Water for Elephants - The Musical Portland Theatre reviews
no need to prove they're still relevant
Water for Elephants - The Musical has been performing live for over 30 years now and they can still have a capacity crowd in a dancing, sweating frenzy at the finale. The only real disappointment I had with this show is that they played so many of the songs from the new album. There was just not enough time to delve into their vast back catalogue and play us more of the songs we truly love. I appreciate that they continue to keep making new music, and I bought the last album ('All You Need Is Now') but- they need to accept that while it is okay stuff it isn't stellar anymore. If it was, I would play the crap out of it, like I have been the new Silversun Pickups, or the Naked and Famous album. This is the reason I gave this show 4 stars rather than 5- just too many new songs. It took a while for the interest of the crowd to build, because the show opener was an unfamiliar song. All of that anticipation we had built up to see them- and instead of a big launch we got the "uh, hmmm I can't sing along 'cause I don't know this song". Good covers of 'Relax' and 'White Lines', but no 'Rio'; nothing at all from 'Big Thing'. Also, the volume was not loud enough: 5 songs in, I was able to talk to my boyfriend and hear his responses without having to press mouth-to-ear, which I found odd. I suspect this is because concerts in general just aren't as loud anymore due to fears of hearing damage (and lawsuits). There was a lot more outstanding music on "Astronaut" or "Notorious" (the latter is my fave DD album), yet only a single song from each of those made it into the show. A nice touch was the occasional meteor streaking by from the meteor shower that was active over the weekend. They have no need to be ashamed that their best work is mostly their older stuff- that is some amazing music they made. It is okay to be proud of and play the crap out of those older tunes, because we loved them then and love them now. You don't have to prove to us how good your new songs are- if we like them we'll play the album. But let's be honest- no one was at that show because they got into Water for Elephants - The Musical after hearing 'All You Need Is Now'. Leave time in the show to play us 'Skin Trade' or 'Palomino' or 'Faster Than Light' and be proud to be the authors of those songs too. I've seen them live at least a dozen times and ultimately, I still love Water for Elephants - The Musical; I still left there with my makeup melting off from dancing and my voice gone from singing and screaming. But I left feeling not completely satisfied. Will I see them again- absolutely! The overall was very, very positive. They still 'rule'!