(NO LONGER) OUTSIDE 5 SECONDS OF SUMMER, INSIDE HEY VIOLET!!! Album Review: Hey Violet “From The Outside”

(Left to right: Miranda Miller, Iain Shipp, Rena Lovelis, Casey Moreta, Nia Lovelis)

HEY, HEY VIOLET! (…I’ll go home…and stop both the Shane Dawson reference and the reason for the Shane Dawson reference!)

Get excited, because you NEED some electronic pop rock realness in your summer and Hey Violet are a band that promise to deliver you that with their debut album!!

Since opening up for a little band called 5 Seconds of Summer on their Rock Out With Your Socks Out tour, Hey Violet (Originally known as Cherri Bomb) has not only added new bass player Iain Ship,

(LOOK AT HIM! <3)

but have completely renovated their sound since their first EP I Can Feel It . How does a novice pop-rock group add to their sound in 2016 and 2017 in a way that would make them stand out?? By adding some electronic sounds in of course!! Hey Violet is a band who is cooking with all of the right ingredients, yet another of which includes writer/producer Julian Bunetta who has worked with both Fifth Harmony… and SUPERGROUP One Direction!

What do you get when you combine these ingredients? THE FEAST OF POP HITS, THAT IS THE ALBUM  FROM THE OUTSIDE! (Released June 16, 2017)

Here’s hoping they stick around later and give us some great dessert! THIS CAN ONLY GET BETTER!

Cover Art: 7.7/10: Okay I can be here for some black, white, and pink color scheme! I love Rena’s pose, I kind of think she looks like a cartoon character but it’s probably due to the pink hair! (Which is AWESOME! When Hey Violet toured with 5sos, Rena had these dreads and some of them were colored….and she looks SO MUCH BETTER now!) Miranda looks adorable, Iain looks sultry/sexy, Casey looks cute, and.. what’s Nia looking at! Band photos can be really fun to look at!

1) Break My Heart: I’ve been living for this one since it was a single! As I said in my music video review of this (https://dropofpopculture.wordpress.com/2017/04/10/dirtbike-high-school-party-music-video-review-break-my-heart-hey-violet/), I’m unsure of what the exact meaning it is, but I’d be wrong if screaming “BREAK MY HEART” and HARDCORE JAMMING OUT to the electronic beat wasn’t a bucketful of fun!

2) Brand New Moves: Again, it’s been blasted SEVERAL times since before this album was released! That bassline is just radiating everything that is COOL! Dang, I wouldn’t mind if a guy showed me his brand new moves, I don’t know a lot about dancing! 😉 This song covers the bases of both sexiness, and the whole aura of the person at a party that everyone is HIGH-KEY wishing they could be!

3) Guys My Age: This song is Hey Violet’s most well known hit, and yet I didn’t like it much at first until I came around to it on this album! I blame electro-distortion! I’m not always feeling it! This song tries to be mature. Does it succeed? Does it make me want an older guy? Sort of, the vibes could be a bit stronger! Yet…. I do want a boyfriend older than me. And the thirst level is pretty strong! So it’s an alright song to me now I’ve given it a couple listens.

4) Hoodie: Didn’t know I needed a song about being hung up on an ex boyfriends hoodie in my life! (I freaking love hoodies, they’re so soft!) I love chanting pop choruses at the top of my lungs and now I can about one of my favorite articles of clothing in existence! Thank you Hey Violet!! An excellent choice for your next single as well! (C,mon!!! I’d love cranking this one on the car radio! Might do it with Spotify anyway!) Lol, how many fans are going to go to Hey Violet’s next tour wearing hoodies?! (They better not chew the strings like the lyrics say though! That’d be gross. Do you really want the members of Hey Violet to notice your wet, spit-covered, hoodie strings?! And cigarette burns… Okay, maybe the song is kind of gross, but it’s such a jam so WHO CARES?!)

5) My Consequence: I heareth autotuneth, I doth protesteth! (See my Hopeless Fountain Kingdom Halsey review right before this one, I go OFF about that!) Rena, tell me, did we really need the gut imagery?! That’s a bit graphic for a chorus! Razor love?! EVEN MORE GRAPHIC! This track needs a warning label! “The world is ours, at least it is tonight” Ok, fine y,all are redeeming yourselves! I like the message, but I’m pretty sure it’s equally the other person’s consequence in a relationship.

