Category Archives: music

I’m Feeling Wings Though I’ve Never Flown

Leave a reply

This past Monday the hubby and I saw Joss Stone at the Greek. Once again, she put on an incredible show. It was a bit disappointing in that she now has three albums out, yet only performed for an hour and barely played anything from her first two albums. But still a damn fine show with some great energy. .

This is now the third or fourth time we’ve seen her and each time, you just can’t help be awed by her. She is not only an incredible singer, but she also really seems to enjoy what she does. The first two times we saw her it was at the House of Blues; the first time for her debut album, Soul Sessions, the second (and I think the third as well) for Mind, Body and Soul. It’s interesting to see how on one hand, she’s matured (she started out at a mere 16) quite a bit and can really hold her own on stage. On the other hand, it’s still so obvious how much she loves performing, she still performs barefooted and she still seems genuinely sincere when she thanks the audience after each song.

My favorite part of a Joss show has to be when she starts cracking herself up. She gets started giggling about something or another and then can’t seem to reign herself back in which results in still more laughing. This happened quite often during our show. In fact, during one of the encores, right as she was getting ready to belt out the final word in the song (man, I wish the hubby would send me the set list already – I’ve done far too much youtubing to recall the song now), the audience started going wild. This of course, set her off in a fit of giggles and she couldn’t even get the final notes out; she turned her back to us, she covered her face with her hands, she covered her face with the scarf tied to her mic, and then finally, she just decided to close her eyes to finally finish. It was a great way to end the show.

If you ever get the chance to see her live, be sure to check it out (she has an AOL session – complete with the yummy Common duet – if you want to see more than a couple songs that I’ve highlighted below).

Here she is on the Late, Late Show at 17 singing Dirty Man (one of my favorite songs). You can see how young she is, yet how into the music she gets.
Here she is on the Late, Late Show at 17 singing Dirty Man (one of my favorite songs). You can see how young she is, yet how into the music she gets.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KI8lxGEkkJc]

Here she is on an Italian TV show this past year. See how she’s flirty, laughing and seeming genuinely sincere as she thanks the audience, that’s typical for her performances (and I’m assuming that’s her boyfriend that she sings to in the audience since I’ve seen her go out to him in nearly every TV performance I found while looking for the best live perfomance)
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5iY-MkV-MtM]

And let’s not forget the absolutely killer Janis Joplin tribute with Melissa Etheridge from the ’05 Grammys. Man, I still tear up and get emotional during this clip. It’s that damn soulful.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ef-f-l2Pbn8]

Chocolate Rain – It’s Called Viral for a Reason

Leave a reply

I can admit it, we’re geeky enough in our home that we watch G4. In particular, we watch Attack of the Show (I’ll be even more honest, and admit that I have a girl crush on Olivia Munn – what’s not to love). Here’s one of their favorite (and now viral) youtube videos. I’m warning you, it’s just the kind of ditty that you might have trouble getting out of your head.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EwTZ2xpQwpA]

Eight Bands in Three Nights

1 Reply

And you thought you had a busy weekend…

Thurs – Great Northern @ the Hammer. This is a great outdoor venue and would be just perfect for a wedding or party. Not the best for live music since the sound just bounces off all the concrete, but really, for a free concert, it was good fun!

Fri – Sara Bareilles, The Last Goodnight, Rocco Deluca. I absolutely love the Fonda, it’s so very art deco. We had the privilege of attending a private pre-concert party a while back up on the roof and it’s an amazing, fun space. We caught the tail end of Sara and for a young’un, she sounded great and really worked the crowd. We went to specifically to see/shoot The Last Good Night as my hubby was at their record launch a week or so ago. They’re quite good – very Maroon 5ish. I have to say though, Rocco Deluca, so not my thing. But dayum can that boy rock a guitar! Impressive.

Sat – KaiserCartel @ the Hotel Cafe. Now with exceptions (mostly being, excessive heat, mass crowds and rude, talkative audience members – see the Hanson show post) I really love seeing shows at the Hotel Cafe. It’s a well-run, small, intimate scene where you can really enjoy the music and the bands’ interaction. And while I don’t see KaiserCartel making it big on the radio anytime soon, their sound was incredible! They ended the night totally acoustic, no mics, wandering around the place singing to everyone. I don’t think I’ve ever heard that place so quiet. It was awesome!

