Author Archives: tilly062

Life Lessons in Oz

Posted in Film, Songs by

I’m willing to admit I was a weird child. I talked too much and became obsessed with things I liked. Let’s take the film The Wizard of Oz. To this day my older brother cannot watch this movie. Why do you ask? Well, I became so obsessed with it as a kid that was pretty much all I ever wanted to watch, and to get a four year old to shut up, you just re-watch the same movie over and over again. I feel like parents now a days probably feel this way about Frozen. I am sorry for the scars I left on my older brother for making him watch this movie multiple times in a row, but in the end I know he still loves me.

The whole reason I bring up this Wizard of Oz obsession is because let’s be serious I haven’t out grown it. Not to toot my own horn, I think I must have been a really smart child because I liked all these movies with deeper meanings, like Peter Pan, and of course, The Wizard of Oz. The Wizard of Oz is about feeling inadequate, such as not smart enough, lack of love, or the inability to feel fearless. There is also the obvious lesson of good always triumphs over evil, but where is the fun in the obvious.

Old movies and classic stories have the ability to teach children lessons about life. Now, I am not talking about a knight on a white horse saves the princess, because I think those stories don’t do much of anything besides fill little girls heads with the idea that they need to be saved by a man. I’m talking about the stories that bring people together, who help one another achieve their goals, like the tin man, scarecrow, and cowardly lion rescuing Dorothy after she is taken by the wicked witch. What about those strong women who ultimately have the ability to help out her friends or save themselves? Dorothy threw a bucket of water to save the scarecrow from burning, she always had the power to go home through the ruby slippers (silver shoes in the book), and she defeated the wicked witch by accident, but her willingness and quick thinking to help her friend erased her fear of her trapped situation.

Granted no four year old is looking at the deeper meaning of a movie. I’m sure the music in the movie was what drew me in as a kid. “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” is my “Let It Go”. It taught me to dream big and that anything is possible if you truly believe it will happen. So, I dedicate this post to my realistic thinking little bro. If you dream big it will happen. You just have to find that inner child to just believe that there is something over that rainbow.

Charlie Puth – The Boy with a Unique Voice

Posted in Bands & Music Artists by

I have been a Charlie Puth fan since 2011 when I first stumbled across his duet cover on YouTube of Adele’s “Someone Like You” with Emily Luther.  After this cover I was hooked.  He also did a cover of Pink’s “Give Me A Reason” with Daphne Khoo which is one of my favorites.  His voice has a unique high quality and range giving him the ability to cover female artist with a twist.

Puth is currently blowing up on the air waves because of his vocals, writing contribution, and production skills on Wiz Khalifa’s “See You Again”.  His soulful voice and piano playing on the chorus as he sings, “It’s been a long day without you, my friend and I’ll tell you all about it when I see you again (I see you again).”  Digging deeper into understanding the song, I found in an interview with MTV that Puth’s inspirations behind the song was that he also lost a friend to a tragic car accident and that the song came from a very real place.  Puth has a soulful emotion and R&B sound that connects with an audience, and this song in particular I think hits close to home with anyone who has lost someone who was important in their life, which is why it has soared on the charts.  When music connects on a personal level it becomes a piece of your life in a way.  You connect a person, a memory, or a relationship to that song which can be a powerful thing when you hear it out of the blue.

Last week on May 1, 2015, Puth released his first official EP Some Type of Love.  The EP has an R&B and soul type feel.  The first single from the EP was a duet with Meghan Trainer titled “Marvin Gaye.”  Personally I thought the song was lacking.  It had a nice 50s doo-wop feel that Meghan Trainer does so well, but the lyrics didn’t really connect with me.  I feel like the lyrical concept had been done in other songs before and the fact that Marvin Gaye has a song “Let’s Get It On” which understand is the basis but really?!  The last song on the EP “Suffer” reminds me of Alicia Key’s “Fallin.”  The musical styling these two songs seem similar to me, from the start of the piano to the singing of desperation, to the soul and blues inspiration that are engulfed within the music.  Next single off the album is “I Won’t Tell A Soul.”  I love the simplicity of this song.  It begins with a high sultry voice, low snap like sound, and soft electric guitar, and as the next verse comes in drums are added with background vocals in harmony to draw you in.

