Writing Portfolio Inês Viola (Hela) 2020

Index:

• Edgy Energy: Billie Eilish – Live September 2019 Lisbon ……………………2

• Elena Cabal Rodriguez: “‘We have no idea of what the outside jungle feels

like”………………………………………………………………………………….5

• Raise a Glass to Alexandre Hamilton!: A review of Hamilton, the hip-hop

musical that took over the world ..………………………………………………8

• Emotional Wardrobe Changes: Queen + Adam Lambert at Rock in Rio Lisbon

2016 ……………………………………………………………………………….11

• The Blooming of Troye Sivan: A record review of Troye Sivan’s Bloom .….13

Edgy Energy

Billie Eilish – Live September 2019 Lisbon

Billie’s live show on the 4th of September in Lisbon was the last headliner of the tour and she went out with a bang. The first word that comes to mind about it is energy.

The sold-out show in the biggest arena of Portugal was filled with it.

The opening act was an artist by the name of MadeInTYO and for the first time since

I have been introduced to Billie, I questioned her decisions. The artist’s style is completely different from Billie’s and it made no sense for their music to be on the same stage. MadeInTYO is not ready for a stage that big, his sound engineer did not know what they were doing. The sound was completely off and his transitions between songs were incredibly painful to hear. He would just play the same loud bang sound at the end of every song like a broken record. Just terrible. I still wonder how such a bad act made it to the opening act of one of the biggest pop artists at the moment.

The intro for Billie’s act starts and it’s a masterpiece, as most of what she does, to be honest. She then comes on stage a sings Bad Guy. An interesting choice considering that this is her biggest hit, this becomes an even more interesting choice later on in the show. Billie did a great job with balancing her new songs with the older songs, it was a brilliant setlist for the most part. The questionable choice was the encore. She was releasing the ‘all the good girls go to hell’ music video that day, so for the start of the encore, she played the music video so the audience could see it

2 as it came out. She then proceeds to sing ‘bad guy’ again and although it makes sense for her to finish with her biggest hit it doesn’t make a lot of sense to sing the same song twice. It would have been better to start the show with ‘bury a friend’ and sing ‘bad guy’ in the encore.

There were two amazing moments in the show that stood out from the rest. The first one was when she sang ‘you should see me in a crown’ where she asked the standing audience to open these circles of space, and every time she sang the chorus, the people closest to these circles would jump around in them. This made for a cool visual effect because it made them look like a giant spider moving around. A great reference to the music video and a wonderful way to connect with the audience. The other moment was when she sang ‘I love you’. She got her brother from where he was at stage left and they both sat in a floating bed. It was a very beautiful and emotional moment, as she explained that it was how they wrote the song. Sat down in Billie’s bed at the early hours of the morning.

Billie Eilish is a refreshing voice in pop music. Her weird creativity is a very welcome change from the generic pop that is drowning the media. It is also worth mentioning how dedicated she is. Billie was jumping around the stage with incredible energy while having a boot and a brace on both of her sprained ankles. It is beautiful to see someone that young, so committed to her fans and her art.

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Elena Cabal Rodriguez: “‘We have no idea of what the outside jungle feels like”.

24th April 2019

A look into the life of a young member of the music industry.

“Well it’s just the fact that I’m not dead,” says The Elegant (age 19) when asked why she is so positive all the time. The Spanish girl with more energy than a nuclear reactor was born on the 14th of May 1999 in Madrid. She is currently a Popular Music student at Middlesex University in Hendon, London. At such a young age she is already managing the Spanish DJ Undici and the Spanish Jazz pianist David Sancho. I had the pleasure of talking to her and she told me about all of her projects and gave advice to the people who, like her, have big dreams and ambitions.

Elena traded the sunny city of Madrid for rainy London at the age of 18. She says that she left because she wanted to be ‘in the eye of the music industry hurricane.’ Whilst being here she realised what her career path could become. She acknowledges that

‘who knows what they want to do, nobody knows until they die’ but she decided that the business side was the right way to go. She considers herself an artist and believes that every artist should be represented by another artist ‘because if a person in business doesn’t know anything about music it’s like what the hell are you doing in the music industry?’. Elena also says that she wants to go into tour management as she believes that it is the most creative role on the business side of the industry.

