The Ones that Got Away: Adele, Fun

Sadly, there are performers that on occasion must cancel shows... probably the two biggest disappointments have been Adele

 

and FUN 

 

The Artist: Adele

Before the fame of of being the voice of the most recent Bond Movie Skyfall and before the wildly viral album 21, back when 19 was just a fledgling new release I was a fan. I would tell everyone to listen to this new artist, Adele. Naturally, when she began her USA tour after 21, I was in. Tickets in hand to a small intimate setting, I knew this would be a great concert. Sadly, Adele developed throat problems and the show was rescheduled. Disappointed, but I understand the need for her to take care of her vocal cords. The tour was rescheduled and again, I was super excited...only to be disappointed a second time. This go round, the smaller intimate concerts were all cancelled. However, I noticed that globally her concerts continued in much bigger and more expensive venues. Yep, she ditched her true to the roots fans for the masses and money. To be honest, I felt burned and betrayed. Since her fame (and I am happy for her, and happy her vocal therapies have been successful) I just can't bring myself to be the enthusiast I once was. Oh, I still love her music and would still love to she her live...but a part me will always miss the humility of a smaller venue for those of us that knew her before her fame and ego. Rumor has it (like my play on words?) that there may be 25 released this year. We can be hopeful, but she has disappointed twice. 

Someone Like You

The Artists: FUN

FUN won Best New Artist at the 2013 Grammy Awards and consists of Nate as the lead singer, Jack on guitar and vocals and Andrew on keyboards and vocals. This dynamite trio was touring as part of the Gentlemen of the Road tour with Mumford & Sons.

The night before the final performance of the tour, Nate developed vocal cord problems resulting in their group backing out of the St. Augustine show. There were many rumors that day throughout St. Augustine as to who the replacement would be- quite frankly, I wasn't concerned about the replacement, I truly wanted to see FUN! It appears at the time of this post (May 2014) there are no tickets or tours to be found. This breaks my heart...maybe one day- I can only hope...for FUN!

Carry On

#adele #skyfall #19 #21 #fun #gentlemenoftheroad #mumford&sons #staugustine #carryon #someonelikeyou

Gentlemen of the Road Tour: MUMFORD AND SONS!!!!!!

The recent Gentlemen of the Road 

tour featured the delightful Mumford and Sons.

The Artists:

The English folk rockers are Marcus Mumford on lead vocals- drums, guitar and mandolin, Ben Lovett on backup vocals, drums, accordion, keyboards, Winston Marshall on banjo, backup vocals, guitar and Ted Dwane also on backup vocals, string bass, drums and guitar. The town was a-buzz with surprise performances of members of Mumford and Sons popping up in various venues. The talk of the town was how nice, polite and generous the members of Mumford and Sons were to the locals.

The Venue:

The tour-stop we attended was in St. Augustine, Florida. Sometimes outdoor venues can be iffy-- the sound systems, the weather, the crowds....but this was perfect, well, almost. The almost will be discussed in another posting, but it had nothing to do with Mumford and Sons, or the sound system, the weather or the crowds (hint: a headliner group dropped out of the tour the night before).  The venue was fairly well organized with wrist bands allowing use of riding on busses as well as boat taxis to and from the venue. At times the wait was lengthy, but that was to be expected for a gathering of this size. The historic charm of St. Augustine flooded the city and embraced its visitors. The Atlantic did not disappoint for scenic appeal.

The Performance:

AMAZING! Prior to the concert, my husband enjoyed Mumford and Sons music- but other than the occasional song on the radio he had not really listened to their music. For a solid month after the concert all he listened to day and night was Babel!  This was the last night of the tour (they did a couple of make-up performances after) and they gave it their all. If they were weary, it did not show in their music!

The sad note is Mumford and Sons are currently taking a break from performing. The up note is they are rumored to be working on a new album!

A DEFINITE MUST SEE CONCERT!

Red Rocks "I Will Wait"

Lollapooza Chicago 2013 Full Concert

Video Snippet: 

Lover's Eyes

Part 2

Mumford and Sons

#mumford&sons

#mumfordandsons

#gentlemenoftheroad

#st.augustine

#staugustine

BARENAKED LADIES!!!!! Yes, BnL are still in fine form!

Having been a group for more than 25 years, this band of witty, rocking Canadians reunited to tour once again.

This may have been the surprise concert of the year. I'm not really sure what I was expecting, but I know I was surprised as to how entertaining these four are on stage. To call their performance just a concert is simply not giving credit where credit is due. Let's call it a concert and a variety/comedy show.

The Artists:

BnL consists of Ed Robertson on guitar/vocals, Jim Creeggan on bass/vocals, Kevin Hearn on keyboard/guitar/vocals and Tyler Stewart on drums/vocals. Oh, and ALL of them on humor! They've just produced their 12th album, the first without former and co founder of the group Steven Page. Their website mentions finding confidence and well, swag. Somewhere these four found it...and I'm not convinced it was ever lost. Well done, old guys, well done!

