Just got back from FTRR Toronto!!! Audio incoming tomorrow + a special video of a song which we literally begged Hadley to sing!
Immediate thoughts under the cut:
Song 1: Bring Him Home -> Duet
Ramin reminds me of that Hugh Jackman guy on instagram/tik tok. They were literally singing Bring Him Home and I couldn't take myself seriously
Afterwards they clasped hands and Ramin went to kiss Hadley's knuckles before pausing, after which both of them just shook their heads at each other
Song 2: Fly Me to the Moon -> Hadley
It felt so wild to hear Hadley singing what was my top song on Spotify (yes it was Hadley's version, I was a top 0.002% fan :))
Song 3: It All Fades Away -> Ramin
'a good cheating' as Ramin put it, before reeling back and realising maybe that wasn't the best thing to say
Song 4: I've Grown Accustomed to Her Face -> Hadley
Their whole thing with this round of FTRR concerts is that they find fun facts about the city/country and relate them to the songs they sing
Hadley was saying that he couldn't find a fun fact to match with My Fair Lady that wasn't the show playing here so he told us to find something and get back to him
Song 5: See Her Smile -> Ramin
They start with the fun facts to roll out the next song, Hadley starts with one about Luis Riel who he found shared some similarities with Jean Valjean
Ramin went completely off topic by just bursting out and yelling "PIZZA PIZZA" -> the fact was that Pizza Pizza was established the same year that the Leafs won their last Stanley Cup and there have been 500 franchise locations that opened since then but no more Stanley Cups for the leafs :(
Song 6: Empty Chairs at Empty Table -> Duet
Can happily say that Hadley did NOT forget the lyrics, character growth
For the next song Hadley shared that there's a holding cell under our old city hall building for politicians when they went wild and said to just imagine a politician that we could see in an underground holding cell for politicians and kind of keep that image in mind for the song
Hadley dropped his notebook sometime around here
Song 7: King of the World -> Hadley
My mom was really excited about this one as it was her favourite song from the FTRR 2025 playlist Hadley made
Ramin shares a fun Candian Law which states that you must keep your goat on a leash
Hadley then shares his fact that Walt Disney's dad was from this town in Ontario that literally no one in the theatre knew of
Song 8: If I Can't Love Her -> Ramin
Hadley says he's only here to bring the niche christmas songs that no one knows
Song 9: Christmas Caught Me Crying -> Hadley
Can I just say that I loved hearing Hadley sing, but watching him live is just a completely different experience
WHAT DO YOU MEAN THE GUY FROM MY SCREEN IS ACTUALLY IN FRONT OF ME
Ramin tells us about how he used to skip school all the time to go see this one show and that he would talk about it all the time while serving the detention he got for skipping school
He once asked his chem teacher where Yale is to which his chem teacher replied with "in your dreams" then told him that he wouldn't have to go to Yale because he'd be in this show
Song 10: Music of the Night -> Ramin
As someone who goes through a yearly phase where the only thing they can thing of is Phantom, this was surreal
Everyone was going wild because it's one of the defining Phantoms of the modern poto era singing one of the most iconic songs
Song 11: Dirty Rotten Scoundrels -> Duet
This was the point where I would recognise the intro from hearing it before but wouldn't be able to figure it out until the first couple words
After Hadley finished the first chorus Ramin started to get up after grabbing his mic then Hadley shut him down telling him "not yet" right before he himself got up
INTERVAL
The three of them (Hadley, Ramin, Theo) peeked out when the lights were only dimmed and then started to tiptoe out in a cartoonish burglar manner before the lights completely went out and came back on when they were all in their chairs
They brought out Michael Johnson (will have to double check with my recording for the name but I think this is it) who they met at little lights 13 years ago
Hadley put on a Jays hat after they said they should make Hadley more Canadian!
Song 12: Tragically Hip Song (I need to do better) -> Ramin + Michael
Song 13: Silent Night -> Duet
Hadley forgot to retune his guitar after the previous song and they got heckled by someone (Ramin said his brother but that might've been a joke?) saying that they're missing hockey for this -> Real Canadian behaviour right there (I say as someone who hates hockey, I'm a figure skater what can I say?)
Ramin talks about meeting the Queen
Hadley tells us about a Jays hat that his dad has from his Great Aunt who lived in Canada and how it was essentially a sacred object in his household growing up but the one he brought out with him he bought yesterday and is going to keep it with him
Song 14: How Glory Goes -> Hadley
Song 15: Being Alive -> Ramin
Song 16: Soliloquy -> Hadley
Song 17: Sunset Boulevard -> Ramin
They say that ALW probably wouldn't insult the Queen
At this point Ramin starts a rally for everyone to try and get Hadley to sing a certain duet because Hadley always says no when he wants to sing it
Everyone turns on him and he asks if he should put the hat back on to get us under control
People start to heckle Hadley wanting him to perform that certain duet
Hadley shares some spooky ghost stories of Toronto's theatre district
Guy in audience asks if Box 5 is empty and Ramin does a quick count to check for box 5 and make sure it's empty
Song 18: Song to do with ghosts (need to look into it maybe from Big Fish since that was on the playlist?) -> Hadley
Song 19: 'Til I Hear You Sing -> Ramin
Is it too much to ask if I want them to sing Devil Take the Hindmost? That's all I ask of them (that and Lily's Eyes) I should've yelled it out honestly
We start rallying for that certain duet again and start chanting
Hadley shuts us up with
Song 20: Butter 'Outta Cream -> Duet
This one actually brought me so much joy, if their recording of this from Trieste was on spotify it would've definitely been my #1 for sureeeeeee
Throughout the song they were thanking us for coming on top
little side hug at the end to bow
All three come back out andddddddd
Song 21: THE CONFRONTATION -> Duet
AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH
Managed to film this one, quality is probably terrible BUT I HAVE A VIDEO OF THEM DOING CONFRONTATION
ASGJMKLGTREGJMKGTESGJKYEZDGHUYESDFGH
I can die happily now
omg
THE CONFRONTATION
I AM NEVER SHUTTING UP ABOUT THIS AGAIN
I SAW THEM PERFORMING THE CONFRONTATION LIVE AND THEY HAD A LITTLE PLAY FIGHT AT THE END THE SAME WAY THAT LITTLE BOYS WOULD IF THEY PUT ON A SHOW FOR THEIR PARENTS
They tease coming back to Toronto and AAAAAAAHHHHHH I SURE HOPE THEY DO!!!
Song 22: You'll Be Back -> Duet
Can now say that I've sung with Hadley Fraser and Ramin Karimloo as we were all singing along and it was one of the most beautiful things I have ever been apart of
