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aruanAnd then there's something entirely else necessary to describe the experience of JC's show tonight. Electrifying. Magical. Scintillating. Incredible. I could bore you to tears with an impressive string of wildly inadequate adjectives, or you could read on as I try to show rather than tell.
When the girls stepped out onstage to the beginning riff of A.D.I.D.A.S., the crowd absolutely exploded in cheers. I swear those chords go straight to some deep and primitive part of the brain. We screamed through most of her intro and it got louder than the two sets of eight cluster speakers on either side of the stage ever succeeded. Someone described the choreography as "alternately bouncing and slinking" around onstage, which is absolutely accurate. And! He twirled the microphone stand! More than once! I know he did this on Wade's show, too, but up in the air and around again and so. fucking. cool.
The set is simple and perfect for the album's title, with a row of asylum-style padded wall columns along the back and a few more pieces closer up the stage. The band start out wearing green scrubs and face masks then also change costumes during the course of the show as well.
The fringe around the front of his face was blowdried straight, which mostly became a moot point over the course of the next few songs as he worked it while he was on top up there. As others have already gleefully celebrated, he was clean-shaven, but really, pornstache or not he looked breathtakingly handsome. I can't get over how natural he looked up there, especially on the third song, Sprung, which didn't feature the dancers, just had him rocking out with the microphone stand looking every inch the kind of effortlessly classy, stylish rock star few have embodied. He wasn't playing at the genre - he really meant it about earning his way into the room.
And he played it all up, giving Joey a fair challenge for his reign of the ham department. He licked his lips with diabolical deliberateness, he gave us goofy grins and smoldering glares in turn, he knew his tricks but gave nothing away until he was ready. There were people who came down the aisles to take pictures and he'd come up to the edge of the stage to mug for them, and danced back at the people who did that as well. For someone so notoriously anti-audience, he sure played to us tonight. Everything felt that unique balance of raunchy and fun I remember thinking when the clips, particularly One Night Stand, were leaked.
He did She Got Me, and then the newest song I'm going to learn and scream in my car, something I'll call Sprung until we've got official titles. It's a rock song, waily and incredibly high-energy. I felt like we were getting to watch him bouncing around his house, rocking out to music at volumes his neighbors would probably call the police about. He loves his hair, too - plenty of headbanging all around.
Speaking of One Night Stand, Schiz and![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
sassygurl noted that it seemed the feather-lined monstrosity of a coat JC wore to (I think) an MTV VMA show some years ago has survived and now been given new life along with a red-feathered fedora that completed JC's pimptastic ensemble.
Build My World broke me in its scratchy minute-and-a-half incarnation, but to watch him perform it sitting spotlit on a stool, to watch the emotions of the song play over his face, singing a song that showcases his range so beautifully - clichéd as the word is, it was breathtaking.
Blowin' Me Up (With Her Love) was as incredible as I'd thought it would be, live band or not. JC as the band nerd macking on all the cheerleaders! You go baby. He wore the red uniform jacket he was photographed in, quite possibly the sexiest I've ever seen a piece of uniform clothing. Sometime during the song, not when he first peeked under Chantal's skirt but a second time when he's supposed to tear it away altogether, he ended up with a handful of her bloomers instead, which he yanked hard, not realizing at first and not letting go for a long minute. When he did notice, he made the most darlingly sheepish "oh, my bad" face and grinned apologetically before letting them go right quick and cracking up.
There was "a lot" of groping of his crotch. Usually accompanied by a fond stroke or two, and sometimes a lingering squeeze, and why he chose to take up the looser pants trend now is obviously the work of some spiteful little troll of a stylist. Where, I beg you, is Carson Kresley when you need him? Lance obviously hasn't been sharing his new friends.
Aah, Come to Me. He does plenty of interesting rhyming to "catastrophaaay" and "masturbate." There are lots of other thing I could say about this song, such as the accompanying hand motions to the latter, the "dream" girls in fluorescent masks, the totally atmospheric feel of the song where it's like you're completely sucked into this fugue created by his choice of the blue pill. (The intro to the song were his dancers coming out in nurses' outfits after he said he wasn't feeling too good and offering the red pill, which would take away the pain, or the blue pill, which would, what else, "Show you how deep the rabbit hole goes."
"Deep?" he asked with a suggestive leer.
Chantal smiled at him and nodded.
