it’s the Haywards Heath show that Adam mentioned to me back in the summer that I was beginning to think had either been called off or had simply been a very well kept secret and therefore I had already missed it, but I can’t pretend my immediate reaction wasn’t simply a resounding FFS. At least I’m free and I just need to book a couple of trains after work. I suppose I just feel like enough of a mental case without adding another gig to the list. Still, I can feel as pathetic as I like, it ain’t gonna change anything. I’d never have skipped it, not when it’s the first night and about as convenient as it can get without being in London. And besides, I’m going to Angel At My Table to see Love|Less, I’m hardly going to miss them supporting a band I actually follow…!
So. Baby steps, right?
Peace, loVe loVe and gliding,
K xx
* I always think that he’ll never know that he’s my hero – or at least he’ll never understand how much he’s truly helped me just by being around (partly because I’m not even sure I really get it myself…), but given my extended metaphor in this post, the lyrics that always come to mind when I think of him like that seem even more appropriate than usual… ‘Did you ever know that you’re my hero?‘ has always fit, but now I can add ‘You are the wind beneath my wings‘…!
Oh. Dear. G-d. I can’t even… I don’t even think Roll Over Beethoven had such a strong effect on me. The eyebrow, the intensity, the face in general, the HANDS! I was genuinely clutching my chest, heart pounding, mouth open, gasping for breath… And only the very last bit is an exaggeration :P.
So *ahem* the release of the new video for Gary Barlow’s Since I Saw You Last couldn’t have been timed better. I’ve just not been that excited for his tour of late, what with everything that’s been going on in Theatreland and (until recently) my nearly overwhelming excitement over seeing TLC again. The thing is, I need something post-Eternity and TLC clearly aren’t going to cut it at the moment, so I knew I needed to rekindle my Gary obsession, preferably before tour starts. Having now watched that video, I’m not even sure why it needed to be rekindled… who wants a bunch of boys when you can have a man like the Captain? Justin who?! And it’s now less than a week until the tour kicks off in Belfast. So, aside from the fact I’m really not ready to say goodbye to Eternity; Bring. It. On!
I’ve actually been quite enjoying the ridiculous breakdowns I’ve done for the Last Carnival live in session videos, so I thought I’d write another one, for once without a hint of Justin’s fingers to be found (well, almost)! First off; black and white, sharp suit, filled almost exclusively with close up shots of Gary Barlow’s face… Is there anything better in this world than that? I think the beard looks particularly suave in monochrome too, so distinguished. I really don’t know what I’ve been doing swooning over all these little 20 year olds. 43 is so where it’s at.
So, we begin about 3 seconds in with a rather dashing shot of Mr Barlow in some room somewhere. A few arty shots later (there are a lot of arty shots) we’re outside and he’s gone from ‘dashing’ to ‘hell to the yes’ in under 10 seconds. And that doesn’t even take into account the look up from beneath a slightly furrowed brow at 0:16, which might be just a smidgen sexier than the close up 2 seconds later, but only a smidgen. At 0:20, we have vocals and a reflection (two Garys!) then another two seconds later, we’re outside again and I like outside. There’s more light and he looks even better ;). Not to mention all the looking directly into the camera, being all intense and whatnot… And an almost, not quite, upwards quirk of the lips at 0:26 (I’m probably imagining it, but it’s a ridiculously attractive expression anyway). I’m aware at this point that I should probably skip forwards more than two seconds at a time or we’ll be here all week, but one more before I do… 0:28, I have no idea why I find the over the the shoulder shot so enticing but *swoon*. And, umm, maybe just one more… *looks guilty* (I totally just pulled the face Tom does at the end of his solo at Hadley’s gig – I may have seen that video too many times… Although I’ll refrain from writing a second by second breakdown of that one!)… 0:30, pulling up the sleeves, just in case we needed a reason to take notice of his hands…
I really am going to skip forward a bit now, but suffice to say there is a lot more sexy man at various angles with varying levels of close-ups until… 0:52. Chorus. I think I died. The intensity and the intensity and the frickin’ intensity. I love watching him sing (obviously), but when he sings like that… *takes a deep calming breath* *hyperventilates anyway*. And then there’s the way the light catches his eyes at the start of it and makes them sparkle like he’s up to something… That happens a lot over the course of the video, actually. I approve. My wild imagination approves too. Plus he also keeps looking directly into the camera. That doesn’t help. That really, really doesn’t help. Now someone please make sure he never stops… Although, we do get some clenching fists at 1:08, so maybe he can stop just this once. Also, random note, 1:14, his hair is blowing a little in the breeze. Thank you, breeze. (I may now be slightly jealous of the breeze…)
And then there’s 1:18… I think I was actually coping up until that point, well, ish, but HANDS. I mean seriously hands, hands, hands, hands, HANDS. It’s less than two seconds long and I just… No words… Cannot compute… Brain going into meltdown… Which possibly isn’t improved by the slightly darker/shadowed shot of his ‘grr’ face for the end of the chorus at 1:22. Or the frickin‘ HANDS! Which are back at 1:25, centre of the frame, rubbing against each other… Again it lasts for less than two seconds, but honestly I’m not sure I could cope with much more of that… You know I go on about Justin’s fingers all the time? Well it started here. My musician’s hands obsession is entirely Gary Barlow’s fault and oh it feels good to see them again ;).
