Show: James Morrison
Venue: Avalon- Los Angeles, CA
Date: 5/3/12
Show #28
I'm going to let this post be mostly photos, but just in case you're not familiar with James Morrison, let me give you a little background. He's a singer/songwriter from the UK. He was most well known for his song "You Give Me Something" in 2006.
He put on a great show! I was really impressed with him and taken back a bit due to the fact I was expecting this scraggly/nerdy shy guy because for some reason that's the impression I get from his first album cover from 6 years ago. I guess I shouldn't judge a book by its cover because he was charming, hilarious and had a cool swagger about him, far from the perception I had built up in my mind. The one pre-notion I had about him that was correct though, was that his powerhouse of a voice would be just as good, if not better in person. Highly recommend you see him if you get the chance!
By the way, you'll want to make it to the bottom of the post for a little surprise. :-)
His opening act was a band named HoneyHoney, a country/folk group from Los Angeles. An odd choice I thought, since it didn't seem like the same fan base between the 2, but people enjoyed it. They're a little too country for my taste, but appreciate that they seem crazy talented, and I see why people loved them. I recorded a video of their song "Ohio".
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!
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.
Show: The Fray
Venue: Troubadour, West Hollywood, CA
Date: 2/11/12
Show #6
Last night, I was one of the lucky few who got to see The Fray live at the Troubadour. If you're not familiar with the Troubadour, it's an amazing small capacity venue in West Hollywood, CA. Tickets sold out instantly. To see a band as big as The Fray in such an intimate setting was one no one wanted to miss.
There was no opening act, just The Fray. They opened the set with one of my favorite songs "Turn Me On", off their new album "Scars and Stories" which came out on Tuesday.
Some of the highlights of the night include:
1. "Never Say Never"/"Wannabe" mash up (Yes, as in The Spice Girls)
2. Isaac jumping off the stage to sing "Happiness" from the middle of the crowd (Video)
3. Emmy Lou Harris coming out to perform "Boulder to Birmingham" (Video)
The show as a whole was amazing, and to top it all off, I got the set list!
