Nobody saw this coming

[Unseen]

Everyone, including her sisters agrees that, of the three, Ale is the one who coulda been a model. Her sisters are also quite attractive, but not tall enough and, well, Ale is simply a fashion photographer’s delight.

And yet, I just ran into this picture of Dany, and it’s by far the most attractive photo of her I have ever seen.

[PopeBeanie]

Unseen wrote:

Comments, additions, etc. welcome, especially from Pope Beanie.

I try my best to keep my FYIs to reactors short, but it’s really difficult! I could recommend dozens of songs, because there are almost no bad songs. I try to include links when I recommend something, which takes time to fetch and include, and recently I focus on recommending two-fers, like the studio version of a song, followed by a live version of it. Or for Enter Sandman, their cover when they were kids, and then my favorite live version from Teatro. (I’m one of the few who don’t like the strings in that song in the Pepsi concert. But I like the strings in other songs, especially in Black Holes, backing up Pau’s piano.)

When someone guesses wrong or has trouble remembering their ages, I might point out that Dany’s age is the year, e.g. 25 in 2025. Pau’s two years behind that, and Ale’s practically five years behind Dany. (Born in Feb, Jan, and Dec, respectively, iirc.)

In the rare case a reactor seems to care a lot about pronouncing their names correctly, I point out what you point out, plus that Dany pronounces her name unusually anglicized, like “Danny” instead of with the spanish vowel sounding close to “Dahnee”.

I try to include links to any songs I recommend, which takes extra time to fetch, but they’re more likely to be used, and also checked out by fans.

After getting over severely debilitating social anxiety (following “only” six years of therapy), I started empathising a lot with people, in real time. I still get goosebumps during certain parts of some songs. In fact now it happens just when watching a reactor react in an obvious way to the same parts of songs that I feel. Strangely, or at least still new to me, I now get goosebumps *before* a part of the song when I know it’s coming up soon.

I might note other tidbits at times, e.g. the way Pau bends over her drums to take a deep breath before big belts. Or, have you noticed how nervous Dany was in the first minute of the first song at the Pepsi concert? I’m surprised I’ve not seen others mention that… it’s the most nervous I’ve ever seen her.

[Unseen]

Thanks for the comments, PB. I have since added three more items to my “things to know” list and tweaked a couple of the orignal ones here and there. I’ll post that in the next comment after this one.

This video from a very recent concert at the Rock Am Ring rock festival in Germany shows that they very much are still not phoning it in. Many people attending their concerts afterwards say that their concert was the best they ever attended.

[Unseen]

Here is the new & improved “things to know about The Warning” list.

15 Things to know about The Warning.

Their names are Daniela (guitar, lead/backup vocals), Paulina (percussion, backup/occasional lead vocals), and Alejandra (bass guitar, backup/very occasional lead vocals). They are known to their fans by the nicknames Dany, Pau, and Ale. These names are pronounced like DANny, POW!, and AH-leh. Their family name is sometimes given as “Villarreal” and sometimes as “Villarreal-Velez,” the later recognizing their mother’s family name, a convention sometimes used in Mexican culture.

Their age range is five years. Dany is the oldest. She is two years older than Pau and five years older than Ale.

They are not a new band even if they are new to you. They played their first show under this name in a show on October 26, 2013. They released their first full album, XXI Century Blood, on March 27, 2017 although they did release a 6-song EP, Escape the Mind, on April 14, 2015.

Their fans appreciate The Warning being treated as a rock band, not a chick band, girl group, or anything like that which basically gives them an asterisk. Don’t dwell on their gender in other words. They are not a sideshow.

They are Mexican but English is not the girls’ second language, it is their other language. They were raised and schooled bilingually. This is why they speak English almost 100% free of a Mexicsn accent and better, actually, than most Americans.

Their original musical education was in classical piano. They discovered rock through the video game Rock Band. After enjoying the game so much, Daniela and Paulina asked their parents for real instruments. Their parents gifted them with a real guitar for Daniela and a real drum kit for Paulina. Later on, they gifted Ale with a real but junior-size bass guitar.

The band members love all kinds of music from serious classical music to classic rock to disco and J-pop.

They have two regular lead singers, Dany about 90% of the time and Pau about 10% of the time. Ale can sing lead but it’s so rare that it hardly counts. She does sing backup often however, as do her sisters.

They have adopted a radio play format for their rock compositions, keeping them generally in a sub-four minute length. This is facilitated by the fact that their songs do not include lengthy, indulgent instrumental solos. What seeming short solos you hear are actually written out, played note for note the same each time they perform. They should be judged on their terms. They are not trying to be Cream, Rush, Led Zeppelin, or any other band.

Reviewers are well-advised to review them in concert, especially in front of their fans. As good as their “official videos” are, in them the sisters are lip-syncing and pretending to play. Only by seeing them actually perform on stage can you truly appreciate their greatness.