I was quite enjoying the light & shadow walk prior to 1:50 and was debating whether I should specifically mention it when 1:50 happened. Ohhh, indeed, Gary. Ohhh in-frickin’-deed. *fans face a little desperately*. The chest clutching at 1:57? That is genuinely how I watched the video. He looks rather more attractive doing it than I did, however. Especially with THOSE HANDS. But his hands are not the only part of him I love. Well, that’s probably a rather obvious statement to make, I love all of him, naturally, but in case I haven’t made it clear, I do have a particular fondness for those talented collections of fingers… Anyway, what I’m trying to say is that I also (along with most of the fanbase) have something of a predilection for his eyebrows and the left one in particular. At 2:00 we finally get some serious eyebrow action and if I wasn’t already a molten puddle on the floor, I certainly would be now.
Aaaand we’re into the chorus again and all the beautiful, intense, passionate singing that it involves. We also get teased with just the hint of a fist clench at 2:08, right at the bottom of the frame, nearly out of shot, but just obvious enough to send a few thousand fangirls crumbling to their knees… Or is that just me? The hand on the wall a few seconds later seems equally teasing in all of its slightly out of focus glory. Fortunately, a random slow motion (& ridiculously attractive) head turn at 2:15 is sufficient to distract me from my hand-based torment, not to mention the seated shot at 2:21 that almost recalls the bouncing on the piano stool that I’m so very fond of watching on tour… Although that said, the relaxed sprawl in that self same chair a few seconds later is equally attractive… In fact, I think I’m beginning to feel a bit faint. Maybe a second by second breakdown wasn’t such a good idea after all… 😛
The missing line at 2:56ish is an interesting decision, but I like how it’s prefaced by a rather stern and serious looking Gary. He’s above them all, so much so that perhaps he doesn’t even need to tell them off any more? Anyway, we interrupt the general ‘Dear G-d that man is hot’ theme of the post at this point to just reiterate something far more important than any of this silliness: I am so, SO proud to be a fan of this man. He’s been through the wringer in this industry and just look at him now. So proud. *sniffle*
And now back to the silliness. I would really, really like to hug him at around the 3:00 mark. I mean I’d generally like to hug him at every point of every day, but that moment in particular inspires an interesting mental image which involves me running across the roof, or whatever it is he’s stood on in that shot, and just launching myself at him for a huge bear hug. I’m sure he’d enjoy it just as much as I would… :P. Finally, to end the fangasm that is this video, we get a little more gentle breeze blowing his hair from about 3:13 and a lot of gazing straight into the camera, looking all Gary-like, which is pretty much the highest form of compliment I can give.
So, this video is basically fan-service as far as I can tell. I mean, there’s no story, no nothing really, just Gary, looking stunning as always and there are HANDS. That’s not art, that’s porn :P. Seriously, though, it does seem very much for the fans, which I can certainly appreciate.
So in conclusion, I should probably also mention how much I love the song, just before I head off to watch the video again. And again. And again. And… oh, you get the picture… *ahem* Anyway, I think it’s one of, if not the best track on the album, both musically and lyrically. The fact that it means so damn much just makes it even better. I can’t wait to see him play it live again.
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, the Last Carnival announced the release of another Live In Session video rather sooner than I was expecting, which was slightly worrying as I’d still not recovered from Roll Over Beethoven. On that note, I had high hopes, of course, but not that high (note; ‘high’ is apparently the keyword here, not that I actually knew that when I wrote this sentence before the video was released). I mean, nothing could possibly beat the last one, right? Wrong. Oh dear G-d how can a person be so wrong? It was different, certainly, but fuuuuu… I think I’m broken again.
It actually wasn’t until over a minute in to watching it for the first time that my head finally got over ‘they actually did High’ and (after a sudden brain wave) moved on to ‘there are solos, there are solos, there are FRICKIN’ solos’ and ohhh what solos they are. So amazing… so much Justin… so dead. That song is just so damn hot and steamy and UNF!!!
And then I had to go out. In fact I was already running late and I knew I couldn’t watch it again until I got home after the show that night. I think the emotion I was feeling at the time can be summed up in the following way: Aaaaaaaaaaargh!
So, I actually didn’t watch it properly when I got home. I mean, I watched it, obviously, but only once. I was too tired and too oddly fragile to delve into my usual detailed analysis, so I left it until I felt that I was suitably capable of fangirling without some sort of emotional meltdown. Apparently that wasn’t for some time and by the time I felt stable enough to handle it, the video had already been out for several days (hence the delayed nature of the post – it should have been published on the 26th, but I only finished it today. The text above the video is more or less what I wrote down after the first run through, the remainder of the post was added later).
