Concert – Page 53 – Concert Katie

'THE VOICE' LIVE ON TOUR

Katie June 29, 2011 0 Comments

As announced last night on the top-rated new television show, “The Voice,” the final eight contestants from the smash hit program will hit the road for Sprint presents “The Voice” Live On Tour. The Live Nation-promoted tour has confirmed six shows beginning July 27th at the Gibson Amphitheatre in Los Angeles, with stops in Las Vegas, New York, Chicago, Boston and Wallingford.

The surprise live event of the summer will kick off shortly after tomorrow’s highly anticipated Season 1 finale on NBC (check local listings). The tour will feature performances from the show’s top contestants including Team Christina’s top two artists, finalist Beverly McClellan and runner up Frenchie Davis; Team Blake’s top two, finalist Dia Frampton and runner up Xenia; Team Cee Lo’s top two, runner up Nakia and finalist Vicci Martinez; and Team Adam’s top two, runner up Casey Weston and finalist Javier Colon.

About “The Voice”:

“The Voice” is a vocal competition series modeled after Holland’s top-rated vocal talent discovery show, “The Voice of Holland.” Hosted by Carson Daly, the show features four musician coaches: Christina Aguilera, Cee Lo Green, Adam Levine and Blake Shelton, who will coach only the most talented vocalists.

The show’s innovative format features three stages of competition: the first begins with the blind audition, then the competition enters into a battle phase, and finally, the live performance. The show’s casting team is working with the music industry and searching the country for the best singers to bring to the blind audition process. During the blind auditions, the decisions from the coaches are based solely on voice and not on looks. The coaches hear the contestants perform, but they don’t get to see them – thanks to rotating chairs. If a coach is impressed by a contestant’s voice, he/she pushes a button to select the contestant. At this point, the coach’s chair will swivel to face the contestant selected. If more than one coach selects the talent, the power shifts to the contestant, who may choose which coach they want to work with throughout the competition.

Once the teams are set, the battle is on. Coaches will dedicate themselves to developing their singers, giving them advice, and sharing the secrets of their success. During the battle rounds the coaches will pit two of their own team members against each other to sing the same song together in front of a studio audience. After the vocal face-off, the coach must choose which singers will advance.

At the end of the battle episodes, only the strongest members of each coach’s roster remain and proceed to the live stage shows. In this final performance phase of the competition, the top contestants from each team will compete against each other during a live broadcast. The television audience will vote to save one contestant on each team, leaving the coach to decide live who they want to save and who will not move on. At last, each coach will have his/her best contestant left standing to compete in the finale. From these four, one will be named “The Voice” – and will receive the grand prize of a recording contract and $100,000.

Concert Random

Setlist Journal

Katie June 26, 2011 0 Comments

In February of 2010 I purchased a John Mayer journal at his show. At first I wasn’t sure what to do with it, but then I quickly decided I would use it to keep track of the setlists of all the concerts I had gone to.

I went back through reviews and did searches to try and come up with all the setlists I needed (some are still missing) and thought that I would NEVER fill the book. Not that it is huge, but it just seemed like filling it would be a long way off.

However, Friday night’s show marked the filling of the book! Wow! I had purchased a Paul Frank Julius journal to use once this one had filled – it is appropriate because Julius is playing the guitar on the cover.

I am looking forward to filling another book starting later this evening when the first concert written in it will be Honor Society at the Gramercy Theater.

Concert Honor Society Meet and Greet Photos

Honor Society at Showcase Live

Katie June 25, 2011 2 Comments

Last night Honor Society played at Showcase Live in Foxboro, MA. If you were one of the first 50 ticket buyers you got to go to a preshow M&G with all 3 of the acts from the tour – Katelyn Tarver, Action Item and Honor Society.

Alex was really the only one that talked to me (aside from a hello nice to see you from the others) – but he was talking to me about a show I wasn’t even at! (CT last year – I skipped it because of Hanson’s 5 of 5 the same night) I think he decided I was there since Lauren and Christine were.. haha. In his defense, very rarely are Lauren and I not together at a show!

