Concert – ayminor

J Music: UR Experience Tour at Mohegan Sun Arena

November 16, 2014February 1, 2024ayminor

Usher was my first love. Before the Famous Jett Jackson, before Sammie, before J Boog — there was Usher Raymond IV. You name a record off My Way, 8701, or Confessions and my mind instantly goes to a cherished memory from my childhood. Growing up, Confessions defined for me what success was in the industry — diamond album, sold-out tour, movies, timeless music. Until he went and messed around with Tameka, Usher was the standard.

Some argued after Confessions he had nowhere else to go but down — I had always believed he would be considered one of, if not the best entertainer of our time. Nonetheless, it’s been years since I’ve attached Usher’s career with unmatched excellence. In his stead, Beyonce and Justin Timberlake have risen in the ranks, dominating the industry and record sales.

He has the star power, voice, technical skill, and over 20 years in the business — what is the missing element? It’s a question I have asked myself a thousands times. After attending the UR Experience tour at Mohegan Sun arena in Uncasville, CT, I think I can finally articulate my answer.

I’ll fast-forward through DJ Cassidy (mostly because I missed his set — CP Time), and August Alsina (who sounded much less like a goat than anticipated).

I’ll tell you this, the problem with the concert is not Usher and it’s not the music. For two hours straight Usher performed all of his greatest hits with near perfect precision. He was accompanied by world-class dancers who performed a very high-energy set without hint of fatigue, three background singers, and a full-piece band. His charisma shined as he weaved in personal anecdotes throughout the night, keeping the crowd entertained.

The answer then — lack of innovation. The production value was nowhere near where it should be for a star of his caliber. Let’s start with the staging — a small, triangular stage flanked by two short ramps. There was no second stage. There would be no “flying” around the arena. Fans that weren’t in the front, lower level of the arena had little to no interaction with the star beyond a few shoutouts. There was scattered smoke and pyro throughout the performance, but nothing out of the ordinary for your average concert. There would be no stunning visual elements, no spectacular costume designs, and no storyline or cohesion to the songs performed. I counted one video (the intro), some filtered camera shots, 2 jacket changes, 1 shirt change and 1 hat.

I forgot, I think he changed his sneakers too.

Now I believe had the tour gone as planned, as a promotional tool for the now indefinitely delayed UR, the show would’ve been more along the lines of what I had envisioned. I understand they most likely had to cut back on the scale of the production as a result, but at 36, Usher doesn’t have time to waste on mediocre presentations. He needs something BIG to shake up the industry and remind us who has the #1 spot, and I.M.O. it’s now or never. From the album rollout, to the award show performances, to his tour production — everything needs an infusion of innovation.

Steps down off soapbox.

I know I just went in, butttt purely as a fan, I would still encourage you to attend the tour if it stops in your city. I had a great time, I sang, I danced, and when he flashed those pearly whites….swoon.

The rest of the tour dates are below:

J Events: On the Run with Bey and Jay at MetLife Stadium

July 19, 2014January 30, 2024ayminor

I love live music.

Attending a concert for me is the ultimate high and low. It’s a testament to the kind of influence that’s possible, and yet also the reminder that there’s work to be done if I want to get from the nosebleeds to the main stage.

A great show is more than just the artist and a pre-recorded track — it’s a live band, background vocalists, trained dancers* and most importantly: the special connection a great artist has with their fans.

The combination of these things keeps me coming back; my sixth time seeing Queen Bey did not disappoint.

We have come to expect excellence from music’s power couple, and that’s exactly what you get with the On The Run Tour.

Last Saturday, over 40,000 people came out to see Bey and Jay at MetLife Stadium. For almost two and a half hours, they had the crowd entranced as they traded off sets, occasionally coming together for brilliant mash-ups of their greatest hits from the last two decades.

Of course it was amazing; but my post-show thoughts are layered. As the self-titled “objective Beyonce stan,” here’s the real:

While it feels special to gain entry, the show itself seems removed, like it’s happening somewhere else on a separate stage, produced by Hollywood men in front of Hollywood cameras. It’s almost as if the whole thing had been filmed and edited ahead of time.

– An excerpt from Jeff Rosenthal’s article for noisey.vice.com

Although I think Jeff’s article was part troll, part truth, he at least grazed the surface of some of my small qualms with the show; in short, it’s damn near perfect.

To be clear, a large part of the concert’s storyline is told through visual elements that were filmed prior to the show, but even the live shots were perfectly-angled and peppered with special effects.

At times, I preferred the view from my binoculars to give me a dose of reality.

If you’ve attended any of Bey’s last 2 tours, you were probably doing most of the choreo and concert-ad libs in your seat, as I was, and are familiar with the “blips of sincere yet programmed PDA ” that Jay and Bey scatter throughout their performances.

Before the show I realized I had never seen a husband and wife headline a concert together — what would be different? The answer was, almost nothing. It felt like an extended performance of any collab they’ve done in the past –it was all business.

I had expected her performance of “Resentment” to be the highlight of my night as it had been one of the most emotionally-charged and talked about moments of the show; but it wasn’t. Although she again changed the lyrics to the song, it didn’t have that “rough around the edges, but straight from the heart” quality that tugs at your heart strings, it just felt like another strategic move by her camp to feign intimacy for the crowd — something extra they threw in post-Miami. Don’t get me wrong, she bodied the song, but it didn’t move me to tears like her 2009 Wynn Last Vegas rendition did, twice.

