Archive for July, 2009
I know we “will always love” Whitney Houston and have been waiting patiently for this divas new album. Get ready, because Whitney is gearing up for the comeback of a lifetime and she has a lot to prove.
I can remember singing and dancing to hits like, “I Will Always Love You”, “Saving All My Love for You” and “How Will I Know”. Whitney has an amazingly powerful voice that transcends all generations and it’s about time for some new jams!
The new album was produced by Clive Davis and includes tracks written and produced by the talented Alicia Keys. BET’s own Clay Cane critiqued the album and remarked, “Her voice is deeply powerful, channeling classic Whitney with a pop sense but an R&B vocal.”
The first single “I Look to You” was produced by R. Kelly and will definitely receive heavy rotation by listeners and radio stations. The album includes 11 tracks and I can’t wait to hear them all!
Yes, you can believe the hype!
At a recent listening party, Whitney Houston’s new album won over the crowd. It is rumored fans were dancing and getting down to the new tunes. The event included a star-studded guest list including; Halle Berry, Barry Manilow, Magic Johnson, Jane Fonda, Stevie Wonder and many more.
Here are the songs you will find on Whitney Houston’s new album (tracklist may change).
Whitney Houston – I Look to You
1. Million Dollar Bill
2. Nothin’ But Love
3. Call You Tonight
4. I Look To You
5. Like I Never Left (featuring Akon)
6. A Song For You
7. I Didn’t Know My Own Strength
8. Worth It
9. For The Lovers
10. I Got You
11. Salute
Whitney Houston’s new album titled “I Look to You” is scheduled to be released on August 31st, 2009. You can even download a free song from her new cd, for a limited time!
I am hoping we will see a Whitney Houston tour in the works soon! I have been hearing rumors of a possible fall/winter concert tour, in support of her new music.
Additional August Music Releases:
Modest Mouse - No One First Any You’re Next
Queen Latifa – Persona
The Roots – How I Got Over
George Strait – Twang
Lil Wayne – Rebirth
Sean Paul – Imperial Blaze
Reba McEntire – Keep On Loving You
Third Eye Blind – Ursa Major
David Guetta – One Love
Smokey Robinson – Time Flies When You Are Having Fun
The Casualties – We are All We Have
Imogen Heap – Elipse
Matisyahu - Light
July 31st, 2009
The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame museum is organizing a huge concert, to commemorate their 25th year anniversary. This museum was opened in 1984 and is home and a shrine to all things rock and roll. This museum was funded and created by music exec Ahmet Ertegun and it has always been a completely non-profit organization. All ticket sales from the concert will benefit the museum.
The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame museum features hundreds of exhibits and musical artifacts. Slash’s hat, Jimmy Hendrix Boots, John Lennon’s piano, Otis Redding’s Airplane and Michael Jackson’s Thriller jacket are all wildly popular exhibits.
The 25th Anniversary celebration is guaranteed to please and tickets will be hot. This once in a lifetime concert will feature some of the most talented musical acts on the planet. The concerts will be sponsored by American Express and Bacardi.
Thursday, October 29th Artists: Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band, Paul Simon, Crosby Stills, Nash & Friends, Simon and Garfunkel, and Steve Wonder
Friday, October 30th Artists: U2, Aretha Franklin, Metallica and Eric Clapton
The 25th Anniversary of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame will be broadcast live on television from the Madison Square Garden on both dates. Concert tickets will also be on sale soon! I would love to get my hands on a pair, should be an amazing experience.
Madison Square Garden is located in New York City and is also known as MSG or “The World’s Most Famous Arena”. MSG can hold 20,000 fans during concerts and tickets often sell out quickly.
Pre-sale tickets are scheduled to become available on July 27th.
Additional notable upcoming Madison Square Garden events:
Green Day - July 27-28th
Depeche Mode – August 3-4th
Aerosmith – September 14th
Pink – October 5th
July 23rd, 2009
All right folks, plenty of “professional” journalists covering the local music scene in Phoenix should have already posted a review of this show. They will come on board in time, so for now enjoy the raves of the Dust Devil, because as time has gone on I realize more and more just how special of an evening it was at the Ruby Room watching the Father Figures play live for the first time.