I Love Monsters was the first opening act of the night, followed by Katelyn Tarver and then Action Item. Then it was time for the main event – Honor Society! They have not toured in over a year so it had been a LONG while since we saw them (with the exception of Mike and Jason who performed in November – but even that was a LONG time ago!)
While the set was short – only about an hour – it was jam packed with great music and was a ton of fun. By preordering the new Honor Society EP we got a chance to get a photo with them at the end of the nigh. It was very quick and we didn’t get to talk with the guys as much as we would have liked – but it is always nice that they remember us and ask when they will be seeing us again (tomorrow for me!)

I think one of the highlights of the night for me was hearing the Nobody Has To Know (my favorite HS Song) / Jay Z 99 problems mashup. Just when I thought that song could not get any better!

After the show, we drove about an hour out from the venue (It was a little over 2 hours away from here) and stopped for gas and at this point Christine realized that she did not have her cell phone. I called it twice and when we heard nothing ringing we figured it must have fallen out of her pocket when we went to the restroom after the show. We sat at the gas station for about 20 minutes figuring out what to do. We figured if the movie theater definitely had the phone – we should probably go back and get it, even though it meant an extra 2 hours on to our trip.

Lauren called the movie theater where we went to the restroom and they said that no one had turned in a phone and it was not anywhere on the floor in the bathroom. Christine was becoming more and more panicked so Lauren told her to get in the passenger seat and she would drive back to Christine’s (they had been planning to switch driving anyhow) while Christine tried to figure out what she needed to do with the phone company to get the phone turned off. When Lauren went to get in to the drivers seat – what was sitting there? Christine’s phone. We didn’t hear it ringing because she had her volume turned down a bit AND she was sitting on it.

Just another ridiculous story to add to the Honor Society files…

Setlist under the cut!

Concert Hanson Meet and Greet Photos

Hanson at Gaylord National June 18, 2011

Katie June 23, 2011 0 Comments

Saturday evening I went to see Hanson at the Gaylord National in National Harbor, MD. (My 100th concert in a state other than my home state of CT!) Before leaving we found out that National Harbor is actually Oxon Hill, MD! Luckily we figured that out because I don’t think the GPS would have gotten us there otherwise.

We were able to purchase a packaged deal which included a one night stay at the hotel, tickets to see Hanson and a M&G pass for after the show. It seemed pretty reasonably priced (only and extra $10 per person for the M&G!) so we went for the full VIP treatment.

Fresh 94.7 was hosting the event, and I have to say they were completely organized and everyone that I had met working for them was incredibly nice as well. The staff at the hotel was also really nice too!

Justin Trawick (http://www.justintrawick.com/) was the opener and did about 8 songs. I enjoyed him, however the majority of the crowd made it fairly obvious that they were there to see Hanson by rudely talking through most of his set.

Next up it was time for Hanson. They came out really quickly after Justin’s set and I think they were not prepared to be hitting the stage so soon! They did a 10 song set and chatted a little bit with the crowd. The airline had ruined one of Isaac’s guitar on their trip and they talked a bit about that and dedicated “Strong Enough To Break” to the lost guitar, Pablo. On the line “play like broken records..” Isaac sang “Play like broken guitars”

After the set we waited a bit for the M&G to start. My friend had a picture of a billboard that is in PA that says “Even though her favorite band is still Hanson” which is part of their ad campaign that features a bunch of billboards on why you should still propose to your girlfriend “even though”. Isaac and Taylor didn’t seem to understand what was going on so I tried to explain “You still propose.. even though her favorite band is still Hanson” and they still didn’t quite get it. Zac, however, seemed to understand more after my explanation so we talked a bit about how is it a bad thing to like Hanson (no) and he wasn’t offended by the billboard but wasn’t exactly sure how to take it either. At least now I can joke that Zac and I talked about getting engaged! (Though.. not to each other. He is happily married and I’m… happily single?)

The radio station took photos of us while we were talking to the guys, we weren’t allowed anything posed. I am (not so) patiently awaiting for those to be added to the station’s website!

Setlist under the cut!

Concert Product Review

Group Story PhotoBook

Katie June 21, 2011 0 Comments

When I was approached by Group Story to review their photobooks, I knew that I wanted to call in the help of some of my fellow Hanson Fans and get a group together to chronicle all our different trips to Tulsa, OK for the May 14th Members Only Event.

I opted to go with a small group, myself + 5 others, but Group Story allows you to invite as many people as you want!

All your photos are shared and all the pages are shared with your group. If you missed that “kodak moment” and someone else happened to capture it, you can easily incorporate their photo on to your page. You also get to choose which pages you’d like in your book based on all of the pages created by your group which is definitely a really cool aspect. It is possible that while your entire group worked together on the pages – no two books would end up exactly alike!

I could see this website being great for school – get the parents together to put a book together based on field trips or assemblies, etc where everyone is sitting in different areas and be able to get all aspects covered. It would also be great for family reunions when you can’t be everywhere at once snapping photos or even on group vacations!

Uploading and creating pages is super simple. The uploads went quickly and you could arrange your pages based on the number of photos you’d like to have on the page. I tried to break down each aspect of my trip (way there, way home, sightseeing while there, etc) and see how many photos I had from each and then create a page with that many photos. It also has the option of a page of just text if you are looking to add some journal elements from the trip.

Group Story is definitely a site I plan on using again to create more books with friends!

I received one or more of the products mentioned above for free using Tomoson.com created by WebBizIdeas.com. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commissions 16 CFR, Part 255 Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising. Tomoson Product review & giveaway Disclosure.

American Idol Concert

David Cook Acoustic Cafe 6/8/11

Katie June 10, 2011 0 Comments

Wednesday evening David Cook performed as a part of TIC 96.5’s acoustic cafe in Hartford, CT. The show was fairly brief, only 4 songs, though the crowd was begging him for more. At one point there was a discussion on how many more songs the crowd wanted him to do and someone yelled out “A LOT!” He asked what a lot meant.

He also mentioned if someone got Neal a beer that they would hang around longer. Beers quickly made their way up to the stage, but the next song was their final song – The Last Goodbye, David’s latest single. (Such a tease, that David!)

After the set we took photos with David. Unfortunately what started out as pairs in photos turned in to group photos. I had specifically not asked anyone as my guest so I could have a photo with just me and David. Fortunately though, my friend Lauren had also won and took Christine along so it was them that I was in the photo with – and not 2 strangers!

I had on my I <3 Tulsa shirt that I had gotten back in 2009 on my first trip to Tulsa and David told me that he liked it. (He lived in Tulsa for a bit before auditioning for Idol!) He told me to go find Neal and show him the shirt as well, but we couldn’t find him and then once we did see him he was chatting with some others and we were waiting for our dinner to arrive so I didn’t want to go bother him.

Come Back To Me
Heroes / Champagne Supernova
Light On
Rolling in the Deep (snippet)
The Last Goodbye

Concert Photos SK6ers

SK6ers at Fairfield Theater Fairfield, CT

Katie June 6, 2011 0 Comments

Saturday night I headed down to Fairfield to see one of my favorite bands, Stephen Kellogg and the Sixers (SK6ers) perform at one of my favorite venues – The Fairfield Theater. This was my 22nd time seeing them perform and as usual they did not disappoint.

The opening act was Dennis Crommett. I liked that he told stories between his songs about how they were written and stuff like that. I am not sure why, but that kind of thing interests me. Probably because it just fascinates me that he can be like “That song mentioned rocks because I wrote it out on the rocks” whereas if I was out on a rock… I don’t think I could write anything that would even closely resemble a song!

Then it was time for the SK6ers! I just love how much emotion Stephen puts into his music – his songs are for the most part about his friends, family and life experience and you can see the emotion in his face when he performs them all as well. He totally wears his emotions on his sleeve and it just makes the performances that much better because of it. (Although at one point he said the label asked him to write more songs with less specific names and dates in them – I hope that he doesn’t stop doing that because all of his songs kind of tell his life story and family history in a way, which is really cool. But since he said “And this next song is called 1993”, I’m not sure he’ll ever stop doing it…)

I could see 2 of his 3 daughters off to the side, they are adorable. Dennis called SK6ers on the stage for a song and one of the girls was yelling “Daddy!”, it was cute. Then Stephen said they had hired dancers for one of their songs and the 2 older girls came out to direct us on the dance moves for Big Easy. Adorable, and when it was not time for the chorus dancing they were doing a bit of some sort of an Irish jig. I am not sure the moment could have gotten any cuter!
The band ended up doing 2 encores. And I could tell Stephen was so proud that we gave them a standing ovation both times. We even got to pick what the final song would be – 2 or 3 different songs were getting screamed out and one of them was the one that they played.

At the end, Stephen’s pick went flying but landed in front of me – or so I thought. I ended up spotting it on a chair but girls were near it and I wanted to hang around to grab it when the girls behind me told me there was a pick between my feet! I grabbed that one – though I’m not sure yet whose it was (Ill figure it out eventually) and one of my friends went back to the seat after the girls left and Stephen’s pick was still there so she got that one. I am pretty sure that is the first time that a pick has ever landed that close to me AND I ended up getting it!

NKOTBSB – Take 2!

Katie June 4, 2011 0 Comments

Thursday, June 2 I decided to once again head up to Mohegan Sun to check out the NKOTBSB tour. Jordin Sparks was opening at this show and I found a decently priced single seat on StubHub that afternoon. It was the front row of the upper section, but on the opposite side of the arena from where I had sat during Monday’s show.

When I got to the venue, doors were already open. Buying tickets off websites other than livenation/ticketmaster always makes me a bit nervous (especially when they are e-tickets) and when it was scanned – the kid’s scanner said “INVALID” I tried to remain calm but inside I was FREAKING OUT. He called over a supervisor and she scanned it and it still said “INVALID” but then did something else and told me I was all set. Whew! Then I spent the 40 minutes before the show started paranoid that someone was going to come with a ticket to the same seat. (Never happened, but the 2 girls next to me were in the wrong section so they had to leave when 2 girls with the ‘same seats’ showed up!)

The first opening act was once again “The Goonies”… they did the same set but the Arena was even less full for them than on Monday. (They also went on stage 20 mins earlier) Next up was Ashlyne Huff. She also did the same set but she and her dancers had on different outfits.

While I was sitting in my seat I saw Donnie tweet that it looked like JON would be joining them for the show! I am not sure why that got me so excited, but it did. (Originally Jon had tweeted that he thought he’d be cleared by the doctor to start shows back up again Friday)

Next up was my girl, Jordin Sparks. Her set was No Air, S.O.S., One Step at a Time, Tattoo and she did a mashup/medley of Irreplaceable (Beyonce) / Price Tag (Jessi J) / Perfect (Pink) / Where Is The Love (BEP). She decicated her song “Battlefield” to “her soldier Brian” who is her bodyguard that is heading off to Iraq soon. She said his family was in the audience (I believe he is originally from CT) and she finished off her set with her new single – I Am Woman. She had 2 male dancers that joined her for several of the songs.

Then it was time for NKOTBSB! The intro gets you soooo freaking hyped up for the show, it is ridiculous. Even when I knew what was coming – it still made me so excited in anticipation for the curtain to drop. And then there were 9 instead of 8! It was cool to see how the show changed to add Jon back in to the set up. He also seemed a bit rusty on his dance moves and was often looking at the other guys instead of straight ahead or wherever he was supposed to be looking and at one point Donnie grabbed him to take him down the stairs because it looked like Jon was a bit lost. In the beginning he seemed to be keeping up quite well with all the dance moves, but he kind of toned it down a bit more towards the end. I don’t blame him – it is a LONG show and a LOT of dancing!

Another difference with the show was that Joey McIntyre had a baby in the time between Monday and Thursday, so they showed a video of Joe wrapping the baby up and kissing her. Kira Katherine is adorable and has a TON of hair. (He said he hopes it doesn’t get crazy curly like his was as a kid lol)

About an hour in to the show my camera battery was blinking so I decided to turn it off and just enjoy the show and wait until the end of the show to get bow photos. It was nice that way I could attempt to pay attention to everything that was going on rather than focus on the lighting and when I could get a good photo, etc. I really need to keep a stash of batteries in my car for these last minute decisions!

During the encore, Nick came out in a white tank top instead of his jersey and I thought my camera had died after taking a few photos of him. Turns out – it didn’t… I just kept re-arranging the order the batteries were in and I was able to get a few more photos each time!

Ray Allen came out with NKOTB for the encore which was cool. He played for UCONN so I thought he’d get more of a cheer but maybe a lot of the audience didn’t know who he was?

The show was a lot of fun and I am glad that I got to see it a second time with Jordin and Jon included! The setlist was the same as Monday’s show so I am not going to bother posting it again.

Backstreet Boys Concert NKOTB Photos

NKOTBSB – May 30, 2011

Katie June 1, 2011 0 Comments

Monday night was my once in a lifetime opportunity to see NKOTBSB at the Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, CT.

The show started pretty promptly at 7:30 with The Goonies. Looking them up now, apparently they are from Connecticut and I guess they were a last minute addition since Jordin Sparks was not at our show. 🙁 I wasn’t too into their (short) set, but if you like Hip Hop you can check them out at http://www.thegoonietunes.com/

Next up was Ashlyne Huff who had a DJ and 4 backup dancers with her. She did White Flag, which was her single released early this year, followed by Whatever which is her upcoming single. She also did a slower song called Runway and then she and her dancers did a dance medley consisting of I think Janet Jackson, Madonna and Britney Spears and then went into her song Let It Out. Ashlyne’s CD Let It Out is going to be hitting stores June 7th, but was available for sale at shows or you can pre-order it for $8 at http://ashlynehuffmerch.com/. Look for ConcertKatie to be doing a giveaway for this album (& signed!) in the upcoming weeks!

Then there was a really, really long break before NKOTBSB was set to start. Ashlyne had finished about 8:15 or maybe even 8:20 and the main event did not start until 9pm.

I have to say, the intro on the screens got me SO hyped up, it was ridiculous. First they went through an intro on the side screens and then on the big main screen that was blocking the main stage. It went through all the band members and said NKOTBSB at least 5 times and everyone was to the point of “ahh! just drop the curtain already!”

And then the curtain dropped and the 8 guys were all there! (Jon Knight had to sit the show out because he hurt his knee/leg) For the most part, they just alternated with who had stage time and did a few songs before switching out. This gave the band members some time to sit out – but for us, not so much! It was basically upbeat hit after hit! Fortunately we were the front row of the upper level and able to sit pretty much the whole show and still be able to see fine.

It is going to be hard to remember *everything* that happened – especially since when all the guys were on the stage NKOTB was often on one side and BSB was on the other and it was hard to keep track of everything going on at once. I found it the hardest to decide who to focus on when both bands were on stage because I love both Joey McIntyre and Nick Carter so I was having an internal battle of “Who do I love more? Who should I be looking at right now?” If they were all up there. When it was just one of the bands it was a little bit easier – but at the same time I wanted to make sure I had photos of everyone and we’ll see how well I did with that when it comes to ordering prints for the scrapbook. (Although I took nearly 300 photos – you would HOPE everyone would be pretty well represented in there!)

During Tonight – the guys went out into the crowd. Donnie and Jordan were on the opposite side of the arena from us, but Joe and Danny were on our side and Danny was right below us! Danny went up through the stairs with security but the other 3 did not go up farther into the sections that I saw. It was funny to see the girls try and grab at Danny and security rip their arms off of him.

Right after, for Shape of My Heart, BSB came in through the crowds. It was the sections towards the back – Brian and Nick came down one side and AJ and Howie down the other. I gotta say – both groups are pretty brave for going out in to the crowd like that, I don’t think I’d want to try that if I were them!

At the end, BSB came out and did Everybody and then NKOTB came out and did Hangin Tough and then they kind of did almost a “battle” going back and forth between songs and walking towards each other on the catwalk.

I’m so glad I got to go – I’ve been in desperate need for a boyband show for a WHILE now! I just wish Jordin Sparks would have been there as well. She will be there Thursday but at $110 a ticket, I don’t think I can splurge on another. Word is Jon Knight won’t be back either – he seems to think he’ll be back on Friday.

(Setlist under the cut!)
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Concert Javier Colon Meet and Greet

Javier Colon at the Ridgefield Playhouse

Katie May 29, 2011 0 Comments

If you have been watching NBC’s “The Voice”, you are probably familiar with vocal talent Javier Colon. If you’re not, well you’re missing out on a great show with some great talent.

Thursday night Javier did a home town show in Ridgefield, CT (He is from Stratford), the only show he has done since being on The Voice and the only show he will do before heading out for the live shows. (Be sure to vote for him)

His opening act was Rebecca Correia, who is a friend of Javier’s since college. She performed 7 songs and has an absolutely amazing voice! Be sure to check her out on iTunes if you aren’t familiar with her stuff – I’m sure you will enjoy it!
After a brief intermission, Javier took the stage. I wasn’t exactly sure what to expect because I had never had the chance to see Javier before, but he did not disappoint. He has an amazing voice and his original songs were phenomenal as well. His performance went on for nearly two hours – with him chatting about songs and his family in between performing.
He mixed in cover songs with originals and all of them were sang beautifully, he certainly is “The Voice” and if he doesn’t win it will be incredibly disappointing. Someone yelled out from the crowd that he has to win and he responded “I’m gonna try!” and encouraged us all to vote for him once the live rounds air beginning June 7th! (Right around the corner!)

He talked a bit about how he was never really in to country before, but is now – and played part of Achy Breaky Heart and Friends in Low Places to demonstrate a few songs about why he didn’t like country. Then he played “Love Me” and he said that song had turned him on to country and he liked how the songs told a story. I am not a big country fan myself either – but I do also enjoy the storytelling aspect.

He also mentioned that his song “Ok, Here’s The Truth”, was written in a country fashion in that it tells a story and that you really need to listen to the lyrics to figure out what is going on in the song. Of course, he told me to listen so I listened and was near tears by the end of the song! I think there are a couple of versions of the song on YouTube and I recommend you check it out for yourself and pay attention to the lyrics – I don’t want to give anything away!

Since there was a piano on stage, he played a couple of songs on it – specifically Song For Your Tears and then a song by one of his favorite female singers. At first he went in to singing “Oops I Did It Again”, but said that he was joking and then did a great cover of Sarah McLachlan’s Arms Of An Angel.

Honestly, I don’t think how amazing his voice is really comes out over TV, it is something that is best experienced live.

After the show he hung out at the merch table and signed autographs and took photos with anyone who asked! Many in the crowd were family and friends so it was nice to see him interact with them. It was also funny when he’d be talking to someone but spot someone else in the crowd who he knew, and would get all excited that he’d be chatting with them next!

Rebecca and Javier’s setlist under the cut. Rebecca mentioned all her song titles before songs but Javier did not – so I might have names wrong and I know I am missing a couple from his set.