Category Archives: Bands & Music Artists

VIP Packages – Are They Really Worth It?

Posted in Bands & Music Artists, Music Business by

VIP-ticketWhen I was a kid, I would have died if my parents got me VIP tickets to a concert.  Then again, how many of your are embarrassed of what your first concert was as a kid?  Not me, I got to see the Piano Man (Billy Joel) and Sir Elton John.  I can say my first concert was far from embarrassing and we had killer seats on the floor.  Anyway, I’m not talking about concert tickets, I am talking about those little add on VIP packages that are outrageously expensive and personally every time I have purchased one I have been disappointed.  At a VIP package event, the managers herd you like cattle to get in line and get a picture taken, sometimes there are weird rules like you can’t put your arms around the perform for the picture so basically you all look like stiff dolls posing for a promotional toy commercial, they play one acoustic song for the group, and then you get a t-shirt, a laminated ticket, and possibly some other merchandise.  If I wanted merchandise I would just buy it and not spend $200 on a VIP Package.

So are there any benefits to the VIP package?  Only if the people who bought the VIP tickets are insanely entertaining.  First you have the older ladies that think they are still 20 but they are really 40 and have kids.  These ladies are usually plastered before the acoustic song is even played and they usually don’t follow the rules that are enforced by the manager.  The road manager doesn’t even fight it he just allows them to do what they want because how can you really fight with a drunk person?  Second you have those moms that bought their daughter(s) the VIP tickets as a birthday present, but they have no idea what type of music the group plays.  Then when that really inappropriate song comes on their face usually says everything you have been thinking.

With physical and digital album sales plummeting, 360 contract deals becoming the norm in the business, and streaming becoming the more popular way to experience music, artists are starting to have to become more inventive with how they are connecting with their fans.  In my opinion VIP events are the perfect way to do that, but they aren’t utilized properly.  Of course social media is a great way to keep your fans interested in lull time while the artist is recording a new album or prepping for a large national or international tour, but VIP events are a way to connect to your fans on a more personal level.

When Taylor Swift did listening parties for 1989 for her fans and invited her fans to be apart of her “Shake It Off” music video, it showed that her business team and her as an artist were thinking outside to create personal connections with fans as well as make recording breaking sales for 2014.  Robert Schwartzman just did the California Roll Tour where his venue was a giant party bus and gave fans an intimate solo acoustic show to no more then thirty people in cities all over the country.  What a way to hear his new album, as well as have the opportunity to be able to talk with him about his artistry, music, and inspiration!  The Cab is notorious for connecting with their fans and every VIP event that is held.  They take individual pictures and go around talking to every fan answering questions about their music writing process, some of their favorite memories on tours, and what it has been like touring with their current co-headliners and support artist(s).  Recently they had a random viewing of “Space Jam” at a venue out in the Los Angeles where they invited fans via twitter to come.  To all the music executives and artists out there – think outside the box.  Don’t just connect through the virtual world.  Obviously the more popular the band or the artists is the harder it is to be safe and connect with the fans so do it in a small setting.  Use the VIP packages to not just give away merchandise because as a fan myself the stuff doesn’t matter.  Human connection is what everyone craves in this world.

A Soundtrack for the Boston Transportation from Hell

Posted in Bands & Music Artists by

FeenyMatthewsRollercoasterThis past week has been the most stressful for the city of Boston because of the public transit being in complete disarray, the national guard coming to help clear out the massive amounts of snow (FYI there is no where to put it), and the amount of inhumanity I have seen in a long time; all in one week.  Needless to say, I have been spending an exorbitant amount of time on the public transit where lately it takes me about two and half hours to get work and another two and half hours to get home.  I have learned that my kindle is my godsend and my iPod is my savor; they have both gotten a workout trying to keep me sane.  For those of you who don’t live in Boston, the commute is comparable to the reaction of George Feeny and Corey Matthews in “Boy Meets World” after they ride a death defying roller coaster.  Basically an entire city speechless and wanting to scream…a lot.