Let’s do the math here. You have three musicians, all veterans of the Arizona music scene. They name themselves the Father Figures because two of the members are 39 and one just turned 50. Together they create a classic post-punk style of music with plenty of melody. One member played in Jody Foster’s Army and Housequake, another member was in the North Side Kings and Hillbilly Devilspeak, and the third in the Voice, 40 Watt Las Vegas and the Captives. To me, that math equals a formula for one promising new band!
This whole evening was one great party. Four DJ’s spun tunes before and after sets from the two featured bands on this evening, the Father Figures and Grave Danger. The DJ’s included Nick Dephinger, Bobby Lerma, Todd Joseph and Rob Locker.
The occasion was to celebrate Father Figure’s guitarist Michael Cornelius’s 50th birthday. Celebrate we did, with plenty of snacks, and even cake and ice cream! The cover at the Ruby Room was FREE on this evening and there were plenty of drink specials. This truly was a grand occasion and loads of fun.
The scary part is, I have not even gotten to the actual show yet …
After two great DJ sets to commence the evening which included music from TSOL, the Descendents and the Pretenders, the Father Figures strode onstage to play their first ever live set. I was both blown away and excited seeing how many people were crammed into the Ruby Room. There was not a whole lot of room to move in this venue, creating a great atmosphere for some killer live music.
Before I leap into “reviewer mode”, let’s get something clear first. Some of you know that I have been friends with Robert Lerma for a long time now. I have mentioned his name in several posts on this blog because of all the great music he has turned me on to. However, I have such a love and passion for music that if a project he is involved with does not turn my crank, I tell him that. He will attest to the fact I have done so on several different occasions.
I tell you that because when I tell you this was a GREAT show, that is from a purely objective frame of reference. If anything, I went into this show with possibly too high of expectations. I had the privelege of hearing rough, instrumental versions of Save it For Later and Something’s Burning weeks before this show. When I heard them, I knew this show was going to be special. A lot of bands claim to be post-punk, but fail miserably at creating music that lives up to the high standard of that genre of music.
Not the case with this band! I really was impressed with what I heard, knowing this trio had only around ten practices under their belt before playing their first gig. From the first chords of the opener Save it for Later, the Father Figures introduced the Ruby Room crowd to a brand new era of alt rock. The crowd ate it up.
Tom Reardon may be in the process of learning a new style of vocals, and it will be a learning process, but he is on his way. The North Side Kings and Hillbilly Devilspeak were bands with a heavier sound, much more hardcore than what the Father Figures do. That is a difficult transition to go from a hardcore style of singing to the more melodic approach required for this band. I look forward to the continued progress in this respect! His bass play remains his strong suit and was a key element during each song, particularly during TBBH. No, I will not tell you what the letters stand for, ask the band when you go see them.
Michael Cornelius became well-known for his smooth bass work, which was so unique for a skate punk band like JFA. How good he is on that instrument was really evident when he was in Housequake, a great funk band. Well, I was pleasantly surprised with his guitar work, which suits the style of this band very well. I would love to have heard his vocals more on the couple of songs he sang, they were a bit low in the mix. What was great to see as a music fan was how sincere he was on stage, and how much fun you could tell he was having. Marvelous!
Bobby Lerma on the drums … I have raved about this guy quite a bit. I am being sincere when I say his musicianship is top notch. Bobby always does exactly what a quality drummer is supposed to do in a band; direct the course of the music and keep everyone on task. He plays hard, but with extreme precision. This is the type of band where his skills really shine through.
TBBH was the highlight of the set for me personally, what a joy to hear for the first time. It possesses great tempo and that killer bass line I mentioned earlier. Something’s Burning is full of intricate guitar licks that hook you from the second gets rolling. The band showed its diversity during the set as well, able to play a mellow track like Happy/Sad, then a mere two songs later totally kick into punk rock mode on AZPX!
Folks, you blew it if you did not go to this show! A great party, a very cool venue (but fix that AC people!) and a great start for the Father Figures. This truly was live music in the manner it is supposed to be played; raw, plenty of emotion and lots of energy. With time I am sure the polish will start to be a factor as well, but it is such a pleasure to see a band in its early stages of existence.
