Saw John Barrowman in concert last night in Oxford. I think he is a great performer. I personally prefer it when he sings slower ballads and musical theatre songs rather than his uptempo "poppy" songs- but that is my personal preference. You cannot fault his energy on the upbeat numbers though.
No doubt his song sets are pretty much the same at each venue so I dont want to give spoilers for those of you going to future ones so I wont be too specific.

The highlights for me were
The percussionist who gave it his all and whose facial expressions had me wondering what he was on( I have never got that excited playing a tambourine!).
The tribute medley to JB's scottish heritage and Musical theatre roots.
JB's song from Mack and Mabel
Everything Daniel Boys sang.
The backing dancers energy and precision

The lows
As much as I admired the dancers technique and speed- I felt the style of choreography was too laptop/poledancing sleaze
The endless gay innuendoes
The heckling from overexuberant fangirls ( think Wicked and multiply it by 100)
The tribute to his late "friends"
The programme costing £10 which was really only a poster collection.
He didnt sing Sunset Boulevard or Defying Gravity.

I'm off to see them tomorrow. I have to agree on the 'poppy' songs, his voice is much better suited to musical theatre. I guess if this is the only way we're going to get to see him sing now (panto really can't be included!) then I guess it'll have to do until he graces the westend stage again.

brrr. I'm seeing John in two weeks for his gig in London. I hope it's not going to be that.

Dont worry- perhaps I exxaggerated! But seriously there were a small group of girls near us who kept shouting out that they loved him- at every quiet moment- JB seemed used to it though.
All in all it was a very enjoyable evening. It started late due to lighting problems but he made witty remarks over the tannoy from his dressing room which appeased us.
You could spread his cheese on crackers but I still like the richness of his voice and his charisma especially in the ballads.

I'm supposed to be seeing it in Cardiff this Sat - ie May 23-
BUT despite paying about £80 in November to order the 2 tickets (via SEE Tickets),
they've Not arrived.

I tried the online See Ticket Tracker:
last time I looked (May 11) it said "We are currently dispatching tickets for this event.
If you haven't received your tickets by 20/5/2009 please contact us."

I'm NOT pleased:
(1) I'm getting stressed in case they don't arrive in time.
(2) Sending them out this late
pre-supposes that I'm going to be at this Address to receive them in time -
whereas I'm/was hoping to wangle a trip to London to see Spring Awakening
& maybe also Sunset Boulevard &c,
& might have wanted to arrive back Sat teatime & go straight to my venue
rather than having to come back from London hours earlier
if I have to get home from town for the tickets, then back to town, by UNreliable buses:
an unnecessary round trip at least 2hours - 4hours if I don't risk missing the start.
(3) I might have forgotten the date by now, & double-booked myself!

I HAD been looking forward to it (especially with Daniel) - but now it seems soured.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

(I've looked again at the online Ticket Tracker today, & it says they were despatched on 15/05/2009 - ie Friday.
Hopefully they might arrive tomorrow - but I'm still very disappointed.
Even more so because I booked via a pre-order scheme,
especially for members of John's website & to people who'd booked his last tour -
ie hopefully not available to Touts - who I thought might be the reason for the delay in tickets.)

Saw the show tonight and I totally agree about the fangirls (and boys), I think no matter where you sat you were surrounded by them. I love Johns enthusiasm for everything and you can tell he is enjoying every minute of it I didn't like the lack of musical songs. I adored everything Daniel sang, he is such an amazing talent & I'm so glad he's finally being recognised for it.

P.S Biddy - I didn't get my tickets in the post (even though they were posted 2 weeks ago) I just rang up on Friday and they made sure they were at the box office for me so you shouldn't have a problem if you call them.

Oh dear - now I'm even more upset!

I'd hoped to be able to get one of them to my companion in advance,
so that even if one of us was running late, each of us could go straight in on arrival,
& not have to wait & meet outside (in the cold & wet?) for the ticket-handover.

When I have had a theatre companion running late I have left their ticket with the box office- would they not do that for you?

I think he always has been recognised for it. Winning awards etc.

Not if it's me (who either has or has to collect the tickets) who's running late!

Biddy, did you get your tickets ok? And did you enjoy the concert?

I'm off to see John at the Royal Albert Hall tonight - looking forward to it!

Yes: tickets did arrive,
& (although we were Both running late!) we did get there in time, & both enjoyed it very much -
& we had a wonderful view, with seats in the 2nd Row!

Personally, I'd have preferred more songs from musicals
(though of course the tour was meant to tie in with JB's latest Album 'Music Music Music' -
& he also sang some songs from his Saturday evening tv series).

As a semi-Scot, I particularly enjoyed JB's Scottish section!

And I'm pleased that John Barrowman's Musical Director
is still the young Cardiff composer[&c] Matt Brind.

I was especially pleased to see (& of course hear!) Daniel Boys!

I've been seeing Daniel in Concerts & Shows since 2000 [when he was still a student at GSA],
& it was lovely to see him again, & to hear him singing different songs.

I last saw Daniel a few weeks ago in his Concert Tour (Sundays, maybe till Autumn?)
'The Music Of Andrew Lloyd Webber');
& (perhaps with his website changing - maybe the mailing list didn't move with it?)
I hadn't realised Daniel has an ALBUM coming out - TODAY!

It's called 'So Close', & Daniel is to SIGN Albums at Dress Circle this coming Sat June 6 at 1pm!

