Linkin Park’s Carnivores Tour Rehearsal – What to Expect During Their Summer Tour

They’re Ready For the Hunt.

 

Before I begin, I want to apologize to my followers for the lack up updates in the last few months. Aside from being in Nigeria, which limited my ability to keep up to date about upcoming shows, I really haven’t been able to cover any shows.

That is until now.

Earlier this week, the renowned alternative rock band, Linkin Park held a lottery drawing contest for members of their fanclub, the Linkin Park Underground. Those selected would be allowed the chance to attend the band’s rehearsal and a meet & greet before the tour kicked off. Last night, I was fortunate enough to be one of approximately 30 people to experience a taste of Linkin Park’s upcoming Carnivores Tour. As a concert reviewer and as a long time fan of Linkin Park, this was an incredible opportunity which I’m still trying to come down from. So, I purchased a ticket a day before the rehearsal and traveled from Maryland to West Palms Beach, Florida.

Attendees were at first given pizzas provided by the band, including cheese, sausage, and pepperoni. From there, they were led past the main stage to an area where we awaited to take a group photo with the band. After taking two group photos, the band had gone around and signed items that people had brought with them and had spoken with their fans for a short period of time. From there, attendees were led back to the main stage area.

 

Meeting with the fans.

The set-up for the stage was impressive: there were numerous LED screens which would show different visuals during each song. These visuals that were shown included a simple black screen with a white Japanese kanji for “Hunting” (狩), all the screens have the same kanji numerous times in red, and the latest albums bow and arrow logo, albeit with a red circle around it, similar to Japan’s flag. There was also a small platform for the members to walk out on, which would put them extremely close to the audience.

One of the many visuals to expect during Linkin Park’s tour.

After performing a brief soundcheck for their instruments and discussing with each other when they would come in during the intro for their opening song, the band opened with “Guilty All The Same,” the first single from their recently released album, “The Hunting Party.” Singer and rapper Mike Shinoda performing Rakim’s section of the song. The band then went on to play songs from their entire collection, such as  the rock heavy “Given Up,” their newly released single “The Final Masquerade,” fan favorites such as “Runaway,” and “One Step Closer,” and “Papercut,” the song that made most people fall in love with their debut album, Hybrid Theory. Expect that the band will add a few twists to a few of their songs, such as a tasteful remix to their single “Castle of Glass.”

 

Singer Chester Bennington screams “shut up when [he’s] talking to you” during ‘One Step Closer.’

While they managed to cover the base of practically every single song you could ever want at a Linkin Park concert, due to time restrictions, some songs will be shortened. But despite that, if you’re a Linkin Park fan, even a little bit, you will enjoy the performance that they put on.

I should stop here; as much as I want to discuss the tour, I think I should let those attending be surprised. If you wish to view a few photos and short video clips, you can view them on my instagram account here. 

The Carnivores Tour begins officially tomorrow in West Palms Beach, Florida and will continue until September 19th at the Concord Pavilion in Concord, CA. Touring with Linkin Park will be Thirty Seconds to Mars and AFI. Tickets are still available and can be found here.

Concert Review: Paramore – Parahoy (Performance 1)

Despite just recently completing their self-titled tour, the world renowned band Paramore didn’t show any signs of energy loss during their first performance as the Norwegian Pearl set sail from the coast of Miami, Florida.

 

Paramore’s first performance on the Parahoy cruise was an incredible one. Hayley’s excitement for the cruise could not be contained as she danced all over the stage and even began climbed the support beams for the stages lights. She also wasn’t afraid to share the moment with her fans, putting the microphone into the audience to let them sing along during songs such as “Daydreaming” and “Emergency.”

Singer Hayley Williams during “I Caught Myself.”

To mark the special occasion of the cruise, the band performed songs that have rarely been performed live, such as the Twilight track “I Caught Myself,” and, for the first time, “Escape Route” – an exclusive b-side track from their self-titled album.

Guitarist Taylor York rocking out.

