STOMP for the Holidays

Posted on November 20, 2011 by admin

The holiday season is in full swing and if you don’t believe it simply turn on the radio or visit your favorite local store. This is an important time of the year to spend with family and friends. Although many of the holiday festivities are still to come—parties, shopping, family gatherings, and of course decorating your Ontario apartment —it is easy to get bogged down with busy schedules and not take time to enjoy the holiday season and a fun night out on the town. A quick look online can tell that there are many holiday concerts and musicals to choose from but if you really want to get your blood flowing and your energy up try STOMP!

STOMP isn’t just a show and it isn’t just music, it’s a true performance of a lifetime. The group began with 2 members back in the early 90′s in the UK and it didn’t take long for the phenomena to catch on. Within just a couple years they began selling out shows and performing internationally. In 1995 they began to make an impact in the US; being involved in several films, performing live, and winning numerous awards. Today, STOMP consists of two teams, one in New York and one tour group, each with approximately a dozen talented members bringing their unique talents to the show.

One of the things that really draws audiences to STOMP is their creativity and ingenuity. They don’t use traditional instruments. In fact their “instrument” list consist of brooms, lids, sand, water, and bananas –just to name a few. And they don’t just stand on stage and play their unconventional instruments. Their performance includes dance, acrobatics, and some serious coordination. The show isn’t just focused on one or two people either; they work together as a team to create the most unique show you’ve ever seen. They have definitely redefined the term “garage band”.

Residents and visitors to the big Apple can attend their standing show on Broadway in New York City. In addition, STOMP has several different tours running at different times in North and South America and Europe. Their current tour is running in North America from November 2011 till May of 2012. And if this hasn’t got you excited and ready to bust out of your apartment in Calgary, they will be in Calgary next week, Nov. 22-27, at the Jubilee Auditorium so you can come and experience them for yourself.

Eyes Set for Mexico City

Posted on June 4, 2010 by admin

This is the story of a Limerick band who set out for Mexico City to make good. When The Cranberries play in D.F. in early fall, it’s a comeback concert for the group in general, but it’s also something of a homecoming for them in this vast city. They’ve always enjoyed a pretty wide reputation in the world, and some cities have kept them as secret favorites more than others. Although the Mexico City hotels will have hosts of their fans for the show, the locals have the most open hearts for the Irish group’s return here.

It has been a pretty successful run so far, and they’ve gotten better with age, as well as a little time off. Some reviews of their shows have been better than others, but the criticisms seem to come from a place that doesn’t enter into the correct vocabulary with which to fully understand the Cranberries. Part of it has to do with the reasons why they are popular in Mexico. While they do play a kind of lovely and melodic alt-rock, and sing to a kind of longing that accompanies the smell of Boone’s Farm Tickled Pink and Cloves, there’s something under the surface.

This something is also deeply rooted in the ground here on the North American continent, and Mexico has a particular geography that holds ancestors who remember. In D.F., this is never beneath the surface, but very visible if one takes the time to see it. It has to do with a particular kind of longing that accompanies history, where the ghosts continue to speak in poetry and metaphor. It’s a peculiarly local thing, but it can also rightfully be described as particularly Irish, and the two nations have a shared sensibility as much as they do a wildly varied culture.

New Orleans Southern Gothic

Posted on May 31, 2010 by admin

It does seem a little bit strange that New Orleans has such a powerful goth scene, but it’s been like that for awhile now. There are great goth bars all over the city, and in any crowd after dark there’s going to be a couple people wearing black and white stripes. But in a town that gets as hot as New Orleans does, mascara tends to run more than usual, and wearing layers of dark clothes can be a little unbearable. Sort of like being a clubber in February in Minnesota. But culture happens, and when it happens here, it’s all the way.

Even with the generous excesses of the city, and the penchant for public displays of distinctive over-the-top-ness, it’s still a very subtle place. The front of the city’s face can be rather bizarre and also rather extreme, most of the time, but the back is even bigger. One of the most wonderful things about it is its layer of complexity, where even something as innocuous as moss on a tree stump suggests a much deeper story. This is the milieu one walks into for the Southern Gothic Festival , and this year’s promises to be as good as they get. It is an extraordinary event, enough to warrant blocking off the weekend for the locals, and many New Orleans hotel s to be booked by the out-of towners.

Twelve bands are signed on for the July event, where it’s two nights on two stages. It’s slated to go from evening until dawn, and in New Orleans, they mean it. This year’s festival is at Howlin’ Wolf , and it’s nothing special for the venue to be open late even in the middle of the week. There’s no curfew in New Orleans, so some of the bars in town never close.

That can be good news for the barflies, but it’s even better news for someone wanting to check out what the locals and the rest of the world is offering for goth and industrial music these days. It promises to be a perfectly ghastly affair.

Met to Get Stung by Sting

Posted on May 30, 2010 by admin

So Sting has already played Carnegie Hall, and no doubt, it was the result of practice, practice, practice. A lifetime of musical accomplishments certainly helped, as well as being a charismatic figure with striking good looks that seem to improve with age. There’s something to all the yoga and other interesting physical fitness regimens that he’s been practicing over the years. It will all be put to the test, and one he will most certainly pass, when Sting plays the Met in July .

There are lots of moments like these that make New York a place to be. It hasn’t lost its edge at all, and probably never will. The steady stream of young artists coming to test their mettle in one of the world’s most difficult crucibles means that there’s always something new and interesting. The discerning citizens, along with the many visitors who frequent New York’s hotels , are a ready audience for work by established artists, along with the tried and true artists who have reached maturity.