6) O.D.D.: Wow! What a clever title! What an outcast anthem! Legends only! It makes being odd sound like a sort of disease, which some may view it as, but it’s not! Being O.D.D. isn’t necessarily a bad thing! “I’m the girl in the back of the class, blank stare, don’t care, don’t ask” #Relatable! It’s such a chill song yet it’s so clever and relatable since I can be O.D.D. myself! There’s also a little unexpected surprise part at the end! FUN!!

7) All We Ever Wanted: How was this NOT co-written by Charli XCX?? It sounds kind of like her songs! Semi-trashy electro-pop party BOP?! You know I’m freaking HERE FOR IT!!  “We got no money left, but we’re not going home yet” “He’s kind of cute, I’m dead” RENA YOU RELATABLE EDGY QUEEEENNNN!!! (And, I want to die my hair pink, Rena Lovelis’s existance only enhances this desire!) Rena, Nia, Miranda TAKE ME WITH YOU! I WANT THIS FEELING TOO!! (Boys are only allowed if they’re cute ;)….. OKAY, FINE, IAIN AND CASEY FIT THAT BILL!!!)

8) Fuqboi: An. ANTHEM!!! We live in an era that has contained Vine and does contain Musical.ly, IT’S ABOUT TIME WE GET A SONG THAT IS FUCKBOY (Fuqboi! I like their spelling better!!!) REPELLANT!! GO. OFFFFFFFF. RENAAAAA!!!!!!!!!! “When there’s cute things he’d say, I bet he stole them from Drake” LMAO, I’m DEAD! “Like a stain on your heart’s reputation” TRUTH!! “I’d rather cut out my tounge, than let you kiss me with yours” SAV-AGE!!!!!! LIT. ASS. ELECTRO. BEAT.!! So, the first verse is a classic fuqboi and the second verse is the digital, follower-thirsty, social media fuqboi! I LOVE IT! #RenaLovelisForPresident #ForTheSheerPurposeOfExterminatingAnnoyingFuqbois #AndBeingAnEdgyPinkHairedPunkRockQueen #Medium-KeyStanningRenaNow! lmao!

9) Unholy: Damn! And I thought Hey Violet was delivering thirst ANTHEMS before!! I gottta learn that lovely piano riff! “We’re in bed we’re embedded in my mind” HOW. FREAKING. STAN-WORTHY.?!?! This song was stuck in my head for a whole day, since I could NOT. STOP. HITTING. REPLAY.!! It’s very sexy, it’s addictive, it’s clever! Yo, Rena’s vocals kind of remind me of Melanie Martinez on the pre-chorus. The OHS! on the bridge and “I know that you like it you don’t even have to hide it” UGH, VOLUME FREAKING UP!!!!!

10) Where Have You Been (All My Night): Serving some electro-club bop, Carly Rae Jepsen-esque, realness!! I could believe they’re singing it from the corner of a club, that’s realistic. 7.4/10, would put in a playlist with Who’s That Boy by Demi Lovato, What a Feeling by One Direction, and I Didn’t Just Come Here To Dance by Carly Rae Jepsen

11) Like Lovers Do: SO INTERESTING! I get melodic, old-fashioned, and slow dance vibes!!! The complete tale of a doomed relationship! Lyrics are interesting! That first verse took an explicit turn I wasn’t prepared for when I first listened! It’s kind of haunting in a way, especially as it grows darker! OH GOD,  WHEN THOSE GUITARS COME IN THOUGH! I completely LIVE FOR when a slow song, cranks it up, adds some highkey guitar shredding on that bridge (As with Don’t Forget by Demi Lovato? My first impression of a song with that that left my 11 year old self QUAKING?!) Another flipping cool technique on this song?! THE LOOP! It ends where it started! That’s AWESOME!!!!!!

