Headliner: Kris Allen
Opener(s): Article 19
Venue: Up Or On The Rocks
Cost: $0
Setlist:
Sunday, July 9, David Cook and his band returned to Infinity Hall in Norfolk, CT for a show. While the schedule looked like they had a few days off, David mentioned that they had left their show in Philly, flew to Las Vegas, drove to California to perform for the troops and had left that morning with a layover in Detroit to get back to CT, getting to the venue around 5pm for the show. The VIP M&G was held after the show instead of before the show due to this. David was also complaining of a sore throat all day to his band, but he sounded great! (He has since had to cancel several shows to be on vocal rest though, poor guy!)
After the song Heroes, he stopped to have a conversation with us. I tried to transcribe it from a recording as best I could…
“We have a lot of music to play but we have to have a conversation first. So, our last public show was… the 6th in Philly and so to people looking at the calendar they’d say hey awesome they have 2 or 3 days off that’s pretty cool. On the 7th we flew from Philly to Las Vegas and drove 2.5-3 hours to Ft. Irwin Army base in California. To play a show for the base there for their Summer Fest. We got lost on the way in the desert which is already a great end to the story… we were like maybe 20 minutes off the highway and the map was telling us turn left… there’s a cactus there we can’t turn left so in the middle of the desert literally an oasis there was a monastery St Anthony’s monestary and the other side of the fence is just the most lush green you’ve ever seen like they just took all of the water. So we turn around and are going to go back to the highway and all of a sudden this Honda Civic just comes tearing ass over towards us flashing lights at us honking and we are like ok this is like some breaking bad shit. He pulls up beside us and is just like pull over, pull over, it’s this bearded guy. Bearded dudes are suspect. So we pull over which is obviously the smart thing to do in this scenario, so we pull over and its one of the monks from the monastery and it’s like he knew what we were doing and he was like are you guys trying to get to Ft Irwin and he says oh follow me and we are like no! so we get back on the highway another 45 minutes, get up the next day to play the show and its 110 degrees I think… gross! Oh it was 114 excuse me. So we play the how it went well and then 1am his morning pacific time we got up, I got up later I overslept, get in the van drive back to Vegas for a 6am flight to Detroit, in Detroit 40 mins get here at like 5… but listen… it leads me to this point, so we are sitting here waiting for the show to start and I’m just like I want a day off, and then you guys start singing Hereos back to us… that is FUEL. So I don’t know. That’s it”
The girls behind me also had a sign… David took it from them and read it out – Here for Kyle, no longer in the band. Here for Neal, no longer in the band. Here for Andy, no longer in the band, here for Monty, no longer in the band. … David. He thought maybe they were questioning if they were there for him or not and they said no, they weren’t questioning it they were settling. So he gave them a guitar lesson on how to turn a chord into a power chord which was basically just giving them the finger. Then he was teasing how he was #5 in his band there was only 4 guys on stage.
He hung it up on the keyboard but later signed it and passed it back to the girls in the crowd.
Before one of the songs he said he had to be careful what he said because when he’s over tired he gets emotional and no one can sing beautifully with snot running down their face. I think he was going to mention something about his time on Idol but decided not to.
For the encore, he started off with Light On, his first single post-Idol. He told a story about how they told him that it was going to be his single and he was disappointed because he was hoping he could write his own song. But then they told him that the song was co-written by Chris Cornell who was one of his idols growing up so he agreed to it. He talked about how the arrangement of the demo was basically the same as he plays it – but the vocals were Chris’ and they told him “Ok you’re going to sing this song” and how he had hoped that Chris was out there somewhere listening.
The last 3 songs from the encore were all tracks from his new EP that he is currently raising money to record on Pledge Music. The first was a Phil Collins cover of Another Day in Paradise that I think he reworked beautifully. And then 2 originals – Ghost Magnetic and the latest single, Gimme Heartbreak – which I hadn’t had a chance to listen to before the show because… vacation on the other side of the world… but it’s really good as well!
Before he went in to the new songs someone in the crowd yelled out “NEW SONG!” and he thought that she said “YOU SUCK” and mentioned how he thought she yelled You Suck but then realized what she had actually said and was thinking he was going to have to give another guitar lesson – which he did anyway and then was worried his Mom was going to see video and get upset with him
Saturday we made the trek to Fenway Park to see NKOTB and The Total Package Tour. This was my first concert at a ballpark! As soon as we had gotten let onto the field to take our seats, it started raining. Fortunately I had some ponchos in my purse and we quickly put them on. The rain was on again off again.
