'A love letter to our favorite anime.' 'Cowboy Bebop' live at Tower Theatre
Plus, Morrissey returns to Fresno.
Corey Paul was into “Cowboy Bebop” well before he’d even seen an episode of the ground-breaking anime series.
“I fell in love with the soundtrack,” says Paul, a multi-instrumentalist and leader of the 14-member Bebop Bounty Big Band. He remembers the Toonami commercials and being instantly attached to the series theme song “Tank!”
“From there, I listened to the entire soundtrack and became obsessed.”
That obsession turned into a two-hour musical extravaganza that’s currently in the midst of a US tour. “Cowboy Bebop Live” stops at Fresno’s Tower Theatre on Thursday. Tickets are available here.
The show is ostensibly an abridged “Cowboy Bebop” watch party set to music, though the band was originally meant to be the focus and the screen was just a small aspect of the overall vibe, Paul says. The show was revamped some after he realized how much interest there was in this kind of performance.
These days, if it’s working, the performance equals out the interest between what’s on the stage and what’s on the screen, he says.
“If you’re not sure where to direct your attention, I feel like I’ve done my job.”
Paul culled members of the band from the Glenn Miller Orchestra, the Jazz Orchestra at Dr. Phillips Center and the Walt Disney Company and designed the show to let the audience in on their shared sense of nostalgia.
“We have worked hard to put together a love-letter to our favorite anime,” he says.
“The love for the show is so pure,” Paul says. “I can’t express my gratitude to everyone enough, and that includes our fans and the people that help keep this amazing anime alive.”
And the show does manage a few surprises for the fanatics, including guest spots from the likes of Wendee Lee, who voiced Faye Valentine in the series.
SPOILER ALERT: the Fresno show will feature Lee, plus a guest performance from Raj Ramayya, the singer, songwriter who co-wrote several songs on the “Cowboy Bebop” soundtrack.
Morrissey sets date at Fresno’s Warnors Theatre
Say what you will about Morrissey, the guy is an icon.
Recent political leanings and past performance troubles aside, its worth noting the announcement this week that the English crooner (and yes, Morrissey is a crooner) booked a date at the Warnor’s Theatre this spring.
It’s one of just a dozen US shows and the first time the singer has been through the Central Valley in a decade. He sold out Visalia’s Fox Theatre in 2015.
Tickets went on sale Friday and seem to be doing well, based on the available stock posted on Ticketmaster. It looks like the cheap seats ($66) went first, but given the Warnors layout you can get a good view in the $100-$150 range.
Prices do go up to $350+
Industry side note: It is interesting to see the number of verified resale tickets available.
This is where one could insert a joke about being sure to get the insurance (given Morrissey’s penchant for cancelations), but the tour is backed by Livenation, so I’m thinking he’ll show.
That’s it for this week. Remember you can now hear me on the Homegrown Show Sundays at 8 p.m. on New Rock 104.1 FM. Tonight we have new music from Devil Like Me, 97 Proof, Russian Leg Sweep, The New Them and Puppet. Follow my other writing at The Fresno Bee. If you have anything you think I need to be looking at or listening to, feel free to let me know: jtehee@gmail.com