JC turned to us and grinned. "How can I resist that?" Then, song. He's got a kickin', strong falsetto which he used without restraint on this track. The lyric about needing to feel her close to him he sang with not an inch of space between his lips and those of the dancer he was dancing up on.
He covered a Prince song. Let's Go Crazy was executed with the kind of style and enthusiasm that Prince probably didn't have himself when he performed it. JC wore a stripey jacket and was dizzyingly high energy the entire song, especially for so late in the show. Also, his dancers came down into the audience and danced with the people in the aisles, which was fun. When he finished, he said, "That's the best song ever written!" *pause* "Maybe." Wink, smile, a little bow through the thunderous applause and cheering.
The following song he said makes him feel better. It was a ballad about moving on, things getting better with every passing day, and for now it's called Days Go By. A gorgeous ballad few others could've sung about coping through the aftermath, full of strong emotion but hopeful. He finishes and there's a lingering moment of silence as all the lights and eventually the main spot on him fade. And then.
And then.
Fucking The Game Is Over. He launches into the bridge, literally, off the stool onto the lip of the stage, screaming in bloody outrage about how you could think that you could do him like that. Two refrains accompanied by frantic cheering from us. "I feel better now," he quipped as he finished. He also recommended it as a money-saving alternative to therapy, where the advice is just overpriced touchy-feely mush. "But I still need a hug." Oh, JC. *snogs him but good*
He thanked us again for supporting him, believing in him enough to come out on blind faith without having the record out yet. He mentioned his "team," and that they will always be a group but that until they're ready to make another record, he's going to have the most fun he can on his own. He talked about having a very intense year and a half rollercoaster of highs and lows and that that's where the range of music and the album title come from. He also said that we're all part of his family now. Hopefully at the most we're second cousins twice removed for the safety of my impure thoughts.
Next was the reggae song, which we'll call Everything You Want. Who knew pop could do such favors for such traditional music? I've been trying to emphasize how much fun he had up there with the staging and the dancers and the costumes, but for this song and a couple of others when he sang center-stage in front of a mic stand for most of the song instead of doing choreography, it was a lot more about, "Here, take a moment to just listen to this, no bells or whistles, just the music." He did take the microphone and sat on the left side of the stage, dangling his feet for part of it, which was too adorable. Also, I believe it was during this song, as he was getting up from where he'd sat down that he caught something lacy thrown by an overenthused audience member. I think the catching itself was mostly reflex, and then he realized what it was. His face went through this endearing mixture of surprise, chagrin, and honest to goodness, "Are you all for real?" amazement before he walked back to center stage smiling, tucking it in his back pocket.
The last song is something of a disturbing dichotomy of childish playfulness and some oddly-channeled sexual energy. The dancers are dressed in alternatingly punky plaid and overalls with pigtails. They do a cute 'see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil' thing towards the middle, and there's enough pelvic thrusting all around to keep everyone happy. Best part though is the choreographed raspberry-blowing. I [[heart]] the immense dorkitude of this man. He introduced the dancers and the band at the end of it, and thanked us all again for coming out.
But wait! There's more! We haven't played the single yet!
The curtains open on a barely-lit stage, empty except for JC in a black sheer shirt and tank top underneath and black pants with sparkly design stitching up his right leg, only the whole picture is about a thousand times sexier than I'm succeeding at describing it right now. The song works much better live, in my opinion, with JC drawling the words and the kickin' choreography. There are a couple of moments where he moved in sort of slow motion and others when he worked his hips so wickedly (especially toward the end of the song where he's practically kneeling on the floor and thrusting so sinuously it, I kid you not, made me blush) I could hardly breathe. There's simply nothing like watching him enjoy himself in a song, which he has in spades here.
*takes a deep breath* There's a reason why the most coherent any of us got once the show ended was, "Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god!" and "I love him." We as a fandom can collectively write the concerts up a thousand ways in millions of words and none of it will convey JC's focused irreverence and magnetism, the music's beautiful bridges and drum segments, the non-stop energy, the fun JC has up there as he grins and dances and utterly enchants the entire room. Every song would be fantastic on its own (and how much does it make me cry that after this weekend, barring bootleg recordings, we won't get to hear them properly for another two months) but there's JC, smiling and dirty dancing and jumping around while belting them out. There honestly are no words to express how made for this he is. I knew I had to come out here when the shows were announced, to see it from the first because it would be the start of something unbelievably exciting, and if this boy doesn't become a bona fide phenomenon there's simply no justice in this world.
