#livereviews

[ex-riddlecats]

LORE OLYMPUS IS OVER

[ex-riddlecats]

i finished rwby volume 3! unironically went fucking hard. fight scenes went hard. plot developments were intriguing. blake and yang were gay. the animation and voice acting was the best this shows has ever been. i know people keep telling me it goes downhill after this but if i watched this when it came out i could totally see it snaring its claws in my brain

[ex-riddlecats]

i finished rwby volume 5 jesus fucking christ i thought it would never end. that was the worst season so far THREE AND A HALF HOURS of BARELY ANYTHING worthwhile! so much fucking talking! i swear to god, this couldve been 90 minutes. it was just oh 20 minutes of talking in a house oh 20 minutes of talking in another house now lets do a quick action sequence with no accompanying vocal track (except for raven v cinder). bleh. on the bright side, i am interested in seeing where volume 6 goes from here, specifically with emerald and mercury. i also liked the final confrontation between yang and her mom. i hope, if the remaining volumes suck, they at least suck in an entertaining way rather than the absolute slog this was.

[ex-riddlecats]

i finished rwby volume 1! yeah idk i liked it lol. definitely rough around the edges, especially the animation that isnt fighting, but i am sufficiently invested! its hard to come up with criticism, positive or negative, of a plot that is almost completely set up. also this credits song is really good. all the music is really good. i hope jaune dies in volume 2 hes really annoying and the 20 minutes we spent focused on him were the worst

[ex-riddlecats]

finished rwby volume 2! fuuuuck i liked it i liked it! idk if i'm riding the high of that final fight or what! i dont really care about the fucking... white fang plot i think thats kind of lame, and jaune is still annoying and the plot with him and pyrrha was boring, but the character writing for team rwby and the visuals were both much better! if v3 makes another jump in quality and fixes whatever the fuck has been happening with the voice acting... 🙏 ALSO please can i get yang plot relevance pretty please

[ex-riddlecats]

finished rwby volume 4! it was fun, not quite v3 quality but definitely better than 1 and 2. i stand by what i said by what i said about one of the plots probably needing to be cut - depending on where v5 goes, i think either weiss or blake wouldve benefit from not being seen at all this season, except maybe barring the ending compilation. also oscar probably becomes more important later but he was just some guy we cut to because... why? because ozpins talking to him from beyond the grave? i dont care. but team RNJRs storyline was a delight! the nora & ren backstory was FANTASTIC i love them

oh and ive been told the engine they used to animate was changed and honestly i think i like this one better. theres still some weird poses and faces, but less clipping together of assets and colors are much more vivid. and the fight scenes were fine, not as great as the first 3 volumes (rip monty) but still fun

[reflektormag]

Summerfest Week 1 Review 

Madeline Carter

July 2, 2018

Check out all of our Summerfest coverage here. 

In Wisconsin, Summerfest is almost treated as a holiday. The world’s biggest music festival lights up Milwaukee and brings in people from all across the United States. The record-breaking festival hosts 800+ acts every year, filling Henry W. Maier Festival Park with nothing but music and good vibes for 11 days.

On the first day of Summerfest, crowds flocked to see bigger headliners like Lil Uzi Vert, Alesso, The All American Rejects, and Grizzly Bear. Many fans waited all day to catch Uzi’s set, which was highly anticipated by many Summerfest goers. The “XO TOUR LIif3” singer provided the crowd with plenty of energy during his 50-minute set, which many have already declared as their favorite show of Summerfest 2018. During this set, Grizzly Bear played for a much more tranquil crowd, finishing with a beautiful performance of “Sun in Your Eyes”. However, bands earlier in the day also graced the stages with many genres of music, drawing in crowds of all kinds. A personal favorite, Waker, managed to keep their crowd interested, which is sometimes rare for bands earlier in the day. Their energy (filled with soul and rock) was refreshing, and they managed to put on one of the best shows we’d seen so far this week. On day two, Summerfest hosted “Throwback Day”, which was a celebration of bands from the past, with the exception of Tory Lanez and EDM artist Marshmello, who drew in a surprisingly dedicated fanbase. Small bands like Dusk, a native Wisconsin band, also graced the festival with their fresh sounds, leaving us wondering why we hadn’t been fans long before.

