Steampunk’d Lindsey Stirling!

My recent steampunk kick has led me to the video for violinist/dancer Lindsey Stirling‘s “Roundtable Rival” [from her latest album Shatter Me (2014)]. In the video, a bartender (Stirling), her violin and two barmaids have a showdown with bank robber Durango Black, his electric guitar and two outlaws in a steampunk’d American Old West. The bartender foils Black’s plot with the power of her playing, but he returns and cranks his amps up to eleven! Watch (and listen) to the video here …

And, watch the “Behind the Scenes” video here …

“Roundtable Rival” is such an awesome video! I would watch it if it were expanded into a feature-length steampunk musical! Oddly enough, this is the second Lindsey Stirling video I’ve posted. The first was “Shatter Me” (here), which I posted because the song features Lzzy Hale (of Halestorm) as a guest vocalist. That video, by the way, is kind of steampunk-y, too, with Hale as a goggle-wearing clockworker in Victorian-era clothes. Eventually, I suppose, I’ll have to admit that I like Lindsey Stirling‘s music. I do love her cover of Evanescence‘s “My Immortal” [a Target-only bonus track included on the re-release (2013) of her debut album (2012)]. Watch (and listen) to the video here …

I like that Stirling covered the single version (or “band version”) of “My Immortal” with the full band rocking out on the bridge and the final chorus making it a power ballad, as opposed to the album version recorded for their debut Fallen (2003), which uses only piano and strings. The original Evanescence video (here) for the song is for the “band version”. I also love Lindsey Stirling‘s rocked-up interpretation of Andrew Lloyd Webber‘s “The Phantom of the Opera”. Watch (and listen) to the video here …

Side-note (1): Female-fronted Japanese symphonic metal band Liv Moon also does an excellent metal interpretation of “The Phantom of the Opera” on their awesome debut album Double Moon (2009). Swedish-born vocalist Akane Liv has a very operatic voice. Listen to the studio version (here), or watch a live performance (here). However, guitarist Takayoshi Ohmura‘s heavily-accented vocals might be distracting to some, so watch this cool video for Liv Moon‘s single “Escape” (here) [from Double Moon] in which the sexy all-female band backing Akane Liv is not her all-male Liv Moon bandmates. Anyway …

Side-note (2): My sister-in-law is a huge KISS fan, as was I – back in the ’70s. In particular, she loves Paul Stanley. I was more of a Gene Simmons fan. I took up the bass guitar because of him. In 1999, Paul Stanley played the role of the Phantom in the Toronto production of “The Phantom of the Opera”. So, we bought tickets and trekked up to Canada for the weekend just to see my sister-in-law’s rock star crush in a musical. She brought a Paul Stanley action figure with her into the theater, and she held it up like a cigarette-lighter at rock concert! Anyway …

Other favorite Lindsey Stirling videos include:

• “Moon Trance” (here) [from her self-titled debut (2012)]. Graveyards and zombies! A Lindsey Stirling original.
• “Radioactive” (here) [with a cappella group Pentatonix]. Post-apocalyptic wasteland! Oh, and Kirstie Maldonado (of PTX) looks amazing in this video! An Imagine Dragons cover.
• “Mission Impossible” (here) [with The Piano Guys]. Secret agents! A Lalo Schifrin cover.

OK, I’ll admit it. I like Lindsey Stirling‘s music. There, I said it. I like her concept. She enchants me with the sounds of an instrument that belongs in film scores and country music. She does this by playing in a contemporary framework of electronic dance-pop, performing energetic dance moves on stage, and producing (many) entertaining music videos. If she just stood there, on stage or in her videos, and played the violin, that would be boring to most people of her generation. She knows this. So, she gives them more than just a bow pulled across strings and, with her unique style, she makes the violin kind of cool. She’s a very talented woman. Oh, and she’s so adorable, too – especially in that red dress she wears in the hoedown scenes in “Roundtable Rival”!

So, I’ve admitted to liking Lindsey Stirling‘s music. However, I have only 3 of her songs in my music library. I should probably download her new album, right? I will! Be right back …

OK, I’m back …

Shatter Me is a surprisingly good listen. I say ‘surprisingly’ because I’m not much of a fan of instrumental albums by artists who are known only for a single instrument, especially those of the guitar virtuoso variety. Luckily, Lindsey Stirling has her extras to keep fans like me interested. However, listening to Shatter Me, without those extras, isn’t as much fun as watching her perform those songs on stage or in her videos; but, I’ve been listening all morning at work, and I’m not bored at all. “Shatter Me” featuring Lzzy Hale, of course, is the stand-out track. It’s a moody rocker with a killer hook that is enlivened by Hale‘s passionate vocals and Stirling‘s frenetic playing. Watch the video (here). “We Are Giants” featuring Dia Frampton (of indie rockers Meg & Dia) is the only other track with vocals. Frampton co-wrote both songs with Stirling and producer SILAS. More guest vocalists (of the female rocker variety), please! My favorite instrumental track, aside from “Roundtable Rival”, is “Beyond The Veil”. I like that song as it is, without any visual extras. Other good tracks are “Take Flight”, “Heist”, “Night Vision”, and “Ascendance”.

Finally, be sure to watch the “Behind the Scenes” video for “Shatter Me” (here). Why? Two reasons: (1) dirty Lzzy Hale, and (2) Lindsey Stirling‘s very lovely make-up girl!

Lindsey Stirling (right) with her very lovely make-up-girl (left) on the set of “Shatter Me”

P.S. So, after a full day of listening to Lindsey Stirling‘s latest album, I have realized two things: (1) “Ascendance” is my favorite instrumental track, and (2) Shatter Me is more than just a good listen! She will be performing right here in Cleveland on June 9 at Jacobs Pavilion at Nautica – maybe I’ll go see her!

P.P.S. “We Are Giants” is almost as good as “Shatter Me”. However, I can’t deny Lzzy Hale‘s amazing pipes!

My intention was only to post the video for “Roundtable Rival” – what happened?