March 2015 – Page 3 – Concert Katie

Throwback Thursday – Frosty The Show, Man

Katie March 19, 2015 0 Comments

Headliner: Maroon 5
Opener(s): Fefe Dobson, JC Chasez, Jessica Simpson, Mya, Simple Plan
Cost: $42

Setlist:

No setlist

Recap:

The Meadows is typically a summer outdoor venue with a lawn, but for Kiss’s holiday show they closed off the back and had the show just in the pavilion. The line up was pretty good – Fefe Dobson, who I hadn’t seen before but bought her CD after the show, JC from NSYNC, Jessica Simpson, Mya, Simple Plan (who I fell in love with after this show) and Maroon 5 headlined. Maroon 5 told everyone to come up close for their set because there were more of us than there were security. I’m sure security just LOVED that, so we all crowded up closer to the front!

Where Are They Now:

Fefe – She has since released several CDs and even played herself on an episode of Degrassi in 2013.
JC – Last summer JC was supposed to perform in Jesus Christ Superstar, but the entire arena tour was canceled just a couple days before it was set to kick off. He most recently has been filming a movie in Mexico and we are hopeful to hear more from him soon.
Jessica Simpson – seems to be more into her clothing line and being a mom than singing lately, but her name is still out there
Mya – Mya has still been releasing albums – her most recent one having been released Valentine’s Day last year.
Simple Plan – The guys have been working on their next studio album since 2013 – and it is expected to be released sometime in 2015!
Maroon 5 – Still performing and having singles on the radio.

Concert

Pentatonix at Oakdale

Katie March 18, 2015 0 Comments

Sunday night I went to see Pentatonix at the Oakdale. I had been in PA all day and thought that doors were at 7 – I got to my house just before 6 only to realize doors were at 6. I hardly EVER show up at a show after doors so the amount of traffic getting to the parking lot was nerve wracking. I was stuck at several of the lights watching them turn red, green, red, over and over with nowhere to go because there were just so many people heading to the sold out show. Turns out the parking attendants couldn’t handle it either. There were 3 lanes of cars, 2 attendants, and the two cars in front of me merged in to the right. Since I had no idea what else I should be doing other than following the cars in front of me, I went to merge too and the guy flipped out on my to “stay in my lane”. Well, the lane seemed to disappear and I knew handicapped parking was to the right… but whatever. Then I got in to the handicapped area only to find all the “real” handicapped spots were taken and they were just filling in the rest of the lot. I parked and then the woman next to me parked too close and rammed her car door into mine. She said sorry twice but I was already SO mad because I was yelled at I didn’t acknowledge her. PLUS I didn’t want to say “no problem!” if there was a huge dent in my door or something (doesn’t look like there is, lucky for her!)

I got in to the venue with about 10 minutes to spare before the 7pm start time – only to find when I got to the ticket scanner I had to go to the box office because they were filming the show for a Yahoo Live Stream and my ticket happened to either be where the camera was, or in such a spot that it would be in my way or I’d be in its way. I am SUPER picky about tickets and wouldn’t have even gone to this show had I not had a center ticket, and got moved to a section over, 3rd seat in from the far aisle – but ONE row closer than I was in the other section. (On the plus side, they left the stage and walked around through the crowd and went up right past the aisle I was sitting by!)

Needless to say, I was just not feeling it by the time Pentatonix took the stage at 7:12pm. They do put on a great show and what they can do with only their voices and no instruments whatsoever (although there was a cello at one point) is incredibly impressive. I just wish I was in a better mood. (They are opening up for Kelly Clarkson this summer and I have tickets so hopefully I’ll be more into their set then!)

They did a few medleys – the one I found to be the most fun was “The Evolution of Music” where they start with Gregorian chants and make their way through the decades highlighting popular songs and end up at Call Me Maybe. I’m not sure why but I always get a kick out of the music history lesson medleys when I get the chance to see them live.

