New York-based musician Theo Katzman was joined at his sold-out Hotel Café performance last night by close friend and fellow University of Michigan alum, Darren Criss. Read on for more info and videos!
Darren has been an avid fan and supporter of Theo Katzman’s career, using his Twitter to promote Theo’s album release and inviting him to play at several of his headlining shows in New York City. At what was his first West Coast show last night, Theo dedicated his performance of ‘White Picket Castle’ to Darren before the Glee star joined his friend onstage at the intimate Hollywood venue to duet on Theo’s song ‘Brooklyn.’ He then performed his own short set.
“Hi, I’m Darren Criss and I wish I was Theo Katzman,” is how the actor and StarKid introduced himself before launching into a six-song set, featuring original songs ‘Jealousy’ and ‘Don’t You,’ Italian comedic song ‘Tu Vuò Fà L’Americano,’ and Disney classic ‘Part Of Your World.’ Darren and his older brother, Chuck Criss, of New York-based band Freelance Whales, also performed their cover of ‘New Morning,’ recently recorded and released on Amnesty’s Bob Dylan: Chimes of Freedom album. Darren, Theo, and the other musicians present brought the night to a close with a show-stopping rendition of Sam Cooke’s ‘Bring It On Home.’
Watch Darren Criss and Theo Katzman perform ‘Brooklyn’:
Watch Darren and Chuck Criss perform ‘New Morning’:
Watch Darren Criss and band perform ‘Bring It On Home’:
Darren addressed the small crowd of mainly friends and long-term fans who had predicted his appearance, saying:
So this was kind of a surprise show that we thought we’d do for friends and otherwise. And I was kind of like, well, I kind of wanna do new songs and stuff but I was like, f*ck that, we have a lot of friends that are pretty used to seeing this, so instead of playing new songs we’re probably gonna play a lot of the old songs, probably for the last time.
Could this talk of new songs and last airings of the old songs be a hint that Darren’s solo release is close at hand?
We hope you enjoy the videos – we love the raw and unrestrained aspect of Darren’s live performances compared to his usual style on Glee. What do you think?
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