This was followed by…Dave Lichens, Libbie Schrader, Andrea Wasse @ Room 5. This is yet another awesome venue to listen to singer/songwriters. It’s even more intimate than the Hotel Cafe, but believe it or not, they have seating!! It’s upstairs from Amalfi Ristorante over on La Brea. They make some awesome cocktails (and my Cosmo was actually made with Grey Goose!) and they’re not crazy expensive. I hear good things about the restaurant – everything that passed by looked great and again, great prices. We’ll either have to eat there next show, or make it a date night outing. Speaking of, what a great location for a date night…good food, good drinks, good atmosphere and good music. Sounds like a great date to me!

I have to say though, seeing eight performances in three days, well, that’s just a bit much for me. Then again, since the hubby started up with his concert photography biz (before that, he was reviewing live shows), summers are typically like this. It gets to be fun when we get to travel for shows!! I think our next big out of state gig will be Herbie Hancock in Santa Fe, not counting Pitchfork in Chicago (since I’m not going to that).

In closing…holy segue Batman! Can I just say that it drives me crazy when I don’t seem to have a natural ending or a good segue. Mind you, not crazy enough to dwell on it. Just crazy enough to know that it’s out there, for all the world to read.

How do I Always End Up the Designated Driver?

Leave a reply

oh yeah, because it’s less calories to drink diet coke than to drink a rum and diet coke *sigh* Of course, my hubby waited until after I finished my Cosmo and my Grey Goose and Cranberry to let me in on the fact that I’d be the one driving home. Luckily, with two more sets to go, lots of water and some tiramisu (yeah, less calories my ass!) I was good to go in a couple of hours.

Next time dammit, I’m going to be the tossing back the drinks!

Let’s Just Say…

1 Reply


Hanson
Originally uploaded by magnolia83912.

Let’s just say you were hanging out with your significant other and decided to see a favorite boy band from your youth*.  Let’s just say that since it’s a late night show, you and your guy get a good head start drinking.  So when said boy band from your youth* basically starts rocking the joint doing cover songs from many, many years** before said youth, do you start dancing along?  Dancing along to the Doobie Brothers?  The Doobie Brothers as sung by Hanson?!?!

Wow, what a night.  Those fans were crazy.  There was enough screaming and flash going of that you’d think the paps were there. I’m sure they’ll be plenty of pictures on Flickr once folks sober up enough to post them(found one). 

And um…they lied to me!  There wasn’t any Rob Thomas to be seen or heard!  I was gyped! 

I was gyped and forced to stand in a hot, sweaty room full of 21ers that had been drinking for hours and gay men!  Those very same drunk young ‘uns that just wouldn’t shut the hell up and made so much racket you couldn’t even really hear the music.  Let’s face it, I’m getting too old to appreciate shit like this.  Me, I want to enjoy my live music from a well-ventilated venue with comfy seats, good acoustics, a great view and wait service.

So while the young Hanson boys were rocking out those cover songs, it still was *just* three brothers from the mid-west playing 60’s & 70’s cover songs.  While I sweat admiring the loud, drunk, morons dancing like fools.***

* this is purely hypothetical…they were a hit by the time I was into adulthood folks!
** we’re talking stuff that I grew up on as a wee one with a pothead for a dad
*** remember what I said about he night starting out in Dennys?

Thursday Thirteen – 13+ Songs from the Police Show at Staples

Leave a reply

Okay, it’s more than thirteen songs, but how else could I justify posting about their first LA show in 24 years!!! That’s a loooong time, no matter how you slice it. I’ve been dying for this show for those same 24 years (*ah* Veteran’s Stadium in Philly – a mere teen – what an awesome day!). So here goes…

I just got back from the Police show about an hour ago. I have to say, while I had an awesome time, it really wasn’t the best show ever. In fact, about mid-show (Invisible Sun-ish) I actually thought to myself that for a greatest hits show, it wasn’t half as good as the Petty show I saw last summer. And that says a lot considering I’m a HUGE Police fan and not much of a Petty fan at all. They just didn’t seem to be having as much fun or playing like they enjoyed the crowd. Maybe it’s still too early in the tour, but I don’t think so.

I will say though, they looked awesome! I’m thinking they’ve been doing some clean living ’cause they’re aging much better than your average rock-n-roller, rock star. Stu looked awesome as usual. Sting looked good (though something about him in a baggy shirt and skinny-legged pants just doesn’t sit too well with me). Andy was rockin’ it (though Richard said he was obvious playing easy compared to how they sounded 20+ years ago.