The band went on to play the soul soothing song “The Only Exception,” to which Williams exclaimed that she was embarrassed to perform during the daytime, as she had never done that before.

Bassist Jeremy getting some fans to rock with him during “That’s What You Get.”

She also thanked the audience for helping them make Paramore history by joining the cruise, that their coming was a light after the “dark age of Paramore,” before going into Brand New Eyes’ first single, “Ignorance.” After perthen told the crowd that she was “taking them to church” moments before the funky riff of their latest single “Ain’t It Fun” began playing, all the while La Croix beach balls bouncing around the audience.

Hayley Williams takes a moment to smile during “Ain’t It Fun.”

But as the show drew to a close, Paramore made sure to wrap up with their well-known hits, “Pressure” and “Misery Business;” even bringing up two fans to complete the bridge and final chorus of the latter song with them.

Two lucky fans on stage during Misery Business.

If you were on the cruise and were unable to watch Paramore perform on their first night, have no fear – the band is set to perform another show on March 9th. However, while the band promises that they will not be performing any of the tracks they performed tonight, they will be putting on a special performance by performing songs that fans haven’t heard in years.

 

For more photos, click here.

Paramore – Parahoy Setlist (03/07/2014)

For A Pessimist
Emergency
Caught Myself
That’s What You Get
Fast In My Car
Ignorance
Now
When It Rains
The Only Exception
In The Morning / Landside
Daydreaming
Brick By Boring Brick
Ain’t It fun

ENCORE:

Pressure
Escape Route
Misery Business

Lorde Announces North American Tour Dates for 2014

As 2013’s end slowly closes in, a new exciting opportunity has come with it. After having a short US tour which was limited to four states (California, New York, Oregon, and Washington), Grammy nominated New Zealander Lorde continues her worldwide reign by announcing a new set of tour dates for this Spring . In March, Lorde and her band will be embarking on a 16-date tour across North America which starts in Austin, Texas, making stops in New York City, St. Louis, and Boston to name a few, just before finishing up on the west coast at the 2,800 capacity Fox Oakland Theater in California.

Tickets will start going on sale Friday morning on Ticketmaster and AXS and prices will range from $36 to $65 (depending on the show). If you want to feel like royalty, make sure to pick up a ticket!

 Tour dates can be found below.

NORTH AMERICAN TOUR DATES

03/03- Austin Music Hall – Austin, TX
03/04- Southside Ballroom – Dallas, TX
03/05- Bayou – Houston, TX
03/07- Echostage- Washington, DC
03/08- Tower Theatre – Philadelphia, PA
03/11- Roseland Ballroom – New York, NY
03/12- Roseland Ballroom – New York, NY
03/14- Orpheum – Boston, MA
03/15- Sound Academy – Toronto, ON
03/16- Fillmore – Detroit, MI
03/18- Aragon – Chicago, IL
03/20- Peabody Opera House – St. Louis, MO
03/21- Arvest Bank Theatre – Kansas City, MO
03/22- Fillmore Auditorium – Denver, CO
03/24- WAMU Theater – Seattle, WA
03/26- Fox – Oakland, CA

Released on September 27th, her debut album ‘Pure Heroine’ has already topped most “Year End” lists including Rolling Stone Magazine’s who noted “Lorde’s languidly aphoristic lyrics balance rock-star swagger and torqued-up teenage angst”, and The New York Times, who praised “(Pure Heroine) commandeers those wide-open spaces with her lustrous voice and angel-choir harmonies carrying serious thoughts.”

Lorde’s single, ‘Royals’ has held the #1 spot at Alternative and AAA radio for seven consecutive weeks,and it has become the #1 greatest gainer at Rhythmic and Hot AC formats. ‘Royals’ also was #1 on both the iTunes Overall Top Songs Chart and the Alternative Songs Chart.

 

Lady Gaga Announces ARTPOP Tour & Pre-Sale

All you little monsters better get ready: the renowned performance artist Lady Gaga has announced a 2014 tour!