When the girls stepped out onstage to the beginning riff of A.D.I.D.A.S., the crowd absolutely exploded in cheers. I swear those chords go straight to some deep and primitive part of the brain. We screamed through most of her intro and it got louder than the two sets of eight cluster speakers on either side of the stage ever succeeded. Someone described the choreography as "alternately bouncing and slinking" around onstage, which is absolutely accurate. And! He twirled the microphone stand! More than once! I know he did this on Wade's show, too, but up in the air and around again and so. fucking. cool.
The set is simple and perfect for the album's title, with a row of asylum-style padded wall columns along the back and a few more pieces closer up the stage. The band start out wearing green scrubs and face masks then also change costumes during the course of the show as well.
The fringe around the front of his face was blowdried straight, which mostly became a moot point over the course of the next few songs as he worked it while he was on top up there. As others have already gleefully celebrated, he was clean-shaven, but really, pornstache or not he looked breathtakingly handsome. I can't get over how natural he looked up there, especially on the third song, Sprung, which didn't feature the dancers, just had him rocking out with the microphone stand looking every inch the kind of effortlessly classy, stylish rock star few have embodied. He wasn't playing at the genre - he really meant it about earning his way into the room.
And he played it all up, giving Joey a fair challenge for his reign of the ham department. He licked his lips with diabolical deliberateness, he gave us goofy grins and smoldering glares in turn, he knew his tricks but gave nothing away until he was ready. There were people who came down the aisles to take pictures and he'd come up to the edge of the stage to mug for them, and danced back at the people who did that as well. For someone so notoriously anti-audience, he sure played to us tonight. Everything felt that unique balance of raunchy and fun I remember thinking when the clips, particularly One Night Stand, were leaked.
He did She Got Me, and then the newest song I'm going to learn and scream in my car, something I'll call Sprung until we've got official titles. It's a rock song, waily and incredibly high-energy. I felt like we were getting to watch him bouncing around his house, rocking out to music at volumes his neighbors would probably call the police about. He loves his hair, too - plenty of headbanging all around.
Speaking of One Night Stand, Schiz and
sassygurl noted that it seemed the feather-lined monstrosity of a coat JC wore to (I think) an MTV VMA show some years ago has survived and now been given new life along with a red-feathered fedora that completed JC's pimptastic ensemble.Build My World broke me in its scratchy minute-and-a-half incarnation, but to watch him perform it sitting spotlit on a stool, to watch the emotions of the song play over his face, singing a song that showcases his range so beautifully - clichéd as the word is, it was breathtaking.
Blowin' Me Up (With Her Love) was as incredible as I'd thought it would be, live band or not. JC as the band nerd macking on all the cheerleaders! You go baby. He wore the red uniform jacket he was photographed in, quite possibly the sexiest I've ever seen a piece of uniform clothing. Sometime during the song, not when he first peeked under Chantal's skirt but a second time when he's supposed to tear it away altogether, he ended up with a handful of her bloomers instead, which he yanked hard, not realizing at first and not letting go for a long minute. When he did notice, he made the most darlingly sheepish "oh, my bad" face and grinned apologetically before letting them go right quick and cracking up.
There was "a lot" of groping of his crotch. Usually accompanied by a fond stroke or two, and sometimes a lingering squeeze, and why he chose to take up the looser pants trend now is obviously the work of some spiteful little troll of a stylist. Where, I beg you, is Carson Kresley when you need him? Lance obviously hasn't been sharing his new friends.
Aah, Come to Me. He does plenty of interesting rhyming to "catastrophaaay" and "masturbate." There are lots of other thing I could say about this song, such as the accompanying hand motions to the latter, the "dream" girls in fluorescent masks, the totally atmospheric feel of the song where it's like you're completely sucked into this fugue created by his choice of the blue pill. (The intro to the song were his dancers coming out in nurses' outfits after he said he wasn't feeling too good and offering the red pill, which would take away the pain, or the blue pill, which would, what else, "Show you how deep the rabbit hole goes."
"Deep?" he asked with a suggestive leer.
Chantal smiled at him and nodded.
JC turned to us and grinned. "How can I resist that?" Then, song. He's got a kickin', strong falsetto which he used without restraint on this track. The lyric about needing to feel her close to him he sang with not an inch of space between his lips and those of the dancer he was dancing up on.