So yeah, I enjoyed myself beyond belief. And the fans, well pretty much everyone there was a total fan (except for the weirdo row of hot chicks in front of us that just randomly disappeared after the third song never to be seen again until right before the encore – a couple of said hottie girls didn’t even know the words to Every Breath – how lame!) But really, stuff was just missing. There wasn’t much audience participation – very little Roxanne-o and even less So lo-lo-lo-ing going on – and if you know anything about Police shows from back in the day, they were jam-packed with sing-a-longs. Kind of makes me want to track down a bootleg from their Zenyatta tour (Synchronicity never really did much for me – I tended to like them harder and edgier).

I don’t know if they just didn’t trust the LA crowd (Springsteen is rumored to HATE playing to the “industry” crowd in LA) or what. It was strange though considering they had audience mics everywhere, so they were recording. You might think that would be reason enough to put some effort into the performance. They also kept going dark between the songs and that kind of bugged me since I had to watch the show on the monitors (so no monitors on the after-the-song antics that are usually fun to witness).

So yeah, it was a fun show and I loved singing and dancing along. I had so much fun, I left unable to hear (first show without earplugs in I don’t know how long) and without a voice I from screaming and singing along so much. But for $250 tickets, it just wasn’t that great and I just didn’t leave there wowed. Maybe I’m just too jaded with all the concerts we go to. But dammit, I was really wanting to be blown away by an incredible show. Did I mention I waited 24 years for this show?!?!

And I have to say, I’m quite bummed that we got gyped out of Murder By Numbers since 1) it was on earlier set lists and 2) it happens to be one of my favorite songs. According to previous show set lists, they also gyped us out of Spirits in the Material World. We wound up getting 19 out of the 21 songs on the other set lists. They wound up ending the show with at least 10 more minutes (and upwards of 20 more minutes) left before curfew. That’s enough for 3 more songs – or at least 2 more and a bit of a sing-a-long!

I will say, it was definitely fun to see them together again and if I had the ability, I’d head on over to see them again this same tour in a couple of months hoping they sound a little better. For those of you left to see them still, maybe try lowering your expectations a bit (yes they’re a super group, but unlike all of the current super groups, they’ve spent the past 24 years apart!) and I’m sure you’ll have a fun time jamming to some great songs!

Playlist (8:47 out of seats for some Bob Marley – 8:50 on stage)
* Message in a Bottle
* Synchronicity II
* Walking on the Moon
* Voices in My Head & Don’t Stand So Close
* Driven to Tears
* Bed too Big
* Every Little Thing
* Truth Hits Everybody
* Wrapped Around Your Finger
* De Do Do Do
* Invisible Sun
* Walking in Your Footsteps
* Can’t Stand Losing You
* Roxanne

* Kind of Pain (10:15)
* So Lonely

* Every Breath

* Next to You (off stage by 10:40)

What She Got? Not a Lot

Leave a reply

hello?!?! SuperTramp! Really? Who sings SuperTramp songs in their head?!?!

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rhK5AbftSA4]

And who knew it would be so difficult to find a video of Girlfriend on youtube. But boy howdy, they’ve got every other kick ass SuperTramp song out there!!!

Off to get ready for the Police show now – woohoo!!

Thursday Thirteen – Female Artists

2 Replies

Here’s a list of thirteen female artists that I’m digging right now – in no particular order…

1. Dixie Chicks
2. Patty Griffin
3. Keri Noble
4. Rachael Yamagata
5. Trisha Yearwood
6. Kirsty MacColl
7. Nora Jones
8. Jane Monheit
9. Rilo Kiley
10. Sandi Thom
11. KT Tunstall
12. Anna Nallick
13. Martina McBride

Help Save Internet Radio & NPR

1 Reply
SaveNetRadio.org

About the Issue

On March 2, 2007 the Copyright Royalty Board (CRB), which oversees sound recording royalties paid by Internet radio services, increased Internet radio’s royalty burden between 300 and 1200 percent and thereby jeopardized the industry’s future.   

At the request of the Recording Industry Association of America, the CRB ignored the fact that Internet radio royalties were already double what satellite radio pays, and multiplied the royalties even further.  The 2005 royalty rate was 7/100 of a penny per song streamed; the 2010 rate will be 19/100 of a penny per song streamed.  And for small webcasters that were able to calculate royalties as a percentage of revenue in 2005 – that option was quashed by the CRB, so small webcasters’ royalties will grow exponentially!

