Archive for category Music
INXS Shine in Los Angeles
Posted by Life on the Scene in Concert, Music, Photography on July 30, 2011
by Cindy Robinson
A review in photos of the INXS concert at the Wiltern in Los Angeles on July 22, 2011.
Lyric Culture Presents its ‘Electro Sexual’ collection With Private INXS Performance
Posted by Life on the Scene in Concert, Fashion, Music, On The Red Carpet, Photography on July 22, 2011
by Cindy Robinson
Lyric Culture recently presented its ‘Electro Sexual’ collection during a private fashion show and intimate performance in Beverly Hills, CA at the Gibson showroom from iconic Australian band INXS.
Hanna Rochelle, founder of Lyric Culture, met the band in 2005 when they working at a recording studio in Los Angeles on their hit album, “Switch” with Rockstar: INXS winner J.D. Fortune. Rochelle was inspired by the colorful imagery, gritty and wildly expressive, often controversial lyrics in the songs penned by Andrew Farriss and the late Michael Hutchence. The ‘Electro Sexual’ collection of women’s apparel and accessories were unveiled in a runway show inspired by the INXS songs “Suicide Blonde,” “Devil Inside,” “New Sensation,” and “Beautiful Girl.”
Lyric Culture’s designs also capture memorable lyrics from the Beatles, Madonna, Rod Stewart, the Beach Boys, Miley Cyrus, Carrie Underwood and more on their stylish t-shirts and accessories. Their designs are available nationally at stores such as Bloomingdale’s, Macy’s, Nordstrom, Wal-Mart, and Claire’s Accessories.
The fashion show culminated with a private performance by INXS as a preview to their concert at the Wiltern Theatre. The semi-acoustic set show cased the talents of INXS band members Kirk Pengilly, Jon Farriss, Garry Beers and Andrew Farriss (guitarist Tim Farriss had the night off) but lacked in the frontman department as the performance went off with a big surprise – singer J.D. Fortune wasn’t in the house as the band opted to have their back-up singers perform lead vocals for the short set. The event was attended by music and fashion industry guests. Panda Express and Monster Energy Drink sponsored snacks & beverages for the guests. Please enjoy a semi-acoustic performance if the INXS classic, “Don’t Change”:
INXS to Play the Wiltern this Friday
Posted by Life on the Scene in Concert, Contests, Music on July 18, 2011
Garry Beers image courtesy of Esther Oliver
by Cindy Robinson
Legendary Australian band INXS are currently in the midst of their first North American tour in nearly four years which has them crisscrossing Canada and the United States this summer on “The Original Sin Tour.”
The coast to coast tour brings the band to the historic Wiltern Theater in Los Angeles this Friday July 22nd, the Pearl Concert Theater at the Palms in Las Vegas on July 23rd. It’s amazing to me that these shows aren’t sold out yet! INXS are one of the best live bands out there, churning out a powerful live set with Canadian frontman, J.D. Fortune who has been singing with them since he won the Rockstar: INXS competition in 2005.
Don’t delay, grab your ticket today! Here are some incentives and perks for the Los Angeles show. Social savings site Groupon had an amazing deal of the day on tickets to the show, which were quickly snapped up. Don’t despair, another great option is still out there! INXS is running a competition on their site where you can win an upgrade to watch the entire show from the side of the stage (right next to the band as they walk on & off the stage!) along with a meet & greet with INXS at the show. Enter to win today before the competition closes!
80’s alternative new wave band, Malcolm McClaren proteges, Adam & the Ants cohorts, Bow Wow Wow fronted by the stunning Annabella Lwin will open the night. Who could forget their classic hit “I Want Candy”? INXS has been a hit machine for more than thirty years now so don’t miss out on what is sure to be a set chock full of hits like “New Sensation”, “Need You Tonight”, “Suicide Blonde” and more.
Remaining tour dates are listed below and tickets are on sale now via Ticketmaster.