Touring for the first time since she had to cancel the remaining dates on her “Born This Way” tour and subsequently underwent hip surgery, Gaga’s “artRave: The ARTPOP Ball” concert tour will begin on May 4th in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida and will include performances at New York’s Madison Square Garden, San Antonio’s AT&T Center, and SDSU’s Viejas Arena at Aztec Bowl. Tickets will go on sale Dec. 16 to the general public, following several pre-sales, at Ticketmaster for her show here.

For those who are unable to wait to wait until the 16th, you can sign up for a pre-sale code via www.littlemonsters.com. You only have to sign up (it’s free), go under the explore tab at the top of the page to “events,” then select which event you would like to attend. You will then be e-mailed a code which you would use on ticketmaster for your event.

These are the confirmed dates (so far):

»5/4 – Ft. Lauderdale, FL @ BB&T Center
»5/6 – Atlanta, GA @ Philips Arena
»5/8 – Pittsburgh, PA @ Consol Energy Center
»5/10 – Uncasville, CT @ Mohegan Sun
»5/12 – Philadelphia, PA @ Wells Fargo Center
»5/13 – New York, NY @ Madison Square Garden
»5/15 – Washington, DC @ Verizon Center
»5/18 – Cleveland, OH @ Quicken Loans Arena
»5/20 – St. Paul, MN @ Xcel Entergy Center
»5/22 – Winnipeg, MB @ MTS Centre
»5/25 – Calgary, AB @ Scotiabank Saddledome
»5/26 – Edmonton, AB @ Rexall Place
»5/28 – Seattle, WA @ Key Arena
»5/30 – Vancouver, BC @ Rogers Arena
»6/2 – San Diego, CA @ Viejas Arena
»6/3 – San Jose, CA @ SAP Center at San Jose
»6/30 – Boston, MA @ TD Garden
»7/2 – Montreal, QC @ Bell Centre
»7/9 – Toronto, ON @ Air Canada Centre
»7/11 – Chicago, IL @ United Center
»7/14 – San Antonio, TX @ AT&T Center
»7/16 – Houston, TX @ Toyota Center
»7/17 – Dallas, TX @ American Airlines
»7/19 – Las Vegas, NV @ MGM Grand Garden
»July 21 – Los Angeles, CA @ Staples Center

 

Lady Gaga’s Artpop was released on December 6th, 2013.

Concert Review: New Found Glory

In spite of chilling mixture of rain and cold winds, fans warmed up quickly for the New Found Glory and Alkaline Trio co-headlining show at the Blue Note last night.

The band chose an impressive list of songs which spread throughout the years that they’ve been a band, from their debut album, Nothing Gold Can Stay to their 2011 released Radiosurgery. They opened the show with “All Downhill From Here,” quickly gaining a positive reaction from fans. The band further encouraged them with their high level of energy as auidence members jumped around during “Don’t Let Her Pull You Down,” and as they moshing during “It’s Not Your Fault.” Lead singer Jordan Pundik would also move around frequently from side to side on stage to interact with audience members, even holding out the mic at times to let them sing the words to the band’s songs.

SInger Jordan Pudnik

After performing “Radiosurgery,” Pundik told the audience that “for [the] next song, instead of moshing, look to your left, hold the person next to you, and sing along,” before getting into an incredible punk cover of Aerosmith’s well known power ballad, “I Don’t Wanna Miss A Thing.” After they finished Pundik exclaimed “any song sound much better when played at a fast pace!” He proved this to be true by later performing another cover – this time of Sixpence Non the Richer’s “Kiss Me.”

Bassist Ian Grushka rocking out during “Don’t Let Her Pull”

After thanking  the audience for attending and helping to get them hyped up for Alkaline Trio, the band closed with one of their best known singles, “My Friends Over You.” But the most interesting part was the aftermath: despite the tour being a co-headliner, the crowd was split. A good portion of the crowd was chanting for Alkaline Trio to come on stage, while a good proportion was chanting for an encore from New Found Glory, proving that despite performing first, the band had left a major reaction on their audience.

