Blog Posts For Tag: Concert

A quick look at who is touring this summer makes me realize that despite all the dire economic news the music industry is rolling out the red carpet. Seriously, the list is tremendous for every genre. If I mentioned these all these names in a single conversation I would be accused of name dropping.

While performers from decades past are ready to bury their grudges, performers in the now seem to be picking fights left and right. Yes, Fleetwood Mac seems to have it all together for a reunion tour and Leonard Cohen is coming to the U.S. to perform after ignoring the country for 15 years (to be fair, we ignored him first). Meanwhile the celebrity snub list is growing with offenders as young as Miley Cyrus and as old as Madonna.

Katy Perry has come out and stated that she was forced to fight with record label executives for creative control of her songs. They wanted her to be a punk pop diva back in 2001. Then the biggest femme pop influence on the radio was Avril Lavigne and looking for a quick buck they wanted the doe-eyed Perry to sing about teen angst and how much boys suck.

It seemed like 2008 was the year of the teenyboppers. Well, 2009 is shaping up to be a little more adult. Jay-Z last released American Gangster in 2007 and his next record, The Blue Print 3, is going to be his 11th and last with Island Def Jam. Eminem is coming back with Relapse, his first new release since Encore in 2004.

The new rumor around Popville is that ballad happy Coldplay could be further ruining their sincerity cred here in the States thanks to the willingness of Chris Martin to perform in a duo for Leona Lewis. Casual pop fans may not recognize the name, but Lewis is the Kelly Clarkson of the UK. She is the winner of the 2006 season of the British pop wannabe competition Factor X. She has also been nominated for three Grammy Awards and debuted at number one over here with her album Spirit.

This past weekend tickets for the latest Lil’ Wayne and Taylor Swift tours went on sale. While Lil’ Wayne is not country, despite his appearance at the Country Music Awards, he does have a common bond with Taylor Swift. The connection is not their pop appeal either.

They say justice is blind. They also portray justice as a blindfolded woman holding a scale along with a sword. They do not say that justice is deaf and apparently she loses all control when an R&B artist croons.

Now I admit I am an anglophile. Everything from the British Isles seems better to me. I like the comedies, the movies, and the music almost immediately upon hearing it is from England. I think Guy Ritchie deserves half of Madonna’s fortune for letting her don an atrocious I do not know why I have such a cynicism about American everything (except sports, our football is the only football as far as I am concerned), but I do.

In case you forgot, will.i.am, a fouding member of Black-Eyed Peas, won an Emmy for basically just dubbing some soft guitar strokes and celebrity over Obama’s momentous “Yes We Can” speech. Well, that was more than a few months ago and the hip hop artist, will.i.am not Obama, has decided he should probably ride somebody else’s coattails.

In a world that seems to be obsessed with fusion-with the mix of rock and rap, of business and pleasure, of banking and –it is fun to play around with the world of fiction and the mass produced images of entertainment.

Imagine a world where the music stars of today are the main characters of a world set on the edge of destruction, a world whose very survival depends on the talents and careers of these celebrity magazines that only focus so much more on their celebrity.

Rarely has a comedian unintentionally chosen a name so perfect for a tour. While Robin Williams has jokingly said that the Weapons of Self-Destruction tour is his last chance to make fun of President Bush, I originally thought this might be some sort of self-deprecating humor from the man who let movies like Flubber define his career.

Let’s face it, while people older than 25 may appreciate the shocking and dirty nature of his humor from his days on cocaine and whatever else he could get his hands on, the younger generation remembers him as a cuddly cross dressing nanny, a voice in animated features, and several other misguided box office attempts.

This does not mean that I think this tour will not be funny. I come from a large Irish Catholic family on my maternal side. I remember my aunts and uncles being hilarious and, often times, drunk at my massive family gatherings. Then, as my cousins and I reached our teenage years a damper of “good examples” sucked all the life out the family gatherings. No longer were people thrown in pools, men dared to skateboard inebriated down a street with a steep slope, or somebody’s fist going through the screen door as a joke.

The good times would return, as soon as most of us could drink, things returned to normal. My Aunt X would say wildly inappropriate things in front of her son and stories involving “questionable” substances from decades ago were told. I think Robin Williams tour will be something like that. I expect cursing and not a fake proper British accent, talk of drugs and not of three magic wishes, and general offensive lunacy and no remake of safe movies from the ‘50s.

Yes, Robin Williams is probably going to relive his early days as a comic, but with better pay. Here is some early political humor from the man himself thanks to the giant catalog of videos called YouTube…

Robin Williams Tickets

What would have happened if Barack Obama had not won on Tuesday? Not in terms of the economy, constitutional questions, or social issues. No nothing like that. I am sure CNN, MSNBC, and Fox News had all those areas covered.

I am talking about the silent issue that would have gone unnoticed. What would have happened to Will.I.Am if Obama had lost? No other artist seemed to have put so much effort in attaching his celebrity to a presidential candidate than the hip hop solo artist and Black Eyed Peas frontman and songwriter. Sure, Hank Williams Jr. played at a few McCain rallies, including the depressing denial-fueled “party” in Arizona where McCain gave his concession speech, but Will.I.Am is well on his way to completing an albums worth of songs for his presidential choice.

Here is the McCain-Palin Tradition at a rally via YouTube…

Will.I.Am’s “Yes We Can” is the ultimate sample, taking advantage of Obama’s incredible public speeches. This is the other celebrity-bonanza “song” that is more about sampling a chanting crowd and a collection of celebrities looking pretty with a beat in the background than actual lyrics.

Here is “We Are The Ones” via Youtube…

I predict that the planned third song will just be Obama’s speech from Grant Park after he won. There may not even be a beat this time, but Will.I.Am is sure to make an appearance in a black and white at the end praising him.