They are a phenomenally-talented songwriting team, perhaps the best to come along since The Beatles. By this, I mean, they consistently write excellent songs, never generating filler tunes or inside joke songs as even The Beatles sometimes did.

One amazing thing about them that demonstrates their songwriting talent is that, despite the limitations of the trio format, there is none of that dreaded sameness that can characterize the songs of any band, but especially a trio. Every song is distinct and doesn’t sound almost like another song they wrote.

They are a clean-living family band. You can count on never reading about one having drug or alcohol problems, trashing their hotel room, or getting into fights. They often travel with their parents, relatives, and friends coming along to help or simply be company.

They spend a good deal of their time taking care of their fans. Unlike other bands which often try to sneak in a venue’s back entrance or travel through an airport incognito, these girls often take time to say hello to their fans. They constantly upload daily life and backstage videos and/or videos where they take time out to answer questions from fans.

The Warning’s fans are so dedicated and active that they have earned the name “The Warning Army” and reacting to them online consistently brings reactors droves of likes, subscriptions, and especially comments. In other words, reacting to them is a very practical thing to do to grow one’s channel.

[PopeBeanie]

Looks good! One typo about 1/3 of the way down: Mexicsn.

I just watched their recent concert in Sweden. Above quality fancam, unofficial, in stereo, but still not really a pleasure to listen to for me. I watched because it seemed different, like maybe they were extremely tired, but I didn’t look into it to verify that. Dany made several mistakes playing guitar about halfway and further through (iirc), I’ve not seen that many from her, ever, she even had to look at her frets to find the right place to play. Wasn’t terrible, just surprising compared to her usual perfection.

I’m not recommending it, but just in case anyone wants to watch it. One big plus (for me) is very little crowd noise during their playing.

 

[PopeBeanie]

I just learned that they were in a K-Pop phase, too, while feeling angsty and making Queen of the Murder Scene.

[PopeBeanie]

PopeBeanie wrote:

I started empathising a lot with people, in real time. I still get goosebumps during certain parts of some songs. In fact now it happens just when watching a reactor react in an obvious way to the same parts of songs that I feel.

Accidentally just found a new reactor I really like. Silly goosebumps with it. I actually maintain a playlist of first reactions, and in this one, their surprised reactions matched mine by maybe 90%.

(I didn’t realize until my 2nd watch that their headphone volume was too low, for some reason, even though it came through fine on this recording.)

• This reply was modified 10 months, 1 week ago by PopeBeanie. Reason: added note about audio level

[PopeBeanie]

Finally, one of my very favorite reactors, a Finnish vocal coach, watched her first The Warning song. It’s the now very popular Pepsi Center Dust to Dust/Dull Knives performance. I think it’s a great first watch for people so they can see Pau and Dany sing lead in each song. I may have suggested she watch TW a year or so ago, but it’s the D2D/DK recommendations that finally convinced her. (And of course now she wants more.)

13 minutes

[Unseen]

PopeBeanie wrote:

I just learned that they were in a K-Pop phase, too, while feeling angsty and making Queen of the Murder Scene.

Oh, yeah. They have a very inclusive taste in music. But when I think of angst, K-Pop doesn’t really come to mind.

[Unseen]

I’m starting to assess their place in the fold. I agree with one recent reactor who said that he believes they have a place in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame waiting for them someday.

And why?

Let’s start with why not, bearing in mind that they are still quite young and likely near the beginning of their career. First, their guitarist/singer, Dany, is a far better singer than guitar player. She basically doesn’t take impromptu instrumental solos, her guitar breaks being written out and played the same every performance. Plus, in the few instances where she’s taken solos outside the context of one of their songs, they’ve been fairly pitiful. But…they are not that sort of band. They are not trying to be Cream or Led Zeppelin.

Ale is recognized as a highly adept bassist, but if you check out her performance in their collab with Band Maid, she clearly has a way to go to match Misa, who played a slap bass solo. Likewise, despite Pau’s Drumeo award, her performance paled beside Akane’s in Show Me as well. Akane may be the best drummer in rock now that Neil Peart is gone.

While their taste in music is broad it is strangely blind to much of the history of rock. Nowhere in their catalog is a single nod to roots rock or blues like The Allman Brothers Band or Larkin Poe. Their rock is very oriented toward white people north of the Mason-Dixon Line.

That said, no group can do everything or be everything. So, on to what I see as their major plus.

They are a songwriting machine. They are, I would say, the best songwriting rock band since The Beatles and Stones. Not only that, they are far more consistently excellent in terms of their songwriting than either of those bands. And, frankly, much of The Beatles best mid and later songs are arguably not rock and roll at all. Eleanor Rigby? Hey Jude? Yesterday? and Strawberry Fields Forever to name just a few among many.

I submit that no other band in the history of rock and roll has so consistently written songs worthy of a listen. Many people have observed that they seem unable to write a bad song. Well, I would say, at least not one they want anyone to hear. No fillers or inside joke songs are ever presented to the public.

