Ah, 'tis the season for generosity, sappy stories, and happy holiday tunes. In the holiday spirit, I'd like to point you toward some of the most generous music websites out there, and spread some heartwarming stories. (See yesterday's post about my Christmas playlist for more of the holiday tunes.)
First off, I'd love to give you all the gift of great holiday music, but Amazon's already playing Santa for me. In case you haven't heard, their 25 Days of Free promotion is giving out a free Christmas song every day. Today's release: Relient K's beautiful "I Celebrate the Day," one of their most moving songs about struggling to be close to Jesus.
If you're looking for something a little lighter, don't worry - you can still download the other 21 songs released earlier this month. I, of course, had to snatch of a copy of Lady Gaga's deliciously and disturbingly provocative "Christmas Tree" feat. her buddy Space Cowboy. As with all of her songs, her infamous advice to not listen, "just dance" certainly applies with this track.
The only problem with the Amazon giveaway is it works best when you download the songs with their free Amazon MP3 Downloader, and by "it works best," I mean it barely works at all. But rather than crappy software, I prefer to think of it as a daily exercise in meditation and self-restraint. By Christmas, you'll be ready to tackle those pesky plastic packages that can only be cut with knives, no sweat.
If Amazon's 22 free holiday songs aren't enough, you can download 25 free songs at Green Label Sound. No reindeer or baby Jesuses in this collection, but nothing says holiday excess like four versions of "Big Bills" by Flosstradamus. Still, I can't complain about free songs from Matt & Kim and Chromeo. (And okay, Flosstradamus is officially my new fave dance-pop duo.) Maybe I'll make a New Year's resolution to actually listen to all these remixes I just downloaded...
Oh, and for the truly tireless, if you can download those and still stand to download another free remix, LIGHTS is giving out a free download of the Spike Club Mix of her (minor) hit "Ice" to all members of her website. I highly recommend joining, not just because joining is free and lets you comment on all her pictures of her adorable self holding ginormous ninja swords, but also because she and Owl City appear to be Siamese twins when it comes to touring: she's opening for him on both his winter and spring North America tours and squeezing in a Europe tour with him in between. I feel reassured knowing that in case his email list, MySpace blog, and official Street Team don't alert me of one of his concert presales in time, her mailing list will :]
And speaking of their spring tour, you've heard Adam's sneaky presale announcement, right? April 22, Constitution Hall will def be where the party's at. Me and eight of my coolest friends already snatched up our tickets; I suggest you follow suit. I know I haven't gotten around to posting my review of his fall tour yet, but like everything he does, it was fairly magical.
Oh, and speaking of Owl City, Adam sparked a minor panic over his marital status when he tweeted "DING DONG! WEDDING BELLS!" on Friday. He's rumored to be dating Ann Monson (whose tweets he occasionally retweets), but sources relatively close to Adam reassured us crazy fangirls and boys that Adam's not tying the know anytime soon. Coincidentally, Skillet's guitarist Ben Kascia confirmed that Adam was just celebrating a friend's wedding when he tweeted that a friend of his, whose sister is dating Adam, got married on Saturday... It's a small world. A strange, small world.
One pop star did go off the market this weekend, of course: Kevin Jonas married his girlfriend Danielle DeLeasa on Saturday. Details on the "fairy-tale"-like ceremony here. [Be sure to notice the part about the faux-icicles at the New York ceremony. If they'd waited a day, they probably could have gotten a few icicles from Mother Nature, free of charge.] According to People magazine, when Kevin popped the question, Danielle responded "Yes, yes, yes like 500 times super fast in a row." Awww.
Looks like Kevin and Danielle won't be getting much of a honeymoon, though - the JoBros are slated to perform at the Walt Disney World Christmas Parade this Friday. Pity; they're some of the only pop stars I can think of who probably wait until the honeymoon.
Wait - this just in - Inspirational Story Alert!
If you love a good overcoming-adversity-to-sing-tear-jerking-ballads story, well, you probably already watched Charice Pempengco perform on Oprah. But in case you didn't, meet one of the most adorable Asian exports since Hello Kitty. During interviews, this Filipina singer looks like a harmless little ball of cuteness, but put her onstage and the girl can sing. Her unbelievably strong vocals have drawn rave reviews from everyone from David Foster to Josh Groban, who says she has one of the most beautiful voices he's heard in a long time. And to top it off, she's got a great inspirational story about being raised in the Philippines by a single mother. Her mother left with Charice and her brother after their father domestically abused them. After receiving only informal vocal lessons from her mother, she performed well on the American Idol-like singing competition Little Big Star. Her career didn't really take off, however, until videos of her singing reached YouTube. Since then, she's appeared on every talk show ever, as well as in the film Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel. I think her rendition of Alicia Keys' "No One," accompanied by the Chipettes, is sure to become a classic.
Here's a video of Charice performing her new single "Note to God" (sans rodents) on Oprah. And be sure to stay tuned for her adorable interview afterwards, in which she talks about her career, as well as her crushes on Justin Timberlake and Josh Groban. (Spoiler alert: Then Oprah gives everyone Xboxes.)
Also, check her out on David Archuleta's Christmas album singing a duet of "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" with him. Treacly Christmas song, American Idol's favorite teddy bear, and a girl whose voice is the only thing better than her back story? Sounds like a downright Christmas miracle.
And finally, before you head over to the fireplace or sip some hot chocolate, here's a video to put you in that warm-n-fuzzy mood. For a song questioning the substance of love in the light of his parents' divorce and his off-again on-again relationship with his girlfriend, NeverShoutNever's new video "What Is Love?" still manages to be incredibly heartwarming.
What Is Love?
nevershoutnever. (new song & video) | MySpace Music Videos
Happy Holidays!
Showing posts with label nevershoutnever. Show all posts
Showing posts with label nevershoutnever. Show all posts
Tuesday, December 22, 2009
Saturday, August 29, 2009
I've been trying to stay away from blogging and obsessively watching music videos until my summer homework is done, but when a couple of my favorite artists release videos as great as this, well, I just gotta share them.
Lots of other posts with other great videos coming up soon, but for now, keep the end-of-summer party train running a little longer with these:
First up, NeverShoutNever! released the adorable video for his equally adorable song "On The Brightside" yesterday. If you thought Christofer Drew was cute, wait til you see this video's animated star. This one will definitely brighten your day.
On the Brightside
The music biz hasn't been treating Canadian pop-rock princess Skye Sweetnam too well these days, but hey, she's never let her lethargic label get her down before. During this hiatus from performing, promoting, or doing anything else really, she made her directorial debut with "Explode (Makes My Head)" for fellow Canadian pop-rocker Ashes. Her raspy voice can get irritating, but the repetitive instrumentals are fun enough to almost make up for it. The video won't exactly have you glued to your seat, wondering what will happen next, but your eyes will definitely be glued to Ashes' rhinestone-coated lips. Yes, rhinestones. Her career probably won't stop stagnating any sooner than Skye's, but at least give the video a look.
And finally, I'm saving a lot of the good videos I've seen for a future post, but you simply must check out this darling little fan-made video for "Fireflies" by Owl City. (It's for a contest that I fully plan on entering and winning, but, well, this is pretty darn hard to compete with. It's creative, well-made, and as heartwarming as a Pixar film. I'll definitely have trouble kicking its ass) ;)
Keep your eyes peeled for more awesome music videos showing up here soon! I've got a whole rack of European hits I discovered on my trip to Italy that I can't wait to share with everybody!
Lots of other posts with other great videos coming up soon, but for now, keep the end-of-summer party train running a little longer with these:
First up, NeverShoutNever! released the adorable video for his equally adorable song "On The Brightside" yesterday. If you thought Christofer Drew was cute, wait til you see this video's animated star. This one will definitely brighten your day.
On the Brightside
The music biz hasn't been treating Canadian pop-rock princess Skye Sweetnam too well these days, but hey, she's never let her lethargic label get her down before. During this hiatus from performing, promoting, or doing anything else really, she made her directorial debut with "Explode (Makes My Head)" for fellow Canadian pop-rocker Ashes. Her raspy voice can get irritating, but the repetitive instrumentals are fun enough to almost make up for it. The video won't exactly have you glued to your seat, wondering what will happen next, but your eyes will definitely be glued to Ashes' rhinestone-coated lips. Yes, rhinestones. Her career probably won't stop stagnating any sooner than Skye's, but at least give the video a look.
And finally, I'm saving a lot of the good videos I've seen for a future post, but you simply must check out this darling little fan-made video for "Fireflies" by Owl City. (It's for a contest that I fully plan on entering and winning, but, well, this is pretty darn hard to compete with. It's creative, well-made, and as heartwarming as a Pixar film. I'll definitely have trouble kicking its ass) ;)
Keep your eyes peeled for more awesome music videos showing up here soon! I've got a whole rack of European hits I discovered on my trip to Italy that I can't wait to share with everybody!
Wednesday, August 5, 2009
Break Out the 'Sunblock;' These Bands are Hot
Say what you will about MTV's programming choices, but you gotta admit: MTV knows how to throw a party.
mtvU described this year's summer mini-festival, the Sunblock Music Festival, as a "killer music event" and did not disappoint. The concert will air on mtvU on 8/10. I've never met anyone who actually has mtvU, so fortunately, it will also be streamed online. But, having attended the event in Baltimore last week, I'd like to give a little preview/review.
The concert was at Pier Six in Baltimore, which, from a distance, looks a bit like a fancy meringue
dessert with several peaks. Or like an elaborate sandcastle. Meringues and sandcastles typically aren't very big, and from the other end of the pier, the pavilion doesn't look very big either. So you can kinda imagine my surprise when I arrive 20 minutes after doors open, 40 minutes before the concert is supposed to start, and find a line three people-think stretching across the fairly large parking lot. Then a comparable line inside for the Boys Like Girls/Gym Class Heroes/The Academy Is... merch tent... Oh man. This gonna be one big party.
But at least mtvU knows how to treat their guests. Half an hour before the concert was scheduled to begin, a DJ came out and started entertaining the crowd. (He might have been some mtvU personality, I don't know... I've never seen a TV that has mtvU.) I was pretty glad to have a cheesy DJ to sneer at during those tediously long breaks between sets at most concerts, and I think much of the crowd felt the same way. His attempts to get up pumped by telling us all the great things he's heard about those crazy partiers in Baltimore worked about as well as those attempts always do - marginally better, in fact, because he was a legitimately cool guy. Not any more cheesy than any other DJ. But he knew the key to getting the crowd to really go crazy: telling them they're going to be on TV. Maybe some of the kids there actually watch mtvU; they certainly jumped around and cheered like they were dying to be on it.
He even got a very substantial part of the audience to leave their seats for a chance to be on TV right now. My friends and I were still kind of suffering from heatstroke because July in Baltimore is just not the best time to be outside, but we could see the masses of girls jumping around and screaming at the mtvU booth thing on the lawn. Five minutes of fame.
Besides the fact that if you see four girls in homemade yellow shirts dancing like crazy, it is probably my friends and me, my favorite thing about having a TV crew there was discovering my dream job: working the ginormous camera on a pole. It looked like it might hurt your arms after a few hours, but getting to swing a camera all over the place and watching kids go bananas whenever it comes near them would be totally worth it. I think.
^So. Cool.
I know you're probably pretty antsy to get to the music, but hey, 15 minutes after the concert was scheduled to start, we were too. I mean, this DJ was cool, but he wasn't quite 45 minutes worth of cool. And the hip-hop he kept playing for us was quite danceable, but we had to save our energy for NeverShoutNever, who should be coming on in... negative 15 minutes. My friend and I couldn't take it anymore and decided to make a pilgrimage to the Boys Like Girls merch table and wait in the monster line there. At least the monster had lost a bit of weight since we arrived. But just a bit. Also, we got treated to a view of a girl bizarrely tucking her tank top into her bra to get the attention of some roadie 50 feet away. What a pleasant way to spend 10 minutes.
By the time, we made it within 5 feet of the merch table, the kids in their seats were cheering like crazy. By the time we were at the table, "On the Brightside" was blaring over the speakers. We were missing NeverShoutNever to buy t-shirts and tote bags! Nooooo!!!!
We blurted out our orders, threw our money at the merch girls, and stretched our legs, ready to sprint back to our seats. Like, really, I prepared to sprint there. No way was my consumerism going to make me miss the cutest guy in the world. At least, not for any longer than necessary to buy the stuff I spent 10 minutes in line for.
NeverShoutNever!
mtvU saved the best performance for first. NeverShoutNever sounded amazing, and his between-song banter was the most adorable thing thing you've ever heard.