So I really didn’t think they were going to do High. From what I remember of our conversation about it, Russ didn’t seem to think it was likely, but oh am I glad to be wrong. I’ve loved this song from the beginning, even before I’d heard it (I saw the lyrics first, if you recall, since the CD was conveniently released on Yom Kippur…). It always does things to me and this is just… It’s just… I mean, it’s… I think I’m still broken.
Admittedly, it’s not exactly better than Roll Over Beethoven, it’s just equally enjoyable, in an intensely pleasurable way. It’s the rhythm of the song that gets me and that’s just when I hear it on the stereo. Put the boys in front of me at the same time and I’m pretty much guaranteed to melt into a puddle at their feet. Of course, the videos aren’t the same as live performances, but they have their own positives. The sound is much clearer, for one, and so are the close ups ;).
We’re brought in slowly this time; a bit of bass just to get you in the mood (with an accompanying shot of Mike, still looking ridiculously sharp and dashing in his suit), a short dialogue and then… Music. Beautiful, wonderful music. Which improves significantly at 0:19 when the guitar kicks in. Biased? Moi? Anyway, I get my first proper shot of my boy at 0:25 (although there’s a brief and out of focus cameo at 0:18), but the first particularly notable moment is at 0:35. I adore Russ’s face. I mean I adore his face generally, but his expression there is just… a collection of words I probably shouldn’t string together in this context… In fact, just to warn you, that will be happening a lot in this particular post. I’ve said it before and I’ll no doubt say it again. That song does things to me. I cannot be held responsible for my actions as a result of it. Some people choose alcohol, some choose caffeine, some choose cocaine. My drug of choice is the Last Carnival and when it comes to getting high? High is my jam, baby. (Note: the previous sentence is so un-me that I feel I should qualify it somehow. The jam in my scone, perhaps? I think Helen Mirren’s WoS award acceptance speech has rubbed off…). It’s the bass line, I think (so does that make it Mike’s fault?! Incidentally, I keep watching the video with only one headphone in and the guitar solos are very one sided (Russ is right, Justin is left, in case you were wondering). Pick the wrong headphone and it sounds more like a bass solo instead… which is actually no bad thing! Go Mike!), although the wailing guitar over the top of it hardly helps matters. 0:31, anyone? *shivers*. Russ does the face thing again at 1:08, which also doesn’t do much to help my equilibrium.
So, 1:21. Me likey. Me not sure why me likey, besides the obvious, but me likey nonetheless. Hel-lo Mr Morris. Five seconds later and he appears to be doing some neck exercises, at least until he’s interrupted by some truly epic drum face from Adam and then a rather attractive close up of Russ… 1:40 and it seems Kieran’s joining in with the exercise regime (though he does look rather adorable whilst doing it). The hands don’t seem to have such a strong presence in this one, at least at first. There’s some keys and drumstick action, but guitar wise it’s mostly (upper) body shots. Which is fine too. In fact, anything which has any part of any of them in it is pretty much fine. I might be slightly in love…
Aaaand, then we hit the first solo at 2:04. This is definitely another of those moments when the words in my head are not suitable to become words on the screen. What I will say, however, is that Russell is a guitar legend. His solos are always epic and I love the version on the album recording, but this is somehow even more… [words I can’t say]. The trembling, shivering, quaking cymbal at 2:18? Yeah, that’s how I feel. Nice edit job, by the way. Then, before I have even a hope of post-solo recovery, we get 2:33. Now 2:33 is something quite special. I can’t explain why, perhaps it’s just the tiniest movement of the hair? Or the close up of the chiselled jaw line? Perhaps it’s just the air of casual awesomeness that he exudes, but for two seconds, every single time I watch this video, I am somehow transported to a realm of beauty and magic and [other words I can’t say]… alright, there might be just the teensiest bit of exaggeration and artistic license in all of that, but he still looks f***ing hot. As for 3:01? Not a clue. Also f***ing hot. I think I need help.
By 3:10 we’re into the next round of ‘da do, da da’s and I know what’s coming, I can feel it, but before I get there I need to thank Adam and Kieran for the editing once again. I love the keyboard bit at that point of the song. The ‘sweep and prod’ as it shall henceforth be known. I’m, needless to say, delighted to have a lovely close up of Kieran’s fingers at that moment. One last delay, just before I get to the moment, to comment on Russ’s ‘so come on and stroke me’ at 3:15ish. I love that lyric, I’ve always loved that lyric. It’s even better when he tacks Justin’s name on to the end of it (although he doesn’t in this), but this time? Ooof! More of those words I can’t say… And then? Ohhh, then. 3:16ish? Words, so many words. And thoughts and feelings and emotions. And so very, very few that I can record here.
To be honest, I’m a bit dead after that. Just enjoying the rest of the song in something of a blissed out daze (if I was a smoker, I’d be lighting up around then…). Although I’m apparently not dead enough to miss the expression on Justin’s face at around 4:00 when the image is already fading. Another of those ‘I have no idea why that does things to me, but it does things to me’ things.
So. Umm. Yeeeeaaaaahhhhh… Still broken.