On my lovely commute, I have had a lot of time to spend in my head.  Have you ever had the music you are listening to become the soundtrack of your life, and you create this giant story line in your head from the people you meet throughout the day, then base everything on the lyrics and music on your playlist?  Fall Out Boy’s new album “American Beauty/ American Psycho” has done just that.  Fall Out Boy’s catalog has been in my music selection since their first album in 2003 “Take This to Your Grave.”  Patrick Stump has a voice that you can get lost in and the band has become inventive with playing with voice pitches during choruses and harmonies as well as connecting with the digital synth technology and combining that with their rock sound makes for an edge to their new album.

The trumpet type sound that comes in on “Irresistible” creates a powerhouse introduction on what to expect is going to be big, and in Boston’s case it’s a transportation war.  Stump sings, “Too many war wounds and not enough wars, Too few rounds in the ring and not enough settled scores.”  As a city drowns in snow the day must go on even though it has been a constant struggle to get to work or home, but this city is full of fighters and as this thought rolls through my head “Immortal” begins to play.  Stump says “Sometimes the only payoff for having any faith, Is when it’s tested again and again everyday” and with this line I see an old women get pushed over at a shuttle stop.  As I helped her up it brought me to a realization that you can be someone’s superhero by having compassion and even for a moment you can be immortal.  As my shuttle commute came to an end “Favorite Record” began to play, and as the guitar came in it reminded me of dancing with my friends at home this past Christmas to old school hip-hop and rock ‘n’ roll, which made my frustration subside for a moment.  The thought of a simple moment in time can make you laugh no matter how bad your day has been and bring you to a moment of peace.

Fall Out Boy, you showed me that music can bring you out of the dark, gave me a soundtrack that brought me back from the edge of this horrible transportation week, and are continuing to push the boundaries of your music through new technologies, power brass instruments, and lyrics that brought me back to a place of humanity. “You were the song stuck in my head.  Every song I’ver ever loved, played again and again.”

Click Here for American Beauty/ American Psycho!

I Wanna Take You To….Funkytown!

Posted in Bands & Music Artists by

For the past two weeks I have been non-stop singing “Uptown Funk” and yes I am in love with the groove of this song.  Mark Ronson is a fantastic producer and writer (as are Jeff Bhaskar and Philip Lawrence who assisted writing this classic hit); and Bruno Mars has taken over the pop music world with his sweet dance moves and his hypnotizing voice.  Just like Doo-Wop, Funk has taken over the billboard charts for a new generation.  According to Billboard Magazine, “Uptown Funk” has been number one on the Billboard Hot 100 for five weeks in a row, had five million track sales, and has hit an all time Spotify weekly record of fifteen million streams.

Funk originated in the 1960s when James Brown developed his signature groove that emphasized the downbeats as well as included a funky bass line, drum patterns, hit guitar riffs, and those brass horns.   Funk music is like a wet dream for dancers with an explicit downbeat for each four count measure and wiggle sound that brings you into rhythmic and danceable world.  Not to mention the various instruments and counts that you can change movement, direction, and double time while choreographing a routine, as well as playing to the strengthens of the song as the horns come in with power, or the snare drum becomes the core holder of the lyrics.  Let’s take “I Got You (I Feel Good)” by James Brown.  The layers of Brown’s song from the solid downbeat of the snare, the smooth salutary feel of the brass section and part way through you start to hear the light tap of the cymbal as a simple guitar riff breaks through you can’t help but get your groove on.

Ronson’s “Uptown Funk” gives me that same feeling and connects right with your soul and brings you back in time.  It has an old time feel like you are back during the original funky days of 60s strolling down the street with your crew.  The song starts in slow bringing each instrument sound in under its own spotlight.  The background singers breaking through the chorus at just the right moments interjecting simple lines such as “hot damn,” “ooh!!,” and “uptown funk gonna give it to you.”  The horns and drums in “Uptown Funk” are the backbone of the song and really give it that funk feel that James Brown created over fifty years ago.  The chorus is simple, but there are some simple lines that stick out within the verses such as “Got Chucks on with Saint Laurent Gotta kiss myself I’m so pretty” or “I’m too hot (hot damn) Make a dragon wanna retire, man;”  each one is total genius.