The last time I saw NSN perform was in a dark, so-intimate-it's-claustrophobic club on the sketchy side of Baltimore (okay, one of its many sketchy sides). This time, he was only performing a few miles away, but the setting could not have been more different. Well, okay, it could have been in front of a crowd of metalheads or something, but physically, this stage out in the fresh air of the utterly un-sketchy Inner Harbour was quite a change.
And NSN changed his sound accordingly.
Last time, NSN played an intimate little set: he sang and played the tambourine, accompanied by an acoustic guitarist. This time, I believe the tambourine still made an appearance - but so did a ukulele, a harmonica, and an acoustic guitar. And that's just what Chris was playing.
He was joined by his band, The Shout. And with a full band came a fuller sound. And it totally rocked.
His sweet little acoustic songs became slamming rockers. Such a thing would be nearly inconceivable - NSN seems like the antithesis of rock. But it worked. He fleshed out his old acoustic and ukulele songs with the new instruments, and they sounded stronger and more forceful, but still melodic. And the increased intensity was good. The darker songs sounded angrier, as they should - most people wouldn't just write wimpy little acoustic songs about the things he's been through. But the sweet songs were no less sweet. Fans could just jump up and down to them now.
In short, he sounded amazing. Very different from his recordings, but not in a bad way. And he absolutely must record live versions with the full band.
Although NSN is still a solo project and The Shout are just his back-up, Chris gave them chances to shine. His guitarist performed a spectacular solo rendition of "The Star-Spangled Banner."
At this show, Chris showed a different side of his music, and he also showed a slightly different side of himself. He kicked his leg up in the air, thrashed around a bit (nothing too crazy), and generally rocked out to the new rockable versions of his songs. But that's certainly not to say that the adorable little guy who repeatedly told the crowd at the Hellogoodbye show was gone.
"You guys are just too cute for your own good, dangnabbit!"
Such shout-outs were sprinkled liberally throughout each break between songs and sometimes even during songs.
And for anyone curious about his unorthodox curse word-substitutes:
"Hellz yeah!" he exclaimed after one song. " I'm trying to stop cursing because cursing is a nasty habit. So I say 'hellz' because the z makes it okay, right?"
So cute. Who could stop themselves from loving him? Especially since he loves the fans so much.
During the second song of his set, "Happy":
"We love you." Plays a few measures.
"We love you." Plays a bit more.
..."We love you."
It was all one big love fest.
To introduce his sweet ukulele tune "Did It Hurt," after telling us we were beautiful, Chris said "I've got a little crush on you, so I wrote a song about you." Cue deafening cheer. Followed by even louder cheer when the crowd found out which song it was.
But it wasn't just love note shout-outs to the crowd as a whole. Chris really tried to connect with the crowd, an extremely valiant effort in a pavilion this big. He handed out several roses to girls in the front rows. A few girls near the middle of the pavilion (aka pretty far away) held up a sign saying "You Make Me Happy." He thanked them from the stage and told them they made him happy too.
Chris even did a great job of spreading the love amongst his fans, a feat most fantastically popular teen heartthrobs can't pull off. Before playing a cover of The Beatles' "I Want To Hold Your Hand," Chris told the audience to grab the hand of the person next to them, whether they knew them or not. Fingers intertwined, not clasped. Then he told the crowd to jump up and down with their held hands in the air during the chorus. And everyone did it. Again, it was all one big lovefest. With his flowers woven around his mic stand and an American flag with a peace symbol on it draped over the keyboard, Chris truly looked like a relic of the 60's. If his original songs weren't so good, I'd say he and The Shout would make a great 60's cover band.
And to end the set, Chris performed "Big City Dreams" and even got off the stage and down into the crowd. I couldn't really see where he went after that, but the message was pretty clear: even with his big new sound, his big new band, and his big new flower budget, he was still a small-town boy with some big-time love and appreciation for his fans.
The Veronicas
Before you read my review of The Veronicas' set, there are two things you should know:
One: I love The Veronicas. They may be identical twins, but they are two different girls with different styles and different personalities, and I respect their individuality. I just can't remember which is which.
So for the purposes of this review, I will somewhat callously refer to them The Blonde and The Brunette. But I know that they are two girls named Jess and Lis who record terrific pop songs, as well as the occasional adorable vlog.
But they suck at playing live.
Two: Before the concert, my friends and I indulged in several of the Inner Harbor's attractions, including ESPN Zone, pedal boats shaped like purple dragons, and the mall. While perusing the pricey but crazy hip clothing at Urban Outfitters, I happened upon a t-shirt that said "Little Black Dress" on it. I looked at it like a bouncer looks at a twelve year-old with a fake ID (not that I've ever seen that...) and held it up to see if it could really be worn as a dress or if it was just a t-shirt impostor. It covered all the essentials with less than an inch to spare, so I put it down, deciding that it had passed the test and was, in fact, a little black dress. But only a shameless skank would wear it without leggings underneath.
When The Veronicas came on stage, my friend started screaming something about a t-shirt. I was utterly confused until I saw that one of The Veronicas - The Brunette - was wearing the exact same Little Black Dress shirt I saw at Urban Outfitters.
Without leggings underneath. Shameless skank.
Though honestly, her outfit looked less risque than The Blonde's tank top with "Lick My Legs" scrawled on it. Ohhkayyy...
Describing a band's outfits before their music usually seems rather petty to me, but for The Veronicas, it seems to work: their show was mostly about show. Musically, they didn't sound stellar. They sounded good enough, but they didn't perform nearly as well as the other bands at the festival. But the other bands were really spectacular.
Last summer, I saw The Veronicas perform at Ram's Head Live on the Verizon VIP tour with Natasha Bedingfield and Kate Voegele. That time, again, they looked good - slightly skanky, with a few too many rips in their tights, but good... But they sounded awful. A bit like Alvin and the Chipmunks. Because they sound so good on their albums, I gave them the benefit of a doubt and chalked it up to problems with their sound equipment.
This time, like last time, they opened with "Untouched." One played an adorable miniature electronic keyboard while the other just sang. And this time, like last time, their voices sounded freakishly high-pitched and squeaky. Here we go again... Maybe it's not the sound equipment. Maybe those are just their voices.
That was a rather scary thought, but before the song was over, they quelled my fears: their voices started sounding normal in the middle of the song. And they continued to sound pretty good for the rest of the set.
But the best part of the set still wasn't the music; The Veronicas can sing pretty well, but they can work the stage like pros. Which I guess they are.
After "Untouched," they played the song "Everything," which doesn't appear on either of their albums. I think they've said in interviews that they love to play it because The Blonde plays electric guitar in it. And she played well, but she didn't sound nearly as good as she looked while rocking out with that guitar. She would have looked like a tough, grungy rocker chick, except the guitar looked like it weighed twice as much as that little waif.
If The Blonde looked like every rocker's dream playing that big ol guitar in her giant sunglasses, blonde bob, and short shorts, The Veronicas got the (very few) guys in the crowd even more excited during "Mother Mother." They screamed and leaned all over their guitarist, Jungle George, and got down on their knees and held other and lifted their legs and radiated sensuality. Remember the Hurley.com and Smartpunk stages at Warped Tour, one of which housed the screamo-dance bands, the other of which housed every female on the tour? With this song - screaming and gorgeous girls - they would've blown both stages away.
Plus, at Warped Tour, there might have been a bit of testosterone in the audience. Sunblock Music Festival was very heavily populated by girls - girls in love with Christopher Drew, girls in love with William Beckett, girls in love with Travis McCoy, girls in love with Martin Johnson, but mostly girls in love with all four. And a few boys in love with the girls who dragged them there. So there wasn't a whole lotta love for The Veronicas.
This indifference in The Veronicas was very evident during the song "Take Me on the Floor." The Veronicas introduced this song, explaining that it was a dance song, so they wanted to see everyone dance. If Christopher Drew tells you to jump, you jump. If Travis tells you to put your peace sign up, you put your peace sign up. If Martin tells you to go crazy, you go crazy. But if The Veronicas tell you to dance... eh, you don't really have to dance.
Although I must admit, I disagreed with their diagnosis of "Take Me on the Floor." The way they played it live, it wasn't so much a dance song as a jump-up-and-down song. But hey, I jumped... Besides, I could be on mtvU!
The Veronicas schooled the apathetic crowd in how to dance during "This Is How It Feels." Throughout the song, The Blonde jumped around and kicked her legs and shook her head like only a blonde-bobbed waif can. Needless to say she looked So Frickin Cool.
The Veronicas wanted to get the crowd into it. At this show and their concert last year, they accepted the fact that "4ever" is their only song Americans know. So both times, they saved it for last and invited the audience to sing along if they knew the words. Some audience members did. Nowhere near as many as knew the words to "Happy" by NSN, but a fair amount. Overall, their performance was not too shabby. Not nearly as shabby as The Blonde's ratty little tank top, anyways.
The Academy Is...
William Beckett has something The Veronicas needed (besides male anatomy): charisma. NSN may have given the best performance of the night, but William Beckett was the best performer. I thought The Veronicas knew how to work a stage, but he really knew what he was doing. And he was doing a lot. Throwing the mic stand. Lifting it up in the air. Standing on top of the speakers with his fist in the air. Standing on top of the speakers and staring intently at the audience. His set was like one big photo op: every five seconds, he doing something that looked iconic. In another life, he could've been a crazy demagogue.
Except his voice sounded kind of squeaky when he spoke. Not as high as Chris's, but it was weird, since his voice sounded freakishly deep when he introduced the remix of "Automatic Eyes" on Fall Out Boy's free mixtape. I don't know if that was the mic or just him... For the record, Martin sounded pretty high-pitched, too, but Travis didn't. Huh.
TAI's set opened with the spectacular rocker "Summer Hair=Forever Young." Love that song. And he never lost any steam, plowing through other high-energy should-have-been-hits like "Neighbors" and "His Girl Friday" without losing any steam. Watching Beckett's energy and listening to his crazy catchy hooks, I could not fathom how The Academy Is... had existed for so many years without becoming one of the most popular powerpop-punk bands around.
Near the end of their set, Beckett asked the audience who had seen The Academy Is... before. Big cheer. Then he asked whose first time it was. Cheer of roughly the same volume. He told us neophytes to put our hands in the air (Okay, he didn't use the word "neophytes;" I think he said "guys." Just trying to put those ol' vocab words to work here.) He welcomed us to the club and told us to keep our hands in the air while they played "We've Got a Big Mess on Our Hands." (By the end of the night, I could barely lift my arms after all this rocking out.)
When the set ended with "About a Girl," the energy in the pavilion could have powered the entire city of Baltimore. Or at least Pier Six's crazy loud speaker system. It was actually a bit of relief when the set ended. I was exhausted, but I couldn't stop myself from rocking out to every one of TAI's songs. They're too catchy for their own good.
Gym Class Heroes
The Veronicas may have been the misfits in the crowd's eyes (Jungle George and the other guys in the band just can't compete), Gym Class Heroes were the musical misfits. Before each set the DJs played a mixture of pop, pop-punk, and emo tunes - except before GCH's. This time, DJs got the crowd prepared for the dramatic shift from nonstop powerpop to chill alt hip-hop by playing other hip hop tunes. They sounded out of place at a concert full of girls in homemade Boys Like Girls and NSN shirts, but they were a welcome change.
Gym Class Heroes was the band at this show that I hadn't extensively listened to beforehand - of course I know "Cookie Jar" and "Cupid's Chokehold," but I hadn't listened any of their albums all the way through. Rap just isn't my thing, even when backed by guitars and a full band.
But much to my surprise, I thought GCH's set was the most enjoyable set of the night. It was so chill. Their music wasn't going at a mile a millisecond like TAI's, and unlike most of The Veronicas' tunes, it really was danceable. Also, being madly in love with Christopher Drew and William Beckett, and needing to show a little love for the underappreciated Veronicas, I felt like I needed to be the craziest dancer in the audience so that one of them would glance at me and know how much I adore them. But I didn't need to go crazy to show Travis what a dedicated fan I was because, well, I'm not a dedicated fan. So I was content to chill out and do my own thing, which was so much more fun than forcing myself to jump up and down through all the verses to outdo the kids who only jump during the choruses.
I think there is a valuable lesson here about being yourself and not trying to impress others, but I won't state it explicitly because that would just be too cheesy. This is a televised concert, not a Lifetime movie.
Travis didn't rock out or go crazy on stage like his predecessors - he was way too chill for that. The flashiest part of their set was a flag with their name on it that they waved during the first and last songs.
Oh, and the guy in the American flag shirt. That was pretty flashy.
They played all the essentials - "Cupid's Chokehold," "The Queen and I," "Peace Sign/Index Down" (everyone put up their peace sign but very few people continued to follow their instructions after that - would they have been allowed to air that on mtvU?) Before "Cookie Jar," Travis demonstrated his "power over the female species": He asked where the guys were. A few cheered enthusiastically, but compared to the night's other cheers, it was a mumble. THen he asked where his ladies were. Oh man. I'm gonna lose my hearing.