After thirty years, INXS still consists of original band members Tim, Jon and Andrew Farriss along with Kirk Pengilly and Garry Gary Beers (original front-man Michael Hutchence passed away in 1997). They are touring in support of their latest release, “Matchbox Twenty’s Rob Thomas on the album’s title track, “Original Sin”, a song which just reached number one on the U.S. Billboard Dance charts.
To see the latest on INXS, check in with them via their Facebook page, and you can also catch up with sax man, guitarist Kirk Pengilly on Twitter as well as singer J.D. Fortune
Date Venue Location
July 22 2011 the Wiltern Los Angeles,CA
July 23 2011 the Pearl Concert Theater (The Palms Casino) Las Vegas,NV
July 25 2011 Ogden Theatre Denver, CO
July 28 2011 Mystic Lake Casino Hotel Prior Lake,MN
July 29 2011 the Venue at Horseshoe Casino Hammond,IN
July 30 2011 Fox Theatre Detroit,MI
August 02 2011 the National Richmond,VA
August 03 2011 Wellmont Theatre Montclair,NJ
August 04 2011 Beacon Theatre New York, NY
August 06 2011 House of Blues Atlantic City,NJ
August 07 2011 Mohegan Sun Wilkes-Barre,PA
August 08 2011 Filene Center at Wolf Trap Vienna, VA
August 10 2011 Pier Six Concert Pavilion Baltimore,MD
August 12 2011 nTelos Pavilion Portsmouth, VA
August 13 2011 House of Blues Myrtle Beach,SC
August 14 2011 Chastain Park Amphitheatre Atlanta, GA
Go-Go’s Vacation Sweepstakes
Posted by Life on the Scene in Concert, Contests, Enter to Win, Music on July 7, 2011
the Go-Go's, image courtesy of http://www.gogos.com/
The Go-Go’s are on tour this summer in the United States celebrating the 30th Anniversary of their classic album “Beauty and The Beat” and have teamed up with Cost Plus World Market to offer fans this exciting summer getaway to Los Angeles! You can enter the sweepstakes here to win a trip for you and 10 of your closest friends to see the Go-Go’s live at the Greek Theatre in Los Angeles on August 17th. You will also get a VIP party and meet the band at the show. The winner will receive a $2,000 Cost Plus World Market gift card. Being the frugal shopper that I am, I could do some damage with that! You can enter the contest once per day (for those who really need a “Vacation”) until July 23, 2011.
Who doesn’t listen to classic tracks from “Beauty and the Beat” like “Vacation” , “Our Lips Are Sealed” and “We Got the Beat” while enjoying those warm summer afternoon barbecues with friends? A classic, fun summer album and the 30th anniversary extended edition is out now. Grab your digital copy now via iTunes!
The Go-Go’s have already played to the Eastern half of the USA during May and June before taking a well deserved break during July. They will start up again for the second half of the tour on August 5th in St. Petersburg, FL. Don’t miss these 80’s legends! Tickets and VIP packages are on sale now via Ticketmaster.
Have you already been to see the Go-Go’s this summer? We’d love to see your photos & videos from the shows. Leave a comment with a link where we can check them out.
The remaining tour dates include stops in the following cities:
08/05/11 St. Petersburg, FL Rays Summer concert series
08/07/11 Ft. Lauderdale, FL Seminole Hard Rock
08/09/11 Atlanta, GA ChastainPark
08/12/11 Vancouver, BC Commodore Ballroom
08/13/11 Portland, OR Oregon Zoo Amphitheater
08/14/11 Seattle, WA Woodland Park Zoo
08/16/11 San Francisco, CA The Fillmore
08/17/11 Los Angeles, CA The Greek
08/20/11 Temecula, CA Pechanga Theater
08/23/11 Aspen, CO Belly Up
08/24/11 Denver, CO Ogden Theater
08/26/11 Dallas, TX House of Blues
08/27/11 Houston, TX House of Blues
08/28/11 Austin, TX Paramount Theater
Have You Seen U2 on the 360 Tour?
