On July 5th I was fortunate enough to go with my friend Natasha to San Deigo for Verizon's VIP tour. Starring Natasha Bedingfield, the Veronicas, and upcomer Kate Voegele it was a wonderful evening.
House of Blues San Diego is truly beautiful. I've attended concerts at other House of Blues including Vegas and most often Anaheim, but the atmosphere of downtown San Diego mixed with the dressing up that everyone does, the arena is able to fit a greater amount of people than the other HOBs that i've been to, all while allowing everyone on floor to have a good view.
We arrived a little after the show began at 8 pm due to parking issues, and unfortunatly missed the beginning of Kate Voegele's set, but the last three songs that we watched her perform was a wonderful gift. She has a strong innocence to her, as if she's still trying to play free shows anywhere they'll take her and loves performing for the sake of it which I love. Her true passion for singing and rocking the stage shined and although I am unfamiliar with her songs I still enjoyed her set and am going to try and get her c.d. on itunes soon.
Kate's set ended at 24 past 8 and she went to the back for meet and greets in the audience signing t-shirts and other merch. While we didn't leave our amost front row spots to go meet her, we were able to see her from where we were and she seemed completely down to earth, smiles all around and not outshining anyone around her. Definately keep an eye out for her!
Next was The Veronicas. I had seen the duo perform before at The Roxy in which, if you read that blog I wasn't too keen on. Now let me just say I love their music and all of their videos and performances that I see on youtube and t.v. and I even went and paid $18 dollars for their c.d. to be shipped since it isnt sold in most retail places in California. So with that said, I consider myself a decent fan but as much good things that I can say about their two c.d.'s I can't say about their performance. They came on the stage for a 24 minute set and didn't carry an energy in their performance. Songs jumped from one to another with maybe a minute at tops (and I'm being generous) of them talking to the crowd. There was little eye contact, less of a performance, and constantly Lisa had trouble with her mic going out and not working, as well as the two of them whispering in eachothers ears.
After their set, Natasha and I went and left our good spot in the crowd to go meet the girls since they said although it wouldnt be for long that THEY would meet their fans in the back, we waited about 10 minutes for just Lisa to show up. Lisa was an absolute doll and really sweet but we were not allowed to take pictures with her or talk for more than just one question before we were moved along. Jess never came out to greet the many fans that were there for them which was unfortunate because she is an amazing talent as well and I wish people that were just being introduced to their music for the first time could have seen that. All in All they performed a decent set, I loved all of their songs but for the second time seeing them it would have been nice to have them interact with the crowd more and work on those stage issues such as mic's and the background tracks not overpowering their live performance.
The final performance of the night was by the gorgeous and tallented Miss. Natasha Bedingfield. While I can't say I know many of her songs as well, I was blown away by her performance and became an instant fan. Her presence and energy from the first to last song was fully present, she constantly engaged in the crowd, dedicating songs to couples and singing for the single ladies in the audience and giving props out to the gents that were chanting in the right hand side. She took the time in between every single song to talk to the group of us about America and her experiences here and taking every chance to thank us for coming. Nothing about her came off as fake, it was all positive energy that radiated into everyone in the audience. Singing her multiple hit singles including Pocketful of Sunshine, These Words, and countless others everyone joined in and was dancing throughout her set in full. She even came back for three more songs after her set ended for encores including Madonna's Ray of Light which was spectacular and made the gays especially happy. I can't say enough positive things about her performance and I encourage everyone to become aquainted with her music (legally) and if you get a chance to see her live go see her- you wont regret it.
The VIP Tour all in all was an amazing experience and well worth the price tickets were going for. Complete with three sets full of "Girl Power", meet and greets, green stages to film your own video singing along side the ladies, t.v.s in every corner showing a front row view of the concert, texts desplayed of audience members writting about eachother and games near the meet and greet tables, it was a full package deal and far beyond what I had expected. A music festival packed into HOB is more like it, and I've gained appreciation for two new artists along with lifetime memories.
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