He repeated the exercise three times. The handful of guys cheered as loud as they could, but they couldn't lay a finger on the ladies' volume. And speaking of laying fingers on things...
"You know what this looks like to me?" Travis asked the fellows. "A big cookie jar!"
And he was so funny and he sounded so good, the song didn't even totally repulse like it usually does.
But the least repulsive song of the set - that is to say, my favorite song - was definitely "Guilty as Charged." Travis introduced the song by telling about his incident with the law and how much it taught him. He had just two words to say about it: "I'm... innocent!!!"
I gotta say, I loved Gym Class Heroes' set. Their low-key hip-hop was the perfect respite from all the thrashing guitars and hyperactive drummers in the preceding bands. And a great opportunity to catch my breath before things really got crazy...
mtvU's Oh-So Talented DJ
The guy who DJed this show really was cool. He kept us entertained without getting too cheesy - excluding a weird bit where he introduced The Veronicas by adopting a fake Australian accent and trying to scare the other DJ (who ruled the turntables) with a stuffed leopard. Umm, all right...
But this DJ has way more than plush toys up his sleeve. And before Boys Like Girls came on, the DJ gave us his very grand finale: a tribute to Michael Jackson.
The DJ expertly performed one of Michael Jackson's famous dances. This guy was great. He danced like a pro, sang pretty decently before introducing an earlier band, successfully and consistently got the crowd pumped by reminding them they could be on TV, and didn't tell lame jokes! I wish I could remember his name because as he deftly performed Michael's old moves, it became clear that he was one talented guy - a bit overqualified for his DJ job.
Or maybe he was perfectly qualified. As I said, mtvU knows how to throw a party.
Boys Like Girls
Even before they came onstage, it was clear that Boys Like Girls' set was going to be a little different. They were the headliners, after all, the closers - and they got quite a bit of special treatment. The stage, which had been littered with drum kits and speakers and who knows what else, was completely cleared for their performance (hey, more room for the DJ to dance like Michael). The sun had set before Gym Class Heroes began, but they hadn't really used any fancy lights for any of the performances.
But for BLG, they brought out the big guns. The lights changed - orange! purple! - as they ran on stage and performed their insanely catchy new single, "Love Drunk." The crowd went wild. Each member of BLG got his own platform to perform on, and they looked pretty darn awesome.
No doubt about it, BLG's set rocked. After "Love Drunk," they stuck almost entirely to songs from their self-titled debut album. "Five Minutes to Midnight," "On Top of the World," "Dance Hall Drug," "Heels Over Head," "Hero/Heroine"... I expected a mix of songs from their old album and the soon-to-be-released album Love Drunk (September 16th, who's pumped??!) but they only treated us to one new song: "HeartHeartHeartbreak."
Martin even gave us the whole cheesy speech about all the good things he's heard about Baltimore - how we're such hard partiers, how we'd never "stare at a new song like it's a painting" - and I guess the speech worked. He taught us the words to the chorus: "Now we're heading for a heart heart heartbreak/And I don't ever ever want to hear you say" - No, he does not continue with "I want it that way." But I expected him to. Every. Time. - "Don't say you loved me, don't even/Don't say you loved me, you're leaving."
You can check out a pretty good-quality video of the song from another show on their tour here.
The crowd was pretty into the song, although based on my experience listening to it afterwards on YouTube, it's one of those songs that doesn't seem too catchy the first time around but gets much better after a couple listens.
But the show certainly ended on a good note: for the last song, BLG's quintessential summer hit "The Great Escape," they invited the audience to join them onstage. In the mad dash for the stage, I got separated from my three friends - one of whom even sprained her ankle in the chaos! - and swept forward to the stage. I wasn't one of the hundreds of lucky ladies who made it onstage (by the time I got there, the security guards had woken up and got into position to stop us), but I was about two feet away and five feet below Paul. Then I got swept sideways to where Martin was giving out high-fives. When he high-fived me, my ring fell off, so I stayed where I was to look for it as he made his way to greet the fans at stage left. I was still searching when he and the crowd came back to center stage, so I got another high five. And a bracelet I found on the ground. Eh, I'll take it.
**Note: I've got a bunch of pictures and a few more tidbits about Martin's tongue action and some technical difficulties, but I'll have to post them later (since I'm kind of leaving for Italy for 10 days, like, right now)! Ttfn! :)
mtvU described this year's summer mini-festival, the Sunblock Music Festival, as a "killer music event" and did not disappoint. The concert will air on mtvU on 8/10. I've never met anyone who actually has mtvU, so fortunately, it will also be streamed online. But, having attended the event in Baltimore last week, I'd like to give a little preview/review.
The concert was at Pier Six in Baltimore, which, from a distance, looks a bit like a fancy meringue
dessert with several peaks. Or like an elaborate sandcastle. Meringues and sandcastles typically aren't very big, and from the other end of the pier, the pavilion doesn't look very big either. So you can kinda imagine my surprise when I arrive 20 minutes after doors open, 40 minutes before the concert is supposed to start, and find a line three people-think stretching across the fairly large parking lot. Then a comparable line inside for the Boys Like Girls/Gym Class Heroes/The Academy Is... merch tent... Oh man. This gonna be one big party.
But at least mtvU knows how to treat their guests. Half an hour before the concert was scheduled to begin, a DJ came out and started entertaining the crowd. (He might have been some mtvU personality, I don't know... I've never seen a TV that has mtvU.) I was pretty glad to have a cheesy DJ to sneer at during those tediously long breaks between sets at most concerts, and I think much of the crowd felt the same way. His attempts to get up pumped by telling us all the great things he's heard about those crazy partiers in Baltimore worked about as well as those attempts always do - marginally better, in fact, because he was a legitimately cool guy. Not any more cheesy than any other DJ. But he knew the key to getting the crowd to really go crazy: telling them they're going to be on TV. Maybe some of the kids there actually watch mtvU; they certainly jumped around and cheered like they were dying to be on it.
He even got a very substantial part of the audience to leave their seats for a chance to be on TV right now. My friends and I were still kind of suffering from heatstroke because July in Baltimore is just not the best time to be outside, but we could see the masses of girls jumping around and screaming at the mtvU booth thing on the lawn. Five minutes of fame.
Besides the fact that if you see four girls in homemade yellow shirts dancing like crazy, it is probably my friends and me, my favorite thing about having a TV crew there was discovering my dream job: working the ginormous camera on a pole. It looked like it might hurt your arms after a few hours, but getting to swing a camera all over the place and watching kids go bananas whenever it comes near them would be totally worth it. I think.
^So. Cool.
I know you're probably pretty antsy to get to the music, but hey, 15 minutes after the concert was scheduled to start, we were too. I mean, this DJ was cool, but he wasn't quite 45 minutes worth of cool. And the hip-hop he kept playing for us was quite danceable, but we had to save our energy for NeverShoutNever, who should be coming on in... negative 15 minutes. My friend and I couldn't take it anymore and decided to make a pilgrimage to the Boys Like Girls merch table and wait in the monster line there. At least the monster had lost a bit of weight since we arrived. But just a bit. Also, we got treated to a view of a girl bizarrely tucking her tank top into her bra to get the attention of some roadie 50 feet away. What a pleasant way to spend 10 minutes.
By the time, we made it within 5 feet of the merch table, the kids in their seats were cheering like crazy. By the time we were at the table, "On the Brightside" was blaring over the speakers. We were missing NeverShoutNever to buy t-shirts and tote bags! Nooooo!!!!
We blurted out our orders, threw our money at the merch girls, and stretched our legs, ready to sprint back to our seats. Like, really, I prepared to sprint there. No way was my consumerism going to make me miss the cutest guy in the world. At least, not for any longer than necessary to buy the stuff I spent 10 minutes in line for.
NeverShoutNever!
mtvU saved the best performance for first. NeverShoutNever sounded amazing, and his between-song banter was the most adorable thing thing you've ever heard.
The last time I saw NSN perform was in a dark, so-intimate-it's-claustrophobic club on the sketchy side of Baltimore (okay, one of its many sketchy sides). This time, he was only performing a few miles away, but the setting could not have been more different. Well, okay, it could have been in front of a crowd of metalheads or something, but physically, this stage out in the fresh air of the utterly un-sketchy Inner Harbour was quite a change.
And NSN changed his sound accordingly.
Last time, NSN played an intimate little set: he sang and played the tambourine, accompanied by an acoustic guitarist. This time, I believe the tambourine still made an appearance - but so did a ukulele, a harmonica, and an acoustic guitar. And that's just what Chris was playing.
He was joined by his band, The Shout. And with a full band came a fuller sound. And it totally rocked.
His sweet little acoustic songs became slamming rockers. Such a thing would be nearly inconceivable - NSN seems like the antithesis of rock. But it worked. He fleshed out his old acoustic and ukulele songs with the new instruments, and they sounded stronger and more forceful, but still melodic. And the increased intensity was good. The darker songs sounded angrier, as they should - most people wouldn't just write wimpy little acoustic songs about the things he's been through. But the sweet songs were no less sweet. Fans could just jump up and down to them now.
In short, he sounded amazing. Very different from his recordings, but not in a bad way. And he absolutely must record live versions with the full band.
Although NSN is still a solo project and The Shout are just his back-up, Chris gave them chances to shine. His guitarist performed a spectacular solo rendition of "The Star-Spangled Banner."
At this show, Chris showed a different side of his music, and he also showed a slightly different side of himself. He kicked his leg up in the air, thrashed around a bit (nothing too crazy), and generally rocked out to the new rockable versions of his songs. But that's certainly not to say that the adorable little guy who repeatedly told the crowd at the Hellogoodbye show was gone.
"You guys are just too cute for your own good, dangnabbit!"
Such shout-outs were sprinkled liberally throughout each break between songs and sometimes even during songs.
And for anyone curious about his unorthodox curse word-substitutes:
"Hellz yeah!" he exclaimed after one song. " I'm trying to stop cursing because cursing is a nasty habit. So I say 'hellz' because the z makes it okay, right?"
So cute. Who could stop themselves from loving him? Especially since he loves the fans so much.
During the second song of his set, "Happy":
"We love you." Plays a few measures.
"We love you." Plays a bit more.
..."We love you."
It was all one big love fest.
To introduce his sweet ukulele tune "Did It Hurt," after telling us we were beautiful, Chris said "I've got a little crush on you, so I wrote a song about you." Cue deafening cheer. Followed by even louder cheer when the crowd found out which song it was.
But it wasn't just love note shout-outs to the crowd as a whole. Chris really tried to connect with the crowd, an extremely valiant effort in a pavilion this big. He handed out several roses to girls in the front rows. A few girls near the middle of the pavilion (aka pretty far away) held up a sign saying "You Make Me Happy." He thanked them from the stage and told them they made him happy too.
Chris even did a great job of spreading the love amongst his fans, a feat most fantastically popular teen heartthrobs can't pull off. Before playing a cover of The Beatles' "I Want To Hold Your Hand," Chris told the audience to grab the hand of the person next to them, whether they knew them or not. Fingers intertwined, not clasped. Then he told the crowd to jump up and down with their held hands in the air during the chorus. And everyone did it. Again, it was all one big lovefest. With his flowers woven around his mic stand and an American flag with a peace symbol on it draped over the keyboard, Chris truly looked like a relic of the 60's. If his original songs weren't so good, I'd say he and The Shout would make a great 60's cover band.
And to end the set, Chris performed "Big City Dreams" and even got off the stage and down into the crowd. I couldn't really see where he went after that, but the message was pretty clear: even with his big new sound, his big new band, and his big new flower budget, he was still a small-town boy with some big-time love and appreciation for his fans.
The Veronicas
Before you read my review of The Veronicas' set, there are two things you should know:
One: I love The Veronicas. They may be identical twins, but they are two different girls with different styles and different personalities, and I respect their individuality. I just can't remember which is which.
So for the purposes of this review, I will somewhat callously refer to them The Blonde and The Brunette. But I know that they are two girls named Jess and Lis who record terrific pop songs, as well as the occasional adorable vlog.
But they suck at playing live.
Two: Before the concert, my friends and I indulged in several of the Inner Harbor's attractions, including ESPN Zone, pedal boats shaped like purple dragons, and the mall. While perusing the pricey but crazy hip clothing at Urban Outfitters, I happened upon a t-shirt that said "Little Black Dress" on it. I looked at it like a bouncer looks at a twelve year-old with a fake ID (not that I've ever seen that...) and held it up to see if it could really be worn as a dress or if it was just a t-shirt impostor. It covered all the essentials with less than an inch to spare, so I put it down, deciding that it had passed the test and was, in fact, a little black dress. But only a shameless skank would wear it without leggings underneath.
