Tag: twitter

Jill Scott | BET Experience | 6/27/14 [PHOTOS]

 CLICK HERE TO SEE THE OTHER PERFORMANCES THAT I CAUGHT DURING THE BET EXPERIENCE AT L.A. LIVE

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I have been a fan of Jill Scott since the first time I heard her track “Do You Remember?”. That song moved me like no other. Her incredible voice, together with lyrics that spoke to a love remembered, hit the money spot in my musical soul.

Screen Shot 2014-06-10 at 5.38.46 PMSpeaking of money, money was kind of tight, and since I wasn’t approved for a media pass for this concert, it looked like I wouldn’t be able to attend the show. Desperate to find a way into the concert, I even tried to send Ms. Scott a letter over Twitter to see if she could get me in to the show.  She never responded to my tweet. Wishful thinking, I know.

Thinking that all hope was lost, I went as far as to register to win tickets through other venues.  I entered to win tickets through Complex Magazine, and as the fates would have it, I won. Lucky me.

Jill Scott’s set was everything that I had been waiting for since 2000. Her voice was as powerful and as delicate as ever, singing both classic tunes from her repertoire and a handful of new songs. I only wished that her set was an hour longer as she clearly couldn’t perform all of the songs that I loved in her hour long time slot.

I wasn’t able to find a setlist online, but you can CLICK THIS LINK to get directed to a collection of Instagram Videos with snippets of most, if not all, of the songs that were performed at this concert.

I wasn’t approved for a photo pass for this performance, so I was only armed with my trusty, pocket-sized point and shoot camera. Not the best, but not to shabby sitting several hundred fee away if you ask me.

CLICK HERE TO SEE THE OTHER PERFORMANCES THAT I CAUGHT DURING THE BET EXPERIENCE AT L.A. LIVE

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Cloud Control | The Fonda Theatre | 6/17/14 [PHOTOS]

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Opening for Metronomy at The Fonda Theatre was an award-winning indie alternative rock band from Australia: Cloud Control.  This Aussie quartet consisting of Alister Wright, Heidi Lenffer, Ulrigh Lenffer and Jeremy Kelshaw, released their first album, “Bliss Release” to great regional praise. So much critical adoration, in fact, their debut was nominated for two ARIA awards in 2010 for Best Rock Album and Breakthrough Artist, and was the winner of the 6th annual Australian Music Prize, among other accolades. They released their sophomore album, “Cloud Control”, on September 17, 2013, and had been supporting its release with international tours.

As this was my introduction to their music, I went in with open ears and came out a fan. Their performance was solid and their music was rather good. I could definitely understand why they are popular in Australia. Their music definitely has a psychedelic vibe, but it’s more Tame Impala than The Dandy Warhols. Their set had both upbeat dance numbers and mellow “chill-out” cuts, and I found that it was a great setlist. So great, that I even purchased a copy of the their newest album on wax (and got it signed!) after the show.

I always find it interesting when  bands have great support in their home countries, but take a while to break out in other territories. I spoke briefly with Heidi (the keyboardist and vocalist) and asked her what her thoughts were about that point. She exclaimed that that’s exactly what they were aiming to impact during this last round international tour dates. She explained that she hoped that touring with Metronomy and sneaking in festival and other performance dates earned them new ears and fans.

I hope it worked for them. Hey, at least it worked for me. Follow them on Twitter (@Cloud_Control) or Facebook (CloudController) and make sure you catch them when they are in your neck of the woods.

The setlist for their performance is below:

  1. Dojo Rising
  2. The Smoke
  3. Moon Rabbit
  4. Promises
  5. Gold Canary
  6. Nothing In The Water
  7. Scar

I wasn’t able to find any video clips of their performance online, so enjoy a playlist from their Souncloud account below.

The lighting for their set was rather dim, so I had to set my ISO higher than normal. Still think I took a couple decent pics though.

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Nai Palm & Hiatus Kaiyote: Australian Soul

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[If you want to read about their show that “blew my mind” click here]

Sometimes you can’t find soul. Soul finds you. Apparently it found a group of talented musicians in Australia.

Last weekend I went to see Jose James at the Del Monte Speakeasy. I bought tickets for that show online on the venue’s website a few months ago.  I noticed that there was a name I was unfamiliar with playing the following weekend. The venue site said they were from Australia (foreign bands always interest me, because it always seems that the best music these days comes from abroad, and it’s not often you can catch them playing in the United States)  and there was something unusual about the spelling of the second word of the name of the band, so I decided to click through the links landing on their official website.  Went straight to their band camp  link, and listened to their latest project titled ““Tawk Tomahawk”.  Impressed with what I heard, I decided to buy tickets that day, mostly because I liked the music, but also because tickets, at the time, were only $10 each. [If you want to read about their show that “blew my mind” click here]

I didn’t purchase the digital download of the album (I like to own LPs and CD, so I figured I’d wait), but I did download a free remix album and a live performance. I figured I should have something to listen too later, so I could know what to expect for the show.

A few weeks went by.  I went to the Jose James concert (which was amazing, by the way) earlier in the week, and now, on this Sunday, March 17th, 2013 while others are sipping beer dyed with green coloring on a warm, breezy southern California day, I’m at my desk working. I remember I have the extra tickets, and post on Facebook to see if any of my friends are interested. Having only listened to the band’s latest album a couple of times, and their “remix” album as couple times, I described it as “Bjork with a jazz/funk/soul slant.”  I’d like to take that back. They’re WAY more soulful than Bjork could be.

I hadn’t yet listened to the live download titled “Live at RRR FM”, so after posting on Facebook, I pressed start on my iTunes.  It’s a 40+ minute live recording, and it’s already on it’s third replay … today.

Really, I’m just floored by what I’m hearing.  I knew their recorded music was quality stuff.  After doing a little internet snooping, I find out that Erykah Badu loves the band. ?uestlove of The Roots Tweeted about them. But their live recording … what I had been listening to for most of today, is really impressive. So much soul. So much talent. The lead vocalist’s, Nai Palm, voice reminds me (sincerely) of Amy Winehouse.  The songwriting is filled with so much life. I think all of the jazz elements in the music breathes the life into it.

Spent a handful of distracted minutes to finding some quality live video links to share. I’m so looking forward to see them play next weekend.

This song is stunning. 

Okay … now back to work.  At least I have something to look forward to for next weekend.

Updated: 03/18/13: I found Nai Palm covering Stevie Wonder’s “My Cherie Amour”?  If you didn’t already know, I named my blog after one of Stevie’s albums.  I’m a huge Stevie fan. Nai gets SO many brownie points in my book. Can’t wait until the weekend. 

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