Although, I will say, on a slightly more serious note, that I’m very aware my reviews of these videos have mostly focussed on points of lesser importance than they perhaps should have done, but I’ve been having fun with it, so what’s the harm? You all already know how much I love the music and how highly I rate all five of them as musicians. There are plenty of pretty people out there, I would never have fallen so head over heels for this lot if I didn’t think they were also phenomenally talented. Admittedly, this song is a particular favourite musically and perhaps I should have spent more time waxing lyrical over the gorgeous vocals (I love the drawn out ‘high’ in the chorus, with the blend of Russ & Mike’s voices giving it an extra depth) or the tingle-inducing guitar riff (which, along with the bass line, DOES things to me), but if I don’t write all that down, I won’t forget it. I know how much I love the song, I’ve already written about it, twice, in my blogs about The Call Of ’56 (for those of a curious nature, they can be found here: part 1 & part 2). Of course, this is different, a live recording always is, but the reasons I love it haven’t changed since the first listen. For me, what makes these videos special, is getting to see them play and I’d rather rhapsodise over how stupidly excited I get by a two second glimpse of Justin tossing his hair about or Russ pulling sexy faces than attempt a sensible analysis of musical content. I wouldn’t know what I was talking about anyway!
So, on that note, bring on the next one (Sunday, apparently) and watch this space for more second by second commentary on Justin’s left hand ;). I really do need help, don’t I?! Tom had better be back at the Shaftesbury next week. I need my distraction therapy!
Peace, loVe loVe and [more words I can’t say],
K xx
PS. On a faintly related note, I have a very strong urge to feed the trolls. I know I shouldn’t, but oh it’s so tempting! I’m not even sure what I want to say; some ambiguous statement that actually relates to something else entirely but could be completely misconstrued in the wrong context? I won’t, but I so wish I could!
PPS. I’m still not over Justin’s Stacee pics either! How he can look so ridiculous and so attractive at the same time is beyond me.
So the boys, oh so conveniently, posted the link to their latest Live In Session video from their trip to Antwerp, about two minutes before I left the house for the evening. Naturally I’d have delayed my departure by a few minutes in order to watch it, but my computer chose that moment to fall over and play dead (it seemed fine, but the screen went black. As a result, I was forced to abandon it and head out, with my friend’s twitter update that I was going to love it, for Justin related reasons obviously,figurativelyringing in my ears…).By the time I actually got home I was so flustered by the evening’s events (Tom!) that it wasn’t until an hour or so later that I finally managed to settle down enough to give the video my full attention. Of course, I was literally about to hit play when the phone rang, so by the time I actually watched it, it was well past 1am (hence the date on the post). When I finally did manage to click the play button, I think I may have died and gone to heaven. My initial thoughts after watching the video for the first time are the somewhat jumbled mess of words in the following paragraph…
Oh. Dear. G-d. That was something else. I can’t actually formulate words right now. The hands… and the way they play… and all the Justin close ups… and Kieran’s solo (frickin’ awesome)… and then Justin’s solo…? I think I’m broken.
So *ahem* having taken a few minutes to calm down, have a bowl of Golden Grahams, tweet about it etc. I’ve now watched it again. I think I’m still broken. I was actually doing ok until it hit Justin’s solo and then… 2:18. That’s where it’s at. Dead. Totally dead. It lasted all of two seconds and it’s still by far the hottest thing I’ve seen all day. And I spent half of the evening gazing dreamily at Tom (and his hair). My hand actually flew to my chest in a sort of ‘clutching at my heart’ gesture the first time I saw that solo, not to mention that pseudo-scream of his at 2:18. Unf, is the word I’m looking for, I think.
So, I’ve always loved Roll Over Beethoven live simply because when they play it, they somehow manage to take it up another notch, even though two minutes earlier you’d never have believed there was anywhere higher to go. I wasn’t sure how that would translate from the finale of an incredible show, in front of a live audience, to a stand alone, neatly edited (well done Adam & Kieran, once again!) video of a studio session, but it worked better than I’d ever have dreamed. They somehow still managed to capture that sense of them being even better than they were before. It’s just such a high energy, frenetic song and they all play so damn well. Even aside from the solos, it’s just incredible to watch and they all look so into it. It’s really quite stunning on so many levels and watching it makes me feel proud to be a fan. I only wish I could get a few more of my friends to see where I’m coming from and come to one of their shows with me in a few weeks time (a few weeks! I can actually say that now! *squee*).
First off, the music starts immediately. There’s no build up, no introductory screen, nothing. They’re just in there, already rocking the hell out of me before I’ve even had a chance to catch my breath. By 5 seconds in I’m already melting over the movement of Justin’s hands and the title hasn’t even faded from the screen yet. Adam’s in there early again, pulling some of my favourite drum faces and then the camera just flits about, showing them all bopping to the beat and generally looking and sounding frickin’ awesome. And we haven’t even reached the lyrics… Once the song starts in earnest, apart from a bit of headbanging, with flicky hair, from the Morris, I was able to calm down just the tiniest bit and just enjoy the music and the thrill of watching my favourite boys rock out.