Lead guitarist Chad Gilbert providing back-up vocals

Opening the show was punk rock band H20, who put on a nine song performance with so much energy that you could have almost mistaken them to be a main act. They performed some impressive songs, including “Still Here” and “Guilty by Association.” The band also handed out shirts to audience members, including those how were born in 1995, before performing “1995.” Despite of a major technical difficulty with his microphone during their opening song, “Family Tree,” lead vocalist Toby Morse was able to quickly bounce back by quickly getting another microphone and continuing on to “Nothing To Prove.” For the remainder of the show he would joke about it, exclaiming that he hated his microphone and that they were going to sacrifice it.

If you’re a firm believer that punk isn’t dead, you still have time to catch Alkaline Trio and New Found Glory – both bands will be performing in Oklahoma City, Austin, and Tucson before heading to Australia.

New Found Glory Setlist (11/21/2013)

All Downhill From Here
Don’t Let Her Pull You Down
It’s Not Your Fault
Understatement
Truck Stop Blues
Sucker
Radiosurgery
Don’t Wanna Miss a Thing (Aerosmith Cover)
Connect the Dots
Hit or Miss
Listen to Your Friends
Anthem for the Unwanted
Failure’s Not FFlattering
Dressed to Kill
Kiss Me (Sixpence Non the Richer cover)
Forget My Name
Truth of My Youth
Hold My Hand
My Friends Over You

New Found Glory’s newest album “Kill It Live” was released on October 8th, 2013 worldwide.

HAIM Pre-sale for Headlining US Tour begins now

7 minutes ago, up and coming indie-pop group HAIM announced a pre-sale through their Facebook page for their upcoming North American Tour. Their upcoming tour will begin in April, starting in San Francisco and will go through cities including Nashville, Washington D.C., Toronto, will finish in Vancouver this May.

The exclusive pre-sale can be found here on their website: http://bit.ly/HAIMtix

Tour Dates
4/9 San Francisco, CA The Fillmore
4/17 Las Vegas, NV The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas
4/23 Austin, TX Stubb’s BBQ
4/24 Dallas, TX House of Blues
4/26 Tulsa, OK Cain’s Ballroom
4/27 Nashville, TN Mercy Lounge
5/6 Carrboro, NC Cat’s Cradle
5/8 Washington, DC 9:30 Club
5/10 New York, NY Terminal 5
5/13 Boston, MA House of Blues
5/14 Philadelphia, PA Theatre of Living Arts
5/15 Toronto, ON Kool Haus
5/17 Chicago, IL Vic Theatre
5/19 Minneapolis, MN First Avenue
5/21 Denver, CO Gothic Theatre
5/22 Salt Lake City, UT Urban Lounge
5/24 Vancouver, BC Malkin Bowl

HAIM’s debut studio album Days Are Gone was released worldwide on September 27th, 2013. The group had been quickly gaining attention, and have released 4 singles, all of which have charted in the UK and Belgium, including their hit singles “Forever”  and “The Wire.”

Concert Review: Watsky & Wax

Last night, George Watsky (also known as Watsky) brought down the Blue Note with his incredible rapping skills, as well as completed the US leg of his Hug A Hater Tour. Watsky showed how he became known back in 2011 as

Rapper George Watsky

that Pale Kid who raps fast, from spitting out rhymes so fast that Busta Rhymes would be jealous to performing some incredible spoken word about how he met someone who said he had a lisp.

Watsky wasn’t shy when it came to his audience. Throughout his performance, he would move from side to side of the stage high-fiving audience members during song such a “Toothbrush,” and crowd surfed  few times; at one point he even jumped from a 20 foot sound speaker to crowd surf.