Posted by Life on the Scene in Concert, Music, Photography on July 6, 2011
by Cindy Robinson
Life On The Scene readers, I have been moonlighting, for a site called Tree.com doing some writing for their entertainment section and covering a variety of live events for them. One of the recent ones was the massive, long-awaited return of U2 to Anaheim, California where they took over Angel’s Stadium for two shows. They put on an incredible show, as one would expect from U2 with fine support from Lenny Kravitz to kick off the evening.
Here is a sampling of images from the evening and if you’d like to check out the entire review, slideshow and alternate set of images, please enjoy them here: http://www.tree.com/entertainment/blog-blog/archive-2011-06-22-u2-at-angels-stadium-worth-the-wait.aspx
I’ve also been covering events such as Bruno Mars, Duran Duran (who we were lucky enough to see before lead singer Simon le Bon suffered vocal cord injuries which led to cancellation of the band’s European summer tour), Honor Society and My Chemical Romance recently. I hope to get some links and images from those reviews posted for you soon.
Looking ahead, we hope to bring you coverage on INXS, Joe Jonas of the Jonas Brothers as he launches his first solo album, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows part II (I can’t believe we’re at the end of the series!), Comic-Con and some projects Robert Downey Jr. is working on and Katy Perry.
Your comments and feedback are always appreciated!
Brian Setzer Blows the Roof off the Belly Up
Posted by Life on the Scene in Concert, Music, Photography on April 4, 2011
Brian Setzer
Brian Setzer, the three-time GRAMMY Award winning sometime Stray Cat, and leader of the Brian Setzer Orchestra brought his eighteen piece orchestra to the Belly Up Tavern in the Cedros Design District of Solana Beach, CA for a sold-out show on April 3, 2011.
The Brian Setzer Orchestra played a rescheduled show at Agua Caliente Resort in Palm Springs, CA on April 2nd, to make up for a cancelled New Year’s Eve performance from last year when Setzer became ill and added the Solana Beach show as Setzer prepares to launch his next musical venture, Setzer Goes Instru-Mental, out on April 19th via Surfdog Records with MP3 pre-order available now via Amazon with special edition vinyl and CD versions available from the Surfdog shop.
Setzer will hit the road crisscrossing Europe during June and July with Brian Setzer’s Rockabilly Riot featuring Stray Cat Slim Jim Phantom on drums, as well as Noah Levy on drums; Chris D’Rozario on bass; Brian Setzer on guitar and vocals; Kevin McKendree on Piano; and Johnny “Spazz” Hatton on bass. Double the stand up bass and the double the drums looks to be a rockabilly good time for Setzer’s fans in Europe this summer!
Back to the task at hand – Setzer, his Orchestra and his Vixens (back up singers Julie Setzer and Leslie Spencer) blowing the roof off the Belly Up Tavern last night. Wow, what a treat to see this guitar legend play such an intimate venue that only holds 600 people! Many of their shows of late have been to really big audiences such as the Doheny Blues Festival with an audience of about 20,000 blues loving fans and the Montreal Jazz Festival with well over 100, 000 swaying to the smooth jazz sounds music loving fans.
Setzer recognized a lot of faces in the crowd and told the audience it felt like he was playing in his living room at home as he called out hello’s to a few friends in the crowd. He was the consummate professional as a liquor loving lush with long blonde hair did her best Willow Smith Whip My Hair impersonations in the front row and tried to grab, many times, not Setzer, but his guitar. Yes, attempting to grab the Gretsch as Setzer’s fingers worked their magic! However, being a 30-year music veteran the guitar legend knew how to swiftly retreat from her many drunken advances.
Brian Setzer
There was also the muffin top baring, 49-year-old woman who nearly pulled him off the stage in her drunken super power strength to declare to him that she would be turning 50 the next day. Gracious as ever, Setzer wished her happy birthday over the microphone while reminding the audience he’s been 50 three times now.
I do digress on the drunken lot of women in attendance though, but seriously, do they even remember the awesome show they attended last night?