She talked about how she does all management roles during her free time and recognises the fact that sometimes it is hard to be able to balance both which is why

4 she decided to stop being the pianist’s full-time manager and is now his representative only in England. With her DJ work, she stated that her DJ is currently on an artistic break to figure out where he wants to take his music next. This shows how much she cares about doing a job well, in comparison to always having to be involved in everything. When asked how she manages her time this is what she had to say ‘I have an inner crowd of voices yelling at me to get out of the house and be productive. They just do it in a very harmonic way.’

Elena is a proud feminist as she mentioned how her role models in the industry are the women: ‘I would say that any women in the music industry is inspirational, because we have a lack of female representation in the industry and any woman who is making her path through the industry, is an inspiration.’. She also shared her love for Rosalía and for the fact that the singer’s team is composed mostly of her friends and family.

And as far as discrimination goes, she says that, although she is hopeful for a future where women are completely equal, she understands that ‘We have no idea of what the outside jungle feels like’. Which is her way of saying that she hasn’t been discriminated against, but she knows that’s a possibility outside the university.

As we were talking about discrimination, she also mentions that age discrimination does exist and that she told both of her artists (who are older than her) that she would only manage them if they didn’t disclose her age. She believes that ‘if they do, we will not be taken seriously. It’s true that age gives the impression of experience but at the same time I think that being younger gives an opportunity to the people involved because younger people have the will to work harder to get where they are as older people are already there.’

After talking about discrimination, we moved over to future generations, when asked what advice to you people trying to make in the industry, she says in a joking manner

5 ‘Say yes to everything, except drugs… or not’. And what she meant with it is that you should always take the opportunities that life throws your way.

The trait that stood out the most in Elena’s personality is that she has an incredibly positive attitude which she justifies by saying ‘Well it’s just the fact that I’m not dead.

Even though I’m broke and all of that, I am in London doing what I love.’

6 Raise a Glass to Alexandre Hamilton!

A review of Hamilton, the hip-hop musical that took over the world.

31st July 2019

Getting into the Victoria Palace, you can immediately see why there is so much media uproar about this musical… The line to get in was massive as the show is basically sold out every day.

Once inside, the theatre (much like all big west end productions) is fully decorated with Hamilton imagery to give the audiences full immersion. After you get your incredibly expensive bottle of prosecco, you can then go find your seat. This is the moment where you first see the stage.

The stage has this amazing simplicity where everything is wood and nothing else. It works perfectly for the scene changes as it is only necessary to bring a few props on stage to show a change of scenario. Very practical, very pretty. On the floor, there are these rotating platforms that complement the choreography in such a smart way.

The show then starts after a very quirky and funny message on the intercom from

“the king” telling the audience to turn off their phones. The very first thing that comes to mind is how amazing the choreography is. The show is mostly well-thought choreography and smart rap verses.

The costumes in the show are beautiful. They look like they are from the American

Revolution era but at the same time, the dancers could all move amazingly in them.

Absolutely brilliant.

7 When it comes to the actual cast there are three mentions worth making. The first one being Cleve September as Laurens/ Philip whit his brilliant acting. The second one being Rachel John as Peggy/ Maria whose voice changes as the characters change. Such an amazing performance from both of them.

The third mention might be the most important as it is the one that makes the show what it is. I’m giving a massive shout out to the ensemble. Without them, the show would be nothing. Brilliant choreography, brilliant harmonies, brilliant aesthetic. So much talent.

Cast mentions aside, I want to talk about Lin-Manuel Miranda. What a talented human! The lyrics are so witty and funny, the music sounds amazing and so complex and beautiful. The story is so well told and even if it’s not historically accurate it is such a great way to be introduced to the personality that was Alexander Hamilton.

I think it is safe to say that the musical deserves all the awards that it won and so many more, so incredible in so many ways. I believe that it will become a classic as big as the likes of Phantom of The Opera or Les Misérables.

8 Emotional Wardrobe Changes

Queen + Adam Lambert at Rock in Rio Lisbon 2016

Queen’s performance with Lambert was an agglomerate of nostalgia, talent, and brilliant stagecraft.

I was not expecting that the lack of Freddie’s breath-taking vocals would work for Queen. But the American Idol runner-up blows everyone’s expectations away by giving one of the best performances I have ever seen. Adam manages to keep

Freddie’s memory alive without trying to copy it. With his beautiful riffs and amazing stage presence, he’s the perfect choice for the part. Lambert’s theatricality reminds the audience of Freddie but at the same time, he shows off his personality in a way that makes him unique. The only criticism I can give Adam is the excessive costume changes. With a total of 5 changes in one hour and a half, it may have been a little too much.