Moving on to the first instrumental bit. I adore Russ at 1:26ish. There’s just something about his expression that reminds me of watching him play live, usually only a couple of metres away from me. Oof, I love him so much! I also really love the riffy theme bit (whatever you call it) that comes immediately after, around 1:28. Also, Mike. 1:47. No idea what it is about that specific second but, I love it! I think I shall call it ‘Intense Mike’. I think I rather like Intense Mike!
Then we’re into the solos and that’s where my ability to communicate in fully structured sentences may well fail me. First up is Kieran at 1:54 and wow. I mean, seriously, frickin’ wow. I’ve seen him play, I know he’s awesome. I was still blown away. How fast do his fingers move?! Kick-ass King of the Keys, indeed! The strokey key thing he does at 1:58? The uber fast tinkly bit at 2:08? The man is amazing. Amazing! And just in case I wasn’t already psyched enough, a second later, Russ utters the, er, ‘immortal’ words… Justin Morris. I can’t even… I just… I mean… just LOOK at him! Go on, look! His hands! His fingers! His hair! Well, ish. I still miss his old hair style, but that’s besides the point. The point is hands!!! And, er, HANDS! Did I mention hands? I’m not sure I’m getting my point across… The left hand in particular is certainly worth your attention… *happy sigh*. Then there’s 2:18. I can’t quite emphasise that bit enough. Two seconds, one close up, one pseudo-rock scream, one very happy fangirl. And a pout. Can’t forget the pout either.
*Ahem* so, to be fair, as I mentioned above, I was warned about the solo in advance. My friend specifically told me that after Russ rock-screamed Justin’s name I would love it. She even put it in capitals. Still, nothing could have prepared me for that. Nothing. I really am feeling quite faint… ;).
Moving on, however… erm, where was I…? Ah yes… Russ’s face at 2:31. Another ‘you’re awesome, I love you and miss you and can it please be tour time right frickin’ now’ moment. I also somehow paused the video at around the 2:48-9 mark and ended up with a very nice screencap of Mike. I love his fancy schmancy suit, he look so cool and suave! Then, just in case I hadn’t already been utterly destroyed by solos, Russ gets his turn around 2:55. I know I rave about Justin a lot (*ahem*), but Russ’s solos are damn near legendary. This one is particularly epic and if I wasn’t already dead several times over after Kieran’s and Justin’s, Russ’s solo would definitely have done me in.
So, I’ve already mentioned that there is a lot of Justin in this video. I mean a LOT. So much so that I won’t actually bore you with every single shot of him, however, I cannot finish this without mentioning the knee at 3:30 (I still don’t really understand my fascination with the knee thing, but I’m rolling with it. It’s hot. That’s all I need to know) and the tongue at 3:31. I don’t think it would be wise to say anything further on that particular point… Nor would it be wise for me to mention the speed of his right hand at 3:45. I will just state that I noticed both and neither helped much with my attempts at calming the f*** down. It possibly also didn’t help that by this point all five of them are essentially tormenting me with the frenetic build up to the final crescendo.
In a more general sense, I like the camera work on this one. Presumably it’s not actually that different to the other two, so perhaps it has more to do with the way it was edited? Either way, aside from the plethora of Justin close ups, I love the shots of Kieran taken low down on his left hand side. They seem to keep catching him smiling, or half-smiling at least and just… d’awww. I love him, he’s so darn cute! There doesn’t seem to be as much Adam in this one. Lots of drumsticks and cymbals, but less drum face. Still, when he is in shot, I love watching him. He just gets so into it! Definitely not enough shots of his face though! I also think they’re missing in trick with percussion & bass solos. I’m still waiting for both Ads and Mike to get their turns!
It’s funny really, it’s not exactly a favourite of mine as a song (nothing against Chuck Berry, I’ve just never really listened to him), but it’s by far my favourite video and not just because there’s a lot of Justin in it! I think it just captures the live essence of the band better than any video I’ve seen of them to date. No matter how much I may fangirl over Justin (and his hands), or how fantastic a songwriter I think Russ is, or how much I just damn well adore all five of them, it’s the sheer brilliance of their live shows that will always, always have me coming back for more.
So all in all, nice one, boys! *tips imaginary hat*
Anyways, I can’t help but notice that Justin is wearing the same patterned velvet Noose & Monkey jacket in all three of the videos so far. I’m hoping that means there are still another two or three to come, because I’ve definitely seen him wearing a different one in some photo or other. Still velvet, but plain red, I believe. With a different shirt underneath. With a few buttons undone. Not that I tend to notice these things… *cough*.
Anyway, it’s not exactly other news, but on a more personal note; I really do seem to be doing ok at the moment, despite the impression I might give in the explosion of fangirling above. The words ‘over’ and ‘him’ no longer sound like a far distant dream, but rather my new reality. It may have taken me a long time to get here and I’m still not convinced I won’t have a relapse at some point (jealousy is a very cruel mistress indeed), but it is certainly progress. I think spreading the fangirling about a bit is helping as well, so thank you VERY much Mr. Deering ;).