Charlie Puth is just taking off as an artist, and it has been amazing to see him grow from a young Berklee College student at The Red Room (Cafe 939) in Boston, to reading about him in Billboard magazine.  My favorite original song so far has to be “Break Again” with Emily Luther.  Granted there are no bells and whistles, but you and Luther had some magic when you sang together and it is what brought me to you from the beginning.

Check out Charlie Puth’s new EP on Spotify here as well as my favorite song “Break Again” below.

Technology Has Ruined the Concert Experience

Posted in Concerts by

The smart phone is a beautiful tool that has been created in society. It allows us to stay in contact with people who live far away, keeps us from losing our minds on public transit, and gives us the ability to schedule our entire life in the palm of our hand. It can be used for videos, music, and taking pictures. I am a huge supporter of technology, and every time something new comes out I am right there with the general population exploring the the new tools that man has created. But are we losing touch on what is important? Do we really need to be on, near, or have access to our phones 24/7?

Being on vacation these past two weeks I have been observing the public especially at concerts. What I have noticed is that society is obsessed with having a phone in there hand and documenting everything. What happened to actually experiencing something. A music concert is not meant to be video tapped and watched through your phone. It is meant to take in the artist’s music, experience a feeling that you can’t get from a video, and live in the moment. I feel like that concept is hard for people to grasp. Living in the moment means putting the phone away and gaining an experience from the people around you, the artist and musicians on stage, and being with the people that you came with for that show and in that moment in time. A story that you can tell your grandkids from one picture, because let’s be serious, no kid is going to watch the hours of footage you have recorded of some old person they don’t know.

I know what you phone addicts are going to say is how are we suppose to remember the experience if there are no videos, no pictures, no physical object(s)? I know this a new concept, but how about a journal or a personal blog? I am not saying that you should never take picture or video, but do you really need thirty minute video of concert that you can’t even make out the person you went to go see? If you are up front near the stage absolutely take a short one minute video and snap a few pictures, but to have your phone up to record a show the whole time is absurd. You not only have ruined your own experience but what about that person you blocked by having your arm up the whole time? Let go of the phone! Let go of technology! And experience a concert through your own eyes instead of the screen of your phone.

Concert Etiquette – Treat Others How You Want to be Treated

Posted in Concerts by

Going to music festivals can be eye opening how the general public acts.  In short, people can get mean, rude, and pushy when it is a band they like and want to be front and center, but there is a concert etiquette that needs to be followed.

Recently at Coachella, I really wanted to see was AC/DC and so did everyone else who is a music lover.  Knowing this, my brother, my roommate, and I got there two and a half hours early, watch the act before, and then waited.  We were by no means in the front, but we had a decent view of the show.  A few songs in, a group of  four teenagers/ early twenty kids decided to push there way through the crowd, jump around slamming into people, as well as used people as a brace to get up on each other shoulders.  Now, I am not saying that you should stand still in a bubble at a concert or not sing along and dance to the music, but if you are unable to lift people without using strangers as a brace you probably lack the strength to actually have someone on you shoulders. Also, the people standing in front of you don’t enjoy being kicked in the head.  So what’s the lesson?  Dance around, sing along to the music, but don’t push in front of others who have been there for hours and preceded to slam into them, because eventually you will run into someone like me who will tell you off and scare the living sh** out of you to behave like a normal person in society.

Celebrities go to concert too, and they want to enjoy the music not have you screaming at them to take a picture on your phone.  Famous people are just normal people who happen to be well-known.  If you ever want the chance to meet one you need to act normal and not crazy.  Being at Coachella you run into various celebrities.  For example, Paris Hilton was standing in front of my brother and I at the Kaskade concert.  There was a barrier, and this girl next to us preceded to scream at her as well as ask every person in front of her to take a picture of her.  Of course everyone looked at her funny and said no, but that didn’t stop her.  Seriously, if someone can explain to me the obsession with celebrities I am all ears because I just don’t get the spastic emotional frenzy that people become around someone famous.