The highest points of Adam’s performance were for sure Don’t Stop Me Now, where the interaction with the audience made the crowd went wild, Killer Queen, where

Adam’s theatrical ways made the performance shine and Bohemian Rhapsody, where he did a duet with a recording of Freddie’s voice that made the moment incredibly emotional.

As far as the rest of the band goes, there were a few moments worth mentioning. The addition of Roger Taylor’s son, Rufus, made for not only some very interesting drum dynamics but also for a lot of heart-warming father-son moments on stage, especially the drum battle that was used to fill in one of Adam’s many costume changes. Roger also sang Freddie’s part of Under Pressure in a beautiful duet with

Adam’s Bowie.

9 The peak of emotion and nostalgia was when Brian May sang Love of My Life by himself with just his guitar. At this moment, it was safe to say that there was not a single dry-eyed person in the audience. It was also followed by a guitar solo of his original Last Horizon that would make any self-titled guitarist give up on music. Brian

May is one of the best musicians to have ever stepped foot in the face of the earth.

The Queen + Adam Lambert project is a success and a fantastic way to honour

Queen’s material

10 The Blooming of Troye Sivan A record review of Troye Sivan’s Bloom 18th December 2018

After his first album Blue Neighbourhood, Troye Sivan’s career went Wild. The artist grew out of his small-town boy appearance into the sexually free man he is now.

With his second album Bloom, he channels that sexual energy into an amazing audio artwork. The album came out on the 18th December 2018 and is on the Rolling Stones’ list of The 20 Best Pop Albums of 2018 at number 7. The artist is known for his way with lyrics and has proven once again that the recognition is completely valid.

The album starts beautifully, he talks about looking for love ‘maybe a little too young’ and how getting emotionally involved with someone with a lot more experience made him feel pressured into doing things he was not comfortable with. He then goes on with a song about feeling attracted to someone and by the fourth song he is talking about having his first sexual experience in a gay relationship. It tells the story of his romantic and sexual life in such a smart way. His way with lyrics is magnificent. Take for instance, the song that gives the title to the album, he sings ‘Take a trip into my garden (…) The fountains and the waters are begging just to know you’ is the singer comparing his body to a garden where only his boyfriend has access to (I‘ve been saving this for you / I Bloom just for you’). It’s brilliant and it shows a lot of courage on the artist’s part for being openly gay in the media.

Another song worth mentioning would be The Good Side. It starts with a very interesting synth sound that blends beautifully with the guitar. His voice is fantastically produced to sound angelic. The song talks about a relationship that ended and Sivan got ‘The Good Side’ of the break-up. Sivan says that he understands that he was the one who hurt the other person and this song is an apology to that person. The song is possibly the best in the entire album.

11 While referencing specific songs, it is important to mention the track Sivan said is his favourite. The song Plum is the seventh on the album, the message that ‘nothing lasts forever no matter how good it is’ is beautifully written, but the song itself is not that memorable. Alongside Lucky Strike, these songs may be the most forgettable of the album. They are not necessarily bad songs, but next to so many good songs they just blend in.

Troye has two features on this album, the first one is Post Card featuring Gordi.

The addition of Gordi’s verse is a very smart musical decision as it helps to cut the constant sadness vibe of the song. The other feature on the album is Ariana Grande.

Ariana’s music is very much on the commercial pop line whilst Troye’s is more of a melancholic alternative pop. It was very hard to imagine a collaboration from these two, but as talent will have it, the song is great. Sure, it is very commercial, but it is a very solid pop song. It is a very intelligent management decision to have Troye collaborate with a very famous artist and as Ariana is one of the best artists in the charts right now, she was a great choice.

The album finishes with the track Animal, and it is fantastic. The way he describes how he loses control when he’s with the one he loves is beautiful, ‘I want you all to myself (…) I am an Animal with you’ is the perfect description of jealousy and love, because love sometimes can be animalist and possessive. The intriguing melody of this song just helps set the mood and it is done so greatly. It is the perfect way to finish the album.

This album shows so much character growth on Sivan’s behalf that it makes it his best work yet. It’s sexual, it’s fun and it is exactly what the charts like. His career is extremely promising as his fan-base is incredibly dedicated and solid. He often

12 makes it to the charts, and he will definitely have a massive hit-single sooner rather than later.

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