Boyz II Men opened the show and it was slightly drizzling their whole set – which made trying to get any photos tricky! When they started playing Water Runs Dry it started raining harder! I thought that they had a great set and it was a lot different from their set on The Package Tour.
Motownphilly
On Bended Knee
It’s So Hard to Say Goodbye to Yesterday
Water Runs Dry
Are You Gonna Go My Way/American Woman/Locked Out of Heaven
I’ll Make Love to You
End of the Road
In the Still of the Night
A Song for Momma
One Sweet Day
End of the Road
Paula Abdul was next up, and it started absolutely pouring so half her set I was hiding in my poncho to try and stay dry. She talked about how singing in the rain inspired her when she was younger to become a singer and dancer… but it took her quite a while to realize… she was SINGING IN THE RAIN. A few songs in she announced she had to leave the stage and then the PA announcer said severe weather was in the area and we had to take cover in the grandstands.
I have to say, the Fenway staff did an AMAZING job making sure all the wheelchairs were able to get out of the ADA area and to the ramp that was several sections away by holding back the rest of the concert go’ers and doing the same when we went back after we got the all clear. If not, navigating through the crowd with the wheelchairs would have been impossible.
When we were let back to the seats, everything was being set up for NKOTB to take the stage. It still was raining lightly, but by the time NKOTB came out the rain had stopped – but that didn’t stop the guys from stomping around in all the puddles that had formed on the stage!
I feel like for the past few NKOTB tours their setlists have been pretty much the same. With the release of a new EP (which I still haven’t had the time to check out, bad fan!) and them being at it for so long (Jordan said they had been performing in Boston for 33 years!) they switched things up a bit and did a lot of throwbacks to the older stuff as they went through their discography and band timeline.
Highlights included the quick change camera which is hilarious and definitely live because Donnie had a piece of confetti stuck to his arm that appeared in the video just in case anyone thought it might have been pre-recorded and Joe’s son Griff joining him on stage to sing Please Don’t Go Girl. Adorable.
There also was a point in the show when the guys left the main stage and we had no idea where they were – and it seemed like the camera guys had no idea either as the screens on stage just kept panning around. Turns out the guys were running around on the infield and then ended up on the dugouts for a song as well!
It was a great show and definitely a great first for me! It rained, it snowed, there was tons of confetti (though I only ended up catching a few pieces even though I was convinced we were going to be covered in it due to our wet ponchos) and even fireworks!
Act 1 – The Beginning
One More Night
My Favorite Girl
Dirty Dancing
You Got It (The Right Stuff)
Remix (I Like The)
Block Party
Tonight
Summertime
Games
Cover Girl
The Whisper
Act 2 – Storytellers
Stop It Girl
Popsicle
Be My Girl
I Wanna Be Loved by You
Didn’t I (Blow Your Mind This Time)
Call It What You Want
Valentine Girl
Happy Birthday
You Got the Flavor
Dirty Dawg
Never Let You Go
If You Go Away
Merry, Merry Christmas
This One’s for the Children
Hard (Not Lovin’ U)
Single
Please Don’t Go Girl
Act 3 – The Close
Step by Step
I’ll Be Loving You (Forever)
Hangin’ Tough
Race Title: Chamber of Secrets
Distance: 10k
Company: Hogwarts Running Club
Charity: Jimmy Fund
This book is all fanfic – celebrity encounters starring YOU – written in the second person so that you can pretend you are the main character. I love the idea but I’m not sure why a book that is called ‘Boy Band Babes’ starts out with a story about Justin Bieber. I tried and tried to pretend it was Justin Timberlake but “I” kept squealing Justin Bieber! at him so that didn’t really work out.
The book contains 6 stories and actually 3 of them are not about boyband members at all – Zac Efron, Justin Bieber and Shawn Mendes. The other 3 I only really know who 2 are – Zayn and Niall from One Direction (and I think the last is from 5 seconds of Summer but I never really got into them.)
The stories were cute (the Justin one was all about how he set up a scavenger hunt with clues for their 2nd wedding anniversary) but I think I would have enjoyed them more as just regular guys and regular girls without the celebrity aspect. Justin Bieber’s was by far the longest one, the rest were pretty quick and kind of had a choose your own adventure vibe to them as well.
I received a free e-copy of this book in order to write this review, I was not otherwise compensated.
About the Book
Fanfiction at its best, from your favorite Wattpad authors! In this collection drawn from the Imagines anthology headlined by Anna Todd (After, Nothing More) comes six stories putting “YOU” alongside your favorite pop stars, including Justin Bieber, Zayn Malik, Michael Clifford, Niall Horan, Zac Efron, and Shawn Mendes!