12) This Is Me Breaking Up With You: CHANT-ALONG ROCK AND ROLL, HELL YEAHHHH!!!!! (Pop-Rock might be my favorite genre, if not, top 3!) This song’s still like their older style, especially You Don’t Love Me Like You Should, and that’s NOT BAD!! A breakup in the form of THIS JAM would probably hurt less!! CRANK IT UP, DAY AND NIGHT!!!

Album Rating: 9.4/1o MY FAVORITE ALBUM SO FAR THIS SUMMER! Meet Hey Violet through these BOPS if you haven’t already! You won’t regret it! (I’ve literally meet Hey Violet though (except Iain! Damn!! I SPOKE TO MY NEW ROCK QUEEN RENA ALREADY!! (Complementing the I Can Feel It EP)  THE BAND ACCOUNT AND MIRANDA FOLLOW MY TWITTER ACCOUNT! THIS IS A BIG DEAL TO ME! I’M ALREADY SOOO LUCKYYY!) Electric Electronic feministy pop rock does nothing but helps a human soul!! OH GOD, I NEED TO SEE HEY VIOLET AGAIN, HANG OUT STRONG IN MY TOP 10 FAVORITE BANDS EVER WHY DON’T YOU! I’m obsessed with them now, come be as well dear reader! Give them that success! Be O.D.D. and repel them Fuqbois! WHAT A DEBUT!

Fave Tracks: O.D.D, All We Ever Wanted, Fuqboi, Unholy, Like Lovers Do, This Is Me Breaking Up With You

Least Fave Tracks: Guys My Age, My Consequence

Listen: https://open.spotify.com/embed/album/6ZZbMKUghvClcRLF5pZT6Y

Buy: https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/from-the-outside/id1226832548?app=itunes&ign-mpt=uo%3D4

“SOMETHING DIFFERENT” FOR YOUR PLAYLIST! A NEW (ADORABLE!) BOYBAND!! Single Review: Something Different -Why Don’t We

There is no decent reason to pretend that you don’t love boybands, and that they aren’t like pillars of pure sunlight, and laser beams that shoot out candy, into our world, that make it just that much better!

Okay, but seriously if you say you can resist their music, you’re probably

a) LYING!

b) depriving yourself of a super great time!

so don’t be like that! 🙂

Anyway, I think I found the next coolest boyband to provide us with some electropop shots of happiness, and work their way straight into our hearts!

Enter Why Don’t We, this young band, with an EP already out, and a music video (for single Nobody Gotta Know) directed by none other than Actor and Youtube Supervlogging Maverick Logan Paul! (The vid is ADORABLE Too! Try 5 adorable boys coming up to strangers and completely serenading them! ❤ PS: I don’t recommend the less recent video, for that song, it’s kind of weird, and not the good type of music video weird.)

Members are (Left to right) Jack Avery (age 17), Jonah Marais (age 18, THANK YOU), Zach Herron (age 15), Daniel Seavey (18, AGAIN, THANK YOU!), and Corbyn Besson (17, Ok.. I’ll wait..).

Super fun fact about them: Every Wednesday on the bands Twitter and Instagram account, they post a (swoon-worthy) cover song medley based on a single word/phrase that their fans choose! This week’s word was Night.

They released their newest song Something Different on April 7, 2017, and announced their second EP, also titled Something Different. (Out next week! Come back for a review hopefully!)

IT’S PRETTY LIT!! Why Don’t We (;)) check it out!

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Disclaimer: Since this boyband is BRAND NEW to me, I haven’t yet learned who sings what parts yet, but OF COURSE I’ll learn, because that’s the way to do it!!

The beginning sounds exactly like a heartbeat, and I’m for it! #TryItWithEarbuds

Heart beat+ Sick beat CHEECCKK!!

“Baby we got us, We on something different” IS THIS A DRUG REFERENCE?! Y,ALL ARE ALL SO YOUNG!

But love can be like drugs, can’t it? 🙂

TIME TO DANCE, YO!! Great club song if you’re into that kind of thing, great pool song if not!

There’s something wrong about boys acting like they know what girls are thinking though. Seriously! Leave the mind reading to fiction!

Synth-pop more like synth-BOP! YOU’VE BEEN GRACED! (Wait, what do you mean I’m not Grace Helbig?!)