So I wasn’t going to blog today, since I didn’t have a show and I’m still playing catch up from the last few days, but I had stuff to say, so I figured why not… And most of the stuff I have to say is NATHAN and also The Last Carnival, because, well, when don’t I have stuff to say about them, but first NATHAN!
I will start off by saying this: As a general rule, I do not watch reality TV. I can’t stand those shows and even Gary Barlow isn’t enough to keep me watching X-Factor for long (I couldn’t even manage a single episode last year), but as these things go, The Voice is better than most, if for no other reason than the lack of novelty acts – at least they can all sing from the get go. Anyhoo, I watched (bits of) it for Liam Tamne last year, so I’ll certainly be watching (still just bits of) it for Nathan Amzi this year. Nathan. The lovely, wonderful, uber talented, stupidly hard-working, kick-ass Nathan. The first Rock Of Ages cast member to really speak to me, the man who had be sobbing like a baby when I had to say my final Garrick goodbye to him, the man who gives THE best hugs in the West End (actually, he gives the best hugs, period. Even better than Russ & Big T, though don’t tell them I said that!).
So, I didn’t actually see him on TV as I was out when the episode aired, but I’d been informed that they barely showed him at all on the programme, which is a travesty really, but fine. He is on youtube at least and that’s where I went first to catch up on what I’d missed, before checking out his cameo on the actual show via iPlayer. I’d seen enough of my fellow ROAdies talking about his audition online and many of them mentioned tears, yet it still took me by surprise when I watched it and promptly got completely choked up. My hand even flew to my mouth when Ricky turned and I already knew that Nathan was on his team! I am so damn proud to be a fan of his right now. He deserves so much success and I know he’ll have his ROAdies behind him every step of the way. We love you, Nathan, rock on!
And for those poor souls who’ve never had the pleasure of his vocal talents (or for those who just want to watch him again and again and again), check him out here:
And also here if the above wasn’t enough for you ;):
So, next up on today’s fangirling agenda, we have The Last Carnival. Shocker. So the next live in session video, The Scream Boy Shuffle, was released this evening; while I was out, damnit! I knew it was there, waiting for me, calling to me, and I had to wait HOURS until I got home to watch it. It possibly didn’t help my impatience levels much that my friend was messaging me telling me that there was lots of Justin, lots of hair and lots of hands! I mean, seriously. HAAAAAAAAAANDS!!! There were so many close-ups of fingers on strings (and a few keys) and SO many close-ups of Justin’s hands. I may have swooned. A few times. Ok, a lot of times. He’s also in shot more than he was in Too Many Dreams, I think, although tempting as it is, I’m not planning on doing a detailed analysis of his respective screen times between the two.
So, there was no waiting nearly a minute for that chiselled face of his, he’s in it from the very beginning and by 30 seconds in, we’ve already got HANDS! Not just his, I’d like to point out. Russ & Mike get their fair share of fingers on strings action, but for some reason they just don’t quite grab my attention in the same way. Funny that. Anyhoo, hand wise, there is some truly beautiful footage at about the 0:55 mark, particularly of his left hand, which I happen to have a particular fondness for. Moving on from Justin’s fingers for a moment, Russ seems particularly smiley in this one, which is always a pleasure to see! He always looks like he’s having an absolute blast whenever he’s playing and it just makes him even more enticing to watch. Although I do like the fact that you can see Justin’s shadow headbanging on the wall next to him in the wider angled shots (check it out around 1:30 & 2:25)! I’m sure there’s a Peter Pan reference in there somewhere too, though I think in this particular tale I’d be more likely to be cast as Tink than Wendy. There are also a couple of shots from around 2:32 with the headbanging actually on camera and I see some slight movement in the hair department. I do miss his old hair though, which is weird, given it’s even longer now, so more to mentally ruffle, but it’s too… down. Give me his No Hero hair any day (although having said that, I was inspired to go and watch it again, only to notice that the video has vanished from youtube… whaaaaaa?!). At 2:07 we get pouty lips and a knee. I’m not sure why I feel that to be noteworthy, but I’ve just written it down, so apparently something in me feels it to be so. Anyways, back to the fact this is not a one man band, despite the way I sometimes talk. Mike is rather bouncy in a rather adorable way, Kieran looks absolutely fantastic (not that he doesn’t always, but he looks particularly dreamy in this) and we’re also treated to plenty of drum face from Adam! I also forgot to mention it last time, but Kieran & Ads definitely deserve props for the editing job. Top notch, boys, top notch. I can’t wait to see the rest of them, whatever they may be. For my part, I’m still hoping for High or There’s A Road. Or Teardrops, but, well, as if. I would pay good money to see that one live, though *sigh*.