I think Will.I.Am would be better served writing actual material. I may or may not be as gleeful as a little kid holding an ice cream cone (I am), but I prefer to see artists creating art as a political statement rather than using a political statement as art. I think he should hand the Emmy he won for “Yes We Can” to Obama since the presidential-elect did most of the work (also because it would be pretty cool to have an Emmy Award winning president.)

Maybe this is the beginning of a political career though. He could be the campaign manager for Al Franken in the next election on the “celebrities we recognize, but cannot quite place without the rest of their ensemble” ticket.

So while this website may go on selling concert tickets for performers like Madonna, Coldplay, and AC/DC, Will.I.AM can go out and start campaigning via Music Video and pick up a second daytime Emmy along the way.

The Jonas Brothers have hit the music scene as the newest group to capture the heart teenage girls (or more accurately tween girls) that want their rock stars to sing up beat, romantic bubble gum lyrics.

This is far from a new phenomenon. This has been a “discovered” market since music became mass produced and available across the nation and the globe. As soon as a song could be recorded and sent to stores and homes around the world, gaggles of girls have been able to dream of innocent romantic relationships with the lead singer or the guitarist (the drummer is probably a more adult dream and the bassist never gets any adoration).

The Jonas Brothers-Kevin, Joe, and Nick- are following in the footsteps of the groups like the Beattles, the Monkeys, and Herman’s Hermits. This group brings back images of a group that had its hey day not to long ago and is trying to make a new life for themselves now. That group is Hanson.

Hanson was also comprised of three brothers –Isaac, Taylor, and Zac. They also had the pseudo-rock style hair of the generation. Hanson had long, straight blond hair while the Jonas Brothers are rocking curly black mops. Hanson similarly produced pseudo rock music that was a more family friendly version of the scary grunge music of the times.

They sang about being happy and longing for the girl with an upbeat catalogue of songs like “MMMBop.” This was before the gut-wrenching realization that their lives were pointless and would end up like Nirvana’s “Smells Like Teen Spirit.”

Once again, similarly, the Jonas Brothers are the cute, adorable not-so-suicidal version of Emo. Their music is driven by the packaged emotions. Instead of those emotions being about hating your life and regret and longing because of a broken heart or “difficult” life in middle class suburbia, the Jonas Brothers write the emotions at the beginning of a relationship or the longing for the pretty girl from afar. Both emotions come from the same place, just from the pre-decimated stage.

Hanson and the Jonas Brothers also came along at a similar time within the musical landscape. Hanson came at the end of grunge when the boy bands and girl groups were taking hold. The Backstreet Boys, N’Sync, and Brittney Spears were dominating MTV while they were breaking into the TRL top ten.

The Jonas Brothers are coming along as Emo is being called out and openly mocked by just about everyone. While no real boy bands have emerged, there are plenty of girl pop stars to choose from to replace Brittney’s teen-targeting lyrics. The very savior of their career, Hannah Montana/Miley Cyrus, is such a pop star.

The ultimate forward looking question is whether the Jonas Brothers will be able to make the move from a Disney Channel-channel approved group with a target audience that stops listening once they become more aware of their sexuality and want heir music to reflect their more risqué dreams or if they are able to change with the times and tie themselves to a “dangerous” label that keeps the girls who had innocent dreams of make out sessions dreaming about them as they want to do more than be seen holding hands.

And now, for your listening pleasure, a trip to a nostalgic place.

You can purchase Jonas Brothers tickets for their upcoming tour here or you can get Hanson tickets as they make their comeback.

In preparation for the Grammy Awards on February 8, 2009, the Grammy Nominations Concert Live! will feature Celine Dion, the Foo Fighters, B.B King, John Mayer, and Taylor Swift performing on December 3, 2008 in a television special. The special will hype the music industry for the award show and act as a celebration for the grand opening of the Grammy Museum at L.A. Live.

In our own celebration of the Grammy Awards below are just some our favorite performances from last year’s show.

Amy Winehouse before she lost complete control of mental functions. She’s crazy, but one great performer.
 

Alicia Keysand John Mayer in the standard cross genre duet. Really it’s a celebration of music and not just a ploy to try and attract non-traditional fans. Its magic only the music industry can produce. Although it is a wonderful contrast of one of the most glamorous live performers and one the most awkward.

Simply Foo, with the added distraction of a contest meant to make the world of rock stardom seem more accessible. Still, gotta love Jason Bateman. Still hilarious.

Yeah You Tube for these Blogger-ific moments
 

It seems weird, but the Smashing Pumpkins are about to embark on a 20th anniversary tour. I imagine bands like Journey or REO Speedwagon when I think of reunion tours, not the Pumpkins, not a band that was one of the biggest during the ‘90s.

There could be a whole section of the crowd at the concerts on the tour that starts on October that do not realize that Jeff Schroeder (guitar), Ginger Reyes (bass), and Lisa Harriton (keyboard) are not part of the original lineup.

Sure, the band’s success was always tied to Corgan, for his unique voice and his lyrics, but James Iha and D’arcy Wretzky are as tied to early images of this band as the thick layering of guitars that are impossible to reproduce in concert. It will still be good to hear the original Emo rocker without the pretense that some many of today’s bands are oozing.

After the announcement of the AC/DC tour, fans have been wondering who would open for the legendary rock band. It was announced that The Answer, the hard rock group with a love for blues rock, would travel along for the first leg of the tour. The Answer will come to North America for the first time after getting their start in Northern Ireland. The group is hardly new to the touring scene though. After forming in 2000, the group has opened for the Rolling Stones, The Who, and Aerosmith in Europe.