This Wednesday, Brian Boshes (2003-2006 Octet) will be performing his very special brand of geek chic comedy @ Hidden House Comedy Club, in Phoenix, AZ. If you are in Arizona check him out.
The club is open 8-11 pm. The show starts at 8:45. 21+. No cover. 607 West Osborn Road, Phoenix, AZ 85013 · Get Directions Oh my gosh, I am such a procrastinator! Why do I do that? I can't believe how annoying procrastinating is. And this review isn't the only thing I've procrastinated on. In fact, I'm using this review as a tool to procrastinate on ANOTHER project I'm working on. Yay me! Anyway, onto... The Review05-06 Octet: Zachary Bernstein, Patrick Cento, Josh Chang, Paul Formaker, Nasir Khan, Danny Park & Glenn Steinbaum Loves Me Like a Rock- soloist - Nasir Khan - Light, bouncy, solid rendition of a classic. Don't Stop Believin' - soloist - Patrick Cento: Arranged by Brian Boshes; perfectly represents 80's stadium rock, right down to the extended and slightly pitchy (for effect, I'm sure) vocalization. "their shadows searching in the ni-ee-ight!". There are also funny little comments in the backs. Collide - soloist Danny Park: The backs are different from what I've heard before. Maybe I just don't know the music enough. This was my first experience with Collide. Beautifully sung. Silent Night - group: Simple. The song starts with 4 soloists each singing the first four phrases of Silent Night, and then the voices come and blend to finish the song. The second part isn't the traditional song. However, it's beautifully and solemnly sung. I'll Be - soloist - Jonathan Yee: This is a desperate (in a good way) love song.The harmonies are so wonderful. The song is a little sad, but beautiful. Runaround Sue - soloist - Zachary Bernstein: Kind of a rocky version, with the backs playing it for laughs. Hail To California - group: It's a school song. Nice blending. T1 and Bass kill it (in a good way). Mr. Grinch - soloist - Glenn Steinbaum: This one is a Christmas classic, and Steinbaum and the guys do it justice. Good voice acting in this version! '04-'05 Octet: Zachary Bernstein, Brian Boshes, Robin Kong, Jamie Pinedo, John Shumway, Glenn Steinbaum & Jonathan Yee Lion King Medley - group: Crystal clear version of the YouTube Lion King Medley video. If you've seen the video and have thought: What did he say? Stupid audience! I wish they'd shut up! The CD Version is pristine, and the guys sound awesome! In fact, it's funnier than the YouTube video, because if you could hear what the guys said, you'd be laughing! Really. (P.S. I'm all for that audience having fun and laughing, but the cd had me questioning it.) Really, the cd is the best $16.00+shipping I've ever spent in my life. Is She Really Going Out With Him - soloist - Brian Boshes: Again, like the video without the laughter, and some of the backing humor. A fun song. Always Something There To Remind Me - soloist - John Shumway: Another Octet video which can be found on YouTube. I kind of miss the guys dancing in the video, but there's nothing wrong with the song. Fight For California - group - school song. Go Bears. Solid. I Just Wanna Make Love To You - soloist - Jamie Pinedo: Bass love! After the smooth opening with Etta James's "At Last" the voices start low and get even lower! As one YouTuber put it. "This is baby makin' music." Walking My Baby Back Home - soloists - Robin Kong, John Shumway: O my gosh, this is such a great song! It is kind of old-timey (which I've become accustomed to, as I spent about a year listening to old time radio shows.) The best part of the song is the sort of scatting breakdown (I don't know what else to call it) which gives it some great new life. It's kind of the musical version of a palate cleanser, and it's really cool. '03-'04 Octet: Brian Boshes, Josh Chang, Max Cowan, Rafael de Leon, Robin Kong, Jordan Meyer & Parker Sims Put Your Head On My Shoulder - soloist - Rafael de Leon: Old school. Rafael has a beautiful voice. Just My Imagination - soloists - Jordan Meyer, Parker Sims, Josh Chang: Great and funny parody of the Temptaions "Just My Imagination". But their imaginations tend to skew towards collegiate life. Papa Was a Rolling Stone/Who Is He (group): This is probably my favorite song on this cd. It's cool, bad, sharp and the vocals cut me to the soul. More great T1 & Bass love. The Scientist - soloist -Josh Chang: Another YouTube favorite. Smooth and soothing like chamomile tea. Excellent blending in the backs. I'm Too Sexy - soloist - Max Cowan: This is one of the funniest things I've ever heard. I hit repeat on this so many times. More bass love! My Girl - soloists - Robin Kong, Parker Sims, Rafael de Leon Another YouTube hit on this cd. The only difference is that Jason Mabie's rocky ending is replaced by Rafael de Leon's more melidic one. Finally, I'd like to apologize for how long it took to get this review out. I was having internet connection problems.
