John Barrowman recently released his Pledge Music fan-funded album You Raise Me Up. It reached #16 in the UK album charts, much better than two of his previous studio albums with record label Sony.
Another Side (2007) Barrowman released with Sony BMG only managed to reach #22 in the UK album chart. Music Music Music (2008) also with Sony barely entered the UK album chart at #35. After this the record label dropped Barrowman. A fan at a convention in the US later asked Barrowman when his next album was coming out. He explained that it wasn’t and the young fan said: ‘We’ll fund it!’
Barrowman when talking about You Raise Me Up said that he felt privileged to make the album and that: ‘I think this is the best album that I’ve ever, ever made.’
Despite dropping to #25 on the UK album charts this week, it seems that Barrowman is having more success with Pledge Music (a site that allows fans to pledge money to artists in exchange for a copy of the album, merchandise and meet and greet opportunities) than he was with the record label.
So does this mean that the Record Labels need to watch out? Comment below.
Published by: The Gay UK on Tuesday 15th July 2014.
McFly recently celebrated their 10th Anniversary. Their latest album is a live recording of one of their anniversary concerts at The Royal Albert Hall. I’ve always liked the McFly songs I’ve heard; but after listening to this album and watching the video recording of this concert – I’ve become a huge fan!
They’ve all grown as artists in the last ten years. Tom and particularly Danny’s voice has matured. For this reason, this is one of my favourite tracks from the set:
On Thursday, my cousin Jenny and I went to see Stephen Lynch at Manchester Academy 2. We had tea out and then as we walked to the venue had several near death experiences.
Cyclists rang their bells and flashed the lights as they came towards us at a frighteningly fast pace. We jumped out of the way. Then we saw this on the floor:
Yes, we were walking on the cycle lane. We hadn’t noticed as a few of the street lights were out.
We safely arrived at the venue, queued, bought drinks and then took our seats in the auditorium.
The gig started with a burlesque dancer as the warm up act. Much to the delight of the audience who showed their appreciation through wolf whistles, whooping and thunderous applause:
Next a woman came onto the stage and sang about a box of wine. Then three men came onto the stage and I thought it was another support act. But dressed in thick-framed glasses and a union jack jumper was the man himself, Steven (Photo Below: Left).
The audience went wild with applause when they realised it was him and I think I even heard a few over-excited women scream. He had some humorous banter with the audience and fellow performers, before he got on with the show.
Stephen stripped off his jumper, undid the buttons on his black shirt to the sound of the audience whooping, whistling and applauding. He revealed red nipple tassels. I only managed to get a decent photo of him buttoning his shirt back up (Photo Above: Right). Stephen can unbutton his shirt anytime, as he’s #sexy.
One of his first songs was Queer Tattoo. Afterwards he said that he meant the old meaning of the word queer and said to his audience: “Don’t use it bad.” Which earned him a massive whoop from me.
A few songs into the show, a member of the audience was being far too rowdy and was constantly heckling Stephen. They were being blatantly disrespectful. They were annoying Stephen as well as the rest of the audience.
Stephen responded brilliantly threatening to kick them out and added: “You’re ruining it for everyone. You’ve all paid £20 to enjoy the show.” The audience was with him and showed their support with an applause. Thankfully whoever it was shut the hell up after that.
Stephen talked about his new album Lion. He explained that there’s lots of duets on it as he loves the sound of the mixed male and female vocals. He played some tracks off this album along with some classics including:
Craig
Dear Diary – Anne Frank (he also added two new: Rihanna & Steve Irwin)
Vanilla Ice Cream
Priest
Stephen made the audience laugh frequently. In-between laughing, I smiled throughout the show. I don’t think I’ve ever smiled throughout an entire show before. He has a truly wicked sense of humour.
It was great to hear the audience sing along in the second half, not just the classics – but some of his new songs as well.
Stephen departed the stage at the the end of the show and the audience repeatedly banged their feet, signalling their desire for an encore. The booming feet felt like an earth quake and the volume was deafening. Stephen came back for his encore and played a few of his classics such as Ugly Baby.
The show was quite tame compared with what I had expected. There was little mention of drugs and sex. I think it was a deliberate choice.
Perhaps he was worried about the uptight british audience (we were anything but!)? Or perhaps it was about him maturing now that he has a wife and child? Who knows? But it didn’t matter as it was still a show filled to the rim with awesomeness.
If you’re a fan of Stephen Lynch or his songs, you must go and see him. He is superb live: funny, entertaining and has a fantastic voice.
Steve & I were off to see the Witches, the Wonderful Witches of Oz!
On Monday night we went to watch Wicked on Tour; but beforehand we ate delicious food (as always) at Velvet Central. We both had tomato soup to start and then gammon steak as the main.
Having booked tickets in January, I was ready to explode with excitement and it didn’t disappoint. We headed to Manchester’s Palace Theatre:
The Manchester Palace Wicked: Theatre Sign (from a distance)
The Manchester Palace Wicked: Outside Video Display
The Manchester Palace Wicked: Me
The Manchester Palace Wicked: Steve
The Manchester Palace Wicked: Signage
The Manchester Palace Wicked: The Queue
We were sat one row from the front, an incredible view of the stage. I hadn’t realised when I’d booked the tickets, I though ‘BB’ row would be further back. I didn’t take photos during the show for fear of being kicked out.
The costumes and makeup were fabulous. The props were good and the set was truly transformative.
(Left: The Oz Map Stage Screen.)
The quick costume changes were impressive as were the choreography, the story, the good doses of humour throughout and of course the music. The only criticism was that occasionally the words of the songs weren’t clear. This was with both individuals of the leading cast and with the group singing.
(Right: Clock Dragon.)
Here’s a YouTube playlist, with all the songs from the show in full:
Wicked was thrilling, entertaining, dramatic and an absolute must-see. If you’re thinking of going to the theatre, you’ve got to see Wicked. Here’s the official trailer:
