Karmin


A few thoughts on the annual Macy's Glamorama Friday at the Orpheum.

• The theme was "The British Invasion: The Music Then. The Fashion Now!" But, for a soundtrack, we heard covers by faux Beatles and a few actual Rolling Stones tunes (including "Miss You," which is not Brit Invasion era, plus the Stones-inspired "Moves Like Jagger" by Maroon 5). That's the best the Glam squad could do? Really? Yes, it's expensive for the rights to actual Beatles recordings. So why not the Who, the Kinks, Herman's Hermits, Dave Clark 5 et al? And no one thought to feature the Kinks' "Dedicated Follower of Fashion"?

• Loved the models on a Lazy Susan platform (to suggest a record on a turntable) spinning through a LED curtain.

• Luved the accessories for the Diesel underwear show. Male models paraded by in pairs, wearing matching British gear – bobby hat and billy club, Beefeater hat and rifle, judges wigs and gavels, etc. Veddy British, veddy cheeky.

• Robin Thicke didn't sing "Sex Therapy," his big sexy hit. It would have been perfect to do live during the Diesel underwear parade.

• Can't beat the young dancers choreographed by Myron Johnson. They always add much needed energy to the program. Doubling as models, the kids put some personality into the Material Girl line of clothes. But could we be more obvious than choosing "Lady Madonna" as the music for Madonna's clothing line?

• Adored the oversized hats on the Marc Jacobs models as they strutted to a violin-dominated instrumental version of "Come Together."

• Very cute that after Karmin, the hit pop duo featuring lead singer Amy Heidemann with her frontal flip hair, the ensuing fashion show by Bar III featured female models with faux frontal flip hair pieces.

• Listening to newcomers Megan & Liz, 19-year-old twins who won a contest affiliated with Children's Cancer Research Fund, was like listening to Carly Rae Jepson duet with a 16-year-old Taylor Swift. "Bad for Me" was the song title. Insert your own punch line here.

• After the usual countdown at the beginning, the show started without a bang. No offense to Megan & Liz or the Children Cancer Research Fund folks being honored (it's an important charity and component of Glamorama). As some fashionista visitors from Houston suggested to me, a countdown should lead to an explosion or lift off. Agreed. Maybe the show should have started with Karmin performing, then Karmin introducing the CCRF stuff and rock on from there. Pacing was a problem for this Glamorama, especially with all the stronger presentations – conceptually stronger, I'm not speaking about the fashions themselves -- in the second half.