When The Veronicas came on stage, my friend started screaming something about a t-shirt. I was utterly confused until I saw that one of The Veronicas - The Brunette - was wearing the exact same Little Black Dress shirt I saw at Urban Outfitters.
Without leggings underneath. Shameless skank.
Though honestly, her outfit looked less risque than The Blonde's tank top with "Lick My Legs" scrawled on it. Ohhkayyy...
Describing a band's outfits before their music usually seems rather petty to me, but for The Veronicas, it seems to work: their show was mostly about show. Musically, they didn't sound stellar. They sounded good enough, but they didn't perform nearly as well as the other bands at the festival. But the other bands were really spectacular.
Last summer, I saw The Veronicas perform at Ram's Head Live on the Verizon VIP tour with Natasha Bedingfield and Kate Voegele. That time, again, they looked good - slightly skanky, with a few too many rips in their tights, but good... But they sounded awful. A bit like Alvin and the Chipmunks. Because they sound so good on their albums, I gave them the benefit of a doubt and chalked it up to problems with their sound equipment.
This time, like last time, they opened with "Untouched." One played an adorable miniature electronic keyboard while the other just sang. And this time, like last time, their voices sounded freakishly high-pitched and squeaky. Here we go again... Maybe it's not the sound equipment. Maybe those are just their voices.
That was a rather scary thought, but before the song was over, they quelled my fears: their voices started sounding normal in the middle of the song. And they continued to sound pretty good for the rest of the set.
But the best part of the set still wasn't the music; The Veronicas can sing pretty well, but they can work the stage like pros. Which I guess they are.
After "Untouched," they played the song "Everything," which doesn't appear on either of their albums. I think they've said in interviews that they love to play it because The Blonde plays electric guitar in it. And she played well, but she didn't sound nearly as good as she looked while rocking out with that guitar. She would have looked like a tough, grungy rocker chick, except the guitar looked like it weighed twice as much as that little waif.
If The Blonde looked like every rocker's dream playing that big ol guitar in her giant sunglasses, blonde bob, and short shorts, The Veronicas got the (very few) guys in the crowd even more excited during "Mother Mother." They screamed and leaned all over their guitarist, Jungle George, and got down on their knees and held other and lifted their legs and radiated sensuality. Remember the Hurley.com and Smartpunk stages at Warped Tour, one of which housed the screamo-dance bands, the other of which housed every female on the tour? With this song - screaming and gorgeous girls - they would've blown both stages away.
Plus, at Warped Tour, there might have been a bit of testosterone in the audience. Sunblock Music Festival was very heavily populated by girls - girls in love with Christopher Drew, girls in love with William Beckett, girls in love with Travis McCoy, girls in love with Martin Johnson, but mostly girls in love with all four. And a few boys in love with the girls who dragged them there. So there wasn't a whole lotta love for The Veronicas.
This indifference in The Veronicas was very evident during the song "Take Me on the Floor." The Veronicas introduced this song, explaining that it was a dance song, so they wanted to see everyone dance. If Christopher Drew tells you to jump, you jump. If Travis tells you to put your peace sign up, you put your peace sign up. If Martin tells you to go crazy, you go crazy. But if The Veronicas tell you to dance... eh, you don't really have to dance.
Although I must admit, I disagreed with their diagnosis of "Take Me on the Floor." The way they played it live, it wasn't so much a dance song as a jump-up-and-down song. But hey, I jumped... Besides, I could be on mtvU!
The Veronicas schooled the apathetic crowd in how to dance during "This Is How It Feels." Throughout the song, The Blonde jumped around and kicked her legs and shook her head like only a blonde-bobbed waif can. Needless to say she looked So Frickin Cool.
The Veronicas wanted to get the crowd into it. At this show and their concert last year, they accepted the fact that "4ever" is their only song Americans know. So both times, they saved it for last and invited the audience to sing along if they knew the words. Some audience members did. Nowhere near as many as knew the words to "Happy" by NSN, but a fair amount. Overall, their performance was not too shabby. Not nearly as shabby as The Blonde's ratty little tank top, anyways.
The Academy Is...
William Beckett has something The Veronicas needed (besides male anatomy): charisma. NSN may have given the best performance of the night, but William Beckett was the best performer. I thought The Veronicas knew how to work a stage, but he really knew what he was doing. And he was doing a lot. Throwing the mic stand. Lifting it up in the air. Standing on top of the speakers with his fist in the air. Standing on top of the speakers and staring intently at the audience. His set was like one big photo op: every five seconds, he doing something that looked iconic. In another life, he could've been a crazy demagogue.
Except his voice sounded kind of squeaky when he spoke. Not as high as Chris's, but it was weird, since his voice sounded freakishly deep when he introduced the remix of "Automatic Eyes" on Fall Out Boy's free mixtape. I don't know if that was the mic or just him... For the record, Martin sounded pretty high-pitched, too, but Travis didn't. Huh.
TAI's set opened with the spectacular rocker "Summer Hair=Forever Young." Love that song. And he never lost any steam, plowing through other high-energy should-have-been-hits like "Neighbors" and "His Girl Friday" without losing any steam. Watching Beckett's energy and listening to his crazy catchy hooks, I could not fathom how The Academy Is... had existed for so many years without becoming one of the most popular powerpop-punk bands around.
Near the end of their set, Beckett asked the audience who had seen The Academy Is... before. Big cheer. Then he asked whose first time it was. Cheer of roughly the same volume. He told us neophytes to put our hands in the air (Okay, he didn't use the word "neophytes;" I think he said "guys." Just trying to put those ol' vocab words to work here.) He welcomed us to the club and told us to keep our hands in the air while they played "We've Got a Big Mess on Our Hands." (By the end of the night, I could barely lift my arms after all this rocking out.)
When the set ended with "About a Girl," the energy in the pavilion could have powered the entire city of Baltimore. Or at least Pier Six's crazy loud speaker system. It was actually a bit of relief when the set ended. I was exhausted, but I couldn't stop myself from rocking out to every one of TAI's songs. They're too catchy for their own good.
Gym Class Heroes
The Veronicas may have been the misfits in the crowd's eyes (Jungle George and the other guys in the band just can't compete), Gym Class Heroes were the musical misfits. Before each set the DJs played a mixture of pop, pop-punk, and emo tunes - except before GCH's. This time, DJs got the crowd prepared for the dramatic shift from nonstop powerpop to chill alt hip-hop by playing other hip hop tunes. They sounded out of place at a concert full of girls in homemade Boys Like Girls and NSN shirts, but they were a welcome change.
Gym Class Heroes was the band at this show that I hadn't extensively listened to beforehand - of course I know "Cookie Jar" and "Cupid's Chokehold," but I hadn't listened any of their albums all the way through. Rap just isn't my thing, even when backed by guitars and a full band.
But much to my surprise, I thought GCH's set was the most enjoyable set of the night. It was so chill. Their music wasn't going at a mile a millisecond like TAI's, and unlike most of The Veronicas' tunes, it really was danceable. Also, being madly in love with Christopher Drew and William Beckett, and needing to show a little love for the underappreciated Veronicas, I felt like I needed to be the craziest dancer in the audience so that one of them would glance at me and know how much I adore them. But I didn't need to go crazy to show Travis what a dedicated fan I was because, well, I'm not a dedicated fan. So I was content to chill out and do my own thing, which was so much more fun than forcing myself to jump up and down through all the verses to outdo the kids who only jump during the choruses.
I think there is a valuable lesson here about being yourself and not trying to impress others, but I won't state it explicitly because that would just be too cheesy. This is a televised concert, not a Lifetime movie.
Travis didn't rock out or go crazy on stage like his predecessors - he was way too chill for that. The flashiest part of their set was a flag with their name on it that they waved during the first and last songs.
Oh, and the guy in the American flag shirt. That was pretty flashy.
They played all the essentials - "Cupid's Chokehold," "The Queen and I," "Peace Sign/Index Down" (everyone put up their peace sign but very few people continued to follow their instructions after that - would they have been allowed to air that on mtvU?) Before "Cookie Jar," Travis demonstrated his "power over the female species": He asked where the guys were. A few cheered enthusiastically, but compared to the night's other cheers, it was a mumble. THen he asked where his ladies were. Oh man. I'm gonna lose my hearing.
He repeated the exercise three times. The handful of guys cheered as loud as they could, but they couldn't lay a finger on the ladies' volume. And speaking of laying fingers on things...
"You know what this looks like to me?" Travis asked the fellows. "A big cookie jar!"
And he was so funny and he sounded so good, the song didn't even totally repulse like it usually does.
But the least repulsive song of the set - that is to say, my favorite song - was definitely "Guilty as Charged." Travis introduced the song by telling about his incident with the law and how much it taught him. He had just two words to say about it: "I'm... innocent!!!"
I gotta say, I loved Gym Class Heroes' set. Their low-key hip-hop was the perfect respite from all the thrashing guitars and hyperactive drummers in the preceding bands. And a great opportunity to catch my breath before things really got crazy...
mtvU's Oh-So Talented DJ
The guy who DJed this show really was cool. He kept us entertained without getting too cheesy - excluding a weird bit where he introduced The Veronicas by adopting a fake Australian accent and trying to scare the other DJ (who ruled the turntables) with a stuffed leopard. Umm, all right...
But this DJ has way more than plush toys up his sleeve. And before Boys Like Girls came on, the DJ gave us his very grand finale: a tribute to Michael Jackson.
The DJ expertly performed one of Michael Jackson's famous dances. This guy was great. He danced like a pro, sang pretty decently before introducing an earlier band, successfully and consistently got the crowd pumped by reminding them they could be on TV, and didn't tell lame jokes! I wish I could remember his name because as he deftly performed Michael's old moves, it became clear that he was one talented guy - a bit overqualified for his DJ job.
Or maybe he was perfectly qualified. As I said, mtvU knows how to throw a party.
Boys Like Girls
Even before they came onstage, it was clear that Boys Like Girls' set was going to be a little different. They were the headliners, after all, the closers - and they got quite a bit of special treatment. The stage, which had been littered with drum kits and speakers and who knows what else, was completely cleared for their performance (hey, more room for the DJ to dance like Michael). The sun had set before Gym Class Heroes began, but they hadn't really used any fancy lights for any of the performances.
But for BLG, they brought out the big guns. The lights changed - orange! purple! - as they ran on stage and performed their insanely catchy new single, "Love Drunk." The crowd went wild. Each member of BLG got his own platform to perform on, and they looked pretty darn awesome.
No doubt about it, BLG's set rocked. After "Love Drunk," they stuck almost entirely to songs from their self-titled debut album. "Five Minutes to Midnight," "On Top of the World," "Dance Hall Drug," "Heels Over Head," "Hero/Heroine"... I expected a mix of songs from their old album and the soon-to-be-released album Love Drunk (September 16th, who's pumped??!) but they only treated us to one new song: "HeartHeartHeartbreak."
Martin even gave us the whole cheesy speech about all the good things he's heard about Baltimore - how we're such hard partiers, how we'd never "stare at a new song like it's a painting" - and I guess the speech worked. He taught us the words to the chorus: "Now we're heading for a heart heart heartbreak/And I don't ever ever want to hear you say" - No, he does not continue with "I want it that way." But I expected him to. Every. Time. - "Don't say you loved me, don't even/Don't say you loved me, you're leaving."
You can check out a pretty good-quality video of the song from another show on their tour here.
The crowd was pretty into the song, although based on my experience listening to it afterwards on YouTube, it's one of those songs that doesn't seem too catchy the first time around but gets much better after a couple listens.
But the show certainly ended on a good note: for the last song, BLG's quintessential summer hit "The Great Escape," they invited the audience to join them onstage. In the mad dash for the stage, I got separated from my three friends - one of whom even sprained her ankle in the chaos! - and swept forward to the stage. I wasn't one of the hundreds of lucky ladies who made it onstage (by the time I got there, the security guards had woken up and got into position to stop us), but I was about two feet away and five feet below Paul. Then I got swept sideways to where Martin was giving out high-fives. When he high-fived me, my ring fell off, so I stayed where I was to look for it as he made his way to greet the fans at stage left. I was still searching when he and the crowd came back to center stage, so I got another high five. And a bracelet I found on the ground. Eh, I'll take it.
**Note: I've got a bunch of pictures and a few more tidbits about Martin's tongue action and some technical difficulties, but I'll have to post them later (since I'm kind of leaving for Italy for 10 days, like, right now)! Ttfn! :)
Monday, July 20, 2009
Might Be the Nicest, Sweetest Pimp Ever
It would be easy to call Stephen Barnes another little Internet novelty singer because a lot of his songs are pretty novel. Take his acoustic cover of "Swing" by Savage. I never thought that song could be heartwarming, but he sings "knees bent, ass out, come on push your ass out" in such a tender way.