There are two more opportunities to check out the Father Figures in the next few months. This Saturday, July 25, they will perform at the annual St. George’s Day Music Fest at the George and Dragon. My understanding is they will go on around 10:00pm, a prime slot for a band performing for just the second time live! Then on Saturday, October 17, the second birthday bash for one of the band’s members will take place at Hollywood Alley. This time come celebrate with Tom Reardon!
No excuses people! Get off your rear and go check out some great new local music. Trust me, the show this Saturday will be exponentially better than the Keith Urban one the same evening!
Cheers!
The Dust Devil
July 21st, 2009
Ever wonder how many people you’re competing with to find tickets to see to your favorite college football team in action? Wonder no more. I’ve compiled a nice little list of the Top 10 College Football Ticket Searches to give you a bird’s-eye view of just how many people are interested in purchasing tickets for big-name college football teams. All search volumes are estimated monthly totals as provided by the Google External Keyword Tool.
1. Alabama Football Tickets
Based on search volumes for June of 2009, “Alabama Football Tickets” was searched 12,100 times. Imagine how many people will be searching for Alabama vs LSU tickets later this season, and even more so should Alabama fans need SEC Championship tickets for another crack at Florida this year.
2. Ohio State Football Tickets
Buckeyes fans are some of the most avid ticket purchasers on the secondary market. No matter where they have to travel or who OSU is playing, Ohio State fans want to be there and will pay whatever it takes to get ‘er done. June searches for “Ohio State Football Tickets” are also estimated at 12,100 and I wouldn’t be surprised if the real number surpasses that of ‘bama’s numbers. Look for a high volume of Ohio State vs USC tickets searches early in the season.
3. Michigan Football Tickets
Some Spartans fans type this in when they’re looking for tickets only to find loads of sites offering Michigan Wolverines tickets. In some markets you have to be very specific about the team you are searching for to get the best results. “Michigan Football Tickets” searches were estimated at 9,900 in June, but Michigan vs Michigan State tickets is one of the most-popular searches for cross-town rivalries there is.
4. Penn State Football Tickets
The great state of Pennsylvania breads its own brand of football and football fans. It’s no surprise these are some of the most sought-after college football tickets around. I for one am looking for the Boilermakers to hand out a heaping helping of retribution to Iowa for the upset the Hawkeyes handed them late last season. I expect Penn State vs Iowa tickets to be in popular demand this year but not as popular as Penn State vs Ohio State tickets. “Penn State Football Tickets” searches were estimated at 9,900 in June.
5. Georgia Football Tickets
This one is a toss-up of late. Both Georgia and Georgia Tech have a solid football following, so this search might artificially point to the University of Georgia Bulldogs as the fifth-most-popular college football ticket search in June, at an estimated 8,100 searches. And speaking of which, be on the lookout for a high demand for Georgia Georgia Tech tickets this season.
6. Notre Dame Football Tickets
This one shouldn’t be a shocker. With poor performance and lots of staffing changes at America’s favorite catholic school demand for Fighting Irish football tickets is also down. Still, even when the boys are playing poorly they still have a strong enough alum to keep them in the Top 10 most popular college football ticket related searches each and every year. “Notre Dame Football Tickets” searches were also estimated at 8,100 in June. Notre Dame vs Navy tickets are always a big draw and you might want to buy Notre Dame vs USC tickets in the hopes that they can put together a surprising upset when the Trojans visit South Bend in December.
7. Auburn Football Tickets
With a good outlook for 2009 demand for Auburn Tigers football tickets is on the rise. “Auburn Football Tickets” makes the chart with an estimated 6,600 searches in June. There should be plenty of people searching for Auburn vs Alabama tickets as usual this season.
8. LSU Football Tickets
Now here’s a surprise. I’m always amazed how dominating this team can be without a higher search volume to back their popularity. “LSU Football Tickets” searches were estimated at 6,600 in June. Look for a high volume of “LSU vs Florida Tickets” searches again this season.
9. USC Football Tickets
Also amazing that more people are not excited about the upcoming USC football season. “USC Football Tickets” searches are estimated at 6,600 for June and should be much higher by now with them favored as the Pac 10 Champions… again. Expect to see a lot of people crying out for USC vs Ohio State tickets in early August and USC vs Cal tickets following that as the Bears are the biggest Pac-10 threat to the Trojans in ‘09.
