All American Rejects on Jimmy Kimmel

Show: The All American Rejects on Jimmy Kimmel
Venue: Hollywood, CA
Date: 3/27/12
Show #18

One of the many perks of living in Los Angeles, is that it's where artists come for album release festivities, and appearances. Which is why I got to see All American Rejects 3 times in one week. Excessive? Or awesome? I vote awesome.

Photo from my phone:

If you've never gotten to go to a taping a Jimmy Kimmel, here are a few tips:

- For tickets, go to 1iota.com
- Check that site often, as Jimmy Kimmel has a large outdoor stage and gets pretty big musical guests to perform there, and tickets are free! Given, it's not a whole show. Guests typically do about 5 songs (only 1 or 2 make it on air). But hey, it's free!
- Cameras are not allowed, and they mean it. Don't even try. Phones are ok.
- Purses are not allowed. Yes, purses. Keep everything on your person.
- Get there early. Try to get there at least an hour before the suggested time. That is, if you care about how close to the stage you are. For bigger acts, people have been known to camp out to be up front, or get there at all hours of the morning. Not that I've done it before *cough cough* This is what the line looked like when I showed up around the suggested time on the ticket for AAR:

- When you get there, look at your ticket and check to see if you're "Priority" or not. Priority ticket holders (these are luck of the draw when you're requesting tickets) get in before the general line. Look for a 1iota team member or ask people in line, to make sure you're in the correct line.
- Be prepared to stand. Once let in, you have to watch the whole taping of the show on a screen they project for all the outdoor audience members. Musical guests always come last.
- Have fun! Keep an eye out for cameras on you, especially if you're against the barricade, don't be caught picking your nose!

The guys sang 2 songs to air on TV (Beekeepers Daughter and Kids in the Street) and stayed after to do a few more for the fans, including Move Along and Gives You Hell. Before they hit the stage, they all did a walk by the barricade giving fans high fives and shaking hands. Nick even gave me a head nod and a point like "hey I remember you" haha I've been to a ton of tapings at Jimmy Kimmel and i've never seen an act come down and do that before the show. So that was very cool of them.

After the show, fans had the option to buy a CD and meet the band. I didn't stay to do it since I had met them all the night before, but it looked like a pretty big line of people!

Here's the recording of Beekeepers Daughter as it aired on the show:

Kids in the Street:

Here is a video a fan recorded on their phone of Move Along:

Good Old War at Avalon

Show: Good Old War (Plus: Family of the Year & Belle Brigade)
Venue: Avalon, Los Angeles
Date: 3/25/12
Show #16

I know, I know! Long time no post. Sorry! Still playing catch up from the crazy month that was March.

Here are some photos I took from when Good Old War was in town. They had 2 great opening acts, Family of the Year and Belle Brigade.

Family of the Year

I recorded a video of their song St. Croix. Fair warning, it will make you wish you were on a beach sipping a pina colada, then make you a little sad when you realize you're at work. But a great song nonetheless!

 Belle Brigade

The brother/sister duo that is Belle Brigade was great. A little country for my personal taste, but I can see why people would love them. Oh and their drummer which comes out in the middle of the set to shake his ASSets while playing tambourine was one of the highlights of the night.

Good Old War

In case you're not familiar with Good Old War, they're made up of 3 guys Keith Goodwin, Daniel Schwartz, and Tim Arnold. They used their last names to come up with their name. Keith GOODwin, Tim ArnOLD and David SchWARtz. Keith and Tim used to be part of the band Days Away, and when that went on hiatus, they started Good Old War. Their stuff is full of great harmonies, feel good lyrics and you can't help but want to sing along and dance a little while you're at it. Such a fun show!

They had a new album came out this year which is so great! I'm personally obsessed with the song Amazing Eyes. I recorded a great video of it at the show. See below:

Other videos:

Loud Love

This is How We Do It

Calling Me Names

That's Some Dream

Better Weather

Cartel at The Key Club

Show: Cartel
Venue: The Key Club, Los Angeles
Date: 3/24/12
Show #15

Ahh Cartel. One of my top 5 favorite bands. I fell in love with them my senior year of high school and stuck with them through the years. If you're not familiar with them, they're a pop/punk/rock group from Georgia who came on to the scene in 2005 with their hit album "Chroma" which had some goodies on it such as "Honestly" and "Say Anything (Else)". They also did the MTV show "Band in a Bubble", where they were forced to live in a glass house in New York where onlookers could come and see them at all hours of the day and watched as they record an album in 30 days. It was as crazy as it sounds, but an amazing album came out of it. The guys have said they will never do anything like that again, for good reason.

I went to see them at The Key Club as they were part of the Set Your Goals tour. I'm not a fan of Set Your Goals so I made sure to get there right as Cartel was coming on, and not stay any later. :-) These guys are so much fun to see live. I always leave Cartel shows a gross sweaty mess, and I love them for that. You can dance, jump or get a good fist pump going to all of their songs. Always a good time!