In other news, the blog hit 40,000 views today! (It was stuck on 39,999 for AGES, but I could see today’s views slowly ratcheting up, so I figured it was just a calculation timings thing and sure enough, it then jumped to 40,012). Not bad for a blog I thought nobody read until recently! To be fair, it’s nearing its 3 and a half year anniversary, but then there are still months of missing posts which I still have to go back and fill at some point (it’ll probably never happen, but I’m not giving up hope yet)! Anyway, I’ve been relatively amused by the tag cloud of late, mostly because it still reflects all the old stuff that I used to rave about as well as the new. For one, even though I doubt I’ve so much as mentioned him in years, Steelicious is still holding his ground! Today seemed like a nice day to capture it as it is, though, so here it is. I wonder how it’ll change over the coming months. Who’s name will be jumping out of the background this time next year? (If Tom doesn’t make it in there by the end of next month, I will be thoroughly gobsmacked!)
Tag Cloud Feb ’14
On a somewhat different subject, though still related to fangirling, there has been some drama on twitter over the last day or two, which I initially had no intention of mentioning at all, but after some internal debate I decided to cover it to some extent. I’m still not sure it’s the wisest course of action, but if I say nothing I’ll only confuse myself when I read back on recent blogs and can’t understand my own obscure references. Anyways, I’m not going to go into detail, but for the most part, all it’s really done is puzzle me. It would seem someone has taken a dislike to me (and a couple of my friends) and I genuinely don’t know why. I don’t mean that in an ‘I’m so wonderful, everyone should love me’ way, I just sense that there is a reason behind it, something I’ve said or done, perhaps, and I can’t work out what it could be. I’ve barely spoken to the people involved before, and I don’t know what the catalyst could have been either. Admittedly, aside from an unprovoked and surprisingly vicious attempt to pull Justin into it at the start, it hasn’t exactly impacted me directly in any meaningful way. It did, however, leave me supremely thankful once again that I did not have to deal with facebook or twitter when I was at school. Struggling with fragile relationships over MSN messenger, on a dial-up connection, late at night when the phone line was free, was quite bad enough!
I’m old enough and wise enough (ha!) to be largely impervious to baseless attacks from people who don’t know me. At sixteen, however, I certainly wasn’t and sometimes I truly pity all the teenagers in this age of social media. Yes, there are positives, many of them, but the negatives at times can be truly horrendous. Bullying has always been a problem and, sadly, I’m sure it always will be, but standing up in the playground in front of everyone and calling some kid ugly to their face takes a very different person to the kind who’ll say it from behind a computer screen and the perceived anonymity of the internet. Perhaps I’m wrong, but I think there are a lot less of the former than the latter. Until recently, I’ve never been subject to a direct attack before. I’ve seen it happen to friends and strangers alike, but having now experienced it first hand, it worries me. I can’t imagine the darker side of the internet changing for the better any time soon and this is the world I hope to one day bring my own children into. The trouble is, aside from the trolls and cyberbullies who really are just nasty pieces of work, there are also hundreds of regular kids doing just as much damage. They’re ones that don’t understand the kind of damage they can cause with a few cruel words and it’s so very easy to start something that you had no intention of starting. How often do people type something into a status box in a fit of anger or frustration (or *ahem* drunkeness)? And once it’s out there, there is no getting it back. When it’s all just some big joke with your friends and you don’t see the hurt you’re causing, how do you know to stop? Moreover, how can you possibly protect your children from the kind of abuse behaviour like that leads to? And that’s quite enough on that topic, I mean, kids? Eek! *Descends from soapbox with a slightly sheepish grin*.
And finally, moving on from my brief analysis of social interaction in the digital age… I have a, possibly (probably) temporary, new resolution. No more drama. (Yes I know the last section was all about drama, but that was other people’s drama, not mine). If I want to tweet, I will tweet. If I get ignored, I will brush it off and move on. That ‘life is too short’ thing from the other week (see Rock & Reminiscing)? Well, I think I’ve finally worked out what it means to me. This whole thing from start to finish (not that it’s finished, but you know what I mean) has been ‘madness’ indeed and it’s just not worth the stress or the heartache. Life is too short to let other people pull you down for no damn reason at all and though I’m not actually talking about Justin at this precise moment, that goes for him as well.
On that note, he tweeted an Extreme lyric earlier (which is what prompted the above epiphany) and I had a bizarre urge to reply to the brick wall (which I did). I didn’t know the line, but I easily found the source of it via google and then ended up listening to the band for the rest of the day. I can certainly see why he likes them so much; the guitar is incredible. Until today, the only Extreme song I knew was More Than Words and Rock Of Ages connections aside, I never much liked it, so I never bothered looking into the band any further. Apparently that was a grave error in judgement. If nothing else, Justin has certainly broadened my knowledge of music and for that I offer him my humble thanks. Although I did nearly jump out of my skin when I suddenly realised I was listening to More Than Words. It would be far too easy for me to show everyone how I feel and I suspect that sobbing into my tea whilst sat in the office would be generally frowned upon. Needless to say, I was not impressed when it happened again! Though this time I caught it at the intro and the desperate lunge for the skip button was a tad less dramatic.