Finally, be nice to the staff.  At a large music festival I applaud the staff.  Being a person that manages sixty to eighty events a month, I sympathize with the staff and how much the general public can be a pain.  Don’t throw trash on the ground, there are garbage cans all around the festival site.  Those big blue cans are not just there for decoration.  Follow the rules and be respectful to the security team.  There were a bunch girls who continuous were sitting up on the barrier to watch the show even after the various security told them to get down.  Now I am 5’2” so I understand being short and not being able to see but seriously get over it.  I can tell you if I was that security person I would have told you if I tell you a second time I will throw you out.  The security team as well as the staff have a lot of power and they are not the people that you want to push because they can have you ejected no matter how much money you paid to be there.

To all you concerts goers out there follow the concert etiquette, and the bottom line of it all is don’t be a douche.

Coachella – An Experience of A Life Time

Posted in Bands & Music Artists, Concerts by

imageOn April 17-19, 2015 I went to the musical festival Coachella, which was totally epic!  Excuse me for my teenage verbiage above, but if you ever get the experience to go you need to make it happen.  Yes it is crazy expensive, no the VIP tickets are not worth the cost, and camping is for  chumps, because the resorts and a nice bed are where it is at.

Being from the east coast the three hour time adjustment was rough and if you are coming from a time difference give yourself more then a day to recoup your body.  Usually such a small time adjustment isn’t a big deal, but when you are going to bed at 3 AM and get up at 9 AM there is really no time for your body to reset.  Let’s talk about being a VIP at the festival.  It is seriously pointless.  You pay $800 to get better food that you pay more for, shorter bathroom lines, and more shaded areas.  If you have difficulty with hundred degree plus weather then VIP is for you, but if you are like me and heat feels like a warm blanket go for the general admission.

The great thing about a festival like Coachella is there are dozens of bands, a slue of music genres, and five stages that you can bounce around to see various acts all day and night.  The first day of the festival is the best day to really explore the venue, get your merchandise, and see the art installations.  Three of my favorite acts on the first day were AC/DC, George Ezra, and Kiesza.  For a bunch of old guys I think AC/DC rocked harder then any other band at the festival.  The long guitar solos that you never hear anymore in music is a breath of fresh air, the movement and jumping around on stage to get the crowd going, and the ability to bring various generations together with a form of music that never dies – rock n’ roll.  George Ezra is a modern day singer/ songwriter.  His voice reminds me of Don Henley with a mix of Johnny Cash.  He has an old soul when he sings.  You can tell in his voice that every lyric and note means something and he has that old school rhythm and blues sound that makes you connect with the music.  Those of you who don’t know Kiesza you need to crawl out from under that rock.  She is a dancer turned singer and her show was full of dance, music, and connecting with the audience.  She even had back up dancers for the show and she was dancing and singing with them.  She showed no signs of being fatigued or out of breath.  Her stamina and energy was something that I haven’t seen from a current century music artist in a long time.  I think the public is going to be seeing and hearing a lot more of her, especially if her live shows continue to bring such a powerful energy.  On day one we also saw DJ Snake.  I have never seen my brother so excited as when we saw DJ Snake take the stage with two old school rappers DMX and Sir Mix A Lot.  The energy in that EDM tent was busting by the end of that set as everyone was dancing and singing along.

On day two and three we took a different approach to seeing artists.  Obviously at music festivals you are dealing with large crowds, drunk and high idiots, and lack of sleep, so, the less you have to deal with too much stupidity the better.  The first day we bounce between the varios stages and saw artists at every venue there was to see, but the following two days we stayed mostly at the outdoor and main stages.  Staying between these two stages allowed us to get a better viewing spot for the people we wanted to see such as Jack White, the Weekend who brought out Kanye West, Royal Blood, Florence and the Machine, Marina and the Diamonds, and Bad Religion.  We got right on a rail and could brace ourselves with the crowd, as well as saw some other artists who were pretty amazing that we might not have otherwise heard, such as Saint Motel, The Orwells, and Circa Survive.

So what are you going to do on your next music festival excursion?  Explore artists that are unfamiliar, make sure the VIP tickets are actually worth it by talking with someone from the festival and not just online, and be sure if there is someone you really want to see camp out there all day because more then likely everyone else really wants to see them too.  You don’t want to be that jackass pushing through the crowd of people that have been there for hours.