Back to the music. Setzer, and his fantastic band were in fine form last night. Really, really on fire figuratively, and almost literally as the Belly Up turned into a sauna for the searing one-hour and forty-five minute set that dealt nary a sour note the entire evening. The Brian Setzer Orchestra revved things up and got the audience boogie-ing to their energetic rockabilly sounds before they departed the stage and let the Brian Setzer Trio take over which includes Johnny “Spazz” Hatton on stand-up bass and fill in drummer, Danny Glass from Royal Crown Revue and Setzer rockin’ the roof off the joint!
The two versions of Setzer’s band covered songs across his illustrious 30 year, award-winning career including the Stray Cats hit Sexy & 17, The Dirty Boogie and Sleepwalk along with Red Hot and Gene & Eddie. The Brian Setzer Trio seamlessly brought the Orchestra back on stage to crowd pleasing roar as the band gave us a medley of the Stray Cat Strut with the Pink Panther theme.
The full band then brought the house down as they launched in early hits like Rumble in Brighton and Rock This Town along with the 90’s hit Jump Jive An’ Wail from the Dirty Boogie album. Setzer is the kind of musician that oozes love for his craft while playing on stage. You can see the smile spread across his face when he knows he’s hitting it out of the ballpark. He doesn’t look like just another musician getting through the live show. It was a stellar show of fine musicianship, one for the books as they say.
The always busy Setzer will also do his annual Christmas shows this year and has already confirmed a December 17th date at the Gibson Amphitheatre in Los Angeles.
He’s also got a new track from his forthcoming album Setzer Goes Instru-Mental, called Go-Go Godzilla on the soundtrack for the upcoming movie Soul Surfer starring AnnaSophia Robb, Helen Hunt and Dennis Quaid. Soul Surfer opens in theaters April 8th.
For a complete list of European tour dates and Christmas dates as they become available, check out Brian’s site.
Duran Duran Launch World Tour at SXSW Festival
Posted by Life on the Scene in Concert, Music, Music Review on March 17, 2011
John Taylor
When Duran Duran gets it right, they really get it right. The band kicked off their world tour at Stubb’s BBQ in Austin, TX last night to a crowd that left singing the band’s praises as part of the SXSW Music Festival.
The 80’s megastars have just begun to saturate the music market with their 13th album, All You Need Is Now, which is available now as a 9 track EP via iTunes with the deluxe CD package coming to a store near you on March 22nd. You can also pre-order the deluxe version from Amazon now, with delivery expected the day of release.
Produced by Mark Ronson, their latest album takes the listener on a synthesizer infused journey down memory lane with Nick Rhodes to the height of 80’s pop music while the grooves of drummer Roger Taylor and bassist John Taylor keep us dancing in modern times. Singer Simon Le Bon, who has often been criticized in the media for his quirky voice, sounds smooth & melodic, demonstrating his vocal skills and a voice that has stood the test of time.
As a producer Ronson carefully guarded the bands existing, unique sound while moving them forward into new territory at the same time. He doesn’t try to make a band sound like his own records.
Duran Duran will hit Los Angeles next week for a round of appearances on American TV shows the Ellen DeGeneres Show, Late Night with Jay Leno and Jimmy Kimmel Live!
The band will also play a one-off concert in Los Angeles to kick off the 2nd season of the American Express Unstaged Concert Series which will be directed by critically acclaimed director David Lynch and broadcast live online courtesy of YouTube and Vevo.
All You Need Is Now
Duran Duran have proved their staying power with tickets to a handful of North American warm-up concerts selling out in mere minutes as the band criss-crosses the USA in preparation for their slot at the upcoming always sold out Coachella Music & Arts Festival in Indio, CA April 15-17, 2011. The massive music festival which annually draws approximately 90, 000 visitors to the California desert will also offer a live webcast of music acts throughout the weekend.
They will then head home to the UK & Europe for concerts in May and June, and a tour of Australia in December with more worldwide dates to be announced as they become available via Duran Duran’s website. You can also check in with Duran Duran’s Roger Taylor, John Taylor and Simon Le Bon on Facebook and Twitter as they check in from their daily lives, from rehearsals and on the road.
