Music Monday: Parachute Wide Awake

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Without You
What Side of Love
Jennie
Everything
Lonely With Me
Love Me Anyway
New Orleans
When You Move
Getaway
Crave
What Breaks My Heart
Waking Up

Last month Parachute released their newest album, Wide Awake and they are currently embarking on their Wide Awake tour.  Like their other albums, I find this to be a pretty solid listen and I can and have listened to it over and over in the car.  I have to say that I think my favorites are Lonely With Me, New Orleans and Getaway… though I do find that Jennie is often stuck in my head.

Book Review: An Armadillo in New York

armadilloAn Armadillo in New York is about Arlo, an armadillo who has a grandfather who also liked adventure.  Arlo is reading notes from Augustin about his trip to New York City and it tells him all the places that he should check out.  It was fun to see what places Arlo visited that I had too – like Top of the Rock and Grand Central as well as what stops he went to that I haven’t been to yet, like the Guggenheim. Arlo continues his way through NYC hoping to find Lady Liberty.  Arlo finally makes his way to see Lady Liberty and is quite impressed.

I liked this book because it tells a story of NYC from a different point of view. I also loved all the illustrations of the city.

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

About the book

A winsome armadillo from Brazil takes a trip to New York in this delightful new picture book from Julie Kraulis. Arlo is an armadillo who is always up for adventure. His grandfather, Augustin, loved adventure too. When Arlo was born, Augustin wrote travel journals about his favorite places for Arlo to use when he was old enough to go exploring on his own. When Arlo reads about New York and the mysterious Lady Liberty, he decides it’s time for his next adventure. He travels to New York and, guided by Augustin’s journal, discovers the joys of the city: gazing at the vast skyline, visiting the Guggenheim, walking across the Brooklyn Bridge and, of course, meeting Lady Liberty . . . but who is she? Each spread has a clue about her identity, and kids will see hints of her scattered throughout the pages. This book is like a gorgeous stroll through New York with an adorable friend–a stroll you’ll want to take again and again.

 

Book Review: X Child Stars

xchildX Child Stars is a book about child stars and how some of them fall victim to “child actor syndrome”. The book is broken up by decades, beginning with the 1950s.  Each decade is then broken up by television shows with information on how many seasons it was on the air, what networks, from what dates and info on the child star(s) from that show.  This was certainly an interesting read as most of the shows were before my time, though I have watched several in reruns.  It is sad how many have fallen victim to child star syndrome, but uplifting how many have gone on to bigger and better things as well.

One quite that stuck with me from the book was:

 “Our lives have proceeded apace, but those who watched as as children on television or in movies cling to old images of us while they, understandably, have gone on with their lives. They’ve changed, but their apprehension of us… as people…has not. And therein lies the trouble”

I definitely get that, as you are stuck in someone’s mind at a certain age and they don’t want to see you any older! It certainly must be tough.

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

About the Book

This enlightening book is the go-to guide for fans for biographical information, rare photos, and interesting trivia about their favorite child stars, shows, series, networks, and the times that defined the shows. Spanning forty years of television history, this book details both the success stories and misfortunes of many child stars. Included in this book are the stories of Anissa Jones, Buffy on Family Affair, who tragically died from a drug overdose at the age of eighteen, as well as Ron Howard, who starred in both The Andy Griffith Show and Happy Days, and who later became an Academy Award–winning director. A child star herself, Kathy Garver profiles these and other legends of classic television in a book that will answer the question: Where are they now?

Family Affair, Kathy Garver has garnered many accolades in film, stage, TV, radio, and voice-over. An ex–child star whose career first took flight with the legendary filmmaker Cecil B. DeMille, she is an accomplished and versatile actress and performer. Kathy is also a UCLA graduate, attended London’s prestigious Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, and is noteworthy for her award-winning talents. She is a motivational speaker and the author of two previous critically acclaimed and best-selling books. Kathy lives near San Francisco with her family and dog, Coco.
Fred Ascher’s love of television—and appreciation of the child stars who formed the foundation of so many shows—only grew after he graduated from the University of Tennessee and settled in Southern California. Like so many kids growing up during the ‘70s, a time when Mom joined Dad in the workforce during the afternoons, Fred found solace in reruns of time-proven sitcoms and family dramas.
Writing X Child Stars with Kathy Garver is the culmination of a lifetime working with important people for important causes. Fred sees our child stars as an integral part of our nation’s tapestry, no less so than other cultural milestones. “They are our national treasures,” he says, “and with X Child Stars, Kathy and I show the reader why this is true.”

