Tag Archives: music

Technology Has Ruined the Concert Experience

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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

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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.

Concert Review – Walk the Moon & The Griswolds at the House of Blues (Boston, MA)

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On, April 11, 2015, I jumped up and down like an idiot at the House of Blues as Walk the Moon commanded the stage to a sold out crowd.  For those of you who don’t know who Walk the Moon is, they are a pop-rock band from Cincinnati, Ohio  and consists of members, Nicholas Petricca, Kevin Ray, Sean Waugaman, and Eli Maiman.  Their name comes from the song ‘Walk on the Moon’ by The Police and gained their first hit on the radio airways of the alternative stations with ‘Anna Sun’ in 2010.  In 2014, their sophomore album ‘Talking Is Hard’ was released where the first single to hit the billboard 200 charts was ‘Shut Up and Dance.’

Now that you are educated back to the concert.  The opening act was an Australian group named The Griswolds.  This young band far from home has a young sound, but their music has a real 80s flare.  That techno sound with a mix of rock n’ roll of guitar, bass, and the drums as the musicians add in lyrics and simple backup vocals to give it that danceable beat.  A personal favorite of mine that they opened with was ’16 Years.’  A synthisized type keyboard with various rhythm instruments such as a tambourine and drums as you hear an elegant bass line and the guitar came in strong as they break into the chorus.  These Aussie boys I’m sure will be making waves soon in the states as they gain more confidence on stage and really learn to command the crowd at live shows.  What a band to learn from like Walk the Moon!

Walk the  Moon is the whole package.  They are not only great musicians and songwriters, but they are fantastic entertainers.  The start of the show had these crazy neon lights of various shapes and sizes, as well as neon lights that surrounded many of the instruments.  These lights exploded on the stage in strobe like form as they opened with a song from their new album, ‘Different Colors’.  As I watched the crowd you could tell that almost everyone there were such devoted fans from the lip syncing of the lyrics, to the the dancing around, clapping to the beat, and the waving of arms side to side as each start of a song got the audience more and more excited.

Nicholas Petricca (Lead singer) was constantly interacting with crowd through each song transition.  As Petricca asked who was a Walk the Moon show virgin it felt like we were joining a cult.  As he asked all us to put our hands up in the air and let all the bullshit fly out and to just dance it out.  This led into their hit song ‘Shut Up and Dance,’ which is awesome.  They closed the show out with ‘Anna Sun,’ which goes to show that no matter what happens we always end up back at the beginning.

Check out the video below that MsTabularasa put together of some epic movie dance scenes as it is intertwined with Walk the Moon’s ‘Shut Up and Dance.’

Peter Pan – Is It Really A Children’s Story or Life?

Posted in Bands & Music Artists, Songs by

When you tell someone they have Peter Pan syndrome it is looked at as a negative connotation, but in my opinion it just means you are still young at heart.  The story is about a boy who never grows up, but he is more then that.  He is a leader, a defender of all that is good, supportive of his friends decisions, and has a sense of humor that can cheer up anyone who is having a bad day.  J.M. Barrie’s Peter Pan is a classic story and has been one of my favorites since I was a child.  The fantasy of a world where you never grow old, where you can have adventures everyday, and the ability to hangout with your friends all the time sounds like a great place to me.  It seems that I’m not the only one who has an obsession with it because the story pops up in today’s music.

In 2013, All Time Low released a song called ‘Somewhere in Neverland,’ which explores the concept of two people who have grown up and life has not turned out the way they had hoped.  Their lives have become mundane and living in the past.  But the song is truly about falling in love with someone that can bring you to another world and where it could be a better reality together. “Wendy run away with me, I know it sounds crazy don’t you see what you do to me?  I want to be your lost boy, your last chance, a better reality.”  Also in 2013, VanLadyLove released a song called ‘Neverland.’  When you want success to happen you have to be positive, have motivation to an end goal, and be willing to do what ever it takes to succeed.  In ‘Neverland’ the lyrics say, “If you want to fly think happy thoughts.”  Happy thoughts are what makes you fly to another world of success, where fears and sadness are left on another planet.

In 2008, the Jonas Brothers released a song called ‘Fly With Me,’ which also uses Peter Pan concepts.  In the chorus they sing, “We’re chasing stars to lose our shadows, Peter Pan and Wendy turnout fine, So won’t you fly with me?”  It’s about taking risks, believing someone is going to catch you if you fall, and knowing that in the end it is all going to be alright as long as you continue to fight everyday to find where you belong.

The list of songs goes on, 5 Seconds of Summer’s ‘Lost Boy’ and Ruth B’s ‘Lost Boy.’  Peter Pan isn’t just a children’s story it is a story about life.  We are lost children growing up, hoping that there is something more out there for us, hoping that we are meant to do something amazing, but Peter Pan was the creator of his own destiny.  A leader full of happiness and positive thinking that always led him to success from fighting the pirates, to protecting the lost boys, to understanding when it is time for his friends to grow older.  Growing older doesn’t mean that you forget.  It just means that you need to think differently, and that chasing stars to lose our shadows is what we need to do every day.

Boy Bands – The Music that Gets you Dancing

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keep-calm-and-love-boy-bands-6We all know that boy bands have a life span.  The popularity of any boy band that has been in existent hasn’t lasted more then four or five years.  They tour like crazy to maintain their popularity and be in the public eye, but in the end their fans grow up and releases the drama that goes a long with liking this kind of a group.  Now, I am not saying that you stop liking their music or if the group comes back from a hiatus you don’t buy tickets to their reunion show, I am talking about the hype that comes along with a boy band.

When I was a teenager a lot my friends liked NSYNC.  So, at thirteen years old I went to a concert and all any girl was doing was screaming.  I was screaming too, but only when they finished a song, not while they were actually singing and dancing.  I was to memorized by their moves, and I was busy dancing into the girl next to me and lip syncing to my friends in our little circle of joy.  All screaming girls and boy cuteness aside, no one can say that boy bands don’t have some of the best dancing music dating back to the Jackson 5 to today.

Every boy/ man I know out there will say that boy bands ‘suck’ and ‘why do you listen to that?,’ but lets be serious for moment.  If you grew up in the 90s you know every word to ‘I Want It That Way’ and ‘Bye Bye Bye.’   Boys around today (including my little brother) know every word to ‘What Makes You Beautiful.’  Would my brother admit that?  Probably, but he is of a different breed and doesn’t really get embarrassed easily.  When a song is popular and is played on the radio 24/7 you learn the words whether you want to or not because it is constantly around; it’s like in your face propaganda with all that boy cuteness and pop style.

Needless to say boy band music just has that great danceability.  I’m sure it has something to do with the four four count, solid consistent beat, and the catchy lyrics that brings everyone to the dance floor.  First you got the beat, which includes a combination of instruments and/ or a sound machine that brings in the counts.  Let’s look at ‘I Want You Back’ by the Jackson 5.  The first thing you hear is the piano with the break through of the cymbal as the guitar and bass come in to give you a nice rhythm.  The drums slowly come in to give you that solid beat as the continuing of that four count beat that was created in the beginning.  The lyrics are catchy and simple.  The most typical word in any boy band song is ‘baby.’  From ‘I Want You Back’ by Jackson 5 to ‘Tearin’ Up My Heart’ by NSYNC to ‘Kiss You’ by One Direction they all have the word ‘baby’ throughout each song.  So the next time you don’t know the words to the hot new boy band song just fake it by not singing it, but dancing to it instead.  Also, I bet if you throw the word ‘baby’ in there a few times you would probably be half right throughout the song.  Click here for some great boy band tunes!