Not only was Watsky able to show off his skill last night, but his band did as well; Professional vocalist Tyra Juliette did an amazing job providing backing vocals with each song, while his drummer performed an impressive six minute solo about halfway through the night. The person on keys also did an impressive job, getting the audience hyped by performing snippets of Eminem’s “Shake That Ass” and Daft Punk’s summer hit “Get Lucky,” which got numerous audience members to sing along to.

But the most interesting moment of the night was during Watsky’s performance of “Give A Hater A Hug.” Since it was originally a collaborative song between both Watsky and Wax, the latter came back on stage and performed the song with Watsky. Both artists had fun with the song, pausing about halfway through and began insulting each other, from how Wax had a bad odor and couldn’t grow facial hair, to how Watsky’s fast rapping sounded like a certain part of his mother. Both artists then when on to complete the song and gave each other a hug and a hand shake, saying that they both loved touring with each other (and in Watsky’s words, should probably stop holding hands; it was going on longer than it probably should.

Rapper Wax‘s performance was also quite a treat for the audience. The Maryland originating rapper explained the backstory about some of his songs before getting into them., making them feel authentic. For example, he talked about how he met a beautiful girl in California before beginning a song. He also performed other hits including “Music and Liquor” and his 2011 hit single, “Two Wheels.” Like Watsky, Wax was full on the humor, from quoting Homer Simpson as he spoke to the audience by saying “To alcohol, the answer and cause to all of life’s problems,” to breaking out into the Macarena in between songs.

Rapper Wax performing a song solo.

Opening for both artists was local Columbia rapper Kelly Betz, who performed a five song set, including a song which he tributed to the band Radiohead.

Both Watsky and Wax are now going to begin the European leg of their 2013 tour. For tour dates, click here.

Concert Review: Beats Antique

Last night, the multi-genre group Beats Antique returned to the Blue Note, with their fans just as eager to see them as they were a year ago.

Belly Dancer Zoe Parks

The group without a doubt has an incredible stage presence. Renowned belly dancer Zoe Jakes masterfully moved along to the beat, went through multiple costume changes throughout the show, and had perfect synchronization with the background images that appeared. This is not to sell the other members short at all. Davis Satori did an excellent job performing each instrument he played, ranging from a violin to a guitar, to a keytar. Drummer Tommy Cappel did an amazing job and proved he was a master of beats as the group transitioned from song to song.

The performance was not short on surprises; from selecting a fan from the crowd to come on stage and receive a t-shirt to expanding an enormous cat balloon, the crowd was kept intertained through out the night. What I also found interesting was that the LED images from the projector changed depending on the song from vivid imagery of clouds, to a vivid image of a fire burning, with each image relating to each song performed.

While there was a slight issue involving the projector before the show had began. Never less, Beat’s amazing tech crew managed to get the issue resolved, ensuring that the quality of the show was excellent.

Lastly, as a special treat to their fans, the group had their new album, A Thousand Faces – Act 1 available for purchase at the show. If you were unable to buy a copy at the show, you can still pre-order the album here.

Concert Review: Randy Rogers Band

Before the Randy Rogers Band even came on stage, attenders of the Blue Note last night were raring for their performance. Fans were cheering and stomping their feet – anticipation was high. The introduction to Trouble Knows My Name began to play as the band came on stage and put on an amazing show.

Performing an impressive list of 23 songs, the Randy Rogers performed songs from numerous albums, including their 2002 released album, Roller Coaster, their Self-titled album, and the recently released Trouble. Despite the lack of songs from Like It Used to Be, the audience had an amazing time, from couples dancing to the heart pulling “Kiss Me in the Dark,” to good friends drinking and singing along to the recent hit “Fuzzy.”

The night did have some interesting twists: during “Buy Myself a Chance,” the band did a small shout out to The Killers’ “All These Things That I’ve Done,” exclaiming “I’ve Got Soul But I’m Not A Soldier,” encouraging the audience to sing along.

After returning for an encore, the band went on to play a song known as “Awesome/ Austin,” followed by their well known “One More Sad Song” and “Down and Out.” In the end, the performance made it that by the end of the night, not only did trouble know the name Randy Rogers Band, but that that all of Columbia did and made sure that they wouldn’t forget it any time soon.

