From Russia with love

[Rachelizee]

Sorry guys that I've not posted since returning from Russia but I've been crazy busy catching up with all my work backlog.

Well I had an absolutely wicked time in Moscow , football match excepted , and had a total blast at Alizee's gig.I've read through some of the threads which seemed to be a bit critical of her performance but while I guess nothing's ever perfect I'll try to give the best impression of what it was like.So here's my kinda review such as it is.

Firstly , the venue.As you may have seen in the pictures it was absolutely beautiful inside with incredibly ornate features , i guess to be expected of an old opera house.As for the sound in the place , it wasn't as bad as some Youtube vids suggest but I don't think the acoustics of the operetta theatre were designed with pop music in mind.

Nextly , the Russian crowd.For the most part they almost seemed disinterested which i didn't quite get.My friend , Sarah , and i got up to dance and the looks we got were pretty puzzled.Also when that drunken idiot (I'd call him worse but i'm a lady ) got on stage some guys near us thought it was hilarious while i stood horrified and scared for our Lili.

To the songs then.It was obviously dominated by the Psychedelices album and these were for the most part well played.I loved L'effet , one of my faves anyway and i thought it was simply gorgeous.I also really enjoyed Lonely List and Par Les Paupieres as it made me think of Par mon paupieres , who I owed my being there to , and that made me happy. Fifty/Sixty was also good and Psychedelices itself was suitably dreamy as well.

As for the cover versions i was in heaven , 99 red balloons was one of my favourite tunes as a kid i think my mum must have played it to me or something.Sound of Silence is also a personal tune of mine so to hear Alizee sing it was a slice of fried gold.

Now for the controversial re-orchestrations.I liked the reworking of L'alize as i was never a big fan of the original.J'ai pas vingt ans i feel similar.I didn't like the new Amelie ma'dit as it seemed to be messed with too much as if the backing band were deliberately trying to ruin it.Although i didn't mind the slower version of J'en ai marre , it seemed wrong as the uptempo beat of the original fitted better with the rant-like nature of the song. Moi Lolita will sound good no matter how it is messed with.

As for the stage setting.The background projections were really well done and at times pretty funny which doesn't really come across in the Youtube vids.Jamais Plus was particularly cool.I quite liked the clowns and stuff as it brought to mind the movie "Mirrormask" which i absolutely adore. The backing band weren't too bad either if a little lacking in personality.

Finally to Alizee herself.I thought she looked absolutely stunning.I love that style of dress and she has the most amazing legs (soooo jealous) to carry them off as well.I think her hairstyle really suited both her and the look.I thought her vocals were pretty strong especially in the slower numbers.She also handled the drunk very well and I would have supported her if she felt like leaving there and then.As for her stage prescence , i can understand the criticism here as any comparison to the lively En Concert persona would appear stilted. However there is such an innate quality and charisma about Alizee it still shines through and she made such an impression on me that these memories will never fade.

While i'm sure Alizee will grow stronger as the tour goes on it was still a privilege to be there on the first date.So overall an enjoyable night which was a prelude to an awesome week in a fabulous (if expensive) city.

On a more personal note.I'd like to take the opportunity to thank PMP again.I've already expressed my gratitude to you before but everything you did for me was amazing.Your friend , Vyacheslav , (is that riight ? the Vy seems wrong) was a top fella who was so friendly and showed us some great sights and some weird and wonderful nightlife.My friend Sarah took quite a liking to him (mutual I think) and he sorted some great Champions League tickets too.One more thing , he told me to tell you "It doesn't matter how you train the monkey , it's still going to chase it's tail".He said you'd know what it meant .

Hope this has been helpful to you all.If anyone wants to know more , please ask me and I'll try my best to help.

Rach xxxx

[fatman]

Just curious. How much were the tickets and was their a meet and greet session of some sort?

[ggin]

Thanks Rachelizee. I've been waiting to hear what you had to say.

Your post just makes me that much more excited about the concerts in Mexico!

It's now less than 2 weeks away, but it seems like an eternity!

[chazkimies]

wow, i'm so jealous that you get to be there...(and i'm jealous of lili's legs too).
good to hear that you're having a good time.
alizee is amazing

[C-4]

Rachelizee,
Thank you so much for such as wonderful and detailed report on the Russia concert!

Having only seen the youtube bits, I was not sure if it was a fair and accurate representation of Alizée's hard work.

I'm glad you had a great time!

Stephen

[nurvonic]

sounds like a great time thanks for the post.

[tbailey]

i'll have to agree with the remix of L'Alize
i really like the original and the Moscow version
at first i thought it was an okay song but it's really grown on me for the past couple of weeks

[atra201]

sounds like you had a plast.
off topic, i love the movie with the same name.

[Chommpers]

Thanks for your story Rachelizee, it sounds like you had a lot of fun, I am quite jealous of your experience. Just to be out in the crowd and have Alizée singing to you, I can't imagine it. I hope one day I will get to though.

[alizee lover]

Yeah thanks sounds like u had a good time