But is that really so surprising from the man behind "Might Be a Pimp," the sweetest little song you've ever heard about prostitutes.
"I might be a pimp
And you might be a ho
But baby I will love you until I grow old"
Awww. It's fun, catchy, and - to make a good deal better - free! All Stephen's songs are available for free download on his PureVolume, and yes, all of them are just as sweet and heartwarming as his songs about prostitution.
If you're in the mood for something a bit more wholesome (but no less novel), I'd recommend my personal favorite Stephen Barnes song, "Handstands for Kelsey." It's an acoustic cover of a mash-up of "Bruises" by Chairlift and "Kelsey" by Metro Station, and no, it does not sound as bad as you think it should. It actually sounds pretty amazing. Check it out. On his MySpace player because this song isn't on YouTube. I trust that even all you Facebookies can find the song :)
Stephen's MySpace looks like a clone of NeverShoutNever's, or at least a younger brother trying his best to imitate NSN. And that's probably no coincidence - when Stephen sent me a friend request, I saw NSN listed as one of our 8 mutual friends. Of course, Stephen is nowhere near as successful as NSN - NSN has over 136 times as many MySpace friends as Stephen (yeah, I did the math). But Stephen's songs trade the simplicity and childlike joy of many of NSN's songs for more sophisticated songwriting. Although I must admit, NeverShoutNever's songs keep getting more and more elaborate, as anyone who's heard The Summer EP knows.
...Well, I don't really have anything newsworthy to say about Stephen Barnes; I just heard his music for the first time about an hour ago, actually. So I don't really know what he's up to, so I guess I'll just leave this here... But wasn't that cover of "Swing" newsworthy enough, even if the original Savage/Soulja Boy song was released almost a year ago and Stephen's cover was released months ago? I thought the whole world needed to know about it ASAP.
Edit: Jaykay, apparently any similarities between Stephen's profile and NeverShoutNever's are purely coincidental. Stephen told me he's not a big fan of NSN and is "trying to be nothing like nsn."
I guess even musicians don't have to like all their MySpace friends...
But is that really so surprising from the man behind "Might Be a Pimp," the sweetest little song you've ever heard about prostitutes.
"I might be a pimp
And you might be a ho
But baby I will love you until I grow old"
Awww. It's fun, catchy, and - to make a good deal better - free! All Stephen's songs are available for free download on his PureVolume, and yes, all of them are just as sweet and heartwarming as his songs about prostitution.
If you're in the mood for something a bit more wholesome (but no less novel), I'd recommend my personal favorite Stephen Barnes song, "Handstands for Kelsey." It's an acoustic cover of a mash-up of "Bruises" by Chairlift and "Kelsey" by Metro Station, and no, it does not sound as bad as you think it should. It actually sounds pretty amazing. Check it out. On his MySpace player because this song isn't on YouTube. I trust that even all you Facebookies can find the song :)
Stephen's MySpace looks like a clone of NeverShoutNever's, or at least a younger brother trying his best to imitate NSN. And that's probably no coincidence - when Stephen sent me a friend request, I saw NSN listed as one of our 8 mutual friends. Of course, Stephen is nowhere near as successful as NSN - NSN has over 136 times as many MySpace friends as Stephen (yeah, I did the math). But Stephen's songs trade the simplicity and childlike joy of many of NSN's songs for more sophisticated songwriting. Although I must admit, NeverShoutNever's songs keep getting more and more elaborate, as anyone who's heard The Summer EP knows.
...Well, I don't really have anything newsworthy to say about Stephen Barnes; I just heard his music for the first time about an hour ago, actually. So I don't really know what he's up to, so I guess I'll just leave this here... But wasn't that cover of "Swing" newsworthy enough, even if the original Savage/Soulja Boy song was released almost a year ago and Stephen's cover was released months ago? I thought the whole world needed to know about it ASAP.
Edit: Jaykay, apparently any similarities between Stephen's profile and NeverShoutNever's are purely coincidental. Stephen told me he's not a big fan of NSN and is "trying to be nothing like nsn."
I guess even musicians don't have to like all their MySpace friends...
Sunday, May 31, 2009
2009's Perfect{opop} Summer Playlist
Ah, the sounds of summer. Birds chirping, cicadas buzzing, air conditioners whirring... oh yeah, and all the sounds blaring from your radio and ipod. With concerts on weeknights (no such thing as a school night - w00t!), concerts at theme parks (gotta love Six Flags' freebies), concerts that take all day to drive to and all night to drive home (how far is Bristol? who cares?!), and lots of time to browse MySpace Music, summer's the perfect time to check out some new tunes.
Only time will tell which of this summer's songs will be the most memorable, but here are my predictions of 12 songs from the soundtrack of this summer:
The Top 40 Dominatrix:
Yeah, it's that song that you'll hear again and again on the radio, at the mall, in your friend's car, until you hate it. Then love it. Then hate it even more. This summer's airwaves are expected to be a battleground between defending champ Lady Gaga, the resurgent Kelly Clarkson, and the new staple Katy Perry, but my choice for Top 40's song of the summer is
"I Do Not Hook Up" by Kelly Clarkson (video)
The Song to Dance to All Night Long:
I know, I know, bloggers flock to Black Kids' alt dance tunes like mosquitoes are drawn to bug zappers... Wait, no, Black Kids are way more effective than bug zappers. Even if this boldly named multiracial indie band has been the blogosphere's sweethearts since long before summer 2009, their so-retro-it's-cutting-edge synth jams are the perfect fit for parties this summer. Fun, funky, hip, and undeniably danceable. Make sure no DJ is without
"I've Underestimated My Charm Again" by Black Kids
(Bonus! Check out this crazy video of the song set to scenes from Mystery Science Theater's classic Manos: The Hands of Fate. Though it lags at times, overall, this fan-made's as much fun as anything the band could cook up.)
The Song with "Summer" in the Title:
It may seem a bit tacky, but you know you're a sucker for cheesy songs that scream "IT'S SUMMER!!!!" at the tops of their lungs. There must be at least one on every playlist. And while the radio stations are aching to ride discosticks, try a lesser-known song by today's queen of Top 40:
"Summerboy" by Lady Gaga
The Other Song With "Summer" in the Title:
Yeah, two songs dropping the s-bomb (summer, that is) verges on totally tacky, but this summer's playlist could not be complete without something by The Academy Is... Their last album's late August release date prevented us from dancing to it at the beach for most of last summer. You may have heard it at Warped Tour last year, but this year, make up for lost time by rocking out to the album's toe-tapping jam,
"Summer Hair = Forever Young" by The Academy Is...
Your New Summer Loves:
A lot of great albums have come out in the past year, but you can't spend all summer listening to the same songs you've been hearing all school year. The perfect addition to your pop collection? Take It to the Floor by Cash Cash. While you were busy studying, the most adorable Jersey boys since the JoBros were touring with the likes of Kevin Rudolph and Cobra Starship. Their lead single "Party in Your Bedroom" is just now hitting the airwaves in most places, along with its much buzzed-about video. The boys' sunny dance-pop songs will get you more sugar-high than a visit to the ice cream man, so taste the candy-coated track
"Sugar Rush" by Cash Cash
The Song You'll Have Stuck in Your Head for Days - and Love Every Minute of It:
In the winter, people worry about catching the flu. In the summer, they worry about the plethora of catchy songs churned out by Disney Channel and it affiliates. You either love 'em or you love to hate 'em. This year, you can still hear plenty of catchy new tunes on JONAS and the upcoming Hannah Montana 3 CD, but I think this summer is already saturated with JoBros tunes. So if you're looking for a pop song that'll have you bouncing off the walls, turn off the TV for a sec and get your sugar rush from an unaffiliated singer like Owl City. The lead single from his upcoming album Ocean Eyes is just as catchy and whimsical as the songs on any kids' show.
"Hot Air Balloon" by Owl City
The Song to Have a Picnic to:
I know everyone loves a sweet love song, but put the Jason Mraz album down and step away from the boombox. I for one have heard "I'm Yours" enough times in the past few months to last ten summers. Summer's a great time to branch out and listen to some new sweeties, like my personal fave NeverShoutNever. If the songs he's leaked so far are any indication, his upcoming release The Summer EP should be the quintessential soundtrack to the season. This track will make your heart melt more quickly than a popsicle dropped on the hot pavement:
"Hummingbird" by NeverShoutNever!
The Song to Chill by the Pool with:
The founders of Bishop Allen may be Harvard grads, but their music is a fun escape from academic tedium. A little string-filled eccentric, a little coffee-sipping hipster, and a lot of fun, you gotta check out
"Dimmer" by Bishop Allen
The Song to Blast in the Car:
What, no new release by Rooney this year? Since their next album is still in the works, I guess we can't rely on blasting any of their retro powerpop tunes from our stereos this summer... They're my fun car trip staples, but since I've listened to "When Did Your Heart Go Missing?" more times than any sane person should, I think it's time to take a break. Digging back into the pile of CD's under the dashboard, I suggest you try some of Relient K's older tunes. All the retro fun of Rooney with more eccentric lyrics. (Remember "Marilyn Manson ate my girlfriend"? It's kind of unforgettable...) I don't need a magazine to tell me I'm still in love with
"17 Magazine" by Relient K
The Slightly Guilty Pleasure:
It's summer. Blast that song you can't believe you love from your stereo and live a little... You saw Glee, right? No? Then you'd best hop over to its website and check out the pilot. It's like if they remade High School Musical with good writing, interesting adult characters, and better music, including a fantastic rendition of the Journey classic
"Don't Stop Believing" by the cast of Glee
The Crazy Rocker:
You know you downloaded it illegally. Or you're going to in about 5 seconds. I'll make it even easier by linking to a video with the download link. With a title like this, you gotta expect great things from
"Pete Wentz is the Only Reason We're Famous" by Cobra Starship
The Sneak Attack:
You know how earlier, I advised everyone to pass up the Jonas Brothers' pop fluff this summer? That would be because the JoBros have so many better songs to offer. With horns and some pretty rockin' guitars, I think these Disney boys are actually able to pull off a song titled "World War III." Really. I love 'em, but I never thought they'd have it in 'em. Based on the 30-second preview alone, I think this song could fight its way to the top of any respectable playlist:
"World War III" by the Jonas Brothers
Well, that should at least give you a good headstart on your summer playlist. I guess we'll just have to wait and see which songs zoom up to the top of your Most Played list and which fail to launch...
and enjoy the summer :)
Only time will tell which of this summer's songs will be the most memorable, but here are my predictions of 12 songs from the soundtrack of this summer:
The Top 40 Dominatrix:
Yeah, it's that song that you'll hear again and again on the radio, at the mall, in your friend's car, until you hate it. Then love it. Then hate it even more. This summer's airwaves are expected to be a battleground between defending champ Lady Gaga, the resurgent Kelly Clarkson, and the new staple Katy Perry, but my choice for Top 40's song of the summer is
"I Do Not Hook Up" by Kelly Clarkson (video)
The Song to Dance to All Night Long:
I know, I know, bloggers flock to Black Kids' alt dance tunes like mosquitoes are drawn to bug zappers... Wait, no, Black Kids are way more effective than bug zappers. Even if this boldly named multiracial indie band has been the blogosphere's sweethearts since long before summer 2009, their so-retro-it's-cutting-edge synth jams are the perfect fit for parties this summer. Fun, funky, hip, and undeniably danceable. Make sure no DJ is without
"I've Underestimated My Charm Again" by Black Kids
(Bonus! Check out this crazy video of the song set to scenes from Mystery Science Theater's classic Manos: The Hands of Fate. Though it lags at times, overall, this fan-made's as much fun as anything the band could cook up.)
The Song with "Summer" in the Title:
It may seem a bit tacky, but you know you're a sucker for cheesy songs that scream "IT'S SUMMER!!!!" at the tops of their lungs. There must be at least one on every playlist. And while the radio stations are aching to ride discosticks, try a lesser-known song by today's queen of Top 40:
"Summerboy" by Lady Gaga
The Other Song With "Summer" in the Title:
Yeah, two songs dropping the s-bomb (summer, that is) verges on totally tacky, but this summer's playlist could not be complete without something by The Academy Is... Their last album's late August release date prevented us from dancing to it at the beach for most of last summer. You may have heard it at Warped Tour last year, but this year, make up for lost time by rocking out to the album's toe-tapping jam,
"Summer Hair = Forever Young" by The Academy Is...