New Release: Odds Are

Video Snippets:

BnL- Bluegrass

BnL- Rap

The Venue: The Tennessee Theatre

 

What's not to love about this historic theatre? It is beautiful and just the right size to still feel intimate with the artists.

#BnL#BNL#Barenakedladies#tennesseetheatre

Iron and Wine

The Artist:

Sam Beam is the acoustic guitar playing Iron and Wine. This talented singer songwriter also plays the slide guitar, electric guitar and banjo. On occasion he tours with a full band as he did this past Fall 2014 at the Tabernacle theatre in Atlanta.

Known for his mellow and often solo music, I was surprised by the array of musicians in the band. Horns a plenty with cello, violin and even back up singers. The music was peppier than anticipated, but thoroughly entertaining with a definite blues influence. I enjoyed this concert so much, I am going to see him again at The Tennessee Theatre May 12.

The Venue:

The Tabernacle originally opened in 1910 as The Broughton Tabernacle named for its Pastor and Physician. It was home to spiritual and medical needs with a membership at one time of 4000. The church relocated in the mid 80s leaving the tabernacle empty until it reopened as a House of Blues for the 1996 Atlanta Olympics.

Iron and Wine NPR Tiny Desk Concert:

 

Video Snippets:

Live from the Tabernacle-1

Live from the Tabernacle-2

Live from the Tabernacle-3

#ironandwine#Tabernacletheatre#ironandwinebijou#sambeam

"The Ben Folds Project"

Ben Folds 

writes and performs a Piano Concerto!

 I always cringe when my college students are clueless to the music of Ben Folds Five or the solo Ben Folds.  I first had the pleasure of watching the entertaining piano rocker years ago at an open outdoor concert on the University of Tennessee's fraternity row's outdoor park. More recently I was privileged to attend the Nashville Symphony featuring "The Ben Folds Project". 

The past year Ben Folds has been working with the Nashville Symphony and the Nashville Ballet composing a piano concerto. Performances with the Symphony and later the Ballet graced sold out audiences, including the one I attended at the beautiful Schermerhorn Symphony Center.

"The Ben Folds Project"

Brick

An interesting side note, according to Mr. Folds' website, as "A Nashville resident, he owns and operates the historic RCA Studio A, where legends of all genres of music – from Elvis Presley to the Monkees, Eddy Arnold to Dolly Parton,Tony Bennett to the Beach Boys – have recorded."

A fun tidbit: 

At the end of the concert, Ben returned to the stage not prepared for an encore. His friend, Billy Joel, was performing in Nashville the same night. As an homage to his friend, he engaged the audience in a sing-a-long of Joel's famous Piano Man 

 #thebenfoldsproject#benfolds#benfoldsfive#nashvilleballet#nashvillesymphony#schermerhorn

The Sing Off: A Cappella fun!

The Sing Off

 

Technically, The Sing Off is a seasonal NBC Television reality program. Various a cappella groups audition and compete for the coveted top place and the opportunity to tour the U.S. performing in their genre and promoting their group.

The Fall 2013 season sported musical talent Jewel, Ben Folds and Shawn Stockman as judges. There were many talented groups that did not make the the touring cut, but have great potential such as the high school group Vocal Rush and The University of Kentucky's (shout out to KY! My daughter's alma mater)AcoUstiKats!

Drum Roll please, and the winner is:

3rd place The Filharmonic is a delightful and diverse Filopino all male 90s loving group. At times their youth and inexperience peeked through, but their charm compensated where their experience waned.

2nd place VoicePlay is a very clever group. I'm not going to mince words, they were not my favorite to win or to even place in the top three. During the season I felt they changed their true colors and felt the need to bring on a female singer. Mediocre choice...fortunately, in their tour she was replaced with a more soulful and talented young lady. However, if you go to their website you will get a feel for their unique play on sound and humor mingled with song. They were extremely clever live!

Home Free Vocal Band rightly won the competition. Anyone that knows me, knows I am not a big country music fan. Folk and bluegrass, yes, but country? However, this group is full of onstage antics, just the right amount of flirt thanks to Austin Brown and deep baritone Tim Foust, and just the right amount of twang (not too much) to win over those like myself while keeping tried and true country fans happy.

To add to the thrill of the performers and to their performance was the historic Ryman Auditorium, also known as the "Mother Church of Country Music". Dating back to the 1880s one can almost feel the ghosts of foot stomping, music making past. 

f

 

This Home Free Vocal Band clip features each member:

 Hunter Hays Medley

Ring of Fire

Voice Play

Voice Play- A Play on Sound  (worth the click to watch!)

The Filharmonic 

Some home video snippets:

@ the Ryman-1

@ the Ryman-2

@ the Ryman-3

#thesingoff#homefree#thefilhormonic#theryman#voiceplay#benfolds#homefreevocalband

The High Note: Musical Journey and Happenings!

May 12 Iron and Wine at the Tennessee Theatre
July 21 THE MILK CARTON KIDS WILL BE PERFORMING AT THE BIJOU