it is a different world now but lessons learned as a child often don't fall by the wayside so we learned that "look at me! look at me! look at me!" was not the way to do it- and that our accomplishments would speak for themselves - not to be conceited and not to get a big head... I still remember learning the word conceited around first grade or so...
the Highlights magazine for kids always had the braggart Goofus pulling stunts like that while Gallant would wait for praise for his accomplishments... and we all read that comic growing up.
so I find myself in a place of mixed emotion when I write the review of the performer we saw last night. On one hand he had enormous talent but on the other hand he made SURE we knew how talented he thought himself to be-
here is a TED talk he gave (about his autistic brother - but - ) just listen to the first three minutes of the segment - it's all about HIM - seriously dude wipe that self satisfied smirk off your face....
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Wck2BxGCUU
seriously annoying- such an over the top style - so LOOK AT ME- the oversharing of emotion laden background stories - the overwrought and contrived "we're gonna get down amongst the audience" segment- it all set my teeth on edge - the "earnestness" which didn't ring true and the sanctimonious do-gooder sale of "if you have to choose between buying a CD and funding a kid through Childfund- then fund the kid and I will GIVE you a CD" - hey dude you are in Sarasota where I read last year that the median net worth of people moving into town was 5 Million... tell them to fund multiple kids AND buy your CDs-
I can't remember the last time I saw someone so talented and so insufferably annoying. This kid - and he is a kid at 27 - wrote lovely melodies and evocative lyrics and had real keyboard talent and a voice many singer songwriters would love to have, but he just SOOO rubbed both of us the wrong way that the minute the concert ended we looked at each other and said "let's get out of here!"
and to make matters worse - he had a contingent of fans who crowded the club who were as obnoxious as he was- actually maybe more so... an example of his "style" - he led up to a break up song with "my ex-girlfriend and I broke up and I was a nice guy so I told her 'take as much time as you need to get over me now that I have gotten over you' " and then acted surprised when she sold all his stuff on craig's list - really??? What part of the way you phrased that exit line do you think might have engendered such a reaction? Seriously... the nearly two hours was more along these lines from a style and personality standpoint. and it was such a shame because he has real talent...
so I am going to post a few photos and a video or two and you will hear the kid's native talent - too bad he is of the generation where self esteem has been passed out in overabundance and has become an embodiment of the LOOK AT ME culture that we live in.
so you are right - I really didn't like him despite his clear and multiple talents - maybe he would be more palatable on CD or the radio or whatever- when we didn't have to suffer through the mugging for the audience- just plain ICK... I can't remember a time I had such a visceral dislike for someone I wasn't personally interacting with -
Oh wait LOL yes I do! - thanks to Election 2016- but then again - I haven't paid to see those right wing jerks, they invade my life despite my best efforts to avoid them....
No comments:
Post a Comment