Ronson took collaboration to a whole new level with “Uptown Special” by bringing in some of the best and really highlighting what each musician does well.  On “Uptown’s First Finale” the harmonica playing is unmistakeable, and is the blues and soul man Stevie Wonder, while on “Feel Right” it still has that funk feel, but with a little bit of hip hop as the 90s rapper Mystikal creates an edge to this funky album.  So is funk back?  Will other artists start to bring in brass into their music?  Time will tell, but I think it is safe to say that the upcoming generation wants to get their boogie shoes on and take a ride to funky town.

Bring Me Back to Doo-Wop

Posted in Bands & Music Artists by

Doo-WopMicAll I hear from society is how my generation (the millennials) are the entitled type, technology obsessed, and selfish crazed kids of today.  I swear I had another life before being born in 1986 because everyone I have had experiences with from personal to professional has never believed my age starting from the time I was 20 to now.  I have been told I have an old soul, which means I’m mature for my age.  I am sure some of my friends would disagree with that statement considering I find shows that are meant for eleven year olds funny.  So, take me back to the 1950s where fine-knit sweaters, full skirts, and sling-back pumps were the fashion and the start of Rock n’ Roll and Doo-Wop music were coming into trend.

Meghan Trainor and Kevin Kadish have brought a twist with Trainor’s recently released pop album “Title” where each song is infused with multiple harmonies and simple instrumentation for that Doo-Wop sound, bringing all music lovers back to the life of American Bandstand, Drive-Ins, and the fearlessness of dancing in public.  Trainor’s track “Dear Future Husband” reminds me of “Runaround Sue” by Dion.  Granted “Runaround Sue” came out in 1961 and was done solo without The Belmonts, but Dion and the Belmonts started releasing Doo-Wop music in the late 1950s which included hits such as “A Teenager in Love” (1959) and “I Wonder Why” (1958).  I digress.  From the start of “Dear Future Husband” and “Runaround Sue” each song begins with a slow rhythm and begins to pick up tempo as the stage is set with the logistics of the storyline.  In Trainor’s case a man who will become her one and only and in Dion’s case a woman who he thought was his one and only.  I know ironic, but isn’t most Doo-Wop kind of ironic?  Think about it.  There is Frankie Lymon and the Teenagers “Why Do Fools Fall in Love” (1956) or The Monotones “Book of Love” (1958).  All the Doo-Wop hits are about falling in love or broken love.  Again ironic considering they are different ends of the spectrum.

What makes Doo-Wop music so great and alluring?  Is it the smooth sound of a voice breaking through multiple harmonies?  The light and simple instrumentation keeping the beat in the background?  Is it the lyrics that are presented with emotion and passion?  I think Trainor and Kadish have brought back a sound that is heartfelt and has been missing from music for the last forty years.  Kadish, I applaud you for finally finding an artist that understood your vision on bringing back Doo-Wop.  So, is the millennial generation still bad?  Possibly.  But at least we can say we have one thing in common with the baby-boomers.  Doo-Wop is back!  The next time your parents tell you that the music today is crap just turn on Meghan Trainor.  I am sure they will fall in love (just as the world has) with her old-school classic vibrato, witty lyrics, and harmonized style.  Bring on the Doo-Wop.