Needtobreathe and Ben Rector at Club Nokia

Show: Needtobreathe and Ben Rector
Venue: Club Nokia, Downtown Los Angeles
Date: 3/20/12
Show #12

I had been waiting for this show for what felt like an eternity because I had gotten my ticket several months beforehand. Tuesday finally rolled around and I could not have been more excited to see my favorite southern boys of Needtobreathe. Needtobreathe has easily become one of my favorite bands to see live. They somehow find a way exude even more energy on stage than the last time. It's difficult to explain how amazing they are live without seeing it for yourself. They just pour their heart and soul in to each and every note they play, and lure you in with their beyond compare powerhouse vocals, mesmerizing stage presence and overall expert musicianship.

Oh, and they're not half bad to look at either.

This was my 4th time seeing Needtobreathe, and each time, the lead singer Bear, let's everyone know how humbled by the response they get when the come to so cal. It still continues to baffle them, and will admit they used to be afraid of playing in front of us here in LA. 

They also had an amazing opening act (I will be doing a larger post on him separately). His name was Ben Rector. I couldn't recommend him more highly.

For all my videos from the show, visit my YouTube channel!

Voxhaul Broadcast at The Sattelite

Show: Voxhaul Broadcast
Venue: The Sattelite (formerly Spaceland), Silverlake, CA
Date: 3/19/12
Show #11

On Monday night I went to see Voxhaul Broadcast for their 3rd week into their month long residency at The Sattelite in Silverlake. I've seen these guys a few times, I believe the first time was when they opened for Rooney a while back. They really resonated with me when I saw them that first time, and I've seen them a few times since, each great. They're an indie rock group from Orange County. They released an album last year called "Timing is Everything" and I highly recommend checking it out. "Leaving on the 5th" is my favorite.

The Sattelite isn't my favorite place to see a show because of the poor sound quality and lack of stage lighting, so unfortunately this time seeing the guys isn't one of the better performances I've seen. I know they're better than what I saw that night. Either way, still glad I went. Here a few shots from the show.

 

To see my videos of Voxhaul Broadcast from this show, check out my YouTube page

Jordan Knight at House of Blues

Show: Jordan Knight
Venue: House of Blues, West Hollywood CA
Date: 3/8/12
Show #10 

On this Thursday knight night in Hollywood, hundreds of 30 something women flocked to the House of Blues to see a childhood crush come alive again. Jordan Knight, of New Kids on the Block was in town on a solo tour. Yet instead of hearing the normal boy band talk in line about where to put that new poster you just got from Tiger Beat, it was "I wish I could have gotten here sooner but the babysitter was late." While the fans may have grown up, it was apparent their inner teenybopper never left them.

While New Kids on the Block was before my time (All about BSB for me), I had the chance to see them on the NKOTBSB tour (3 times :-) and after the first song, instantly knew I was a  "Jordan girl" as the fans say. So I was very excited to hear he was coming to HOB.

The show was opened by a YouTube sensation named Chad, who was known for his 1 minute Boy Band Medley. Jordan saw his video and asked him to open the show! Pretty cool! The mash up can be seen below:

He also sang an original song which was pretty hilarious. Definitely reminded me of Andy Samberg.

He was followed by Spankie Valentine... She was... Hmm... Trying too hard may be an understatement. She acted like she was headlining at Madison Square Garden. Which I guess you gotta give her props for that, but it was just a little too over the top for Jordan fans, and the small venue. 

Then it was finally time for Jordan to come out! He opened with "Let's Go Higher", which was the perfect song to get the crowd going. But let's be real, he could have just stood there and stared at the crowd for 20 minutes and everyone would have still showed up. 

I think if you were to ask anyone there though, there would be a unanimous vote that the highlight of the night was when he performed "O Face". Why you ask? Let's just say, hip thrusting was back in full effect and the video I recorded of it is NSFW.

The other highlight of the night was when he picked 2 girls to come on stage with him during "Rockstar". Before picking the girls, he prefaced it by saying he always gets girls on stage who act crazy in the crowd, but when they get on stage, they're shy and don't dance. Unfortunately 1. I didn't get picked, and 2. the girls who were picked were extremely boring to watch and you could tell Jordan was upset they wouldn't do anything. Nonetheless it was fun to try and live vicariously through them for a few minutes.

All in all, it was an amazing show and completely exceeded my expectations. Can't wait to see him again!

Venue Tip

Do "Pass the Line"! While it's a ploy to get you to spend more money there, HOB has a program called "Pass The Line" where if you buy an entree from the restaurant, or spend $20 in the store, you get to go in a special line which goes in before the general admission line. A few things to remember for this:

1. Order food at the bar upstairs and then go eat in line. It's better to have someone in your party go order the food, while someone stays in line.

2. Make sure you tell them you're buying food for pass the line, they need to sign your receipt, that will be your early ticket in.

3. Ask where the Pass The Line is. You'll learn this place is super unorganized, and if you ask 10 different people, you'll get 10 different answers. I'll tell you that when I went for this show, I happened to ask the right security guard who told me where the right line was going to be, and everyone else had started a fake line, so I got to get in first. It was at the end of the hill, by the VIP entrance near the stairway to the Foundation room, near the Valet. Go there first.

4. Don't freak if a few people go in before you, there's usually a meet n greet that gets to go in even before pass the line. All in all it's worth it if you want to get up close.

To see all my videos from the show (yes, there's more!) visit my YouTube page.