Rating: 7.8/10 New summer electro pop to jam to from a brand new band! SO FAB! I like that in music you can get high off love, plus YET ANOTHER GREAT EDM BEAT THAT EXISTS IN OUR UNIVERSE, BECAUSE THEY’RE ONLY MULTIPLYING!

I think these boys have Something WONDERFUL and look forward to that next EP, as well as hopefully lots of future success! I haven’t really seen a boyband taking the electro-pop route quite as heavily, so I think that’s really dope!

Listen:

Buy:

https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/something-different-ep/id1222804505?app=itunes

 

DIRTBIKE HIGH SCHOOL PARTY!!! Music Video Review: Break My Heart-Hey Violet

New to the scene,alternative pop-rock group Hey Violet recently released a music video for their single Break My Heart and it totally gives me some party/Glee (The TV show) vibes!

I believe they’re getting their own should-be-hits in line after opening for 5 Seconds of Summer two tours in a row! They’d also be wonderful headliners!

I’d also be lying if I said that the song wasn’t a wonderful bop for your spring playlists! YAASS!!!

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Aw! Don’t start a video out with someone crying! That’s no way to do it!

Badass weapon of choice= a baseball bat, clearly!

OKAY, LOOK AT THE CHEERLEADERS! They basically are the Glee Cheerios!

RENA’S PINK HAIR IS SOOOOOOO GORGEOUS!!! I like SO MUCH better than her multicolor dreads!

HEY VIOLET HEY! (Including hot new bassist Iain HEYYYY 😉 )

The Heart Pinata AWESOME!! And it’s a heart in the biologic way, not the artistic way!

Idk about you, but I’d like that shiny golden jacket pls!!

And the pinata bashing goes along with the beat because Rena’s awesome like that!

That sweatsuit got her looking right like Sue Sylvester!

EXCEPT IT’S LACEY AND FLORAL!

Who’s that guy in the shower? Is that the boyfriend?

HE’S GOT GLITTER IN HIS HAIR!! THAT’S SOOOOOO PRETTTYYY!!! (I ❤ some nice GLITTER!!)

SPEAKING OF GLITTERY MAGIC, NICE TOP CHANGE!!

How epic would Hey Violet be as a prom band, eh?!?

She got the song name on her jacket and I like that a lot!

SHE’S SO PRETTY! DANG!!

HECK YEAH LIGHT UP DIRTBIKES!! TOO FUN!!

Where’s my invite to the HV dirtbike fun!?!

Live music and LIT Dirtbikes! WHAT MORE CAN YOU NEED?! (Ok, probably food actually!! Really good food! BBQ perhaps?!)

Rating: 7.7/10 Dirtbikes, glitter, pop/rock bops, enough said! Though, I’m not sure what to think of what the song is saying, why would she want the relationship to end badly?

Watch:

“WHY” JACOB WHITESIDES NEEDS MORE RECOGNITION!!! Album Review: Why?-Jacob Whitesides

Finally a full album!!

Jacob Whitesides was one of those gems found in the crevices of Youtube’s vast land of song covers. He doesn’t seem like much, but his vocal tone starts to leap out, he looks adorable, and then you notice he has self-written original music. Next thing you know, you buy both his EPs when they come out on Itunes, you try and succeed at getting him to follow you on twitter, and you go to see him at a general admission concert. That may just be what happens.

After a year of being a casual fan of Whitesides’s smooth as nutella, clever, guitar-driven tunes, in our progressively EP-and-singles-driven music world, he finally released his debut album Why? on September 9th.

Checking out Whitesides is worth it. The fact that Musical.ly famous twink Jacob Sartorious is more widely searched than this wonderful songwriter, makes me lose some faith in the world! Put a damn Sweatshirt over it already!