Throwback Thursday: Elliott Yamin 11/21/07

07-11-21

Headliner: Elliott Yamin
Opener(s): Josh Hoge, The Last Goodnight
Venue: The Webster Theatre
Cost: $24

Setlist:

Alright
Find a Way
Take My Breath Away
I’m In Love With You Forever
Free
Sharing The Night Together
Train Wreck
Little Ghetto Boy
Wait For You
One Word
Movin’ On

Recap:  This show was just before Thanksgiving and I had gotten my Mom tickets and she was not happy that she had to go out and miss prepping for our meal! Elliott put on a great show.  The Last Goodnight was the opener and they were from Connecticut. I don’t think they are making music anymore.

Kris Allen at Cafe 939

Saturday I was supposed to head to Boston with a friend for another night of Kris, but unfortunately my friend had to back out of the trip.  I wasn’t sure I could get to Boston alone and got a refund on our VIP passes and kept trying to sell or give away the tickets but had no one interested.  A friend of mine from MA ended up agreeing to meet me at the T stop by the venue and I decided to try and be adventurous and ride the T into Boston on my own.  I had done it before with friends and never remembered it being a problem, but it had been 3 years since I last was in Boston so I was hoping that my memory didn’t fail me.  I drove the 2 hours to the train stop, took the T in which took about 45 minutes and then ended up walking from the T to the venue on my own since it was just around the corner and was quite pleased with my accomplishment.  I’m usually very focused on what I “can’t” do, or rather what I *think* I can’t do, so I was happy that I tried it and it worked out.

Everything for this show seemed to be delayed.  VIP was supposed to be at 5 but was pushed to 5:30 (I bought a new pass that morning) but it was much later by the time we got let inside.  Once again, Kris was waiting for us.  And as I approached he said “there she is again! Hello, Katie. How are you?”  He had remembered me from the night before!  He did Way Up High and then took photos and chatted with everyone.  I opted to stay seated while he went through the line and then he was ready to leave before taking a picture with me! He apologized, I told him about how I wasn’t sure I could go but my friend Jon had offered to help – and if he could please play Jon’s song request I’d really appreciate it.  He told me he had already planned on playing it.  Then I told him about how last night I was way in the back and tonight I pointed out where they were sitting me and he said “we can get you a chair closer. I think we can make that happen” and sure enough he was able to get me a chair right in the front row so I could see everything 🙂  (The venue had said next time to let them know ahead of time so they could make accommodations for me – when their website said to either call OR talk to them when you get there. I didn’t call because I didn’t know until that morning I was going and by the time I did know I had to start driving there. Plus I didn’t think grabbing a chair was something that was difficult and required such advanced notice. Silly me.)

For the most part the setlist was the same as the night before. He didn’t add in Alright With Me, but instead did I Remember You as the first song of the encore.  He also had fans come up on stage and dance during Everybody Just Wants To Dance.  He again talked a bit about the Idol finale and how Nigel kept saying to him, “Kris, get your fans off my back!” because they were not happy he was not included in the show on Tuesday night that was a retrospective on the season.  He teased we should all tweet him now 😉

Before playing Jon’s request he had everyone in the audience say Hi to him since he was in the front row and Kris wanted everyone to know he was not a plant! It was another great show and Jon went again to NH but unfortunately I have this thing called work on Monday morning and couldn’t do a 3rd show in a row! (Which had 4 tickets left when I got home after the show but was sold out by the time show time came around! Yeah Kris!)

The ride home on the T was just about as uneventful as the ride there – with the exception of the guy using crutches who had to yell “MISS! MISS!” at me until I said hi to him… ooook.  I don’t know if he thought he knew me or if he just felt a bond because I had my cane… but it was certainly interesting.