Before this ruling was handed down, the vast majority of webcasters were barely making ends meet as Internet radio advertising revenue is just beginning to develop.  Without a doubt most Internet radio services will go bankrupt and cease webcasting if this royalty rate is not reversed by the Congress, and webcasters’ demise will mean a great loss of creative and diverse radio.  Surviving webcasters will need sweetheart licenses that major record labels will be only too happy to offer, so long as the webcaster permits the major label to control the programming and playlist.  Is that the Internet radio you care to hear?  

As you know, the wonderful diversity of Internet radio is enjoyed by tens of millions of Americans and provides promotional and royalty opportunities to independent labels and artists that are not available to them on broadcast radio.  What you may not know is that in just the last year Internet radio listening jumped dramatically, from 45 million listeners per month to 72 million listeners each month.  Internet radio is already popular and it is already benefiting thousands of artists who are finding new fans online every day.

Action must be taken to stop this faulty ruling from destroying the future of Internet radio that so many millions of listeners depend on each day.  Instead of relying on lawyers filing appeals in the CRB and the courts, the SaveNetRadio Coalition has been formed to represent every webcaster, every Net Radio listener, and every artist who enjoys and benefits from this medium.  Please join our fight for the preservation of Internet radio.

CALL YOUR SENATORS AND YOUR REPRESENTATIVE NOW TO ASK THEM TO CO-SPONSOR THE INTERNET RADIO EQUALITY ACT, S. 1353 IN THE SENATE AND H.R. 2060 IN THE HOUSE!
 

The future of Internet radio is in immediate danger!

Royalty rates for webcasters have been drastically increased by a recent ruling and are due to go into effect on July 15 (retroactive to Jan 1, 2006!). If the increased rates remain unchanged, the majority of webcasters will go bankrupt and silent on this date. Internet radio needs your help!

The Internet Radio Equality Act has recently been introduced in both the House and Senate to save the Internet radio industry. Please call your senators and your representative to ask them to co-sponsor the Internet Radio Equality Act.
 

Dentist-Schmentist, Weigh In-Schmay In

Leave a reply

Well, I tried to weigh in this morning before heading into the dreaded dentist for my cleaning, but I got my times totally messed up and they weren’t open yet. Then of course, with my cleaning scheduled, I’d miss the next WI. So basically, I just gave up and I’ll just do a cursory WI tomorrow morning. I’m still not expecting much since I went a little crazy my birth-a-versary week, but who knows. I’ve been doing a lot of walking and that’s got to count for something.

All I know is after this vacation, I really, really need to get back on track with WW. This has just been pathetic. I got back into my smaller stash of clothes and just kind of got lazy after that. All I can say is while I’m thrilled beyond belief to be able to visit with J&C in a couple weeks, I’m also dreading the visit. She’s done amazingly well, and I’ve just done okay. For the most part, I’m fine with this since I look and feel SO much better. But you know, I just don’t want to be judged and sometimes, we just can’t help but harbor little judgey thoughts, you know. Love or not, it happens. But overall, I’m just thrilled with our upcoming vacation and so happy to visit with them again. Just chalk all this up go my being a bit of a goofball.

Sidenote: The toilet broke again last night and the water has been gushing non-stop (except when I made the hubby turn it off last night so we could sleep). This time around though, I called the landlord and reminded him that he’s fixed it once, we’ve fixed it twice and dammit if it isn’t broke again. So hopefully he’ll fix it right up!

So I had my cleaning today at the dentist. And once again, Xantax to the rescue!!! Man, they should just get a license to dispense that stuff when you walk it. It makes such a difference. My cleaner lady even commented on how much more calm I was and asked if I took one. So yeah, the shit works. She also gave me an A- on my upkeep saying that if it wasn’t for my crazy ass wisdom teeth way, way, way far back in my mouth, my teeth would all be in great, clean, shape! That feels good. It took three years to get back to this point especially after having gone 7+ years between any dental or cleaning work. That is, if I was ever at this point in my life – with my fear of dentists I usually avoided what I could. But yeah, that made me feel great!

So today I just have to do some inside cleaning (if I can manage to NOT take a nap – damn that husband and his only getting 3-5 hours of sleep while working on his latest project) and whatnot and then get ready for Harry Connick at the Greek. I love the Greek, it’s one of my favorite venues to see shows. I’m not so sure what to expect of this show though. Having peeked at a recent setlist, it seems to be ONLY stuff from this Nola CD. I picked it up with a gift card the other day and have been listening while in the car. It’s not bad, just not exactly the Harry I know and love! Hopefully he’ll wow us with the show – much like Michael Bubble did a few years back. Here’s hoping.

Have a wonderful weekend everyone!!!