Sting may be mature, but there’s plenty of boyish charm left to make a whole new generation jealous or swooning, and the work always goes in new directions. Sting is perhaps entering another great phase of experimentation, and the show in New York will combine his own music with some classical variations that sound stunning in theory.

They’ll likely be wildly successful, pleasing the large crowd that’s bound to show up, but there is always a chance that something might go wrong, and the new direction might not be a perfect match for the cultural moment. But that’s what’s always kept his work so very interesting. The early work with the Police mixed forms well enough to re-create punk rock when it needed new life, and as old fans complained when they were getting too commercial, another generation began to notice that there was something compelling here.

That particular story has had multiple repetitions in every phase of Sting’s career, and enough to suggest that this is another musical direction, and one that will lead to new honey.

San Francisco’s Mates of State

Posted on May 23, 2010 by admin

Kori Gardner and Jason Hammel, the two who make up the wall of sound duo Mates of State , met in Lawrence, Kansas in 1997. Three months later, they were working together, and involved personally. Four years later, they were married, and living in San Francisco. It’s a perfect fairy tale, with a rock and roll backbeat, and multiple rhythms running on multiple simultaneous tracks, that gives it a kind of fantastic reverberation. It’s one that’s sweet and sometimes bitter, where the irony of the presentation starts to gently but shockingly give way to a more poignant meaning right beneath the surface.

There might be two ideal places to hear them perform, then, either in Kansas or in California, and fans will get the opportunity in June, when they play two nights at the Great American Music Hall as June turns into July. Keeping in mind that the coldest winter is sometimes spent in San Francisco in the summer, out of town guests should dress warm, just in case, but also dress fashionably, just because it’s always a good idea. A stylish hotel in San Francisco is a perfect temporary home for seeing this perfectly wonderful band.

Lawrence and San Francisco have a lot in common, actually, and a move from there to here, in the name of making a name, is a logical, and sublime progression. Lawrence is one of the great unsung funky cities in the country, where alternative culture that is radically interesting and absolutely thriving pops up suddenly and without warning. The people there are about as interesting a collection of subcultures one can meet anywhere, with the possible exception of, well, San Francisco.

That part of their story also serves as a running track, and makes the music even more perfect. The pieces fit together, and they also don’t quite fit, where a lovely balance is always poised on the edges of a little bit of heartbreak, the price you pay for following the path with the heart.

Dave Matthews Band Takes 2011 Off the Road

Posted on May 22, 2010 by admin

Dave Matthews Band has been touring for 20 years. Often with back to back engagements and always on the road it is surprising that it has taken them this long to decide that they need a summer off. They announced it earlier this week in the hopes of giving everyone as much notice as is possible. It is of course still possible that some people will miss the message, but with the large number of people buying tickets for their concerts this year it would seem that the major fans who are already planning on attending the now non-existent concerts next year will find out about it. Other people will probably come to the conclusion when they realize there are no advertisements for them next year.

The Black Crowes Coming to Michigan

Posted on May 19, 2010 by admin

It looks like the Black Crowes added recently a new show to their growing list of shows, and that is at the FireKeepers Casino in Michigan. This is kind of big of the people in the area because this will be the first major rock act to come to Battle Creek since the Casino opened on August 5th.

If you don’t know who they are, the Black Crowes formed in the 80s in Atlanta Georgia and had some of their biggest hits in the 90s. They are going to be on tour once again and their tickets have been selling fast.

Ryu Goto in Seoul

Posted on May 18, 2010 by admin

Seoul is a fascinating place with an incredible history, and visitors here will find themselves in love rather splendidly with the intensely vibrant urban landscape. There are plenty of attractions during the day, and at night, the city really comes alive. Restaurants and bars are filled with lively scenes, where the locals and visitors blend to make an exciting scene every evening. In terms of music, it’s got a lot to offer. There are plenty of clubs to hear world-class djs kicking out the latest beats, as well as venues for live rock music. It’s also got a very established classical music scene, and guests here can get a good taste of it on July 4th.

It’s a fitting date, too, considering Seoul’s sizable expat community, and also considering the star of the evening is a native New Yorker. Child prodigy Ryu Goto is giving a recital at the Seoul Music Center, in what promises to be a spectacular evening. Now 21 years old and hardly a child, he’s still a prodigy, and one of the most accomplished violinists playing today. He began playing concerts when he was seven years old, and has had a consistently spectacular career ever since.

This will be coming in after he’s hot off of playing Carnegie Hall , no less, and his position in world classical music is very well-established. He’s also a black belt in karate, and is a student at Harvard, studying physics. He may not need the day job, considering all the success that he’s had at playing music, but it point up the fact that his remarkable talent doesn’t only lie in the arena of music. But his talents here are obviously considerable, and it will be a lovely evening for everyone attending. Guests in town who are booked for their hotel in Seoul will be well-advised to pick up tickets soon.

American Idol’s Goes Live

Posted on May 17, 2010 by admin

American Idol’s Live, just went live the other day. Bringing you the top ten of this years best musical talent from the television show American Idol, the final ten contestants will go on a tour that with almost fifty stops at various amphitheaters, and concert locations across the United States. The most exciting thing about this is that all the people who were upset by various rising stars being kicked off can see them sing once again and might even have a chance to get to know them. It was also said that the singers are really looking forward to getting to know the fans as well.

Shikira In Concert

Posted on May 16, 2010 by admin

When her hit song came out “Hip’s Don’t Lie” Shikira became an even bigger star than she had ever been before. Now she is on tour again for her CD that came out “She Wolf”. Shikira is full of surprises and you should go to the concert because you never know what she is going to come out in or how the performance will go. Here is her berforiming “Hip’s Don’t Lie” but it has an interesting set out outfits and dance moves.

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