Album Artwork: 9/10 #SultryBeachAestheticGoals

Focus: More chill than Ariana Grande’s! Lol. Except the focus is now on a significant other as well as oneself. A focus song for either need, everyone! I think Jacob’s voice may have gotten deeper too, like, boy it sounds great on you! ❤ I adore the clap-along bridge and THAT FALSETTO THO!!! Where the heck did it come from? Well Jacob, I CAN hear your love and I’ll raise you some more! ❤

Heartbeat: Did you actually steal a literal heart monitor for that intro Jacob (If not the intro, than DEFINITELY the outro!)? THOSE DRUMS!! Bringing it in for a hot, speedy, intense, BOP!!! Sweet guitar solo, I simply must try and see it live! I could totally dance along the whole time!

She Ain’t Got a Thing: What’s up with the current music trend of the weird disembodied voice type things? It’s so wacky! Despite that, I’m getting a total country fiddle, square-dancing party vibe off of this! Must be Jacob’s Nashville influence coming through. (We live in the same city Jacob, can we meet yet?) If she can turn on the night skys, does that mean he’s calling her a star, because that’s CUTE N CLEVER! Did he slip in a bleeped swear? BLINK OR ZONE OUT A SEC AND YOU’LL MISS IT!!

Jaded Love: If you want an indication of how good this one is, please notice how he rhymes “smoke break” and “heartache” on the first verse! Plus there’s an increasing pulsing beat and those are basically made to agree with most eardrums. That has to be in some kind of science! Also let’s add a tried-and-true catchy la’s in the chorus chocolate drizzle to our great beat vanilla ice cream, and clever lyric rainbow sprinkles. But, one complaint, Jacob are you fine without a girlfriend? Are you REALLY?! 😉 (Actually, he’s dating Bea Miller, but ANYWAY!)

Levitate: Back at it again with the electric guitar though! How cute is the concept of love making you float?? Answer: VERY!! And his voice weaves through the chorus like some kind of shiny golden thread! That can fly like superman! Through clouds as fluffy as marshmallows! (I am feeling those metaphors right now!) Easy, chill AF, listening at its finest!

Bury Our Love: I love how Jacob slides from electric guitar to country, quick as a snap. I feel like there’s a strong country theme of river songs. “Bonnie and Clyde, more like Bonnie and tried.” = LYRIC KING! This is a cool song, it has a nice…flow. 😉 Bonus points for making it sound ominous at the end of the chorus.

Hold on Honey: Beautiful intro! V sad, pretty, and melodic!

Love Slow: Probably the second best ballad on the album. So nice and peaceful.

Why?:
Is the interesting, semi-creepy, string thing done by a violin, cause I kind of love it! I get a neat vibe off this one. More electric guitar and muffled radio-signal like sounds. I wish I could make out what it’s saying. It looks like someone’s getting more comfortable with his falsetto!! DAMN JACOB, KEEP ON SLAYING US WITH IT!

Lovesick: JAMJAMJAMJAMJAM!!! Nail that swing style boy!!! The pre-chorus has an easy call and response, which is always a great time, especially when you see it live! I love the lovesick concept as well!  I got a Jacob t-shirt when I saw his show last June and on the sleeve there’s this little heart that has a thermometer in its mouth and it’s literally lovesick and it’s SO ADORABLE! At first, I didn’t notice it, but when I did I was like “AWW JACOB!” IHadTrueLoveNowIGotNoneCauseI’mLovesick

Black and Blue: The conveyor belt/nutcracker sounding thing in the beginning has my approval. Great lyrics, poor Jacob. Did she punch you in the eyes or something? I like the beat-drop setup, that was unexpected!

You Told Me So:  Idk why but my attention was drawn in by the pretty first verse. This is probably the best ballad. It’s very chill. I really like the mountain relationship metaphor. It’s growing on me with multiple listens. V sad.

Open Book: He did this live when I saw him in June and it hadn’t been released yet and that feels very cool and special that I saw it! (He also did Focus, but I enjoyed this one more!) He says he comes across like a mystery and the sound of this is very mysterious and that’s freaking brilliant! The chorus instantly draws you in and sticks with you. You can think of the message as kind of a counterpart to Fifth Harmony’s song Write On Me, because that song is inviting the guy to share all of his beliefs, stories, and secrets and this song basically agrees to do that in exchange for some cuddles! I really like comparisons like this, I think it’s fascinating and adds to the enjoyment of both songs. The ending is medium-key odd, I don’t know if that sound agrees with my ears.