My Chemical Romance to Auction Tickets for Japan Earthquake Relief
Posted by Life on the Scene in Concert, Life, Music on March 17, 2011
My Chemical Romance
by Cindy Robinson
New Jersey’s Starland Ballroom has teamed up with the American Red Cross and a host of rock’s most popular bands currently on tour to auction off concert tickets and meet & greets with artists like Coheed & Cambria, All Time Low, Three Days Grace and New Jersey’s own My Chemical Romance.
Most of these shows sold out months ago so it’s a great opportunity for fans to grab a pair of tickets to see their favorite band with 100% of the auction proceeds going to the Red Cross effort to support the people in Japan after the dual disasters of the massive earthquake and tsunami have brought the country to its knees.
The auctions went live today, St. Patrick’s Day, March 17th (hey, don’t forget to pinch your co-workers who didn’t wear green!) and they run for a week until March 24th, 2011. Auction details from the Starland Ballroom state, “Each auction will run from 3pm EST Thursday, March 17th until 3pm EST Thursday, March 24th. Each auction will start at $100, with increments of $10. Please forward any questions to info@starlandballroom.com.”
American Red Cross
Go to Starland Ballroom Auction for Japan and click on the red “bid” button below the picture of your favorite band. Killjoys, make some noise for Japan! Let’s see some great numbers on these auctions for New Jersey’s hometown boys. This will be their first concert performance in their home state in support of the bands latest release Danger Days: The True Lives of the Fabulous Killjoys.
Fairfax Vying for Coveted Summerfest Slot
Posted by Life on the Scene in Concert, Contests, Coupons/Freebies, Enter to Win, Music on March 9, 2011
image courtesy of Fairfax
Los Angeles based Indie/Alt Rock duo Fairfax, consisting of California native Heavynn Gates (vocals) and Georgia born Blake English (guitar) blend strong, soulful vocals and riveting guitar riffs, on their latest single Battle. The band met while writing songs for R&B artist Brandy, and shared a common background in dance music and hip-hop.
Fairfax are among the top five finalists in Taylor Guitars Test Drive Electric contest for emerging artists (also sponsored by Elixir Strings and SonicBids.com). Nearly 1,000 acts entered, and after a preliminary round of voting, a panel of artist relations professionals narrowed it down to five finalists: singer-songwriter Tyler Shea, and bands Crash Coordinates, Evaline, Fairfax, and Shot Heard Around the World.
The final round of the contest is under way with voting open through March 31, 2011. Fairfax’s entry into the contest, the video for their latest single, Battle, is up for viewing & voting now on the Test Drive Electric contest site. Don’t forget to vote daily for your favorite artist.
The winner of the contest wins a slot in the World’s Largest Music Festival Summerfest taking place June 29 – July 3 and July 5 – 10, 2011 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin featuring everyone from Toby Keith, arena rockers Def Leppard, the Black Keys, Florence + the Machine to Cage the Elephant, everyone’s darling Katy Perry and Sugarland.
The band will release their yet-to-be titled sophomore EP in 2011. The single, Battle, is available now as a FREE download. Don’t forget to visit Fairfax on Facebook to enter their drawing to win a FREE iPod shuffle!
George Michael covers New Order for Comic Relief
Posted by Life on the Scene in Concert, Music on March 7, 2011
courtesy of http://www.georgemichael.com/
Singer George Michael has covered New Order’s True Faith for Comic Relief. The singer will donate all proceeds from the sale of the single to Comic Relief which supports local communities in the UK and across the globe assisting young people who are battling mental health & substance abuse issues, sexual exploitation, and domestic violence. They also help our elders, support refugees from war-torn countries and support sports for change.
George Michael is offering a preview of the single, now available for listening on his website . The haunting rendition of this classic dance song will be available for purchase via iTunes on March 13th with a physical CD package available March 14th.
A new album tentatively titled, Fatherhood is expected this year and the singer will announce a world tour soon.
Please connect with George via his website http://www.georgemichael.com/ on his Facebook page http://www.facebook.com/georgemichael or via Twitter http://twitter.com/georgemichael to watch for more information on his new album and world tour.
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