To my surprise, my favorite, heartfelt performances of the night were her cover of Lauryn Hill’s “Ex-Factor” — The Mamas always amplify anything and everything — and “Pretty Hurts,” which felt like her most vulnerable, and least-methodical performance.

The most moving visual element came at the end of the show, when they share their “real life,” during the “Young Forever/Halo” finale. To see what’s possible in one lifetime — love, marriage, children, sold-out stadiums, significant influence — I couldn’t help but leave brimming over with possibilities.

The number of artists and celebs in attendance, on both nights, just goes to show how

much respect and admiration the power couple have from their peers.

Bey and Jay are the standard.

J Events: Danity Kane performing at Irving Plaza in New York City

June 22, 2014January 30, 2024ayminor

Video is no longer available.

>>If you are a real Danity Kane/MTB fan, you know you remember this scene.

When I was 14, I never missed an episode of Making the Band 3. My friends and I would sit together at lunch and analyze everything that happened with Danity Kane and Day 26, perform choreography, and yes, harmonizing badly (vis-a-vis the above).

Needless to say, when I watched the group crumble in the season finale, I took it personally.

I was definitely disappointed the whole group couldn’t work out their differences (and don’t get me started on Aundrea backing out just months after they announced their reunion), but I’ll take what I can get with the newly dubbed “DK3” — Dawn, Shannon and Aubrey. Who ever liked D. Woods anyway…

Nine years after MTBIII’s premiere, let me get to Danity Kane’s performance at Irving Plaza in NYC.

Danity Kane Irving Plaza — Image via deji0812’s Instagram

My 4 takeaways:

1. I expected Dawn to be the star of the show — she wasn’t. Out of the five members of the group, Dawn has been the only one to consistently put out music and retain some buzz in the industry, so I assumed she would be the frontman, but they were very diplomatic with lead vocals and the choreography. No one got more shine than the others.
2. The sound was TERRIBLE. I don’t know if it was the sound engineer or the venue’s system, but good Lord. I couldn’t hear anything the girls were saying from the moment they stepped on the stage, and what’s more, I couldn’t really hear what they singing either. Major factor…
3. Lip-synching and backing track… why? Throughout the show, they used back tracking complete with ALL of the pre-recorded vocals. I can understand why some of the high-energy performances (perhaps) required lip-synching but it made it impossible to hear what was (meant to be) live and what wasn’t, to the point where I can’t make one single comment about how they sounded, vocally, because I have no clue.
4. The crowd was HYPE, and they had every right to be. Despite the sound issues, DK killed the performance. I just knew Dawn was going to come out and outshine everyybody, but all of the girls held their own. You can tell they are taking this seriously, and they’ve been working hard. I can’t imagine doing more than 5 minutes of their choreo, let alone doing it while carrying a baby.

With their latest releases “Lemonade” and “Rhythm of Love,” it would seem the girls are shifting their sound away from the R&B-influences of the past, but I hope they can find that hit single to get them back on top.

I would love to see what they could do on tour with a budget… slayyage.

BONUS: For anyone who wants to take a trip down memory lane, you can watch the final season with the whole group on YouTube. Anyone else here for a new MTB season?

J Music: Jojo & Friends to perform Thursday, February 28

February 24, 2013January 23, 2024ayminor

If you are like me, and you should be, you have been dying for Jojo to announce a national tour. To hold you over until that day comes, Jojo will be live streaming a 30min set on Thursday, February 28!

Find more information and get your virtual ticket here!

J Music: Performance and Meet & Greet with Pentatonix at B.B. Kings

September 19, 2012January 6, 2024ayminor

So this post is suppper delayed, but last week I took a little hiatus from some of my social media activities. I went to see the Pentatonix perform at B.B. King Blues Club & Grill in New York City on Tuesday, September 12. Pentatonix is a 5-member a cappella group that is most known for winnning season 3 of NBC’s The Sing-Off, and for having the ability to transcend the customary boundaries of a cappella with unique and futuristic arrangements.

http://hal9209.com/blog/2012/09/pentatonix-concert/

The show was nothing short of phenomenal.

I know Pentatonix is impressive, but nothing prepares you to see them performing live!

If you are familiar with The Sing-Off then you can recall the judges always referred to Avi and Kevin as the “meat and potatoes.” I have always been so obsessed with Scott (he is always featured on my blog), but my breakout stars for the night were definitely Kevin and Avi. It’s not very often that the focus is on the lower parts, but the bass and the beatboxing made the show!

The opening act for the night was Julia Easterlin — who deserves, and will get her own blog post. Great start to the night, and the crowd was pumped up for Pentatonix to hit the stage.

They did not disappoint, performing all of their big songs from The Sing-Off and all of my favorite covers from YouTube.

The best part of the night was the end when I got to meet them and, of course, I absolutely shower them with praise! I have been around a number of celebs/musicians in my life, but I was so in awe of their performance that I was actually nervous (embarrassing). They were so sweet!

For the full Pentatonix biography see below.

Buy the Pentatonix EP PTX, Vol. 1 here.