Kris Allen Setlist Cafe 939, Boston, MA, USA 2016

Idol Thoughts: Finale Week

IdolThoughts

Overall, I thought that Idol did a pretty good job giving the series a sendoff this past week.  Although, I think the show(s) really should have been a bit longer.  Ideally, I’d have liked to see at least 13-14 weeks of Top __ episodes with past winners coming back to mentor or guest judge like they had Kelly do and maybe feature some of the other contestants more in a “where are they now?” type thing rather than have them just on stage for a minute when I couldn’t even make out who was who. (and apparently all of them weren’t even invited for that)

I also felt like this years crew got screwed a bit – there was no fun finale of them singing with other stars or anything like that since everything was so focused on the past contestants. And they don’t even get to tour either. Poor season 15.

Finale definitely needed more from the winners – I mean, the white guys with guitars medley of Bowie songs was cool – but these guys WON and you have Constantine singing more than them? I mean, cmon.  And Colton Dixon gets to sing his latest single?  (Kris was teasing in his show on Saturday that he should have kicked Carrie Underwood off the stage and said it was his time to promote HIS album and HIS tour lol)

I was bummed Dalton came in 3rd – but was also pretty much expecting it since LaPorsha and Trent were the front-runners from the get go. I was happy to see that Trent won, of the two, he was my pick.  I just hope that their careers take off… I don’t like Big Machine being in charge – Nick Fradiani STILL hasnt released an album and its been almost a year now.  Hopefully it’ll kick ass and get a ton of promo once it is actually released? For both Nick and Trent…

And of course… Ryan ending with “for now” was a nice touch to get people to keep talking about the show.  Will it be back in a new format? I guess we’ll just have to wait and see.

 

Kris Allen at Daryl’s House

Friday night I decided to make the trip to Pawling NY (just over an hour away) to see Kris Allen’s Letting You In Tour at “Daryl’s House”.  Daryl’s House is owned Daryl Hall of Hall and Oates.  Since I knew I would have to head there right after work, I opted to get myself a single ticket to the 7:30 dinner seating and a VIP package to meet Kris before the show.  We were told to get there at 5:45 to meet Kris starting at 6, I ended up getting there about 5:30.

When I entered the venue, Kris and his band were doing sound check.  I was told that the VIP had been pushed back to 7 and I could be seated at 6, but to head to the bar area until they began seating.  At 6 when sound check was over, an announcement was made that anyone with VIP should head to the back door. We were checked in and headed through a series of doors to a backstage room where Kris was waiting for us.  We chatted with him a bit about the Idol finale the night before and he talked about the gold jacket he was wearing and the Bowie medley that he did with the other guys.  Everyone seemed to agree that they thought the show needed more Kris!  Then Kris played a couple of songs for us – Way Up High and Alright With Me and had us sing along with him.  Then we did photos and autographs and some more chatting.

When I headed back out front, I asked if I could sit at any table or if they were assigned and was told that they were assigned and that the 3 people who had “single” tickets were all going to be sitting together.  That was fine with me, since I kind of figured that was going to happen.  What I didn’t think was going to happen was that it would be the table all the way in the back corner!  There were 3 of us, 2 of which had VIP which should signify we are pretty big fans of Kris… and wished to be up a lot closer.  Now, don’t get me wrong, it’s not the same as being in the back row at an arena by any means, but it just seemed kind of crappy that the singles were stuck in the corner and not in the front section.

As more people filled in I began to realize that the people who were standing in the section between the lower area and the upper were certainly going to ruin my view.  I spent most of the night in strange contortions in order to be able to see Kris.  Another “fun” part of this venue is that the only cameras they allow are cell phones and you can only record short snippets of the songs, not full songs, which was apparently at the artists request.

Having just gotten a Galaxy S7 which was supposed to be good for photos in low light I at least felt a little better about things, but wished I was closer.  We were “allowed” to move up closer to take photos – but that also involved going down 2 steps without a railing or maneuvering myself down and around the ramp (where the SRO people were standing) so needless to say, I didn’t opt to do that.

