Macy Gray / The Brand New Heavies - 4th & B - San Diego - 8.23.2007

Macy Gray brought her tour to 4th & B in San Diego last night. She, along with her band rocked the hell out of 4th & B downtown San Diego last night. After a 75 minute set by the Brand New Heavies, Macy and her band took the stage.

Screamfest '07 @ Madison Sq. Garden, NYC 8/22 w/ Ciara, T.I., Yung Joc, and Lloyd

The Scream Tour has been around, but this time the artists on the bill cater to a different type of audience. Ciara is the first female headliner and T.I. has a large male as well as female fan base. Lloyd, Yung Joc and T-Pain opened and did not disappoint. Diddy came out on Yung Joc's set and had the crowd goin' crazy. T-Pain sang all his hits and songs he was featured on and Lloyd brought his MJ-esque moves for the ladies. Ciara and TI, however, put on the best show. Her single was cool but it was her smooth dance moves that had everyone going crazy. T.I. had command of the stage from the time he entered til he left. The ladies lost their minds and he made sure he showed some skin when had them losing it even more. The revamped Scream Tour served the same purpoe as all the others. I left with a headache from all the screaming but it was a good show indeed.

8/15: Umphrey's McGee @ McCarren Park Pool, Brooklyn, NY

Dancing in the deep end...

No better way to beat the heat on a steamy August NYC night than with a dip in the pool. Forget braving Penn Station at the height of rush hour (not to mention 2 trains and a ferry ride) just to park your butt on the beach in Fire Island...or sitting (literally) in the traffic nightmare that is the L.I.E. all in the name of the Hamptons. The life of a free spirit is so much simpler…and for the newest generation of live music loving hippies, McCarren Park Pool was the place to cool off and have some fun in the sun last Wednesday night.

8/15: Disco Biscuits @ McCarren Park Pool, Bklyn, NY

If anyone's putting a new spin on the jam band world, it's the Disco Biscuits. Even though these guys are now beginning their 2nd decade as a huge staple in the jam band community...emerging from the University of Pennsylvania party scene in the  mid-'90s...their mix of improv jazz with the electronic sounds reminiscent of the rave culture is definitely something to get used to. Dubbed as "trance-fusion," the Biscuits' music is, to be quite honest, a little weird. It's got lots of smooth free-form rhythms to help you get your groove on, but at the same time blends in harder, more psychedelic and often hypnotic beats that seem better suited for an acid-induced laser light show than a hippied-out fest of peace, love and harmony. But, that's just me...because based on the crowd in McCarren Park, as well as their tons of other sold out shows, the Biscuits' innovative sound has defintiely found itself a loyal fan base.

 

Chaka Khan, Tank, Angie Stone, Chrisette Michele, taragirl @ Unity Day, Philadephia - 8/19

Unity Day in Philadelphia is a huge event. With a stage set up on the steps of the art museum, the party draws hundreds of thousands. This year, relentless rain left everyone wet, but not disappointed as numerous soul music stars hit the stage for the WDAS-sponsored concert. Once you found a good dry spot and some support for your umbrella, all you had to do was watch the excitement unfold on stage. And if you heard your jam, getting a little wet suddenly didn’t matter. This was the case for many spectators as performers taragirl, Ledisi, Lady Alma, Chrisette Michele, Angie Stone, Bill Holly’s Hard Drive, Tank, and headliner Chaka Khan hit all the right notes…

Hot In Hollywood Charity Benefit Event with all your favorite TV stars, 8/18/07

A few weeks ago I got bored at work and started to lurk the Internet for any events coming up that my friends and I could perhaps attend. I ran across a website for "Hot In Hollywood," a party at the Henry Fonda Theater in Hollywood benefiting Aids research. It looked like a fun time and all the proceeds from the tickets and whatnot would go to the Aids Healthcare Foundation (AHF) and Alegria, a Salvation Army Aids/HIV housing facility. After seeing the list of celebrity performers, I knew I needed to attend. So I bought tickets for myself and two of my friends and was completely excited in anticipation about it.