I had peaked at the setlist ahead of time – so I knew when they said “this is our last song” – it wasn’t. The girls next to me however didn’t, and left. So I took that as my sign to slip out early and beat the traffic out of the parking lot. I always sit around and wait 30-45 minutes for the lot to clear out after a show and was just not up to spending that much more time in my car. I’ve hardly ever left a show before the encore before – but I guess there’s a first time for everything. I did hear “That’s Christmas To Me” as I was leaving though. And I made it home before 9pm!

I haven’t had time to do anything with photos yet – busy, busy, busy! So expect a “photo dump” post when I do get around to uploading and tagging everything 🙂

Intro / Maship
Problem
Beyonce Medley
Telephone
La La Latch
Love You Long Time
Rather Be
Julio
Papaoutai
Opera Moment
Aha!
Four Five Seconds
Breakfree / See Thru
Uptown Funk / Let’s Get It On
Evolution of Music
Standing By
On My Way Home

That’s Christmas To Me
Daft Punk

Product Review

Product Review: LUSH Solid Shampoo Bars

Katie March 17, 2015 0 Comments

When I travel, it is usually just for a weekend trip so I typically only pack a carry on. That of course means that I have to keep all my liquids separate when flying. When packing for my trip to Cancun in January I daydreamed about how amazing it would be to go completely without liquids and have everything in solid form. Of course – soap is easy. Take a bar of it instead of body wash. Shampoo (and conditioner) seemed to be a bit harder, although I tend to bring the sample packets you get in the mail which are small and flat and I can usually get 2 uses out of each package.

But in my mission to see how to eliminate liquids I came across LUSH Solid Shampoo bars. This was actually invented by LUSH. I’m a little bit picky about shampoo (some leaves my hair just gross and flat and others leaves it far too poofy) so I didn’t want to buy this and bring it with me not having tried it out first. The order actually came while I was away and now that the future is here… I have tried it out!

I bought 2 bars – Trichomania and Jumping Juniper. While there will be some Trichomania photos in the gallery – the one that I used for review purposes in this post was Jumping Juniper. Before I being – here is Leigh from LUSH with some tips and info on the Solid Shampoo Bars.

I had no problem getting the bar to lather in the shower – in fact it seemed to give me a better lather than most of my liquid shampoo did. While washing my hair I felt like it was becoming clean and really couldn’t tell a difference once I was lathering my hair up that I had started with a solid shampoo bar.

Of course the real test was how I looked after it dried… And it looked just the same as it did with any other shampoo I’ve used! So two thumbs up for this product and I am hopefully on my way to a liquid-less trip in the future!

CD Review

Music Monday: Madonna #RebelHeart #O2O

Katie March 16, 2015 0 Comments

Living For Love
Devil Pray
Ghosttown
Unapologetic Bitch
Illuminati
Bitch I’m Madonna
Hold Tight
Joan of Arc
Iconic
HeartBreakCity
Holy Water
Inside Out
Wash All Over Me

Before you read any further – Madonna’s latest CD contains songs about sex and drugs. If this is something you’re uncomfortable with you’ll either want to avoid this CD or you’ll have a few songs that you’ll want to skip. I don’t mind the sex songs but I did skip the few that had drug references just because that has no interest to me in my life or music.

This is the 13th studio album from Madonna and was released on March 6, 2015. Six songs had been available since December due to leaks – so Madonna put the pre-order up on iTunes with an immediate 6 song download. The album includes songs Madonna wrote and produced with the help of Diplo, Avicii and Kanye West.

I found that a lot of the songs I didn’t like the first go-round, started to grow on me a bit more when I listened more. This is a pop and dance album so it has some good beats.

Order on iTunes : http://bit.ly/REBELHEART

I participated in the Madonna Rebel Heart album review program as a member of One2One Network. I was provided an album to review but all opinions are my own.