Anyway, perhaps I’m just too tired to think straight after staying up so stupidly late last night, let alone stress about nothing, but even if it only lasts for a day, that’s better than nowt. At least I got away with sending a stress-free tweet! It may have helped that I got a retweet from The Last Carnival too and, far more excitingly, a reply from Mr Lonsdale. Who, incidentally, is my current phone wallpaper (the panda cub wasn’t going to last forever no matter how cute he was, I need a hot man in my life on a regular basis, even if I only get to see him when I get my phone out to obsessively check twitter). Now if only I could get the complete set, that would be fantabulous… Tom, I’m looking at you… 😛
So, back to shows as usual tomorrow night and I’m off to see Marcel Lucont with a friend of mine. We actually saw him in Edinburgh, as part of a comedy Countdown show, and were both suitably entertained to choose to see him again. I’m not too sure what to expect, but I’m quite looking forward to it.
So I knew the first live in session video (filmed when The Last Carnival were in Antwerp last month) was coming. In fact, I was actually relieved I didn’t go out tonight, just so I could be home to see it as soon as they posted it. When it actually came time though, when the tweet appeared with the link to youtube… I was terrified. It’s been twelve days (not the roundest of numbers, but oh well) since I stopped listening to their music, stopped watching their videos and put away all (well, most) of my pictures. It hasn’t been that long since I’ve contacted them, because aside from a certain person, that was never part of the detox rules (and I broke the golden rule often enough anyway), but still, I’ve certainly been feeling the distance. I doubt there’s been more than a day or two when I haven’t listened to something of theirs since July, so just cutting myself off like that was one hell of a change and a really difficult one to make. Then suddenly, the end was here, with almost no warning at all, save a tweet or two hinting at it earlier this afternoon and I was scared. It took me a good couple of minutes before I could psyche myself up to click the link, despite the fact I wanted desperately to see it the moment it was publicly available, but finally, heart pounding, I hit play…
From the first moments, seeing them all again, hearing that music… It was heart-wrenching in the most beautifully painful way. I’ve missed them so much these last twelve days and it was only seeing the video that really brought it home. Whether they want to be or not they have become a huge part of my life and no amount of theatre fangirling (over Tom or anyone else) is going to be able to replace them, no matter what the weird & twisted connections may be. I was scared to end the detox for a reason and I think I was perfectly right to be so terrified. Seeing them, seeing him… How can I keep my distance now? How can I possibly stay away?
As for the video itself? Well Too Many Dreams Have Gone is a beautiful song and one I’ve always wanted to see done live anyway (properly live, I mean, rather than just the intro version on tour). Although a video will never be the same as actually seeing it, a live session is about as close as you can get. I also love videos of the band when it’s just them and this was perfect. Lots of arty focus shots and lots of me watching the blurry background for a certain guitarist, but it was all I could have hoped for. A stunning performance of the song, sufficient screen time for each one of my boys and I even got a few close ups of Justin’s hands. It was beautiful and I have missed them so damn much these last couple of weeks that it took me a good ten minutes or so before I was capable of formulating my emotions into anything other than random words and disjointed phrases. I still don’t really feel even remotely stable, but I at least feel ready to watch it again and again and again…
It’s amazing; from the very first shot of Russ, my heart leaps. It’s like coming home, only far more exciting. I’ll also add at this point that my heart has been racing since they first posted the link and over an hour later it still hasn’t completely calmed down. There’s just so much to love right from the start; more than enough to make me melt. There’s Russ, with his guitar and his voice and his hair, Kieran’s hands again, not to mention his adorable face, which still makes me grin every time I see it. There’s Mike looking all suave in his suit and sounding fabulous on BVs… Admittedly it’s not until 45 seconds in before I get so much as a glimpse of Justin and even then it was just a blur in the background really, but ohh… especially when ten seconds later I get a proper shot, complete with wailing guitar… and of course the hands around 1:16 really are something special. To be fair, poor Adam doesn’t even get a look in until 1:40 when the drums kick in, but there are some lovely over the shoulder shots there (and plenty more to come) before it’s back to Justin for another hands moment. After that it’s a whole mishmash of awesome until 2:41 when I finally get my moment. The moment. The infuriating, head-banging, velvet-jacketed, BEAUTIFUL moment. Man. It’s worrying how long it took me to realise why he’s out of focus at 3:08.
I really have missed them so very, very much. I don’t think I could ever do what I’ve just done for the last 12 days again, no matter how much good it’s done me. I guess I just need to stay focussed on what I want and what I need. I’m not sure how well those things marry up at the moment, which does make things a tad awkward, but it’s all I can do. Admittedly if I were to get a reply from Tom so I can actually plan my week, that would help a fair bit… *waits patiently*.
Peace, loVe loVe and far too many dreams,
K xx
PS. It’s odd, yet somehow the song my head still keeps going back to is My Eyes Adored You. I don’t think the lyrics, even just from the chorus, are entirely appropriate in the circumstances, but some of it? Well it’s vaguely fitting. So close, so close and yet so far…
So Currently Captivated 