Your New Summer Loves:
A lot of great albums have come out in the past year, but you can't spend all summer listening to the same songs you've been hearing all school year. The perfect addition to your pop collection? Take It to the Floor by Cash Cash. While you were busy studying, the most adorable Jersey boys since the JoBros were touring with the likes of Kevin Rudolph and Cobra Starship. Their lead single "Party in Your Bedroom" is just now hitting the airwaves in most places, along with its much buzzed-about video. The boys' sunny dance-pop songs will get you more sugar-high than a visit to the ice cream man, so taste the candy-coated track
"Sugar Rush" by Cash Cash
The Song You'll Have Stuck in Your Head for Days - and Love Every Minute of It:
In the winter, people worry about catching the flu. In the summer, they worry about the plethora of catchy songs churned out by Disney Channel and it affiliates. You either love 'em or you love to hate 'em. This year, you can still hear plenty of catchy new tunes on JONAS and the upcoming Hannah Montana 3 CD, but I think this summer is already saturated with JoBros tunes. So if you're looking for a pop song that'll have you bouncing off the walls, turn off the TV for a sec and get your sugar rush from an unaffiliated singer like Owl City. The lead single from his upcoming album Ocean Eyes is just as catchy and whimsical as the songs on any kids' show.
"Hot Air Balloon" by Owl City
The Song to Have a Picnic to:
I know everyone loves a sweet love song, but put the Jason Mraz album down and step away from the boombox. I for one have heard "I'm Yours" enough times in the past few months to last ten summers. Summer's a great time to branch out and listen to some new sweeties, like my personal fave NeverShoutNever. If the songs he's leaked so far are any indication, his upcoming release The Summer EP should be the quintessential soundtrack to the season. This track will make your heart melt more quickly than a popsicle dropped on the hot pavement:
"Hummingbird" by NeverShoutNever!
The Song to Chill by the Pool with:
The founders of Bishop Allen may be Harvard grads, but their music is a fun escape from academic tedium. A little string-filled eccentric, a little coffee-sipping hipster, and a lot of fun, you gotta check out
"Dimmer" by Bishop Allen
The Song to Blast in the Car:
What, no new release by Rooney this year? Since their next album is still in the works, I guess we can't rely on blasting any of their retro powerpop tunes from our stereos this summer... They're my fun car trip staples, but since I've listened to "When Did Your Heart Go Missing?" more times than any sane person should, I think it's time to take a break. Digging back into the pile of CD's under the dashboard, I suggest you try some of Relient K's older tunes. All the retro fun of Rooney with more eccentric lyrics. (Remember "Marilyn Manson ate my girlfriend"? It's kind of unforgettable...) I don't need a magazine to tell me I'm still in love with
"17 Magazine" by Relient K
The Slightly Guilty Pleasure:
It's summer. Blast that song you can't believe you love from your stereo and live a little... You saw Glee, right? No? Then you'd best hop over to its website and check out the pilot. It's like if they remade High School Musical with good writing, interesting adult characters, and better music, including a fantastic rendition of the Journey classic
"Don't Stop Believing" by the cast of Glee
The Crazy Rocker:
You know you downloaded it illegally. Or you're going to in about 5 seconds. I'll make it even easier by linking to a video with the download link. With a title like this, you gotta expect great things from
"Pete Wentz is the Only Reason We're Famous" by Cobra Starship
The Sneak Attack:
You know how earlier, I advised everyone to pass up the Jonas Brothers' pop fluff this summer? That would be because the JoBros have so many better songs to offer. With horns and some pretty rockin' guitars, I think these Disney boys are actually able to pull off a song titled "World War III." Really. I love 'em, but I never thought they'd have it in 'em. Based on the 30-second preview alone, I think this song could fight its way to the top of any respectable playlist:
"World War III" by the Jonas Brothers
Well, that should at least give you a good headstart on your summer playlist. I guess we'll just have to wait and see which songs zoom up to the top of your Most Played list and which fail to launch...
and enjoy the summer :)
Wednesday, May 6, 2009
A Sunny Break from a Humdrum Day
Yet Another Reason to Adore NeverShoutNever:
Just when you need a break from the humdrum routine of studying for APs, finals, or whatever madness your blind teachers throw at you (can't they see how gorgeous and sunny it is these days? really...)(well, not today specifically, but in general...), NSN releases a marvelous little ray of sunshine in mp3 format. Flit on over to his PureVolume to download his new song "Hummingbird" for free today through Monday.
Also, watch out for NSN's soon-to-be-announced national tour and new EP (aptly titled The Summer EP) coming out June 23rd. If this track is representative of the EP, I predict the songs on it will vying with "Summerboy" by Lady Gaga to be my favorite super-summery-sounding song this year.
...All this talk about humming makes me crave some Hey Nick, Hummus a Tune in all its "creamy, garlicky goodness." If you haven't seen all the delectable dishes named after the JoBros in DisneyChannel.com's JONAS VIP Party Pack, you should check them out. I think they're funnier than the show...
Just when you need a break from the humdrum routine of studying for APs, finals, or whatever madness your blind teachers throw at you (can't they see how gorgeous and sunny it is these days? really...)(well, not today specifically, but in general...), NSN releases a marvelous little ray of sunshine in mp3 format. Flit on over to his PureVolume to download his new song "Hummingbird" for free today through Monday.
Also, watch out for NSN's soon-to-be-announced national tour and new EP (aptly titled The Summer EP) coming out June 23rd. If this track is representative of the EP, I predict the songs on it will vying with "Summerboy" by Lady Gaga to be my favorite super-summery-sounding song this year.
...All this talk about humming makes me crave some Hey Nick, Hummus a Tune in all its "creamy, garlicky goodness." If you haven't seen all the delectable dishes named after the JoBros in DisneyChannel.com's JONAS VIP Party Pack, you should check them out. I think they're funnier than the show...
Tuesday, March 3, 2009
How to Get Happy
When the temperature is well below freezing and there are 6 inches of snow on the ground and you need more than just hot chocolate to keep warm, may I suggest you try some heart-warming music, such as NeverShoutNever's fresh-out-of-the-oven single "Happy," just released today.
You can hop on over to iTunes and pick it up RIGHT THIS MINUTE (my recommended course of action), or give it a spin on YouTube first. Actually, I recommend seeing the fan video on YouTube first because it is packed with pictures of that bundle of adorableness known as Christofer Drew. I might feel guilty about encouraging you to listen to it illegally, since Chris hasn't put it on his MySpace yet so I don't think he really wants people hearing it without paying for it, but once you hear it, you'll definitely think it's worth $.99.
I don't really have too much to say about the song except that it is hands-down the most feel-good thing I have heard in my life. "Heart-warming" is an understatement. It made my heart so hot I melted into a puddle on the floor.
I suppose I ought to mention that it features a ukulele. I'm glad Chris's fondness for ukuleles extended beyond his recent ukulele EP, Me & My Uke. If you missed out on that ukulele fabulousness, you can download the whole 3-song EP on iTunes or pick up a free download of one of the songs, "Did It Hurt,"on the PureVolume page for his current tour, the Let's Get Happy tour. I strongly suggest you take advantage of this opportunity to own the only song that has ever successfully made girls swoon with the line "Did it hurt when you feel from heaven?"
Now that you've heard two of NSN's songs and probably want to buy an I Love Christofer Drew tee and wear it every day for the rest of you life, you can meet Chris & confess your love for him (er, say that you love him, not that you're in love with him. There's a difference.) at his show at Jaxx in West Springfield, VA this Sunday, March 8th. More info in my post here.
Before the show on Sunday, Chris will be signing autographs at Hot Topic in Springfield Mall in Springfield, VA at 3:00. Just purchase some NSN merch at that store to get a sticker to meet Chris. All the deets can be found here. I suggest you get your sticker in advance, since there was kind of a mob of teenage girls permanently glued to Chris when I saw him open for Hellogoodbye. Meet & Greet tip: he hates camera flashes, but he's generally wayyy too nice to say anything.
Oh, and be sure to stop by NSN's MySpace & check out his new profile picture. Hawtt.
You can hop on over to iTunes and pick it up RIGHT THIS MINUTE (my recommended course of action), or give it a spin on YouTube first. Actually, I recommend seeing the fan video on YouTube first because it is packed with pictures of that bundle of adorableness known as Christofer Drew. I might feel guilty about encouraging you to listen to it illegally, since Chris hasn't put it on his MySpace yet so I don't think he really wants people hearing it without paying for it, but once you hear it, you'll definitely think it's worth $.99.
I don't really have too much to say about the song except that it is hands-down the most feel-good thing I have heard in my life. "Heart-warming" is an understatement. It made my heart so hot I melted into a puddle on the floor.
I suppose I ought to mention that it features a ukulele. I'm glad Chris's fondness for ukuleles extended beyond his recent ukulele EP, Me & My Uke. If you missed out on that ukulele fabulousness, you can download the whole 3-song EP on iTunes or pick up a free download of one of the songs, "Did It Hurt,"on the PureVolume page for his current tour, the Let's Get Happy tour. I strongly suggest you take advantage of this opportunity to own the only song that has ever successfully made girls swoon with the line "Did it hurt when you feel from heaven?"
Now that you've heard two of NSN's songs and probably want to buy an I Love Christofer Drew tee and wear it every day for the rest of you life, you can meet Chris & confess your love for him (er, say that you love him, not that you're in love with him. There's a difference.) at his show at Jaxx in West Springfield, VA this Sunday, March 8th. More info in my post here.
Before the show on Sunday, Chris will be signing autographs at Hot Topic in Springfield Mall in Springfield, VA at 3:00. Just purchase some NSN merch at that store to get a sticker to meet Chris. All the deets can be found here. I suggest you get your sticker in advance, since there was kind of a mob of teenage girls permanently glued to Chris when I saw him open for Hellogoodbye. Meet & Greet tip: he hates camera flashes, but he's generally wayyy too nice to say anything.
Oh, and be sure to stop by NSN's MySpace & check out his new profile picture. Hawtt.
Saturday, January 31, 2009
Your Dream Spring 2009 Concert Schedule
Well boys and girls, it's that magical time of year again. That time in the dead of winter when people start opening their hearts and their wallets, when kids get down on their knees and beg their parents to give them what they want, when parents start freaking out about what exactly it is their kids want... Yes, it's the time when bands announce their spring tours.
This weekend is a great time to buy tickets (Quick! Fall Out Boy tickets have been on sale for over 5 hours!!!!), so I've decided to try to give you the best possible list of acts coming to the DC area over the next 4 months (sorry, rest of the world, I can't do everything...)
Now, coaches always say it's important to stay in shape during the off-season, so I think everyone should take their advice and practice their best moves at the Millionaires concert at Rock n Roll Hotel on Thursday, February 5th. My newest favorite pop act Cash Cash will be opening for the girls, along with I Set My Friends on Fire and Watchout! There's Ghosts. I think this show might actually be considered a comedy performance rather than music; those Millionaires girls are always laughable. And with a name like the Just Got Paid, Let's Get's Laid Tour, you KNOW it's gonna be a party.
[I will spend the night listening to my Cash Cash CD and crying my eyes out because my parents won't let me out on school nights (plus it's called the Just Got Paid, Let's Get's Laid Tour), so if you attend, please try your hardest to meet the guys from Cash Cash and tell them Meredith thinks they're the coolest kids ever and would like to ask for all of their hands in marriage; they can play rock-paper-scissors or whatever to decide who gets her.]
And for those of us who need a winter pick-me-up that's not on a weeknight, Ludo will be at Rock n Roll Hotel on Friday, February 20th. I've never actually bothered to listen to any of their music, but I've heard good things about their set when they toured with Relient K last year.
Another Friday night option is Ben Folds, performing at George Washington University on Friday the 13th of February (a good alternative for those of us who don't think we can stomach Valentine's Day weekend's gooey rom-coms/crazy gory Friday-the-13th slasher flicks). I'm having trouble finding specific ticket info - the show isn't listed on his official site - but I saw it on Eventful...
Ben will also be playing at Ram's Head Live! in Baltimore on the 12th, if there are any hardcore piano rock fans who want to see him twice.
All you hipsters had better mark your calendars for The Ting Tings' show at the 9:30 Club on Friday, March 20th. Or maybe you hipsters will sneer about how you already caught them there in July when they were, like, still cool in an unknown kinda way.
But my friend and I will still be in attendance, hoping to squash the stereotype that no one dances at cool DC indie shows. Because kids who are too cool to dance aren't cool at all.
The real hipsters might be holding out for Cut Copy, coming to the 9:30 Club just 3 days after the Ting Tings (that's Monday, March 23rd, for you non-math whizzes). Matt and Kim will be performing that night as well. Never heard of them before, but their name brings to mind a certain NBC Thursday night sitcom...