10. Tennessee Football Tickets
Good ol’ Volunteers Football. Neyland Stadium is one of my personal picks for best stadiums to catch a college football game at. The fans are friendly, the football is phenomenal and the barbeque sauce is to die for! “Tennessee Football Tickets” searches are estimated at 5,400 in June and I bet Tennessee vs Florida tickets are going to be the biggest draw of the year.
Remember, for the biggest games of the year TickCo specializes in college football tickets for less than the other guys.
So what about you? What team do you search most when you’re looking for college football tickets, and what do you think will be the biggest regular season matchup in NCAA football this season?
Let Me Know,
July 16th, 2009
From tiny dive bars to massive outdoor amphitheaters, there are hundreds of event venues in the states. I have scoured America to find you the crème de la crème. These are my favorite concert venues of all time. Venues with the best sound, lighting, music, history, vibe and so much more. Keep in mind, this list is in no particular order!
01. Cricket Wireless Pavilion Phoenix, Arizona the rumors are true, I am an Arizona Native. So, of course I have to stick my favorite Arizona concert venue in the mix. I have been to Cricket Wireless Pavilion a handful of times and always have a blast. However, the venue is best during spring and winter. Outdoor concerts in the middle of the Phoenix summer heat are scorching!
02. The Joint Las Vegas, Nevada hands down this is the most popular music venue in Vegas, The Joint has recently been renovated and updated. This concert venue located in the Hard Rock Hotel and is famous for the rock bands and super-starts it attracts. Classic rock-n-roll, Vegas-style…this is as good as it gets!
03. Hollywood Bowl Hollywood, California this beautiful outdoor amphitheater is beloved by Los Angeles residents. The Hollywood Bowl was opened to the public in the summer of 1922. This venue is full of unique features which set it apart from the competition. Looking at the stage, you will see a rounded shell like structure that covers the stage. This structure helps to keep the acoustics clear and loud during performances. Seating is situated in an area full of large trees and cool Cali breezes.
04. Madison Square Garden New York City, New York all recording artist know they have arrived at the top, when given the opportunity to perform at Madison Square Garden. This absolutely massive arena (also known as MSG), hosts over 320 events per year. That is almost an event every single day of the year!
05. Red Rocks Amphitheater Morrison, Colorado when it comes to Red Rock Amphitheater, you should definitely believe the hype! Red Rock is built in to the beautiful and preserved, Rocky Mountains. The natural surroundings create perfect acoustics, which draw concert goers from all over the globe.
06. The Fillmore San Francisco, California now, here is a venue with some history! Constructed in the late 60’s, the Fillmore helped to launch the psychedelic music movement. Featuring such far-out bands bands as: The Grateful Dead, Jimi Hendrix, Pink Floyd and so many more. The Fillmore is an iconic tradition in San Francisco.
07. Gorge Amphitheater George, Washington a ticket to a live performance at Gorge Amphitheater offers you so much more than just a live music. This Amphitheater is situated near the Columbia River Gorge and showcases breathtaking scenic views. Lawn seating is often preferred and some of the most talented performers of all time have graced the stage at Gorge Amphitheater.
08. Chastain Park Atlanta, Georgia Chastain has it all; Amazing music, plenty of seating, surrounded by lush vegetation with beautiful views. Chastain Park is a gigantic area, solely devoted to rest and relaxation in Atlanta, Georgia. You can reserve tables near the front of the stage. Patrons with reserved seating can bring coolers with food and beverages to enjoy during the event, how cool?!
09. Smalls New York City, New York When I hear jazz, I think Smalls! Located in the heart of the Big Apple, Smalls features established jazz musicians on almost every single day of the week. Although this is not one of the mega venues, this intimate jazz club is truly one of a kind. A treat for any music lover, check it out especially if you are in to jazz.
10. Great American Music Hall San Francisco, California this music hall is a slice of Americana, opened in 1907. The architecture is stunning, a mesh of a French-American design. This club has a rich-history, The Great American Music Hall has always been a jewel in the San Francisco music scene. Today, it has been beautifully restored for many more generations to enjoy.
July 15th, 2009
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