Pocketful of Sunshine

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.

Flight of the Conchords

On June 1st, I went with friends to see the amazing and talented Flight of the Conchords. I am usually a very hard critic to please, but I have nothing but great things to say about these two, and may I say handsome, men. Their show started at 8 pm at the Orphium Theatre in Los Angeles and went on until 11:28pm which is a lengthy in comparison for comedians. I wish I could share videos of the show on here with you, but the theatre asked that we not take videos or pictures and I respected that. Fortunatly, some individuals didn't hear the memo and posted clips of the performance on youtube which I suggest everyone to check out. All I can say is if you ever get a chance to see them live, and can beat the scalpers to tickets, go see them! You will be laughing all night, and it is perfect for both mature men and women for a wonderful show even if you don't usually see comedy acts. Look for them on youtube as well as HBO with their self titled show.

American Idol Finale 2008

Wendsday was the season finale of the 2008 American Idol. I can't say I've seen the show since the days of Kelly and Justin, but my good friend Lauren was able to get 8 tickets and I love a good event so of course I thanked her for the invite with a yes! Although the taping was to begin at 5 pm pacific time, we had to leave at 8 am to pick up our hard tickets and from there on our little L.A. day was an adventure. First off, let me say, if you ever get the opportunity to see a live show taping, don't pass it up. There's a lot of chaos involved and hunts for parking spots, but seeing a show in person with the behind the scenes view of how it works, is well worth whatever trouble may come in the way.



For us, there was a lot of trouble. We had a late start, hitting the road at 8:30 with a tank of gas below empty and after 2 tickets, 1 wrong freeway, and 4 wrong exits we finally arrived. We only live around 40 minutes from L.A. but were surprised to see over 1,000 people already in line. We ended up being ticket number 1430-1434 with half of our party up in the 600's. It took until after 1 pm for us to finally get our hard tickets, which lucky for us was dead center orcestra tickets and we grabbed lunch and went to the showing.


Find what you can on youtube because it was amazing! The only acts that were leaked were the Jonas Brothes along with Carrie Underwood. I would have been happy with just those two acts, but Seal, George Michaels, Bryan Adams Jordin Sparks and many others performed as well. Even more so, whoever was not on stage that is in the business was in the audience. I was able to scope out Ashley Tisdale, Joel from the Soup, Matt Lienart, Blake Lewis, Justin from season 1, Michael Myers, Jerry Springer, and many more.

The crew worked very hard to make sure everyone in the audience was entertained and they did an amazing job. The finale passed my expectations providing for an excellent show that was beyond what they needed to do to provide a free show even though it was taped. Of course David Cook won, but although the night was meant to be on him, music lovers in general all enjoyed the show from start to finish. Just like a better wango tango besides the abscence of Miley Cyrus I can only thank the crew of American Idol for a fantastic evening, and I hope I can go again next year.

Glow in The Dark Tour

Oh my. It has been awhile since I attended a concert I truly enjoyed from start to finish, and the Glow in the Dark Tour was just that and so much more. Featuring N.E.R.D., Rihanna, Lupe Fiasco and of course Kanye West, the line up was amazing and the crowd and performances were unforgettable. If you type in Glow in the Dark Tour, most of the articles would be exactly what I would write on here, so I'll save the repeatition and just say, if you have a chance to see it, go to it! It's well worth the money, expecially the $140 my friend and I paid, and will create many concert memories you cant forget. But watch out, after this, all other concerts you go too may lose their luster.

Here's a quick video of the 4.20 crowd right before the lights dimmed for Kanye taken from our nosebleed seats, that surprisingly had a great view.

The Veronicas Play at The Roxy.

Singing Duo, The Veronicas, Performed an hour show at The Roxy, an intimate and well known concert arena in Los Angeles, Ca. The concert was packed, but not sold out, and featured opening acts The Follow, as well as Reeve Carney. I have known of the girl's music since 04 or 05 slightly before 4ever hit the charts here in America, and I have loved all of their music since. Being such a fan of their 2 c.d.'s I went with a friend expecting not much outside of a great performance, and I along with all of the rest of the attendees recieved almost that. Both The Follow and Carney put on amazing sets full of emotion and energy and the room was swarming with Dlisters which made the excitement for a great night even that more intense. Music performers such as Ryan Cabrera and JC Chasez were in attendance, with many other speculations and rumors of which I nor my friend didn't see first hand. When The Veronicas first took the stage the sound quality wasn't up to par, unfortunatly making the girls sound like chipmunks, but the situation quickly got fixed after the song Untouched. I was very pleased with their song selections making sure to fit in all of the major hits in Oz with some favorites as well. There wasn't as much energy as the paying crowd would have enjoyed, but the sing alongs were well worth it, and the $13 was well spent. If you enjoy upbeat music for the broken and mending heart with an intimate show, keep your eyes out for The Veronicas to provide you with a memorable night.

Oh Wango!

Wango Tango 2008 came with a bang this year for KIIS FM's yearly concert festival, held in Irvine, California for the second year in a row. Living in the area, it was a pleasant surprise that the overcast weather we had been graced with changed for one afternoon only to beautiful blue skies and hot temperatures. While some didn't mind the 90 degree plus weather, most teens, young adults, and parents were just excited for what laid ahead. A wango tango village opened up it's doors to begin the festivities at 2pm.

Inside the village was a photobooth, carnival rides, 2 stages that gave away goodies, and various stands offering unique items. From there the concert started at 6:30 pm.

The Jonas Brothers, while I can't say I know much of their music, gave quite the performance to those who aren't followers as well to their die hard fans. Kevin, Nick, and Joe were very much the crowd favorite with teenage girls singing along and following the moves to every song. They performed such hits as SOS, When You Look Me In The Eyes, and That's just the way we roll. Although their set was only around 20 minutes, talk of the Jonas Brothers carried throughout the entire night.

The Dey was a no show, so Prima J took their place and performed a good set, although it was shorter and otherwise an exact copy of their performance just an hour prior at the small wango tango village stage. You can see videos of their performances here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gROe7m08oZU for Prima J, and here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K9MaBrBALZI.

After a few lesser known acts, Miley Cyrus took the stage to perform a 25 minute set and to be the end of the show for many preteens whose parents decided it to be a good idea to leave before the more mature acts that followed.

Miley did a great job of keeping the audience alive and active sounding great and nailing her dance routines. It was unfortunate that her outfit didnt want to cooperate with her and had at least one near wardrobe malfunctions, but did an amazing job not drawing attention in on that problem. Overall I was very pleased at her set and I know many youngings agree. Singing to, Fly on the Wall, Breakout, See you Again, Start all Over, Clear, East Northumberland High, and one to two others, even if one wasn't a Miley follower, the songs were still familiar as they seemed to be played on every radio station, especially 102.7 Kiis fm.

Danity Kane, Pitbull, Flo Rida, and Snoop Dogg all followed, although unfortunatly I wasn't very impressed. Their performances seemed weak giving half hearted performances, Danity Kane seemed more like a 4 person group than 5, with an unnamed member choosing to do their own performance, Flo Rida only performing 3 songs and hiding in the crowd away from most of the audience for most of his set, Snoop Dogg having a group rapping more than he was, and Pitbull giving the same yet less thrilling performance as last year. I was dissapointed at how the concert didn't end with a grand exit, rather just half of the audience still watching, mostly yawning, and nothing like last years ending with Fergie/Ludacris/Will.I.Am. Although, I have to say for the money, it was a great deal, and Wango Tango is a concert every music lover should attend at least once.