After all these indie shows, I'd advise you to take a dip in the mainstream, just to make sure you can remember what Top 40 sounds like. And where better to find mainstream Top 40 pop than at a Britney Spears or Pussycat Dolls concert? You Britney fans are in luck because The Circus Starring Britney Spears 2009 North American Tour is hitting the Verizon Center on Tuesday, March 24th. [I guess the Pussycat Dolls are just a sideshow act?] iLike sent me an email saying tix are still available! (I was tempted to reply with a little WTF??!)
If Britney tix are a bit out of your price range, you could always see new Top 40 dance darling Lady Gaga at 9:30 Club on Thursday, April 2nd. No, wait, actually, you couldn't. Her show's already sold out.
Similarly, if you're going to see Katy Perry at the 9:30 Club on Friday, April 10th, you probably already knew she was coming. Hopefully you did, since all the tickets for that show sold out about 5 seconds after they went on sale. Or at least in the same weekend. 5 seconds, 48 hours, same diff for us soft-core Katy fans.
For those of you hoping for a bit more of a rock show (just a bit), I've said it before and I'll say it again: Craig Owens of Chiodos, Ace Enders, The Color Fred, and VersaEmerge will be at Ottobar in Baltimore on Thursday, April 9th. It's not quite as hot as the Katy tickets, but it's been pretty buzzed-about.
I've also already mentioned NeverShoutNever!'s two upcoming shows, one in West Springfield, VA, the other in Towson. I'd check it out in my previous posts if I were you. [Then I'd wonder if I just used "my" correctly since I said I'd do it if I were you, and they're not your posts...]
I think this Dream Concert Schedule is getting nightmare-ishly long, so I'll close it (for now) with what may be the hottest concert here: the Believers Never Die Part Deux tour, featuring Fall Out Boy, Cobra Starship, Metro Station, and Hey Monday! It'll be taking the Merriweather Post Pavilion by storm on Saturday, April 25th. Since I'm not too fond of FOB, I'm cringing at the $36 ticket price (no cheap-o lawn seats? really?) but it may be worth it to see my fave Gossip Girl fan, Gabe Saporta... or I could just sit in the parking lot hoping he makes good on his kick-it-in-the-parking lot promises in his blog.
Oh, and if you're one of those kids who isn't allowed to go to concerts, don't despair too much... The Jonas Brothers 3D movie (coming at ya February 27th) will give you way better seats than I had when I was on the lawn for their show at the Nissan Pavilion last year :)
This weekend is a great time to buy tickets (Quick! Fall Out Boy tickets have been on sale for over 5 hours!!!!), so I've decided to try to give you the best possible list of acts coming to the DC area over the next 4 months (sorry, rest of the world, I can't do everything...)
Now, coaches always say it's important to stay in shape during the off-season, so I think everyone should take their advice and practice their best moves at the Millionaires concert at Rock n Roll Hotel on Thursday, February 5th. My newest favorite pop act Cash Cash will be opening for the girls, along with I Set My Friends on Fire and Watchout! There's Ghosts. I think this show might actually be considered a comedy performance rather than music; those Millionaires girls are always laughable. And with a name like the Just Got Paid, Let's Get's Laid Tour, you KNOW it's gonna be a party.
[I will spend the night listening to my Cash Cash CD and crying my eyes out because my parents won't let me out on school nights (plus it's called the Just Got Paid, Let's Get's Laid Tour), so if you attend, please try your hardest to meet the guys from Cash Cash and tell them Meredith thinks they're the coolest kids ever and would like to ask for all of their hands in marriage; they can play rock-paper-scissors or whatever to decide who gets her.]
And for those of us who need a winter pick-me-up that's not on a weeknight, Ludo will be at Rock n Roll Hotel on Friday, February 20th. I've never actually bothered to listen to any of their music, but I've heard good things about their set when they toured with Relient K last year.
Another Friday night option is Ben Folds, performing at George Washington University on Friday the 13th of February (a good alternative for those of us who don't think we can stomach Valentine's Day weekend's gooey rom-coms/crazy gory Friday-the-13th slasher flicks). I'm having trouble finding specific ticket info - the show isn't listed on his official site - but I saw it on Eventful...
Ben will also be playing at Ram's Head Live! in Baltimore on the 12th, if there are any hardcore piano rock fans who want to see him twice.
All you hipsters had better mark your calendars for The Ting Tings' show at the 9:30 Club on Friday, March 20th. Or maybe you hipsters will sneer about how you already caught them there in July when they were, like, still cool in an unknown kinda way.
But my friend and I will still be in attendance, hoping to squash the stereotype that no one dances at cool DC indie shows. Because kids who are too cool to dance aren't cool at all.
The real hipsters might be holding out for Cut Copy, coming to the 9:30 Club just 3 days after the Ting Tings (that's Monday, March 23rd, for you non-math whizzes). Matt and Kim will be performing that night as well. Never heard of them before, but their name brings to mind a certain NBC Thursday night sitcom...
After all these indie shows, I'd advise you to take a dip in the mainstream, just to make sure you can remember what Top 40 sounds like. And where better to find mainstream Top 40 pop than at a Britney Spears or Pussycat Dolls concert? You Britney fans are in luck because The Circus Starring Britney Spears 2009 North American Tour is hitting the Verizon Center on Tuesday, March 24th. [I guess the Pussycat Dolls are just a sideshow act?] iLike sent me an email saying tix are still available! (I was tempted to reply with a little WTF??!)
If Britney tix are a bit out of your price range, you could always see new Top 40 dance darling Lady Gaga at 9:30 Club on Thursday, April 2nd. No, wait, actually, you couldn't. Her show's already sold out.
Similarly, if you're going to see Katy Perry at the 9:30 Club on Friday, April 10th, you probably already knew she was coming. Hopefully you did, since all the tickets for that show sold out about 5 seconds after they went on sale. Or at least in the same weekend. 5 seconds, 48 hours, same diff for us soft-core Katy fans.
For those of you hoping for a bit more of a rock show (just a bit), I've said it before and I'll say it again: Craig Owens of Chiodos, Ace Enders, The Color Fred, and VersaEmerge will be at Ottobar in Baltimore on Thursday, April 9th. It's not quite as hot as the Katy tickets, but it's been pretty buzzed-about.
I've also already mentioned NeverShoutNever!'s two upcoming shows, one in West Springfield, VA, the other in Towson. I'd check it out in my previous posts if I were you. [Then I'd wonder if I just used "my" correctly since I said I'd do it if I were you, and they're not your posts...]
I think this Dream Concert Schedule is getting nightmare-ishly long, so I'll close it (for now) with what may be the hottest concert here: the Believers Never Die Part Deux tour, featuring Fall Out Boy, Cobra Starship, Metro Station, and Hey Monday! It'll be taking the Merriweather Post Pavilion by storm on Saturday, April 25th. Since I'm not too fond of FOB, I'm cringing at the $36 ticket price (no cheap-o lawn seats? really?) but it may be worth it to see my fave Gossip Girl fan, Gabe Saporta... or I could just sit in the parking lot hoping he makes good on his kick-it-in-the-parking lot promises in his blog.
Oh, and if you're one of those kids who isn't allowed to go to concerts, don't despair too much... The Jonas Brothers 3D movie (coming at ya February 27th) will give you way better seats than I had when I was on the lawn for their show at the Nissan Pavilion last year :)
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
DsCene & Heard: Hellogoodbye, Ace Enders, NeverShoutNever!, & PlayRadioPlay! at Sonar
Okay, be honest: is the DsCene & Heard title the lamest thing ever? It sounded so much cooler in my head...
Anyways, a few months ago, I saw Hellogoodbye, Ace Enders, NeverShoutNever!, and PlayRadioPlay! at Sonar, this little club in Baltimore, and wrote a review of it for my guitar class. Reviewing it was really fun, so rather than just writing a crappy little list of who performed & how they sounded, I tried to make the review good. And I wanted my review to be read by more people than just my guitar teacher, so I thought I'd post it here [more people than just my guitar teacher will read this, right?]
On November 7, 2008, I saw Hellogoodbye, Ace Enders, NeverShoutNever, and PlayRadioPlay perform live at Sonar in Baltimore. The show had a diverse group of performers and was overall the most enjoyable live performance I have ever seen.
NeverShoutNever, alias Christopher Ingle, performed first. Ingle’s acoustic pop songs were very pleasant to listen to and told heartwarming stories of love, insecurity, and growing up in a small town. Ingle sang and played tambourine accompanied by a man on acoustic guitar. NeverShoutNever was a huge crowd pleaser. Ingle said we were “the best crowd ever” which may have been true, considering that he is a newcomer to the music scene and already caused hoards of girls in the crowd to scream “I love you!” at the end of each song. The audio quality was not world-class, but Ingle demonstrated an impressive vocal range and the set overall was, like its lovable performer, absolutely adorable.
The next act, PlayRadioPlay, bore a freakishly similar name to NeverShoutNever but had virtually nothing else in common. PlayRadioPlay, alias Dan Hunter, performed electropop music that was as different from NeverShoutNever’s sunny acoustic pop as day and night. Like Ingle before him and Hellogoodbye after him, Hunter seemed like a bit of a geek; unlike the other acts, he seemed cold and emotionally distant from the crowd. He thrashed around with a variety of good-looking guitars, apparently oblivious to how silly he looked. His singing was virtually inaudible, even though he bent over the microphone like some sort of monster poised to devour the mic and the audience after it. Hunter was accompanied by a drummer and keyboardist, neither of whom ever addressed the crowd; Hunter barely said a word to the audience either. His audio quality was extremely poor, and all of his songs suffered from a lack of a discernible melody. Most of the crowd clearly disliked the set; my favorite part of it was watching people move away to the bar and merchandise tables so I could take their spots closer to the stage. It was evident that even among this group of geeky pop bands, Hunter was an outcast. The show would have flowed better without him.
The concert regained its momentum with the next act, Ace Enders and a Million Different People. Enders’ rock music was the most mainstream music of the night, but it just as well-received as Ingle’s and Hellogoodbye’s more eclectic tunes. Enders sang and played guitar on some songs, accompanied by a bassist, guitarist, and drummer. The four were very popular with the crowd, many of whom appeared to be personal friends of Enders and his bassist. Enders played faster, louder versions of the songs on his EP “The Secret Wars”. Their songs were fun and catchy, prompting jumping, moshing, and even some uncoordinated attempts at break dancing and crowd surfing in the audience. Bassist Sergio Anello got into it as well, jumping around, making funny faces for the crowd, and trying to climb up the wall. Enders’ set was probably the most fun live performance I have ever seen.
It seems necessary to mention that Sonar is a very small club, and the crowd was very tightly packed. The heat by this point in the show verged on unbearable, causing Enders and Anello to sweat visibly. One girl in the audience even fainted from the heat. The bar offered free glasses of ice water, but few audience members dared venture away from their spots near the stage. Although it was easy to forget the heat and smell during the sets, the waiting periods between sets were awful.
Nearly three hours after the show began, Hellogoodbye performed. Lead singer Forrest Kline was sick, so his vocals were fairly awful, but that only added to the fun, unique feeling of the show. Kline had to sing one song entirely in falsetto, which was absolutely hilarious. He talked to the crowd, commiserating with another girl who was sick and inviting another girl to freestyle rap on stage. The other band members mostly stayed silent, except for guitarist Ryan Daly, who inexplicably and repeatedly told the crowd that his father pronounces Baltimore like “Baltee-more.” The crowd’s love was mostly aimed at Kline, the only member who has stayed with the band since its creation in 2001. Hellogoodbye’s audio quality was not great, and they only played two songs from their upcoming album, but Kline’s magnetic personality more than made up for their less than perfect musical performance.
The night ended with a truly grand finale in which Kline invited Ingle and Enders to help him sing Hellogoodbye’s most popular song, “Here (In Your Arms).” Hunter did not join them; he has been known to perform additional acoustic shows after his sets. Enders was at the merchandise table when the song began, and he crowd surfed the length of the club to reach the stage. The song was fairly chaotic; Enders repeatedly forgot the words and had to be reminded by Kline, and fans jumped on stage to join the performers. Still, the song exemplified the show: three eccentric pop bands performing sets that were not airtight but were tons of fun, pleasing fans and offering a truly unique musical experience, while PlayRadioPlay played alone out in the cold November night.
Why is this review still relevant? Well, although Hellogoodbye seems to be skipping the spring tours to record their next album, Ace Enders and NeverShoutNever! both have upcoming tours.
NeverShoutNever! is heading out on tour again with The Scene Aesthetic, The Honorary Title, and The Bigger Lights + Carter Hulsey. He'll be playing in the DC area at Jaxx in Springfield, Virginia on Sunday, March 8. Jaxx is a little club in a strip mall with a trashy-looking website. Their newest bartender is named Emily, and you can see pictures of her in a bikini here.
