PostModern Jukebox is the creation of pianist and arranger Scott Bradlee, who had launched this UK tour three days earlier, at the Royal Albert Hall. (Link to interview with Scott Bradlee below)
Bradlee was not present at the Cambridge performance, but based on the publicity pictures 19 members of his ensemble were there, including singers, band members and engineers. Wearing a traditional ringmaster’s tailcoat, for this happy circus of vintage style, was the MC, Rogelio Douglas Jr. Even some of the audience came in costume. While I was briefly alarmed later when something furry ran across the stage (see the wig in the attached photo), let me reassure readers: no animals were harmed in the making of this music !
With such a large troupe as PMJ, I cannot do justice to all the artists here, so I will just pick a few.
I booked my ticket to see one singer from California who was making her first PMJ tour of the UK. Sara Niemietz has been performing in public since she was 4, and was on Broadway in a musical, by the age of 10. She went on to sing with many different musicians, especially her mentor: the composer W.G. Snuffy Walden. Her good humoured style of performance is unforgettable: during the Covid pandemic she began keeping up the Public’s morale with Weekly Wacky Wednesday broadcasts. By 2025 she has completed over 200 of these wonderfully Wacky shows ! This Saturday her vocal gifts were on display in the opening song of the show, Bad Romance. They say : never meet your heroes. But by the time Niemietz reached Heroes, her expert pitch and perfect phrasing made that old pop classic so much more powerful. One PMJ number I had anticipated was the Bossa Nova wake-up call, “Fireflies”. Like the singer, I really wish I had brought a jar to take some of those fireflies home….
At various times during the evening, a trio team converged: Tatum Langley, Effie Passero & Niemietz. Together, they were terrific, and the finale “All About The Bass” had much of the audience on their feet. I need to single out one solo – Passero’s version of “Hallelujah” was overwhelming, with the singer falling to her knees and her powerful voice flooding through the Corn Exchange. I had missed her appearance on American Idol in 2018, but it took her from a ‘props lady’ to a rising Star.
For the 10th Anniversary tour of PMJ, MC Rogelio Douglas soloed a new age Radioactive: ‘Whoa’.
The whole Company was impressive, but the quite exceptional dancer, Demi Remick, blazed across the stage. Remick has convinced me that every touring band should have a tap dancer… if the producers can find dancers as talented as Demi !
SET LIST
Songs:
Bad Romance
Magic Moments
Basket Case
It must have been love
Radioactive
Burn
Heroes
Good Luck Babe
I’d Not Unusual
Say You’ll Be There
Die With A Smile (offstage, a capella)
Use Somebody
Fireflies
Hallelujah
I Still Haven’t Found
(Encore) All About The Bass
Band instrumental:
Black Magic Woman
Dances:
Super Mario
Ocarina of Tap
The Royal Albert Hall highlights are online HERE
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3 responses
Not only can anyone enjoy Sara Niemietz’s unique blend of charm and artistry Wednesdays at 9 pm GMT on YouTube, but she has a Patreon program that gives even more opportunity to experience her genius.
Pretty sure I saw Sara at the London Palladium during the 2022 PMJ UK tour, and there is footage on YouTube of her performing on the 2019 UK tour, so definitely not her first time! But she is an exceptional talent nonetheless…now if only they would bring Gunhild Carling on the UK tour 🙂
I agree about Gunhild Carling !
There are many contradictory details online about SN…. apologies if I am mistaken, but some said this was her first UK tour with PMJ (there are some older videos of Sara singing at two UK Universities). It was marvellous to meet her, after the Cambridge event.
Hope you have a fine, musical Summer ahead, Stu.