He covered a Prince song. Let's Go Crazy was executed with the kind of style and enthusiasm that Prince probably didn't have himself when he performed it. JC wore a stripey jacket and was dizzyingly high energy the entire song, especially for so late in the show. Also, his dancers came down into the audience and danced with the people in the aisles, which was fun. When he finished, he said, "That's the best song ever written!" *pause* "Maybe." Wink, smile, a little bow through the thunderous applause and cheering.
The following song he said makes him feel better. It was a ballad about moving on, things getting better with every passing day, and for now it's called Days Go By. A gorgeous ballad few others could've sung about coping through the aftermath, full of strong emotion but hopeful. He finishes and there's a lingering moment of silence as all the lights and eventually the main spot on him fade. And then.
And then.
Fucking The Game Is Over. He launches into the bridge, literally, off the stool onto the lip of the stage, screaming in bloody outrage about how you could think that you could do him like that. Two refrains accompanied by frantic cheering from us. "I feel better now," he quipped as he finished. He also recommended it as a money-saving alternative to therapy, where the advice is just overpriced touchy-feely mush. "But I still need a hug." Oh, JC. *snogs him but good*
He thanked us again for supporting him, believing in him enough to come out on blind faith without having the record out yet. He mentioned his "team," and that they will always be a group but that until they're ready to make another record, he's going to have the most fun he can on his own. He talked about having a very intense year and a half rollercoaster of highs and lows and that that's where the range of music and the album title come from. He also said that we're all part of his family now. Hopefully at the most we're second cousins twice removed for the safety of my impure thoughts.
Next was the reggae song, which we'll call Everything You Want. Who knew pop could do such favors for such traditional music? I've been trying to emphasize how much fun he had up there with the staging and the dancers and the costumes, but for this song and a couple of others when he sang center-stage in front of a mic stand for most of the song instead of doing choreography, it was a lot more about, "Here, take a moment to just listen to this, no bells or whistles, just the music." He did take the microphone and sat on the left side of the stage, dangling his feet for part of it, which was too adorable. Also, I believe it was during this song, as he was getting up from where he'd sat down that he caught something lacy thrown by an overenthused audience member. I think the catching itself was mostly reflex, and then he realized what it was. His face went through this endearing mixture of surprise, chagrin, and honest to goodness, "Are you all for real?" amazement before he walked back to center stage smiling, tucking it in his back pocket.
The last song is something of a disturbing dichotomy of childish playfulness and some oddly-channeled sexual energy. The dancers are dressed in alternatingly punky plaid and overalls with pigtails. They do a cute 'see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil' thing towards the middle, and there's enough pelvic thrusting all around to keep everyone happy. Best part though is the choreographed raspberry-blowing. I [[heart]] the immense dorkitude of this man. He introduced the dancers and the band at the end of it, and thanked us all again for coming out.
But wait! There's more! We haven't played the single yet!
The curtains open on a barely-lit stage, empty except for JC in a black sheer shirt and tank top underneath and black pants with sparkly design stitching up his right leg, only the whole picture is about a thousand times sexier than I'm succeeding at describing it right now. The song works much better live, in my opinion, with JC drawling the words and the kickin' choreography. There are a couple of moments where he moved in sort of slow motion and others when he worked his hips so wickedly (especially toward the end of the song where he's practically kneeling on the floor and thrusting so sinuously it, I kid you not, made me blush) I could hardly breathe. There's simply nothing like watching him enjoy himself in a song, which he has in spades here.
*takes a deep breath* There's a reason why the most coherent any of us got once the show ended was, "Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god!" and "I love him." We as a fandom can collectively write the concerts up a thousand ways in millions of words and none of it will convey JC's focused irreverence and magnetism, the music's beautiful bridges and drum segments, the non-stop energy, the fun JC has up there as he grins and dances and utterly enchants the entire room. Every song would be fantastic on its own (and how much does it make me cry that after this weekend, barring bootleg recordings, we won't get to hear them properly for another two months) but there's JC, smiling and dirty dancing and jumping around while belting them out. There honestly are no words to express how made for this he is. I knew I had to come out here when the shows were announced, to see it from the first because it would be the start of something unbelievably exciting, and if this boy doesn't become a bona fide phenomenon there's simply no justice in this world.
