comparing Stages and ATE/Illuminations

LIstening to the iheart radio concert

I know Stages is winning in the court of public opinion, but I sure liked this stuff from ATE -- especially I really thought Ruslan added a lot.  I find it ironic that because we liked Ruslan so much we funded him to do his own album, so he's not touring with Josh.  Groan. 

Ruslan's album that was funded by the kickstarter is now done.  I don't know if it's available to the public or just to those who funded the kickstarter as yet -- but it's a very fine thing, indeed.  Andre Manga and Mark Stevens came out with their own albums in the past, but I didn't like them as much.

I can't help but wonder, tho, whether Ruslan was particularly attracted to the music from ATE because it was innovative in character -- and whether he wasn't bored by the muzacky stuff on Stages.  He wouldn't tell us, I don't think.  He's said he can't talk about anything about Josh due to non-disclosure agreements.

Of course, I liked Lucia better than Christian as well, but it appears that there's no featured violinist on the current tour at all.  I wonder what that's about. I guess it's about just emphasizing Josh's singing.  

He's also moving around less on the stage than he did in past concerts.  I wonder what that's about as well.  Is he getting older and less energetic?  Has he been advised to stand more still because that will position him better for theater? In my acting classes, they often talk about the power of stillness and avoiding unnecessary gestures and pacing.  The Awake DVD that showed him running full out while singing was pretty impressive -- singing as an athletic activity; but that definitely wouldn't fly on Broadway.

For me, though, when they talk about Josh being classical/pop crossover, what always attracted me was that he was modern classical/pop crossover -- that his stuff was influenced by experimental music, like electronic music.  A piece like Voce Existe em Mim was musically interesting -- unlike anything else out there.  I miss that.

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addendum Oh, and remember how Josh used to play the piano at concerts?