I have to say, though, that in preperation for this review, I listened to the cd about 800 thousand times. I listened to it on the road trip to Oktoberfest, and I listened to it every night before going to bed, and anytime I had to travel anywhere, I had my mp3 player playing the music over and over again. I even turned the music WAY up because I wanted it in my BRAIN. I'll probably go deaf from listening to these songs over and over agian, but it was worth it. Also, I'm not sure if the review did the cd justice. I did the best that I could I really loved the cd, and I'm glad I finally got it. (It's $16.00 + $2.00 shipping in the US. Not sure about overseas.) The week I moved to Salem, former Octet dude and current comedian, Brian Boshes was in town for a gig. Unfortunately, I found out about it on facebook about an hour after the show ended. Boo! Mayhaps he will return to Salem to perform again. In the meantime, I've posted a new article about him in the Performing Now section of the website. Enjoy. (PS, his links are on his website. This guy is so efficient.) Totally remembered this short starring Mr. Boshes. Have you ever had one of those days when every part of your life was crashing down around your ears, and then at just about midnight on April Fool's Eve, someone does something to make you smile? Well, I have. I'm not sure who it was, but someone sent me a YouTube link with 2 fantastic Octo-videos on it. I mean Old school videos. Like '03-04 Old School! And they made me smile. Not that everything is all great right now, but smiling in the midst of being absolutely lost and not knowing what to do next is pretty okay. I've seen DoReMi done a few times by the Octet, on Sproul and in concert - videos of course. The guys Left to Right are "Fraulein" Robin Kong, Jordan "Liesl" Meyer, Rafa"Louisa" de Leon, Max "Frederich" Cowan, Parker "Kurt" Sims, Brian "Brigitta" Boshes and Josh "Marta" Chang. (Jason "Gretyl" Mabie left the group earlier in the semester for personal reasons, but is alive and well and still enjoys a good song.) Robin clearly steals the show as Fraulein Kong. All the guys are having fun, and the audience obviously loves it. (Looks like it was an audience request.) Also, according to the YouTube site, this was the first annual Unbuttened show. Good on you, men. So, this is R. Kelly's Ignition Remix. I've never heard the original but this sounds good to me. I'm just enjoying the video. :D Can't stop smiling. "Bounce bounce bounce."
Again OMGOMG, thanks for the link. So first, this is what YouTubers had to say... This is an ever so slightly different Octet. Gone are Ben, Jerome, Rick and Kenny (graduated, I'm sure) and the new guys' are Josh, Brian, Robin and Max. Jordan is now the music manager. Parker and Jordan are the solos. And the song is *almost* a medley as it features a song by the Cranberries, which (pause) don't tell me...(longer pause) is called...(longest pause yet)...DREAMS...they snuck Dreams by The Cranberries into the song!
BTW, it's called I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles) for those who are more, let's just say, anal about that kind of thing. And apparently to haver means to to talk nonsense. But, according to Jason (gobears236) they went for a visual concept, and 'haver' sounded like heave. I think it works. You can't really panto 'talking nonsense' in a musical act. 500 Miles is a song that knew before I saw this group. (I had posted somewhere that the Octet has increased my knowledge of music and musical styles quite a bit-from opera to alternative, doo wop to disco.) I like to compare the original with the Octet's a cappella version (to hear a song with only the harmonies), and it's amazing to note the differences. With some songs, it takes a while to figure out what they are singing, especially if there is any kind of lead in. 500 Miles might be one of those songs. Actually, recently, I've gotten to know many of the songs by seperating out the voice parts (to hear individual voices) that I've had to kind of turn my brain off so that I can hear the song as a whole, which is, I dunno, weird. The funny guy doing the faux typing is Brian Boshes. He's an aspiring comic here in Seattle. His act has changed since I saw him, but he did comedy about Ikea, sexual harrassment, Wolverine (he had a hairstyle like Wolverine at the time)and touched on drugs a little. He is pretty funny and has a blog. If you google "BJ's Comedy Blog" he basically blogs about the process of becoming a comedian. It's all good. |