Then it hit me…. I could only say I'm Frances from Billboard for like another month! I should at least try and organize myself a press pass so that I could perhaps cover the party for the blog. So I shot a few emails around before finally getting in touch with a lady who could get me press access. She asked me to call her and I did, we spoke and I explained what I did and whatnot when she popped the question "So, why did you want to come to this event anyways?" There was a pause; I had a real reason but it was kind of… well, not professional. I didn't want to lie though, so I figured I may as well tell her the truth. "Okay… truthfully… I just really want to meet Zachary Quinto and the rest of the cast of Heroes that's going to be there." I went on and fangirled like I was 12 years old over my favorite TV show and when I eventually shut up, I was pretty sure the answer was going to be a resounding "NO." But it wasn't. She was laughing; "You're funny! I like you!" and not only was I put on the list, but my two friends were too. See guys, honesty really IS the best policy.

ZAPPA PLAYS ZAPPA @ The Berkeley Community Theater, Berkeley, CA 8.20.07

I'm sure you remember what the late Frank Zappa named his son, don't you?   Dweezil.   Dweezil Zappa.    And don't forget about Dweezil's sister, Moon Unit!   (Brother Ahmet and sister Diva's names aren't nearly as ... memorable!)

But WOW ... who cares if he has a goofy name ... Dweezil Zappa is an awesome guitar player, and I have so much admiration for what he's doing.

Dweezil was taught to play guitar by a member of his father's band in the early 1980's, "guitar god" Steve Vai.   Dweezil is an INCREDIBLY TALENTED musician.    He can play the hell out of that guitar!

He's had a successful career not involved with his father's music -- he was an MTV DJ, he's appeared in movies ("Pretty in Pink" comes to mind), he's played in bands, and has composed music.   

Matt Nathanson: Copley Square, Boston MA 8.16.07

Matt Nathanson has been one of my favorite live performers for a few years now, so I was thrilled to find out that he would be playing a free show in Copley Square in Boston to promote his brand new album, Some Mad Hope. Matt promised the crowd: “If you buy my record, things will change for you.” Although his album material has always been enjoyable, his concerts are a completely different experience; he is as much of a seasoned stand-up comedian as he is a talented guitarist and vocalist. Normally, his sense of humor is pretty raunchy, but he was forced to tone down the vulgarity for this very public outdoor concert, as he pointed out during the show: “I’m very PG… it feels good.”

Since my humor can barely come close to the Matt Nathanson level, I’m not even going to try to joke around in this post. I’ll just borrow his humor in quote form.

KEB' MO' & ROBERT CRAY BAND, @ The Mountain Winery, Saratoga, CA 8.16.07

First of all, a big THANK YOU to my nephew Kevin and his wife, Devon, who gave me two tickets to see Keb' Mo' and Robert Cray at The Mountain Winery for my 50th birthday in April!     I'd never seen Keb' Mo', but Gary has a couple of his CDs and I knew I liked his music.     Gary often reminds me of one of Keb' Mo's lines ... "You don't have to shave your legs for me ..."    I like this guy!!    (Gary AND Keb' Mo'!)    We were both very excited to see him.

Robert Cray ... what can I say?     He's awesome, but I've seen him three times in the past year alone!   He opened for Buddy Guy at the Mountain Winery last year, he opened for Eric Clapton in San Jose in March, and we saw him at the Crossroads Guitar Festival in Chicago just a couple of weeks ago -- and now he was going to be opening for Keb' Mo'.   (Or so we thought.)   When I got stuck late at work I thought, "It's OK if we're a little late because Robert Cray is opening and we HAVE seen him three times just in the past year."     Then, when Gary and I decided we were both hungry and we really needed to eat something on the way, we stopped at a great little Fish & Chips place for a quick dinner on the way (I called ahead and our food was on the table for us when we arrived!) ... so we spent a little extra time doing that, but not a problem, because ... after all, we have seen Robert Cray three times ..

We arrived at the Mountain Winery for the 7:00 PM show at about 8:15, just in time to catch the last few songs of KEB' MO'S set!!   AAAUUUGGHHH!!    HE was the opening act ... for Robert Cray!!     (Don't they usually put the main act's name first, in larger letters with the opening act's name in smaller letters second?    Well, the advertisements and tickets and everything else said, "KEB' MO' and The Robert Cray Band.")     Well, enough whining about that ... we weren't sorry that we "HAD" to see Robert Cray, just that we'd missed a good hunk of Keb' Mo's show!

   

Muse & Cold War Kids: Agganis Arena, Boston MA 8.11.07

Last week, I fostered my British obsession at the Muse concert at Agganis Arena in Boston. And yes, I really took this picture with a camera phone: