Concert Review: Dalton Rapattoni

Friday night Dalton brought his Inspired Attempt tour to the Acoustic in Bridgeport.  I had purchased a pre-show “Eat and Greet” and a post-show “Meet and Greet” because I couldn’t decide what to get.  This ended up being a VERY early show and I had to get to the venue for the eat and greet at 3:15! I was back in my car after the post show meet and greet by 8pm and the venue had another show with doors opening at 9pm after.

For the Eat and Greet, when we got inside Dalton was on stage doing soundcheck and we got to hear a couple of songs.  Then he came off stage and came and sat right by me and then everyone crowded around and we asked him questions and he told us some stories about touring and Idol and stuff.  One of the fans brought him a Star Wars Play Doh set so he played with that a bit too.  Once the Fairfield School of Rock took the stage to soundcheck things got a bit loud so he had us do photos and then it was pretty much time for doors to open.

Opening the show was Sarah Barrios who is from CT and I have seen open at several other shows.  She’s always and treat and I actually took the time to talk to her a bit after the show.  Next up was the Fairfield School of Rock and they were awesome! I was not expecting that since they were all so young but I was very pleasantly surprised.

Then it was time for Dalton to take the stage! He did a mix of original songs and a few covers mixed in as well and while I’m not that familiar with any of his originals I really enjoyed all of them.  He puts on a really great show and really has a lot of energy. Like, a lot.   He had mentioned during the eat and greet that they had to cut a song from the set due to the venue forcing them out so early!

After the show I got to talk to him a bit about how I enjoyed the set and he said that they had a lot of technical difficulties and I said it was fine, he still did a great job.  Technical difficulties are always going to happen and its how you overcome them that matters and he cracked a joke about how he couldn’t play guitar and continued on.  When people seemed bummed he wasn’t going to play guitar he said “I have a great band, they can handle it” and they did!

One of the reasons that I went all out was that I wasn’t sure he would be coming back to CT but I really hope he does – and if not, well I may just have to travel.

Dalton Rapattoni Setlist The Acoustic, Bridgeport, CT, USA 2016

Try It Tuesday: Emboss Folder

I was inspired to try and make my own embossing folder. I have bought several (and really need to use them more) but of course needed a custom Hanson one for all my concert scrapbooking!  I used my Silhouette Cameo to cut out thin plastic several times.  I actually cut out 6 of each piece I needed and then glued them together adding more if I needed it.  In the end I think this is 4 of the 6 pieces and a piece of a cereal box to make the folder.

Book Review: Play It Loud

playitloud

I’ll admit it, the cover of this book drew me in because it reminded me of the color scheme of Hanson’s latest releases – Loud and Play.  It wasn’t lost on me that both of those words were also included in the title! The book is the history of the electric guitar, which goes allllll the way back to 1882 and to the present.  The way the author(s) wrote about the guitar really showed just how excited they were about it and in turn it got me really excited to continue reading the book – and I’m not sure reading about guitars is something I would otherwise be excited about.

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

About the Book

By a pair of veteran music writers, an unprecedented history of the electric guitar, its explosive impact on music and culture, and the people who brought it to life

For generations the electric guitar has been an international symbol of freedom, danger, rebellion, and hedonism. In Play It Loud, Brad Tolinski and Alan di Perna bring the history of this iconic instrument to roaring life. It’s a story of inventors and iconoclasts, of scam artists, prodigies, and mythologizers as varied and original as the instruments they spawned.

Play It Loud uses twelve landmark guitars—each of them artistic milestones in their own right—to illustrate the conflict and passion the instruments have inspired. It introduces Leo Fender, a man who couldn’t play a note but whose innovations helped transform the guitar into the explosive sound machine it is today. Some of the most significant social movements of the twentieth century are indebted to the guitar: It was an essential element in the fight for racial equality in the entertainment industry; a mirror to the rise of the teenager as social force; a linchpin of punk’s sound and ethos. And today the guitar has come full circle, with contemporary titans such as Jack White of The White Stripes, Annie Clark (aka St. Vincent), and Dan Auerbach of The Black Keys bringing some of the earliest electric guitar forms back to the limelight.

Featuring interviews with Les Paul, Keith Richards, Carlos Santana, Eddie Van Halen, Steve Vai, and dozens more players and creators, Play It Loud is the story of how a band of innovators transformed an idea into a revolution.

Music Monday: Hanson Play EP

screen-shot-2016-10-08-at-11-00-39-am

Do You Believe In Love
Freak Out
Man On Top
Joyful Noise
Feeling Alive

 Last Monday Hanson released their latest EP, Play, a digital only release exclusive to Hanson.net. I had heard 4/5 songs in May in Tulsa and helped record parts of the songs, so I was very excited to hear the finished versions. If you had asked me weeks ago which song I thought would be my favorite I’d have hands down said “Do you Believe in Love”, I fell in love with it when Zac was working on it in a stream and was so excited when they started playing it in Tulsa, though it evolved from a simple piano ballad to a queen and the darkness inspired up tempo track.

After having listened to the EP on repeat several times now, I think Do You Believe In Love is #3 for me, maybe even #4 of 5!

Feeling Alive quickly became my favorite. It gave me goosebumps on a clip from the studio Zac had posted on hnet and continues to give me goosebumps even after multiple (and I do mean multiple) listens.

I also really love Freak Out and if they don’t use it to open a show in Jamaica (or even Disney!) I will be very disappointed. It is just the perfect let’s get things started and get you pumped song.

And Joyful noise is a great track as well. I enjoyed it in Tulsa and enjoy it finished even more. This EP is kind of a favorite, everything else tied for second-ish and then…

Man On Top. For whatever reason this song has not stood out to me. It’s not terrible but it just hasn’t grabbed me. It also sounds a lot like an old Hanson song to me (Look At You?)

Overall though I am super pumped for this new EP and if you ever have thought about maybe checking out what Hanson is up to musically, now would be the time to do it. This EP is available exclusively on Hanson.net and you do not need to be a (paid) member to purchase but will need to set up an account for their store to buy it.

Book Review: Roald Dahl

roaldMy brother grew up reading Roald Dahl books with my mom, and every now and then I’d snag one to read as well, so I was definitely interested in learning some more about the man behind some of my family’s favorite books.  Dahl wanted to be a rich dominant public figure and return to his childhood. He had written autobiographies which is where some of this book came from.  It was interesting to find out his family backstory – how his sons pram was hit by a car and his son survived but ended up with medical problems and how he got divorced at 66 years old – 18 years after his wife had a stroke. Dahl was certainly an interesting character. It was also interesting to see how his life at the time affected the writing of some of his books.  This book also includes photos which as always are my favorite thing.

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

About the Book
A New York Times Notable Book: A revealing look at the famous twentieth-century children’s author who brought us The BFG and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.

Few writers have had the enduring cultural influence of Roald Dahl, who inspired generations of loyal readers. Acclaimed biographer Jeremy Treglown cuts no corners in humanizing this longstanding immortal of juvenile fiction.

Roald Dahl explores this master of children’s literature from childhood—focusing a tight lens on the relationship between Dahl and his mother, who lovingly referred to him as “Apple”—through to his death. Treglown deftly navigates Dahl’s time as a fighter pilot in the Royal Air Force, exploring how the experience transformed many of the beliefs that influenced the English writer’s work, including The Gremlins, which was commissioned by Walt Disney.

A former editor of the Times Literary Supplement, Treglown discusses many of Dahl’s most famous works, such as James and the Giant Peach and Fantastic Mr. Fox, while also delving into his marriage to actress Patricia Neal, combing through letters and archives to show a man who could be both comic and vitriolic, thoughtful yet manipulative and irascible. Treglown highlights many of Dahl’s literary achievements as well as his breakdowns and shortcomings, presenting a very personal and telling picture of the author and the inner turmoil that crippled him.

Separating the man from the myth, Treglown’s frank, intimate portrait of Dahl illuminates the contradictions within the mind of this beloved author, a man who could be both a monster and a hero. It is required reading for book lovers and film buffs alike.

Book Review: Called Up

calledup

When I was writing down my quick notes on this book in order to remember what I wanted to include in my review, I seemed to focus more on the negatives than the positives and I think that gives an unfair look to how I really felt about the book.  Once I got about halfway through this book one night I decided to just not do anything else but curl up in bed and refuse to go to sleep until I had finished it.  Which was exactly what I ended up doing.  Which is not something I would do with a book I was not enjoying, but I guess there were several imperfections in it.  A major thing that I had to get over in order to enjoy the book was the nicknames of the main characters – Deke and Fitz.  It took a lot of effort for me to picture Fitz as a female at first!  There also were a lot of characters to sort out in the beginning – to the point I almost wanted to make myself a flow chart.  But in the end they all became more familiar to me and it was not as overwhelming as I thought it was going to be in the beginning.  The other piece that drove me crazy, and I guess it wouldn’t be a romance novel otherwise, was that Deke and Fitz kept saying that they wanted to be honest with each other – they had been friends for many, many years and didn’t want to throw that all away with a relationship – but each of them wanted the other and wouldn’t say so!  I mean, I guess if it was all happy “I love you”, “I love you too!” then there’d be no plot for the book… but yeah.  There’s also not as much baseball in the book as I was expecting considering the baseball on the cover.  Not a bad thing but just not what I was expecting. (But again, I need to learn to stop judging a book by its cover!)

Overall I enjoyed the book and really enjoyed the author’s writing style because she was able to grab me and bring me into this town and make me feel like I was one of them.  I will certainly be checking out other books by Jen Doyle.

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

About the Book
Jen Doyle delivers a home run of heart, heat and plenty of laughter in this contemporary romance, perfect for fans of Jill Shalvis’s Pacific Heat series

There’s one thing Max “Deke” Deacon can always count on besides his old high school teammates: Angelica “Fitz” Hawkins. But no matter how much Deke might secretly fantasize otherwise, a relationship with his best friend’s sister is off limits. Until one unexpectedly smoldering encounter has Deke and Fitz giving in to the feelings they’ve both been fighting for far too long.

Fitz knows for a fact that it is not better to have loved and lost. After losing her parents, she’d rather lock up her heart and throw away the key than endure that kind of pain again. If that means giving up any hope of a lasting relationship, then so be it.

But with Deke, Fitz feels dangerously close to falling in love. She can’t risk another broken heart—especially if it means losing one of her best friends for good. Now it’s up to Deke to convince her that the safest place she could ever be is right here with him.

This book is approximately 100,000 words

One-click with confidence. This title is part of the Carina Press Romance Promise: all the romance you’re looking for with an HEA/HFN. It’s a promise! Find out more at CarinaPress.com/RomancePromise

Product Review: Christmas Santa Seat Cover


It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas! At least in your bathroom.  This is great decoration for the holiday season – it comes with 4 pieces – toilet cover, rug, tank cover and tissue box cover.  This fits most toilet seats. It did take some effort for me to get the toilet cover on and off, but it looked great even though my toilet was not the style it is designed for.

I received this product for free or at a discount in order to write this review. I was not otherwise compensated and opinions are 100% my own.

Concert Review: Tyrone Wells Fairfield Theater

Thursday night Tyrone Wells brought his “Cover to Cover” tour to the Fairfield Theater in Fairfield.  I had opted to buy a VIP ticket to the show which meant I’d get to have a pre-show performance and M&G with Tyrone.  When I showed up, Tyrone informed me that usually there are a few people for VIP but that night I was the only one and asked if I had any requests.  Of course, put on the spot I couldn’t think of anything that I wanted to hear! He said he would pick something then and I said that was probably the best plan.  We hung out backstage and chatted and he performed “Happy as the Sun” for me.  Then we were informed that there was a 2nd person for VIP so Irene joined up and he did a couple more songs – For Who I Am and Dream Like New York.  We all chatted some more, took some pics and then the doors opened.

Andy Suzuki and The Method opened up and they were really great. Andy was really great with the crowd interaction – even stopping a song after a guy fell getting to his seat to make sure he was ok – and then asking him again near the end of the show if he was alright.

Tyrone’s Cover to Cover tour was both to promote his latest release, Covers One (out now on iTunes!) but also to play songs from each of his albums (with the exception of the first one because he didn’t want to subject anyone to that)  He did 3 of the 5 tracks from the new EP and a mixture of his original tracks new and old.  He talked a bit about one of his upcoming projects which is a children’s book and one of the songs on the EP that will be included with it includes a “star performer”, his daughter!  In order to bring the character he created to life in the book he will be starting a kickstarter to raise the funds needed.  I am looking forward to supporting and hearing more about this project.

Tyrone ended his set with “More” and said that he had told the venue to play the music again but everyone got rowdy and wanted him to come back for one more song so he finished his set with “When All Is Said And Done” and at the end of the song came away from the mic and just completely ended the song beautifully and acapella.

Social Media Auto Publish Powered By : XYZScripts.com