CD Review

Music Monday: Paramore Paramore

Katie March 16, 2015 0 Comments

Fast In My Car
Now
Grow Up
Daydreaming
Interlude: Moving On
Ain’t It Fun
Part II
Still Into You
Anklebiters
Interlude: Holiday
Proof
Hate To See Your Heart Break
(One of Those) Crazy Girls
Interlude: I’m Not Angry Anymore
Be Alone
Future

I’ve been hearing a lot of great things about Paramore lately, so I figured it might be time that I listened to a full album of theirs. Late last year they released a Deluxe version of their self-titled album. Unfortunately, I couldn’t get into it. I was listening to it while doing some work on my computer (which is really how I listen to most of my music – it’s almost always the radio when I am in the car on the way to/from work unless it’s an extended road trip when the radio repeating itself quickly gets on my nerves) and the only songs that got me to perk up even the slightest were Ain’t It Fun and Still Into You – probably because I knew these from the radio. I also seem to have a hard time getting into female singers (that aren’t 90s pop princesses, I guess) so that might have some to do with it as well.

I’ll probably give this album another chance at a later time to see if I still feel the same – but for right now I’m giving it 3 out of 5 stars.

Product Review

Product Review: 18″ Packing Organizer

Katie March 15, 2015 0 Comments

I guess today is travel item tip day here at ConcertKatie! I am back with another great item from Dot&Dot. This time an 18″ Packing Folder. I had a heck of a time packing for my last trip in January, I couldn’t get the packing cubes to work how I wanted and things were just not organized without them. So now I’m going to give the Packing Folder a try. It holds up to 8-12 shirts or pants, minimizes wrinkles and maximizes space, keeps things organized AND comes with a folding board with folding instructions which is AWESOME. (I can’t fold to save my life which is probably why when I try to pack not using the roll method it is a disaster!)

There is a lot of velcro on this folder which was very helpful after I “stuffed” it full of clothes! It also works great if you’re just going overnight and want to toss some clothes in a backpack with maybe your laptop and some books. It keeps all the clothes separate in it’s own package so you don’t have to dig through everything to get out what you need – you can just grab it and take it to a bathroom to get changed into in the morning!

I received a free packing organizer in exchange for this honest review.

Product Review

Product Review: Dot&Dot 2oz Travel Bottles

Katie March 15, 2015 0 Comments

Another day, another travel item to check out! I wish I had these before I went to Mexico in January because I was going nuts trying to figure out how to fit everything in my bag! I ended up buying products that I was not used to using just because they came in smaller sizes. Had I had these 2oz travel bottles I could have taken the products that I already know and love! This set comes with 4 2 fl oz leak proof silicone travel bottles and the clear bag to carry them through security in. They have suction cups on them for hands free usage (temporary), ID windows to identify the contents, wide openings for easy refills and they are FDA approved and BPA free.

They could not have been easier to fill from my shampoo, conditioner and hair gel bottles. A few tips – don’t overfill your bottles. The suction cups are for temporary usage only so don’t try to stick them in the bathroom permanently. When it is time to reuse the bottles, you can clean soak them in warm, soapy water. They are also dishwasher safe in the top rack only. There are some chemicals which may be incompatible with the bottles causing them to leak, change the shape or color of the tube, or the product will dry up after being put in the tube. If you’re not sure about your particular product, Click here to see a list of chemicals that may be incompatible. It is recommended that if you are not sure to do an overnight test to see if there is a reaction before taking them on the road with you.

While I have been toying with the idea of trying to liquid-free on my next trip, I like to have the option to take whatever product I want and not being “forced” to use what is available in travel size at the local drug store. With these bottles being 30z versus the 3oz of many other travel bottles, you are able to take that much more with you – with 2oz still being enough for a long weekend trip.

I received a free product in exchange for an honest review.

Book Review

Book Review: Snowed In

Katie March 13, 2015 0 Comments

Snowed In begins with Maureen getting broken up with by her boyfriend – while she is naked! She ends up at the supermarket looking at the ice cream and breaks down crying. It is then when she meets Gavin – who flirts and tries to cheer her up a bit because she is too beautiful to be crying. They share a kiss and Maureen ends up avoiding the grocery store for two weeks.