Album Rating: 7.6/10 Sonically it’s an interesting album, the sounds are more experimental than with Jacob’s EPS, which works better in some places than others. Jacob is quite a solid songwriter, and I enjoy listening to his lyrics quite a bit. It’s a solid first album, but can get dull in some areas. In other areas however, it’s quite cool, fun, and even unexpected.

Fave Tracks: Heartbeat, Jaded Love, Levitate, Lovesick, You Told Me So, Open Book

Least Fave Tracks: Focus, Hold On Honey

 

TODRICK HALL STRAIGHT OUTTA OZ TOUR RECAP/REVIEW AND MEETING TODRICK!

On Thursday, July 21st, 2016, I went to Todrick Hall’s Straight Outta Oz tour at the Verizon Theatre in Grand Prarie Texas.

Oh, and this never usually happens to me, but I managed to win an email contest thrown by the venue and my tickets (Second section up and to the left) were free! SWEET!!!

For those of you who haven’t had the pleasure of checking out https://www.youtube.com/user/todrickhall , he’s a brilliant actor, director, singer, rapper, songwriter, dancer, Disney movie geek, and proud member of Beyonce’s beehive, once creating a promotional Target flash-mob (“Beyonce End Of Time Target flash mob”), praised by Beyonce Knowles-Carter herself! He’s had several successful covers and mashups of Disney songs (I recommend “90’s Disney” and “Evolution of Disney”) and hits by pop queens (I recommend “4 Taylor” “4 Beyonce” and “4 Ariana”) with collaborations including acapella group Pentatonix (“The Wizard of Ahhhs”) and youtuber Colleen Ballinger (aka Miranda Sings and the vid is “Beauty and the Beat”).

He also was on the 9th season of American Idol and had a brief series on MTV called Todrick.

His epic Beyonce style visual album (every single song has a music video, and it plays out like a movie) Straight Outta Oz came out June 23rd 2016 along with the announcement of the tour. It’s basically a self-written, Wizard of Oz themed, musical about his life and some challenges he’s faced as a gay African American man trying to make it big in Hollywood.

I watched the Straight Outta Oz visual album the night before the show and was blown away by the talent, visuals, fun/clever songs with some interesting subject matter, and B-list guest stars including actress Amber Riley (Mercedes from Glee, sings both of his songs about his mother), actor Joseph Gordon-Levitt (Blah, Blah, Blah), singers Jordan Sparks (Water Guns) and Nicole S (I don’t want to spell that complicated last name from the pussycat dolls (Papi), celebrity blogger Perez Hilton and youtuber Grace Helbig (Green).

I quickly became obsessed with it, especially my favorites, Papi, Colors, and Dumb.  I love to do my research and learn the lyrics before the show!

I can’t say I’ve ever seen a concert that felt so much like a musical, complete with acting, dancing, costumes, sets such as Emerald City/Oz Angeles (the main set, complete with stairs and a gate), and even a mid-show intermission. I loved all of it!

If there’s one thing Todrick Hall definitely is it’s ORIGINAL with his work!

I settled in, getting some pizza, water, and popcorn, and the show started around 7:30. While the audience waited, instead of playing music they played Todrick videos which was great, but it would have been better if they used the video screens instead of projecting them over the curtain! The audience was pretty chill, sitting in their seats for most songs and waiting until a song ended to clap and cheer. Makes sense with a medium-sized venue and medium-famed performer.

The show opened with No Place Like Home which included dancers and Todrick dressed in a suit with a sky and clouds pattern. This suit was like the one in the video as well as the wooden hot air balloon that he used was. Before he showed up, there was also a distorted version of his youtube theme song It’s Me and I thought that was interesting.

The show basically went in order of the Straight Outta Oz tracklist, with a couple of additions sprinkled in. I thought he sounded at least as good as his recordings live, and there was some wowing falsetto notes in some of the songs. The dancing was also pretty interesting to watch! Sometimes he would have the music video or some other accompanying video playing on the video screens and projected behind him which was neat! His main outfit was a blue and white, school uniform worthy of Dorthy’s approval, paired with a pair of sparkly ruby red high-tops!

