Concert Review: 'Glee'

So I've been a huge fan of television show Glee for quite sometime now....you can call me a "Gleek", so it was only natural that I would be bouncing off walls in excitement that they were bringing their "Glee Live!" tour across North America. I say North America lightly as the tour went everywhere across the United States, and then brought one stop in Canada, which happened to be Toronto. Word. This was very good news as last tour, they only did a few dates, and none of them included Canada. It was about time they came to Canada and they definitely did it right; in the span of two days, they performed four sold out shows at the Air Canada Centre! That's pretty impressive for a television show tour that has been around a little less than two years!



The show itself proved to be really good and well worth the wait. The cast, including all the members of the New Directions as well as The Warblers, performed a set comprised of songs from season 1 and season 2. Although the set list wasn't very long and could've included more songs, it was still a great show filled with high energy. You can read all about it on MuchMusic by clicking HURR.



Some highlights of the show included Heather Morris' solo to I'm A Slave 4 U originally by Britney Spears. Between the steamy choreography, the outfit, and the breathy vocals, it was probably one of my favourite moments in the show. Other highlights included Darren Criss' performances with The Warblers performing songs including Teenage Dream, Raise Your Glass, and Silly Love Songs. His voice is amazing and probably one of the greatest additions to the show. The show as a whole was amazing, and the cast had such amazing chemistry together. They all had solos as well as ensembles so each cast member was able to showcase their talent. I thought that was pretty neat and a great way of organizing the show. Another nice touch added to the show was Matthew Morrison and Jane Lynch being the host's of the show through pre-recorded footage. As essential cast members to the show, it was comical seeing them introduce various performances.

A few things that I was surprised / disappointed in included the fact that I thought Lea Michele should have had either more solos, or a solo other than Firework by Katy Perry. With such a powerhouse voice, I feel a different song that would showcase her voice more would've been a better choice...for example my personal favourite, Jar Of Hearts. What's odd was that she did perform Don't Rain On My Parade for a few shows before they cut it out due to it straining her voice. That wasn't the only cut out...during the first two or three Toronto shows, the cast performed a cover of YouTube sensation, Rebecca Black's Friday acoustically during the encore, but for the last Toronto show and going forward, the song was removed from the setlist. Odd. Also, in addition to her duet of Lucky with Chord Overstreet, it would have been nice to hear another solo from Dianna Agron. Either that, or her and Lea could have performed I Feel Pretty / Unpretty together. There. Hitting two birds with one stone.

Speaking of Dianna Agron, Toronto was the city that witnessed a bit of a "scandal" when she wore a shirt saying "Likes Girls". Originally, in the show , during the performance of Born This Way by Lady GaGa, each cast member wore a shirt displaying their insecurities, imperfections, etc. that included "Likes Boys" for Chris Colfer, "Can't Dance" for Cory Monteith, "Can't Sing" for Harry Shum Jr. etc. etc...Dianna Agron's shirt in the show was "Lucy Caboosey" which stood for a nickname she was called in grade school that she despised. However, instead of wearing that shirt, which she wore at all her other shows, for 2 of the 4 Toronto dates, she wore a shirt saying "Likes Girls". This caused a huge stir up in both the online world and news outlets alike debating why she wore the shirt. After much controversy and scandal, Agron wrote a blog stating she wore the shirt in support of the LGBT. Regardless of why she wore it, I think people need to focus more on the show itself than to read into things.

In addition to attending the show, I was also able to meet some of the cast members backstage. Firstly I saw Heather Morris and Ashley Fink who play Brittany and Lauren respectively. Both of them were very nice and down to earth. After sharing hugs, and talking about my name, I told Heather how she was an incredible dancer and Ashley agreed with that statement. I also told Ashley that she was the best new addition to the show. I welcomed them both to Toronto. Both had visited the city before but Ashley told me how she learnt, only that day, that people from Toronto are called "Torontorians". Wrong. They are called "Torontonians" and they were shocked that they were misinformed. I would be too. After clearing the air, we posed for a picture at which point, Heather Morris told me I smell "lovely". OMGWTFBBQ. I'm not sure if I said thank you or not because I was very flattered hearing that from her. The last thing I remember saying to her was "you too" after she told me it was nice to meet me. I also met Darren Criss backstage after the show, though this was only for a few minutes. Although all the guys were watching the basketball game after the show, Darren came into the party room and came to say hello. Our meeting was very short, but he was very nice.

Overall, the show was amazing. The cast is very talented and I would definitely go see them again if I had the chance. Anyone who is a fan of the show should check it out, and for those who aren't, its a great way to see some classic songs covered by some very talented individuals. For those who did miss it, either because they couldn't acquire tickets, or because the show didn't come to their city, there will be a 3D movie of the tour that will be released in theatres this August. I know I will definitely be checking it out!