I was at Oxford, and at the Royal Albert Hall last night. Yes, I would have liked more songs from Musicals, but it was a very entertaining set. I've never watched an episode of Torchwood, but love that there were loads of kids there for Capt'n Jack. Lots of stories to share part of JB's life with his fans. Loved - him getting his Ma and Pa on stage for the slosh ... the tribute to "Scotland - via Musicals" ... the energy JB gave every song. The duet between JB and Daniel Boys - especially last night at RAH - was just outstanding, I really can't express how wonderful I thought it was .. (I've a voice in my head going "fabulous, fabulous, fabulous" ...) Daniel Boys was so good. There's probably a clip on YouTube (I know there is of the Scottish Phantom at one of the Concerts). And JB's reaction to the audiences enthusiasm at the end was very sweet (sobbing into a towel).

The song dedicated to his now deceased dogs perhaps could be seen as a bit cloying, but I'm still reeling from having had to put my much loved dog to sleep weeks ago, I'm still a blubby mess - I thought it touching.

I'm not one of the JB fans - I do like his talent on stage, saw him in Anything Goes years ago, but this was my first time at his Concerts. And I found them entertaining and I found him to be a warm, genuine and funny guy. Looking forward to La Cage.

I loved the show monday night too! My only complaint is that there seemed to be quite a few older people
who weren't getting into the spirit so much - but that's possibly because I was sat next to one of the men who was dragged along, and who sat with his arms crossed for most of the night. He managed a half-hearted clap now and again.

I have to say the RAH isn't my favourite space - that big empty void seems to swallow the sound and the atmosphere - but then I imagine it's completely different in the arena, or nearer the stage - I was in the stalls at the opposite end of the hall from the stage.

The Scottish/Musicals number had me in stitches. I totally agree that the musical numbers and ballads showed off JB's voice to best effect - the pop numbers are fun, but honestly do not allow him to really display his full range. As a pop singer I'm afraid he is distinctly average - but as a MT singer he's brilliant - which just goes to show that they really are different mediums.

The dogs song I found a bit cloying up until the point that his voice wavered with emotion towards the end, and that did me in. It was either genuine feeling or he's a far better actor than people realise - either way it totally transformed the moment for me. The duet was outstanding - and got a deserved ovation from the folks in the arena seats. I loved that he got all choked up when he came back for his encore, but I'm still bemused that he blew his nose on that towel and then gave it to someone in the audience - Eeeeewwww!

I also find it amusing that his audience collectively have such filthy minds - people were finding double entendres that were clearly not intended at all. We all know that JB loves a dirty joke, but honestly it seems he only has to open his mouth these days for people to think he is saying something risque, even when he's not!

I saw the concert in Plymouth and omg i loved it..........although i probably was a bit of a fan girl and could tell i was annoying the lady next to me with my screaming opps

but seriously 2 of my favourite people in one concert = AMAZING!!!!!!!!!!

I thought the whole thing was brilliant....would have liked some more musical songs but i do realise it was his Music Music Music tour so fair enough

Must book for La Cage

I don't know whether it's the effect of posting on a theatre board, but I don't think I've heard anyone who prefers him as a pop singer! Maybe someone should tell him to stick to what he's really good at?!

Snap!
Having waited outside for ages just to get into the theatre and then waiting more for it to eventually start- I thought it was very clever of him to appease us by making that announcement from the wings.
I loved the way he pretended the electrical techie problems were due to the theatre not paying the leccy bills!

By the way- have you seen what they have done to the old Oxford prison? Its now a hotel and the area around is market stalls and restaurants- I thought it was fab.

What in the name of all that is holy was going on at Oxford that we had to wait in that appalling queue outside? I don't know Oxford - only been to a Concert once before there - so can't comment on if Oxford had improved.
Royal Albert Hall isn't one of my favourite venues either - although a classy looking joint, the sound isn't great, it needs screens really for a solo performance like JB for the audience to get an idea of (ahem) my view from the second row Arena seat .... the woman in front of me got "the towel" - which was a little earlier in the show - and believe me she wasn't complaining about any DNA left on it from the sweat. The towel that JB had his little sob into stayed on stage, I believe.

Hmm, I was sure that the towel handing out happened after the nose blowing, because I went from being really very touched by the emotion to having a 'eww!' moment, but maybe he switched it with one he'd been wiping his face on earlier, and I didn't notice.

Just to confirm you are absolutely right the towel handing out happened after the nose blowing not earlier like the other poster suggested. John gave the towel to me at the RAH and it was the towel into which he sobbed and yes after the nose blowing (although I suspect it was pseudo noseblowing for effect though). He then went into *From A Distance*. Believe me I know exactly at what point he gave me the towel. He asked who wanted it, I raised my hand not expecting to get it and he proffered it to me to collect and then proffered his cheek for a kiss as I was about to sit down, which amused me somewhat. Funnily enough, for obvious reasons its a very clear memory for me and also, for a number of reasons personal to me, I was very touched that he gave it to me - it was the giving rather than the having that made me happy. (its not a bit snotty - it was a bit damp at the time of giving though)

He didn't give out the one he'd wiped his sweat on at RAH as he had done at some other venues. It was definitely the one he cried into bless him.

I think I can safely say this is undoubtedly the definitive answer on the handing out of the towel at RAH *grins* (would have commented earlier but only just seen the debate). Hope this helps.