When she returns to the grocery store she is crying once again – only this time she bumps into Pippa, who happens to be neighbors with Gavin and who has gotten a ride there with him. Maureen and Gavin reconnect and despite a storm coming, they make plans to go on a date that night.

They end up snowed in at Gavin’s place – and everything is going great – until… there’s a twist that I’m not telling you about!

This book restored my faith in romance novels. I had decided I was going to not read anymore after I had caught up on what needed to be read in my queue after reading a few that were really, really bad. However, Snowed In made me reconsider this. It was short, which I always love, and it was to the point (probably since it was so short) and I enjoyed the characters and the storyline. It was realistic and enjoyable.

I received a free e-copy of this book in order to write this review, I was not otherwise compensated.

About the Book

There’s nothing like a hot kiss on a cold day

Librarian Maureen O’ Connell might have predicated she’d find herself crying into the ice cream cast at the supermarket after a bad breakup, but she definitely never imagined that a guy hot enough to melt the Rocky Road would flirt with her right there in the freezer aisle. Only Gavin Fraser isn’t a fantasy, he’s a mouth-watering new flavor.

When a freak snowstorm strands Maureen at Gavin’s after just one date, it’s a perfect excuse for something a lot steamier than hot chocolate in front of the fire. It’s definitely lust. Can it also be love?

Book Review

Book Review: Paris Hop!

Katie March 13, 2015 0 Comments

A cute children’s book about a Grandma taking her granddaughter to Paris for the day. The book starts out with some key French phrases and how to pronounce them. The story is told in rhyme, which is extra impressive with the french words thrown in throughout! Super adorable illustrations as well. Now I want to visit Paris!

I received a free e-copy of this book in order to write this review, I was not otherwise compensated.

About the Book

On a visit to Paris for just one day, Grandma Goldie is eager to show her granddaughter, Aimee, how the city sparkles in the sun from the top of the Eiffel Tower. But the other joys of “Paree” create delightful detours along the way. Will this peppy pair make it to the tower before sunset? Find out in this charmingly illustrated rhyming tale about the City of Light . . . and happy surprises.

Our picture book includes a French-English glossary.

The second book in our Travel Adventures with Grandma Goldie series will be published in October 2015.

Book Review

Book Review: Sex, Drugs and Rock N Roll

Katie March 13, 2015 0 Comments

Sex, Drugs and Rock N Roll explains the science of hedonism and the hedonism of science. It is an interesting look at Sex (18 write ups), Drugs (15) write ups and rock n roll (26 write ups) from a science perspective. I wasn’t really sure what to make of it, but it was interesting and strange all at the same time. I mean – stories about testicle implants? Spiders making webs on various types of drugs, some history thrown in for good measure, research ta shows music and drugs can tickle he same neural networks, drugs influence on music, we are born to sing, and much, much more.

If you’re into science and learning more about sex, drugs and rock n roll in a scientific way, then this is the book for you. There’s also a handy index if there are just certain items you’re looking to learn more about!

I received a free e-copy of this book in order to write this review, I was not otherwise compensated.

About the Book

The book went SUPER into depth about one drug specifically: Weed AKA cannabis… this drug was raved about non stop in the book for its healing properties and how much it helped the mental health of the anyone taking it. It seemed to be the drug of choice for the rockstars and anyone else in between. Cannabis was just all the rave with the rock and roll community in the 70s. No matter how you put it weed is definitely up there in terms of what type of drug you want to take and how you want to take it theres just so many ways.

Full of noise and color, Sex, Drugs, and Rock ’n’ Roll looks at scientists and their craft, how hedonistic impulses inform our highest pursuits, and how the renegades of science have illuminated the secrets of our deepest impulses. It is a fascinating tale of scientists on the edge, experimenting on themselves and others, that asks the big (and strange) questions about what it means to be human, about consciousness and happiness, the future and past of our species, our scientific knowledge, and our culture. Not to mention our parties. It will pull you in and gross you out, but it never loses sight of the stories, ideas, and scientific discoveries that make sex, drugs, and rock ’n’ roll so timeless.