Well, that is my assessment. I’m curious to know what you think, especially PopeBeanie.

[PopeBeanie]

Unseen wrote:

PopeBeanie wrote: I just learned that they were in a K-Pop phase, too, while feeling angsty and making Queen of the Murder Scene.

[Unseen wrote] Oh, yeah. They have a very inclusive taste in music. But when I think of angst, K-Pop doesn’t really come to mind.

LOL, of course. Didn’t mean to make that connection.

Unseen wrote:

I’m curious to know what you think, especially PopeBeanie.

I’m still pleasantly shocked by the reactors who’ve never listened to them before, but are immediately taken over by them. It’s a very consistent pathway, leading to a new rabbit hole, that can last at least a couple of years into the future. They really haven’t written any bad songs, yet, and seem to still know where to draw the line on what they want to write and perform vs what the commercial powers that be would like them to write and perform.

I didn’t like at first how the Pepsi Center recording focused on recording audience singing along and cheering, but I saw how hundreds of thousands of youtube fans like hearing it and wished they were there, live and participating, too. When the live audience participated by ending Pau’s Breathe song for her while she was in tears and her voice was breaking, that was the most powerful connection between performer and audience I’ve ever seen. TW keeps growing that very strong, sincere (as far as I can tell), two-way bond with their audience, and none of it ever seems artificial, self-serving, or just a sales pitch to me.

There are some songs I don’t love, but every one of them is loved by most people who’ve expressed their opinion about them.

I think XXI Century Blood OMV from 2017 when they were only 17, 15, and 12 years old deserves more recognition and awards. It’s a classic of our social era.

I think much of their back catalog of music will probably impress a growing number of listeners for another half dozen years.

None of us out here really knows what they’re going to do next… it could just keep getting better, or maybe go in an experimental direction that doesn’t propel them to more fame at the rate they’re rising right now. I think we can say that in only the past couple of years, they’ve become world famous.

Who knows, they’re still only young adults!? Will they take a break or start up some new family life any time soon?

[Unseen]

Wow! Not only is The Warning a great band, but they have even inspired another talent to write a heavy metal tribute to them.

[Unseen]

While all three sisters are attractive in unique and widely differing ways, it has turned out that the one who has the largest following in discussion groups, video commentaries, etc., is the shyest of the three, Ale, the tall quiet bassist. Now, I think most people who think about such things will have to admit that Ale is the most conventionally, classically beautiful of the three. Putting on my photographer hat, I have described Dany as the hot one, Pau as the cute one, and Ale as the drop dead gorgeous one. That said, she’s the most modest of the three. Dany is now regularly showing a lot of leg and Pau came out front wearing an eleborate costume featuring garter straps to hold up her stockings, which is a well-known fetish thing. Meanwhile, Ale, the one most guys would most love to see in a bikini or even just a form-fitting dress or miniskirt, typically comes out wearing a maxi skirt or baggy baggy pants and sometiimes some other sort of double layer outfit obscuring her lower limbs. She simply doesn’t want the attention and that’s probably related to her introversion.

Here is what this psychologist had to say about the beautiful and talented Alejandra Villarreal-Vélez:

• This reply was modified 9 months, 2 weeks ago by Unseen.

[Unseen]

A scaled back acoustic concert for a small audience of could be less than 100 people. As usual, they don’t phone it in. Also, from time to time Ale shows some bare leg, which is almost revolutionary for this girl who usually wears baggy pants, a maxi skirt, or a combination of fabrics that hide her lower body. She’s very modest.

This should show up as a playlist not a continuous video:

[PopeBeanie]

Unseen wrote:

A scaled back acoustic concert for a small audience of could be less than 100 people. As usual, they don’t phone it in. Also, from time to time Ale shows some bare leg, which is almost revolutionary for this girl who usually wears baggy pants, a maxi skirt, or a combination of fabrics that hide her lower body. She’s very modest. This should show up as a playlist not a continuous video:

I enjoyed that, thanks. Yes it was a playlist. I skipped only two songs that repeated, and watched other repeats to listen to the differences in fancam recordings. They record much better in this kind of room and crowd. I also like hearing Ale sing, even when she’s sometimes out of tune. I hope she never gives up! (She missed a few bass notes too, but I love hearing her human side.) It’s still all good, considering (I think Dany said) they just threw this set and performance style together.

I’ll never go to another large-crowd concert. I would have liked to be at this one.

Were you a fashion reporter in a past life? I wouldn’t have thought of the same notes on the women’s appearances. But I’m always taken by their body language and stage presence. (And I usually notice when any performer wears a cross.)

Now that you got me looking, I like her shoes. And I have to say, I don’t think I like the psychologist who analyzes them. I don’t remember what it was in particular, but I think she got a couple things wrong about Ale.

[Author]

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