A unique and daring series of imagines in which you get to uncover the real boy behind the pop star hottie! Told in the second-person, “you” get to step into these swoonworthy and unpredictable adventures and do things like go on a romantic and exciting scavenger hunt through the city in search of your husband Justin Bieber, attend the prom of your dreams with Michael Clifford, and party with Shawn Mendes. Dive into the fantasy worlds of your favorite pop stars now!
Note: Although this book mentions many real celebrities, they have not participated in, authorized, or endorsed its creation.
I guess since I have lived in New England my whole life, I have developed a fondness for antique New England homes. I love driving through older neighborhoods and looking at all the old houses – there were plenty in the coastal town I grew up in and we even sometimes took walking tours through them as class field trips! So when I saw that there was a book devoted to not only the homes but barns I had to check it out. It goes through the history and how a lot of people moved to New England from [old] England and brought with them the traditions of building. I looove looking at all the pictures – any house that looks like Snow White might haved lived in it is awesome to me. It talks about how the style of the homes and how they were built was dictated by the climate. The book also talks a bit about how to restore an antique home with a lot of great information for anyone who might be tackling this project. It lets you know what to look for to fix, what to salvage and “The Rs” that you need to know to fix up an older home.
In addition to getting to see some really cool photos of antique homes I learned a lot. I am not sure I am going to run out and buy an old home to remodel and renovate (though I wish I could afford to) but should I win the lottery, I certainly would be on the right track with what to do after reading this book! (And for a music connection, there’s even a chapter on Daryl Hall of Hall and Oates and how he transplanted and renovated 2 homes into one!)
I received a free e-copy of this book in order to write this review, I was not otherwise compensated.
About the Book
There is something about antique homes and their hard-working barns that captures the imagination. Maybe it’s their pleasing proportions, maybe they remind us of a simpler time, or maybe we sense that these venerable old survivors that were built when our country was young have seen it all. But how many of us have bothered to listen to the stories they tell or tried to understand what makes them tick? This book reveals the essence of antique New England homes and barns—their history, the people who built them, why they were built that way, and how to restore them, piece by piece, without losing their character. Learn to identify architectural styles from different periods, how to strategize a restoration, and how to approach it systematically, from the timber frame to the floors, walls, and ceilings, windows and doors, wiring, finishes, and landscaping.
Headliner: Kara DioGuardi
Opener(s): Mitch Allan
Venue: Lyman Center
Cost: $5
Setlist:
Ok maybe I lied last week. This is the last of the Disney pages – planes and stuff from the hotel 🙂
This book is about Remington Steele Wolfe, a jewelry designer who believes that someone is posting malicious code in his accounting department and thinks that it might be an inside job. A friend recommends that he hire Kat Smith, cyber-security specialist to help track down the code. Since it is most likely an inside job, his employees can’t know what job Kat is there to do so as a cover up she pretends to be Remy’s girlfriend.
Kat is Russian but pretending to be an American because an ex-boyfriend got into some trouble and she is worried that they may eventually come after her if she is not careful with her identity. When Remy invites her to Russia because he is up for a large jewelry contract with a Prince, she is hesitant at first but decides to go with him in hopes of finding her sister.
While she has been able to keep her identity a secret for a while, Remington figures out that she is Russian and she ends up confiding in him and their relationship becomes more and more real.
The Prince ends up offering Remington the job to make his jewelry but under one condition – he must break it off with Kat because her ex was security in Russia and fed him some lies about her. Will he take this dream job and risk losing his dream girl?
This book was a pretty easy read, a lot of different locations were mentioned in it which was fun to be jet setting all over the place. I’m not sure I found the Remy/Kat relationship all that believable and things worked out a little bit too perfectly at times (I honestly could have done without the last chapter and had it end before that) but I did enjoy the book and looked forward to reading a bit of it each night before bed.
I received a free e-copy of this book in order to write this review, I was not otherwise compensated.
About the Book
World-renowned jewelry designer Remington Wolfe is competing for the commission of a lifetime and someone is trying to destroy his company from the inside. He’s in for more than one surprise when his unexpected rescuer turns out to be a sexy computer specialist with a sharp tongue and even sharper mind.
Kat Smith is a cyber-security expert and master of disguise. So being assigned to masquerade as Wolfe’s girlfriend while she uncovers who slipped malicious code into his corporation’s computer systems is no problem. But when Kat’s past catches up to her and their fake relationship starts to feel a little too real, problems are all she seems to have.