The show was a lot of fun and featured many of the songs off of the new album, Letting You In. He also had a lot of fun bantering back and forth with some people in the crowd and at the bar and at one point sang “we can heaarrr you” to the bar after they made a comment lol

The other girl that was VIP at my table was from Dublin (yes, Ireland) and during the last song, Kris mentioned she was there.  When he asked where she was and he realized she was in the back he commented on how they couldn’t find a better seat for her? Really? And had her come up on stage with him as well as another fan that had traveled from France! You can see the video I took below.

Kris Allen Setlist Daryl's House, Pawling, NY, USA 2016

SK6ers 10/25/07

07-10-25

Headliner: Stephen Kellogg and the Sixers
Opener(s): Tyrone Wells
Venue: Fairfield Theater
Cost: $25

Setlist:

Thirteen
Sweet Sophia
Maria
See You Later See You Soon
Fourth of July
Days
Satisfied Man
My Sweet Charade
Fathers Day
Hearts In Pain
Start the Day Early
Set You Free (Kyle)
Uninspired Gambling
Big Easy
Milwaukee

Recap:

This was my first show at what is now one of my favorite places to see a show, Fairfield Theater.  I don’t really remember much about this show and I don’t seem to have any photos from it either!  But I am fairly certain this is the show that Stephen told us after that they would be opening for Hanson!  (It was either this one or the one we went to just a couple months later also at Fairfield theater.)

Parachute at The Wolfs Den

Thursday night Parachute brought their Wide Awake Tour to the Wolfs Den in the Mohegan Sun Casino.  I had bought a pre-show VIP pass which got me early entry, a M&G with the band (though Kit was sick and did not attend), a signed poster and a pre-show acoustic performance which was of “Ghost”

VIP was let in about 6, everyone else at 6:30 and the show started at 8pm. Before the show they announced no photography so I have no photos.  This was my first time seeing Parachute as the headlining act and not opening for Hanson and I really enjoyed the show.  It was high energy all set long.  The set was a bit shorter than the night before that was streamed from NYC and they also did no encore, but I still quite enjoyed myself and was able to get home at a decent hour for it being a Thursday night.

During one of the songs, someone in the crowd was waving a dollar bill at Will, so he grabbed it and said “I don’t know what this means but I am keeping it” and stuck it in his back pocket.  During the last song of the set he jumped off the stage and into the crowd and gave high fives to a lot of people!

Although I love the Wolfs Den, I kind of wish that they had done the show somewhere else in CT because we missed out on their opening act for this tour – who is one of my favorites, Jon McLaughlin.  If the tour is coming near you be sure to check it out!

VIP is available through Bundl.co, but be aware that they may send you what time to show up for VIP rather late.  The website said check in was 5:30 so that is what I went by – they didn’t email me to confirm I had to be there at 5:30 until 4:19 – when I was already on my way and would not have been enough time to get there if I wasn’t already on the road.

Parachute Setlist Wolf Den at Mohegan Sun, Uncasville, CT, USA 2016, The Wide Awake Tour

Idol Thoughts: Top 3

IdolThoughts

Last week I predicted that it might be MacKenzie who went home, and that as just what happened this week – after he did one of the most over done songs ever, Hallelujah. I didn’t get to watch this week live once again, since I was at the Parachute concert (more on that tomorrow).  When I finally sat down to watch it on Saturday I found myself bored, so I think I am ok with the fact that it will be the finale this week.  While I think that both Trent and LaPorsha are great singers, it is kind of boring to have them come out and do the same thing week after week.  It’s also no secret that Dalton has me hypnotized, but at least he changes things up from week to week too.

While I would love for Dalton to make it to the Top 2, I think that he will be finishing with 3rd place, though I am happy to be wrong on this one.

I am looking forward to seeing many of the past Idols coming back for the finale to hopefully give the show a proper send off.

Also a bummer, it was announced that there would be no tour this summer with any of the finalists.  Here I was ready to shell out all sorts of cash to meet Dalton. Oh well, hopefully he will come by on his own tour in the not so distant future.

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