An Ode to the Early 2000 Pop Music Era

Posted in Bands & Music Artists by

Currently, I have been watching reruns of the S Club 7 series that came out in the late 90s through the early 2000s.  All of you millennials out there know exactly what show I am talking about and are secretly hoping that their 2015 UK reunion tour becomes a world reunion tour.  Needless to say watching this show brought back some nostalgic memories growing up and how great pop music is on top of being catchy as hell.  So, this is an ode to those bands and that great music genre that I secretly had dance parties to in my room as a teenager.  Where I bruised myself a lot trying to come up with cool dance moves while banging into brass bed posts and large wooden furniture.  Good to know that nothing has changed now that I am almost 30; minus the fact that I don’t really do it in secret anymore.

Being a teenager in the late 90s through the early 2000s, music was my escape from life.  Because as a teenager every problem means your life is over.  I don’t know what it is about society, but when you are a teenager, no matter what decade, music has such a profound affect on you for some reason.  Sometimes its relatable lyrics, a catchy tune, or a way to block out your parents from yelling at you about something.  So here are five songs that stick out in my mind the most during “my life is over” phase:

S Club 7 “Bring It All Back” – The years of fox family where my brother and I would be fighting over the TV and I was yelling at him to stop switch between channels.  Something we still fight about to this day when we are watching TV together.  Anyway, this group of British singers, four girls and three boy who came to America to find fame and fortune which they did once they finally got to Los Angeles and Greg Brady (Barry Williams) became their manager.  “Bring It All Back” is one of those inspirational songs about believing in yourself and it doesn’t hurt that it has a nice clean four count beat.

LMNT “Juliet” – Before Matthew Morrison became Mr. Shue on Glee he was in LMNT.  The band was a one hit wonder and I didn’t buy the single till a few years ago after I heard it on a sound system in an H&M store.  After that day, I began frantically searching for what band sang that song.  Every friend I asked had no idea what I was talking about since there are a ton of songs with the title “Juliet.”  But after being on YouTube for a few hours I finally found “Juliet.”

Hilary Duff “Sweet Sixteen” – MTV was starting to come out with a bunch of various reality shows.  “My Super Sweet Sixteen” was all about bratty rich girls and their sweet sixteen parties.  I only watched to see the yelling fit they would pull whether it was that the convertible she got was the wrong right color or that her best friend embarrassed her by dancing the wrong way at her party.  This show is the whole reason why I cannot stand most reality TV shows.  The one good thing about the show was the theme song used.  “Sweet Sixteen” from Hilary Duff’s debut album “Metamorphosis” came out during Duff’s popularity high of the disney channel show Lizzie McGuire.

Fountains of Wayne “Stacy’s Mom” – This song is a classic and for some reason everyone thinks Bowling for Soup sang it, but it is really the pop-punk band Fountains of Wayne.  This song is inappropriate at every turn between using a girl at school to get to her mom to hitting on a woman who is out of your league and is never going to give you the time of day in any sexual way.  This song is for all those boys who have fantasies of older women who they will never get.

Backstreet Boys “Larger Then Life” – The forever feud of Backstreet Boys verses N’SYNC.  Personally, I had all the albums from both groups, but I probably would have been killed if I told a teenage girl that back in the 90s/00s.  Before their was One Direction there were the Backstreet Boys who I know didn’t play instruments, but they danced so it was just as good in my opinion.  This song has a special place in my heart because at one of my many dance camps that I went to growing up we became obsessed with this song.  Five us decided in our weekly talent show that were going to dress up like the Backstreet Boys (with wigs and using mascara and eyeliner pencils to draw facial hair) and create our own choreographed routine to this song.  I can still do that dance by heart, but hey just like the Boys go big or go home.

Oh the memories of my youth.  Everyone says that their generation was the best growing up, but I can honestly say that if you were a 90s/ early 00s kid you had it made.  Don’t get me wrong I still like pop music to this day and you might catch me dancing to some Austin & Ally tunes in my Boston Apartment or One Directions “One Thing”, but I am always excited when I hear a song that brings me back to my years of no responsibilities.  To all the teenagers out there, try not to grow up too fast because your youth is the best time to indulge yourself in pop music and dance like a crazy person.  Adulthood will be there after you have left the phase of “my life is over.”