Day three met many festival goers with temperatures in the high nineties, leaving many of us to stress about staying hydrated and managing to cool off as often as possible. However, both the crowds and artists made sure to not let the heat get in the way of their fun. Artists like Knox Fortune remained very upbeat and kept his set alive and exciting. Shortly after, Xavier Omar had people of all ages dancing on the bleachers. His music provided unique and soulful grooves. By the time that The Plain White T’s graced the stage, the weather had cooled down a bit and the crowds became larger. The Plain White T’s welcomed their crowd by singing a few new songs off of their upcoming album, Parallel Universe, leaving us all wondering why we’d ever left them behind in 2008.

On day four, the heat was still rising, but festival-goers were more prepared and anxious to see bands like Kaleo, another personal favorite performance from this week. Kaleo had a very welcoming crowd, which they deserved. Their vocals were stunning, and two festival goers had relayed to me that their performance of “All The Pretty Girls” left them breathless, and “most definitely emotional”. Earlier in the day, artists like Trapper Schoepp had an unbeatable energy and stage presence that seemed almost impossible to top. Day five was one of the most anticipated days this week. Headliners that night included bands like Spoon, Greta Van Fleet, and The Neighbourhood. While fans waited at some stages all day to get a decent view of their favorite artists, bands like Lovelytheband and Capital Cities kept them all entertained. A fan in the crowd for Capital Cities stated that they were one of the best shows he’d seen, which is understandable. Despite being 20 minutes late to their set, they made up for the delay with an undeniable energy and excellent vocals. Making sure to keep their fans engaged, Capital Cities had them all toss any white clothing fans had on around in the air. On the opposite end of the park, Lovelytheband had many fans dancing and screaming for them. The Neighbourhood’s Jesse Rutherford was even spotted enjoying and dancing to their performance of “these are my friends” as well. Later that night, Greta Van Fleet proved to us all that rock and roll never died, and if it did, they were the ones to bring it back to life. Back at The Neighbourhood’s set, fans enjoyed a much more chill show that was received with many mixed (but mostly positive) emotions.

Although today is a day of rest for any dedicated Summerfest goers, many are looking forward to the festival starting again tomorrow. Anticipated acts include Bishop Briggs, Foster the People, Pixies, Machine Gun Kelly, The Flaming Lips, and Phantogram.

[reflektormag]

An evening with The Neighbourhood

Nick Benson

June 28, 2018

Upon attending Bogarts music hall in Cincinnati I was not certain what to expect from the up and coming band The Neighbourhood. This alternative rock band from Newbury Park, CA has had a decent amount of success, and continue to gain attention since their 2012 EP release of I’m Sorry… This popular EP contained their most popular song ‘Sweater Weather’ which thus far has really carried them. As 9:30pm approached the band finally decided to get started with an almost packed house whom seemed unsure of what was taking so long. The band was three songs in before frontman Jesse Rutherford and his drummer felt it necessary to go ahead and take their shirts off to prove they are indeed a “punk” band from California. As the tween girls screamed, so did Jesse in each painful rendition of their songs. It was hard not to grimace as Jesse decided to use fillers rather than the lyrics. My “favorite” being screaming “Hey!” or using lots of high pitched short yells into the microphone. All the songs ran together and sounded nothing short of disappointing from what they had produced in the studio. At certain points, the band seemed to not be on the same page as far as when they needed to end songs or if they were going to keep jamming. Luckily the long jams did not last too long, as our ears could not handle hearing anymore high pitched “Yeahs”.  The band at least did play the song they are known for, but it was really a feeble attempt to save a show that had already left the crowd crestfallen. The band then ended the show around 10:40pm. With a brief thank you, they were gone without even giving their fans a chance to cheer for an encore. In short, The Neighbourhood seems to be another group of alternative rock band wannabees from California who will always rely on a studio sound. They have more than likely been spoon fed honeyed words and I refuse to give them that satisfaction. Keep your sweaters on boys, you are not everything you are cracked up to be.

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