Another great night at S.O.B.s! Ronnie “Ro” James opened up the night with a short set that included a cover of “Creep,” by Radiohead, and his original tracks “Neon” and “Pledge Allegiance.” Although Ro had trouble hearing himself in the monitors, he did his best to work through the technical difficulties and put on a good performance for the crowd.
A New York native (amongst other infuences), Ro was dressed in a Fedora hat and leather overalls with two sleeves of tattoos and a gleaming gold tooth. I was a bit thrown off by Ro’s appearance —in a good way (I think). His demeanor, dress, and direct lyrics seemed to contrast his smooth, sensual tone. I was curious to learn what influenced his image and sound.
As I mentioned in my previous post, when I decided to attend the SOL VILLAGE concert at S.O.B.s I had been excited to see two of the artists who have been featured on my blog, Mateo and Mylah.
There were a number of industry people in the building —Bryan-Michael Cox included. He would take the stage to introduce Mylah as one of the two artists (Gotham Citi) he is currently working with that would be performing at the showcase.
After some minor technical difficulties, Mylah opened up her set with “Pride” at the :39 mark.
She looked great and her high energy could be felt throughout the room. I wish I could have stayed for her whole set! As I walked out the door she launched into my song, “Soon As I Get Home.”
This Wednesday I had the pleasure of traveling down into the city to attend the Sol Village Showcase hosted by Eric Roberson. To be very honest after a long week that has just started I was hesitant to travel into the city after work, but I am definitely glad I did.
The showcase started a bit late, but Eric Roberson entertained the crowd as the first artist, Steve Lovell prepared to take the stage.
Opening his set with a medley featuring his original track “It’ll Be Ok” and “How to Love,” Steve showed off his church roots, as well as his ability to transcend multiple genres. He would go on to perform “Just the Way You Are” by Bruno Mars as well as “The Way” by Jill Scott.
His background singers were on point! It was one of those brilliant moments where the band, the artist, and the background singers were 100% in sync.
For more information about Steve Lovell click here.
Kenny Wesley took the stage next and performed several songs including “Rock With You,” and his original track, “Feels Good.”
For more information about Kenny Wesley click here.
When I overhead someone mention that the next group was from Philly, I was intrigued to see what my second hometown had to offer. The four-member group MPrynt had the ladies going crazy!
Watch MPrynt cover “Crusin”” and “I Look To You” below.
The fourth artist to perform was Jmusic artist Mylah. Her performance will be covered in the next blog post.
Unfortunately I was unable to stay for the entire concert so I ended up missing one of the artists that had attracted me to the show in the first place, Mateo, and the four-member group Gotham Citi. I will definitely have to see them in concert another time. Overall a great night!
When I saw Tori Kelly tweet she was having a concert on the 16th, I crossed my fingers that she would be performing in the city, as she recently did a show at the Roxy in LA.
To my surprise, I found out the concert would not be in New York, but would be a virtual concert for fans using the budding online concert venue, StageIt.com. Although Skype, Ustream, and Google Hangout (amongst others) have made it possible for artists to do live streams with fans, I think the site is a great idea as it is soley dedicated to musicians & performers. Definitely check it out if you get the chance!
Back to Tori — she performed a 50 min set with all the proceeds donated throughout the show going to The Robin Hood Foundation in order to support Hurrican Sandy relief efforts.
She. Was. AMAZING! Accompanied by her guitar, Tori performed all her fan favorites (covers, Christmas music, and original music) while taking requests as she went along. From the inflections in her voice, to her jazzy, pop, yet R&B tone, her positive spirit to the strong emotional connection to her music, the power behind every note to her ability to duplicate her “once in a lifetime” riffs — I was literally staring at my computer in shock!
She also had a few special guest throughout the show including Alfredo Flores, Cody Simpson, and Scooter Braun.
Set List
Confetti
Oh Sandy
Merry Little Christmas
Dear No One**
PYT
All in my Head/Thinking About Forever Medley
Silent Night
Worth It/Who You Are Medley**
Eyelashes
This Christmas
**My favorites
Unfortunately there is currently no video of the performance available, but if you have yet to listen to Tori’s music — click here! If I can find a recording of the performance I will post it here.
#ChristmaswithTori raised $6,500 for the foundation!*
