Music Monday: Lindsey Stirling Concert

First and foremost, Lindsey Stirling is ADORBS! She, of course, utilized her quirky ballet inspired violin dancing at the June 3rd concert at Myth Live, but she was also able to connect with the audience throughout the evening. Stirling was very thankful to her fans, especially when not that long ago no one believed there was much of an audience for her style. Tied into that sentiment, she promoted accepting one’s self and doing what you love with a level of sincerity that many performers don’t achieve in between songs. Topping off the list of adorbs, she showed a home movie reel during one of the longer transitions featuring baby Stirling doing cute kid things.

The performance was excellent as well. She was accompanied by her longtime bandmates, Drew and Gavi, as well as two background dancers. Building the visual experience, a giant screen inside a stone-looking circle brought the backdrop to life with different images, including fire, water, and even a couple of Stirling’s music videos.

After a pretty long wait at the merch booth, I snagged a tour shirt and the new album. But the long line was worth it. As I walked towards my car, which happened to be past the tour busses, she had started signing merch for her fans. Perfect timing.

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Overall, I highly enjoyed the evening, but there were a couple situations that detracted from the night’s fun. The biggest annoyance was the number of people. Okay, okay, it was a sold-out show. And yes, I didn’t show up early to get that prime spot by the stage. However, I have been to sold-out shows at the Myth before and at none of those shows did I find it impossible to walk to 1) the bathroom, 2) the bar, 3) a decent sightline as at Stirling’s show. I don’t know whether people had not shown up at those previous shows, or someone flubbed on the ticket amounts that night, but Stirling’s show definitely felt oversold. Enough so that some people were continually going up and down the stairs so they could get a glimpse of the stage.

The next issue I encountered is a bit more of a social commentary that I’ll keep brief. When I finally found a spot in the crowd where I could see a fraction of the stage’s action, the surrounding smart phones became reverse telescopes. The young ladies in front of me felt the need to record almost every song played, or take a bajillion photos. I’m totally cool if someone wants to record their favorite song or a fan favorite (Stirling did beautiful covers of John Legend’s “All of Me” and the Legend of Zelda theme), but I don’t understand why people want to watch through their phones instead of with their own eyes. And I surely didn’t appreciate seeing 75% of the show minimized on a screen.

TLDR;

  • Lindsey is adorbs
  • Performance was incredible
  • Venue felt overcrowded
  • Please don’t make me watch the stage through your phone

FIND LINDSEY STIRLING ONLINE
Website | Youtube | Soundcloud

Movie Review: My Soul to Take

Title: My Soul to Takemy soul to take
Rated: R
Genres: Horror, Suspense
Director & Writer: Wes Craven
Stars: Max Thierot, John Magaro, Denzel Whitaker
Rating: 3.5 Stars

The Riverton Ripper’s murder spree came to an end 16 years ago. He didn’t go without a fight. No, the Ripper is the type of villain who doesn’t stay down, no matter how many wounds he’s taken, and then makes an oath to kill the people left alive. Well, surprise surprise, after an impressive attempt by police officers and paramedics, the Ripper’s body vanishes.

Each year the teens who were born the day the Ripper died perform a little ritual to keep the murderer from fulfilling his murderous vow. But during the sixteenth year, they’re prevented from completing it and the murders begin anew, starting with them.

My Soul to Take has a lot of the classic horror tropes including the villain that just won’t die, a ritual, teen protagonist, a curse, and questionable sanity, as well as many of the ‘high school’ tropes. I loved this. While I enjoy many modern horror films, I find more often than not that they shy away from the psychological horror and jump straight to the gore.

my soul to take bug

The best part of the film for me was the main character, Bug (Max Thierot). He’s very timid, shy, and innocent, but with an underlying darkness. He’ll fall into moments where he acts very strangely and doesn’t even know he’s creeping out the other characters. He actually grows throughout the film too. He sheds those innocent and shy tendencies as the film progresses.

Even though I had fun watching My Soul to Take, it did have its flaws, mostly in the form of ‘could-have-beens.’ Craven sets up an interesting connection with the teens and the Ripper, but he doesn’t go very far with it. The Ripper seemed to have been collecting the souls of his victims and housing them in his body. The teens seemed to reflect some of those soul’s characteristics. It doesn’t go much further than that set up, nor do we really get an explanation of why. There could have definitely been some amazing plot if it was explored further.

Generally, it watches as a fairly mediocre horror flick, especially if you compare it to most of Craven’s other films. Despite that, and the less-than-stellar critic response, I enjoyed it and can see myself watching it again when I need a fix of teen horror.

FIND MY SOUL TO TAKE ONLINE:
Website | IMDB