He had different people doing the parts of the famous music video stars, and during Colors, I thought he was cuter with his onstage boyfriend then his music video boyfriend.

The person that did his mother’s songs, was talented and did a wonderful job, but I prefer Amber Riley’s versions! I also missed the background drag queens when he rapped Expensive (I like that song a lot more than I expected to! P.S. The way they say damn reminds me a lot of Damn Daniel!)

I was particularly fascinated by one of his dancers, Chester Lockhart who stuck out like a glittery pink thumb, and did a fabulous sassy number about being verified on twitter (the ironic part is he isn’t, but I guess his character is!)! Note to self: Find that somewhere on YouTube!

The R&B song If I had a heart definitely much better live, due to lack of autotune and impressive falsetto.

Here’s some pics!

There were small interludes in the show that weren’t shown in the videos, such as some backup singers who worked for Monkey Airlines (Probably spoofing the  flight safety song Todrick made for Virgin Airlines, I kept waiting for him to do some of it but that didn’t happen), and an ugly dog-shaped car purchased with the Visa rapped about in Expensive.

Papi was the last pre-intermission song and I swear it was to get that sexy Spanish-based jam stuck in my head! It’s about an LA agent lady who, in exchange for helping make him famous, wants a little something extra on the side (a hookup). My question is, despite his sexuality, did he ever go through with it in pursuit of the fame?

On his first song back, Todrick decided to stroll into the middle and second rows of the audience, going through the middle and right sides, and giving hugs. He skipped the right section where I was sitting though! If artists aren’t yet to the point of fame where they’d get mobbed,and can pull it off safely, then I think they should totally go for doing this kind of thing!  He also did it a second time later, while dressed in drag with a yellow wig, yellow and blue dress, and red pump heels. (There’s a video of that on his instagram) SLAY Queen!!

I like Green a lot, the dancing is wonderful, as well as the whole Oz-cars theme!

Water Guns is probably Todrick’s most powerful song, speaking out against the spread of gun-violence. It was introduced with several news clips of recent attacks including the Cristina Grimmie and Orlando shootings, and clips of President Obama’s responses. The dancers were dressed as cops, and the video screens showed pictures of victims and protest messages. I appreciate him spreading the message in this manner, and agree that there should be laws to stop this senseless gun violence.

Another reason the show was like a musical, was that Todrick and the rest of his singers and dancers came out and took bows. Nice!

The encore was probably the longest encore ever, but it’s not like I minded because it was SO DOPE! He did some of the songs from the MTV show, as well as the exact 90s Disney song mashup duet that was in his video. He also played the video of Beyonce complementing his Target flash mob, before leading up to doing a huge Beyonce song mashup with a line of dancers while sitting in chairs.

It looked so great!

The intro to the final song Haterz had a funny intro video where fans talked about how to handle the haters in their lives. Inspirational, and super fun!

Time to le- Wait a second!? Did I hear him say something during the encore? He said he’d meet everyone that had his poster?! HERE I GO TO THE MERCH STAND!!

That poster turned out autographed and I couldn’t be happier! But, maybe I could?! Back into that theater I went!

A theatre employee told people waiting to sit in a certain section and wait. People with VIP passes could line up already, and those without could sit and wait to be called.

This came with the first thing that made me nervous (besides the concept of the meet and greet itself). My phone had a battery percentage hovering near 10%, and in order for my parents to let me stay, I had to leave the seating section and find a charging outlet. I found one by the theatre door, paced, and talked to another lady charging her phone while I waited, since I didn’t want to risk the phone charging slower by me messing around on it.

I saw them taking down the stage set during this time. Can’t stay I’ve stayed at a concert venue that long before.

One of Todrick’s dancers was out, and I overheard her talking about how he’s generous enough to do this two hour meet and greet after every show and then leave for the next city and do it all over again.

When my phone got to 30%, the people sitting in the section got to get in line (I think it was around 40 something people, but I’m bad with math). His stage mother and three more of his dancers were out greeting the people in line. I spoke with one friendly dancer and learned he had a friend living in Tennessee.