Opening for Randy Rogers Band was the Bryant Carter Band. The Missouri-originating country rock band put on a spectacular performance. Frontman and singer Bryant Carter’s vocalscontained some similarities to those of Dave Matthews of Dave Matthews Band, but instead of replicating the latter’s style, he manages to create his own distinct style, as shown during their performance of “Kiss.”

Those in Missouri who missed their performance last night need not worry – for the rest of the year, The Randy Rogers Band will be performing at numerous locations, including St. Louis on November 13th.  Click here for tour dates from now until November.

Randy Rogers Band Setlist
Trouble Knows My Name
Interstate
Buy Myself A Chance
Tonight’s Not The Night (For Goodbye)
Better Off Wrong
Speak of the Devil
Flash Flood
Damn the Rain
This Time Around
If I Had Another Hearts
Last, Last Chance
One More Goodbye
Before I Believe It’s True
Goodbye Lonely
Somebody Take Me Home
10 Miles Deep
Kiss Me In The Dark
Too Late For Goodbye (No Intro)
In My Arms
Fuzzy

Encore:
Awesome/Austin
One More Sad Song
Down & Out

Concert Review: Brett Eldredge

Taken by Jaganphotos
Copyright by Warner Music Nashville

Brett Eldredge got those at the Columbia, Missouri venue The Blue Note partying hard last night. His cup raised in hand towards the audience, Eldredge asked if Columbia was “Ready to party?!” before going into “Tell Me Where to Park.”

Despite promoting his album Released Bring You Back, which released over the summer, Eldredge showed he wasn’t shy when it came to performing songs by other artists, like how he put a slight twist to his song “Get There” by integrating Bob Marley’s “One Love,” asking audience members to clap their hands and sing along with him. He also covered Al Green’s “Stay Together.”

Taken by Jaganphotos
Copyright of Warner Music Nashville

But the moment that this really showed was during the “Old Medley,” which was composed of various songs, including Bruce Hornsby’s “The Way It Is,” Alan Jackson’s “I Don’t Even Know Your Name,” and The Police’s “Roxanne,” which earned a strong positive response from the audience.

But despite the good times and energy that was provided, Eldredge did show his more serious side when he performed the softer “One Mississippi” and when he told the audience about the song “Raymond,” the first song he had ever written and how it was about an important relative of his. But he went back to performing more upbeat songs as the night went on.

Eldredge interacting with fans.
Taken by Jaganphotos.
Copyright of Warner Music Nashville

Eldredge also interacted quite well with his fans, never shying to lean over from the stage to shake a fan’s hand or give a high-five. He also got them involved during his performances, asking them to take a drink every time the phrase “Roxanne” was said during his cover of the Police’s well-known hit.

By the time he finished his hit single “Don’t Ya,” fans weren’t ready for the party to end, chanting for him to comeback on stage. The chants turned into cheers as Eldredge and the band came back on and performed two more songs.

Opening for Eldredge was country singer  Russell Dickerson. Having just performed at the Blue Note with Love and Theft and Chase Rice, Dickerson again showed the mid-west his talents by playing various songs, including “Something Good,” “That’s My Girl,” and “Greenlight,” as well as a few cover songs. If you love country music, then Russell Dickerson is definitely a musician to keep an eye out for.

Russell Dickerson performing “Die to Live Again.”

If you were unable to catch Brett Eldredge last night, don’t worry – Eldredge will be bringing the party to various US cities from now until November, before heading to Canada with Keith Urban & Little Big Town.

For tour dates, click here.

Brett Eldredge Setlist
Tell Me Where To Park
Signs
Get There
Mean To Me
On & On -> Stay Together (Al Green cover)
Old Medley
Bring You Back To Love
Raymond
Beat of the Music
One Mississippi
Go On Without Me
Thirsty
Don’t Ya