I'll probably spend that night dying inside because my parents won't let me go to concerts on school nights, but you should try to go and join the hoardes announcing their love at the top of their lungs.
After that tour, NSN heads out on the Bamboozle Roadshow, which will be stopping at the Recher Theatre in Towson, Maryland on Tuesday, April 28. He will be joined by We The Kings, Forever The Sickest Kids, The Cab, and Mercy Mercedes. In case I get reincarnated inside between this show and his show at Jaxx, I will be dying inside again that night because I cannot go.
More info about both these shows can be found on NSN's MySpace.
In other NSN news, his ukelele EP is now available on iTunes for those of you suckers who missed the free download week, and his song "Your Biggest Fan" will never get out of my head. Ever.
PlayRadioPlay! has not announced any future tour plans on his MySpace. Not that I would see him again anyways.
Ace Enders is also headin gout on tour again soon. This time, he will be supporting Craig Owens of Chiodos. The Color Fred, and VersaEmerge. His closest stop to the DC area is at Ottobar in Baltimore on Thursday, April 9, which is right in the middle of spring break for some of us. This much-anticipated show is rumored to be a hot ticket, so it's recommended that you make plans to go soon. My parents aren't too keen on the B-more club scene, but I'm trying to go.
More tour info on Ace's MySpace.
Also, if my smugness about downloading NSN's EP for free makes you want to punch me in the face, i'd like to offer you the link to downloa Ace Enders' album for free as an appeasement. It's right here, and it's totally jsut as good as NSN's...
I could burn you a copy of NSN's EP if you still want to punch me in the face.
[P.S. Sorry for the weird font changes; I'm having some HTML trouble with this post...]
Anyways, a few months ago, I saw Hellogoodbye, Ace Enders, NeverShoutNever!, and PlayRadioPlay! at Sonar, this little club in Baltimore, and wrote a review of it for my guitar class. Reviewing it was really fun, so rather than just writing a crappy little list of who performed & how they sounded, I tried to make the review good. And I wanted my review to be read by more people than just my guitar teacher, so I thought I'd post it here [more people than just my guitar teacher will read this, right?]
On November 7, 2008, I saw Hellogoodbye, Ace Enders, NeverShoutNever, and PlayRadioPlay perform live at Sonar in Baltimore. The show had a diverse group of performers and was overall the most enjoyable live performance I have ever seen.
NeverShoutNever, alias Christopher Ingle, performed first. Ingle’s acoustic pop songs were very pleasant to listen to and told heartwarming stories of love, insecurity, and growing up in a small town. Ingle sang and played tambourine accompanied by a man on acoustic guitar. NeverShoutNever was a huge crowd pleaser. Ingle said we were “the best crowd ever” which may have been true, considering that he is a newcomer to the music scene and already caused hoards of girls in the crowd to scream “I love you!” at the end of each song. The audio quality was not world-class, but Ingle demonstrated an impressive vocal range and the set overall was, like its lovable performer, absolutely adorable.
The next act, PlayRadioPlay, bore a freakishly similar name to NeverShoutNever but had virtually nothing else in common. PlayRadioPlay, alias Dan Hunter, performed electropop music that was as different from NeverShoutNever’s sunny acoustic pop as day and night. Like Ingle before him and Hellogoodbye after him, Hunter seemed like a bit of a geek; unlike the other acts, he seemed cold and emotionally distant from the crowd. He thrashed around with a variety of good-looking guitars, apparently oblivious to how silly he looked. His singing was virtually inaudible, even though he bent over the microphone like some sort of monster poised to devour the mic and the audience after it. Hunter was accompanied by a drummer and keyboardist, neither of whom ever addressed the crowd; Hunter barely said a word to the audience either. His audio quality was extremely poor, and all of his songs suffered from a lack of a discernible melody. Most of the crowd clearly disliked the set; my favorite part of it was watching people move away to the bar and merchandise tables so I could take their spots closer to the stage. It was evident that even among this group of geeky pop bands, Hunter was an outcast. The show would have flowed better without him.
The concert regained its momentum with the next act, Ace Enders and a Million Different People. Enders’ rock music was the most mainstream music of the night, but it just as well-received as Ingle’s and Hellogoodbye’s more eclectic tunes. Enders sang and played guitar on some songs, accompanied by a bassist, guitarist, and drummer. The four were very popular with the crowd, many of whom appeared to be personal friends of Enders and his bassist. Enders played faster, louder versions of the songs on his EP “The Secret Wars”. Their songs were fun and catchy, prompting jumping, moshing, and even some uncoordinated attempts at break dancing and crowd surfing in the audience. Bassist Sergio Anello got into it as well, jumping around, making funny faces for the crowd, and trying to climb up the wall. Enders’ set was probably the most fun live performance I have ever seen.
It seems necessary to mention that Sonar is a very small club, and the crowd was very tightly packed. The heat by this point in the show verged on unbearable, causing Enders and Anello to sweat visibly. One girl in the audience even fainted from the heat. The bar offered free glasses of ice water, but few audience members dared venture away from their spots near the stage. Although it was easy to forget the heat and smell during the sets, the waiting periods between sets were awful.
Nearly three hours after the show began, Hellogoodbye performed. Lead singer Forrest Kline was sick, so his vocals were fairly awful, but that only added to the fun, unique feeling of the show. Kline had to sing one song entirely in falsetto, which was absolutely hilarious. He talked to the crowd, commiserating with another girl who was sick and inviting another girl to freestyle rap on stage. The other band members mostly stayed silent, except for guitarist Ryan Daly, who inexplicably and repeatedly told the crowd that his father pronounces Baltimore like “Baltee-more.” The crowd’s love was mostly aimed at Kline, the only member who has stayed with the band since its creation in 2001. Hellogoodbye’s audio quality was not great, and they only played two songs from their upcoming album, but Kline’s magnetic personality more than made up for their less than perfect musical performance.
The night ended with a truly grand finale in which Kline invited Ingle and Enders to help him sing Hellogoodbye’s most popular song, “Here (In Your Arms).” Hunter did not join them; he has been known to perform additional acoustic shows after his sets. Enders was at the merchandise table when the song began, and he crowd surfed the length of the club to reach the stage. The song was fairly chaotic; Enders repeatedly forgot the words and had to be reminded by Kline, and fans jumped on stage to join the performers. Still, the song exemplified the show: three eccentric pop bands performing sets that were not airtight but were tons of fun, pleasing fans and offering a truly unique musical experience, while PlayRadioPlay played alone out in the cold November night.
Why is this review still relevant? Well, although Hellogoodbye seems to be skipping the spring tours to record their next album, Ace Enders and NeverShoutNever! both have upcoming tours.
NeverShoutNever! is heading out on tour again with The Scene Aesthetic, The Honorary Title, and The Bigger Lights + Carter Hulsey. He'll be playing in the DC area at Jaxx in Springfield, Virginia on Sunday, March 8. Jaxx is a little club in a strip mall with a trashy-looking website. Their newest bartender is named Emily, and you can see pictures of her in a bikini here.
I'll probably spend that night dying inside because my parents won't let me go to concerts on school nights, but you should try to go and join the hoardes announcing their love at the top of their lungs.
After that tour, NSN heads out on the Bamboozle Roadshow, which will be stopping at the Recher Theatre in Towson, Maryland on Tuesday, April 28. He will be joined by We The Kings, Forever The Sickest Kids, The Cab, and Mercy Mercedes. In case I get reincarnated inside between this show and his show at Jaxx, I will be dying inside again that night because I cannot go.
More info about both these shows can be found on NSN's MySpace.
In other NSN news, his ukelele EP is now available on iTunes for those of you suckers who missed the free download week, and his song "Your Biggest Fan" will never get out of my head. Ever.
PlayRadioPlay! has not announced any future tour plans on his MySpace. Not that I would see him again anyways.
Ace Enders is also headin gout on tour again soon. This time, he will be supporting Craig Owens of Chiodos. The Color Fred, and VersaEmerge. His closest stop to the DC area is at Ottobar in Baltimore on Thursday, April 9, which is right in the middle of spring break for some of us. This much-anticipated show is rumored to be a hot ticket, so it's recommended that you make plans to go soon. My parents aren't too keen on the B-more club scene, but I'm trying to go.
More tour info on Ace's MySpace.
Also, if my smugness about downloading NSN's EP for free makes you want to punch me in the face, i'd like to offer you the link to downloa Ace Enders' album for free as an appeasement. It's right here, and it's totally jsut as good as NSN's...
I could burn you a copy of NSN's EP if you still want to punch me in the face.
[P.S. Sorry for the weird font changes; I'm having some HTML trouble with this post...]
Saturday, January 24, 2009
Quick! Free Ukelele Tunes!!!!!!!
Well, I think I have proven to be an even more horrible procrastinatron of a blogger than a student, which is the lesser of two evils I suppose, but I doubt I'm going to gain much Internet celebrity by only posting things when there are TWO DAYS for you to get some free songs played on a ukelele, so act now, limited-time offer!!!
My amazing best buddy Christofer Drew of NeverShoutNever, whom I do not know personally but kind of made eye contact with after one of his concerts, has just released a ukelele EP. While this is newsworthy in its own right, it's even more special because from the week of January 20-27th, you can download it for *free*
NSN's MySpace is here, and I strongly advise that you visit it and check out his ah-dorable emo hairdo, btu if you want to get right to the goods, you can download the 3-song EP here.
...And you might wanna get right on that. Since you only have about 53 hours left... Sorry bout that.
BUT, if you're reading this on January 28th and thinking bitch, there is good news! You can still download the EP on iTunes! Which is a good thing to do anyways, because Chris writes some ofof the most adorable tunes I have ever heard, and you really ought to support him.
And speaking of supporting, the reason for these free downloads? You have the option to donate money to Toms, an awesome lil shoe company that donates a pair fo shoes to a child in need for every pair you buy. I thought that was a terrific idea and considered purchasing a sparkly pair, but I wanted to check with my mom first, and she confirmed my suspicion that the design of the shoes is kind of hideous. So I decided that I love the idea and will definitely keep an eye on their future merchandise, but right now, the only pair I'd really want on my feet are the red vegan boots. [The boots are gorgeous, but no way are my parents paying 98 bucks for a pair of vegan boots.]
While we're on the subject of free music, and because I feel bad ending a blog by dissing a pair of shoes made by an incredibly conscientious company, I just discovered a free lil electropop mixtape. I came across it on Mark Maxwell's MySpace (under Band Members on teh left side of the page). It includes a song by one of my fave crazy electropop bands Hyper Crush and Mr. Maxwell himself who, in case you are unfamiliar with him, appears to be the brains behind those deliciously catchy airheads Millionaires. It's weird, but it's free. If you thought NSN's EP was too wussy, here's something that'll really make you... scratch your head and wonder what the hell kind of music I like...
My amazing best buddy Christofer Drew of NeverShoutNever, whom I do not know personally but kind of made eye contact with after one of his concerts, has just released a ukelele EP. While this is newsworthy in its own right, it's even more special because from the week of January 20-27th, you can download it for *free*
NSN's MySpace is here, and I strongly advise that you visit it and check out his ah-dorable emo hairdo, btu if you want to get right to the goods, you can download the 3-song EP here.
...And you might wanna get right on that. Since you only have about 53 hours left... Sorry bout that.
BUT, if you're reading this on January 28th and thinking bitch, there is good news! You can still download the EP on iTunes! Which is a good thing to do anyways, because Chris writes some ofof the most adorable tunes I have ever heard, and you really ought to support him.
And speaking of supporting, the reason for these free downloads? You have the option to donate money to Toms, an awesome lil shoe company that donates a pair fo shoes to a child in need for every pair you buy. I thought that was a terrific idea and considered purchasing a sparkly pair, but I wanted to check with my mom first, and she confirmed my suspicion that the design of the shoes is kind of hideous. So I decided that I love the idea and will definitely keep an eye on their future merchandise, but right now, the only pair I'd really want on my feet are the red vegan boots. [The boots are gorgeous, but no way are my parents paying 98 bucks for a pair of vegan boots.]
While we're on the subject of free music, and because I feel bad ending a blog by dissing a pair of shoes made by an incredibly conscientious company, I just discovered a free lil electropop mixtape. I came across it on Mark Maxwell's MySpace (under Band Members on teh left side of the page). It includes a song by one of my fave crazy electropop bands Hyper Crush and Mr. Maxwell himself who, in case you are unfamiliar with him, appears to be the brains behind those deliciously catchy airheads Millionaires. It's weird, but it's free. If you thought NSN's EP was too wussy, here's something that'll really make you... scratch your head and wonder what the hell kind of music I like...
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