The time was also around 11 pm and my parent’s weren’t pleased because I was worrying them by being 45 minutes away without a buddy and they had to get up early. I eventually convinced them to let me stay, but I felt worried and guilty about it. I’m sorry, but I really didn’t want to miss out on the opportunity!

I eventually got into a closer room and saw his real life boyfriend Jesse. Some people took selfies with him but I didn’t feel like doing it.

This was the first ever meet and greet I’ve done where in the m&g room you can watch other people meet the star without it being closed off by some type of curtain. I think that’s really cool. Someone before me did the splits in their pose and that was pretty interesting. He was really sweet to everyone that came up!

I introduced myself to Todrick and put my arms on him for a hug in the photo. Before leaving, I told him I loved his Youtube videos, which might have sounded dumb and overdone by itself. Meet and greets are quick and you can’t always say what you really want, which are things like ” I think you’re a creative genius” or “Your videos are really incredible to binge watch for hours and have your mind blown away.”

I criticize my face in photos and my general lack of photogenicness a lot (Especially m&gs!), but the longer at this one the cuter I think it looks. ALSO WE’RE WEARING THE SAME SHADE OF BLUE!

I’m so impressed with him doing this and thankful I got to take part in it! Bless him it must all be so tiring! I definitely gained a new respect for him after learning about it!

Closing thoughts: Todrick Hall is basically the whole star package, that more people need to know about! He’s got the big three qualities of singing, acting, and dancing and a whole lot more. He creates the majority of what he does too which is very impressive, and he’s a very kind person, as seen by his will to stick around and meet so many people! I highly recommend checking out the Straight Outta Oz experience, as well as the rest of his channel because I really don’t think you’ll regret it!!

 

EP REVIEW: Troye Sivan WILD

If you haven’t heard of Australian youtuber and singer Troye Sivan, then let me help you bless those ears!! I’ve been watching Troye for 2 or 3 years now and he’s quite a funny entertainer on youtube as well as being super adorable!! ❤ He got even better once I found out I could sing when he posted covers of One Direction and Ed Sheeran. Fast forward a year and he made an EP! Fast forward 2 years and he has a second EP! His sound is so unique and he’s definitly one of best youtube singers that I watch!! I’m so glad that he’s got two EPs and he needs an album!!!

I saw an interview where Troye said the cover art is actually fan art which is really cool!! He also said that he likes to keep part of his face covered because he isn’t ready not to. I think pretty yellow flowers were a good way of doing that. It looks really nice and artistic.  Ranking: 10/10

WILD: I wasn’t sure what to think about the children choir for a while but  I like it. You don’t really hear that used in songs often. I like the beat. You will see me appreciating the good beats in my reviews a lot. I really like his voice. Quite steamy and that doesn’t stop at the next track either. The bridge is awesome!

BITE: YES AT THAT HARMONY WITH THE BACK VOCALS!!! It sounds so good!! The beat has what I call a warped lullaby vibe. (Also in Kelly Clarkson’s song Dark Side but that one’s a bit calmer.) It’s fascinating, yet creepy. Biting during a kiss sounds painful. I like the flow of this one, even as the weird sounds come in.

FOOLS:  Beautiful piano intro! What is a quiet night poured over rice anyway? His visions are a bit nuts haha. It sounds cool. It’s got a part that sounds like maracas which is pretty interesting.

EASE (ft Broods): It starts with a really fun and fast beat! And it balances out nicely with the duet! The instrumentals remind me of a jungle. It’s got an adventure vibe and yet it’s calm too!

THE QUIET: Harsh lyrics plus a backbeat. Love it! I like the song idea as well. Poor boy, making all those physical pain references! Definitely seems personal.

DKLA (ft Tkay Maidza): There’s a bit more cool sound experimentation here including raindrops, sirens, and bells. Sounds distanced and haunted. I don’t care for the rap part.

EP RATING: 9/10 I like it better then TrXye, I think the subject matter is a bit better. I feel like this would be a good EP to study to as well (even though I haven’t yet).

Favorite track (s): WILD, BITE 

Least favorite track (s): DKLA (ft Tkay Maidza)