Konvict Music

Second concert of the year and it was great. I have never been a huge fan of either Artist (Rihanna or Akon) but much like the JT concert, I can sure appreciate a good "live" performance.

The concert opened with the Rascalz whom I hadn't heard from in years (Remember the patriotic - "Northern Touch"). It was a short set and we missed a few songs given that the show started at 7:30 and that's when they decided to open the doors. We didn't find out seats till a little after 8:00.

When I first heard of the concert, I was wondering who was going to headline. Both Akon & Rihanna have songs on the Billboard charts although Rihanna has exploded with the latest release of her CD, "Good Girls Gone Bad" and hits like "Umbrella" featuring Jay-Z. After listening to both and seeing the demographic in the crowd (much like Justin Timberlake), the cross appeal of these artists between gender and demographics is much the same. Akon may be seen as edgier "reggae-rap" with songs like "Smack that" and numerous references to being a "Konvict". In my opinion, he doesn't have the voice to be convincing of hardcore ghetto rap. Its more melodious, and that's why he often sings the hooks (chorus) to compilations like "Smack That" featuring Eminem. Still he does have a good flow.


Rihanna's performance was great as she gradually revealed more and more of those "legs" that are all edged insured over a million dollars. Her focus was on singing, although she would join her dancers for some minor hip-shaking or walk-abouts around the stage. Her performance live is really good and I was impressed with her vocals. My brother in-law (who owns the CD and wants to propose) knew all the words while I knew most of her more popular hits. Over all its was quite entertaining and she played to the crowd well. Her renditions of her hits were flavoured with more electric guitar to give it a harder sound which the crowd also seemed to appreciate. I would say that while the girls were screaming, the guys were all in awe of her talent (her musical talent of course).

Akon's DJ (DJ Benny I believe) did a great job of hyping the crowd prior to Akon stepping on stage. This is what I feel was missing from the JT concert as the crowd is constantly entertained by a "live" performance even in the absence of the main event. The DJ "spun" current hits by JT, Beyonce, & T.I. and did the traditional "sound-check" to make sure everyone was loud-enough for Akon.

From my perspective, the crowd was ready for Akon as they seemed to erupt as he casually strolled on stage. I enjoyed his performance more from the perspective my wife (also at the concert) is a huge fan so I am more familiar with his work. Again, much like Rihanna, his performance focused on gradually revealing his naked upper-half throughout the concert while throwing "sweaty" towels into the concert. Perhaps I'm to old to appreciate a good sweaty towel anymore as I found the fact people were scrambling for this more disturbing than anything else. The Canucks Jersey that he dawned towards the end of his performance would have been a bargain though and I can definitely see the passion that the Vancouverites feel for their hockey team.

Towards the end of his performance, Akon walked off stage after being told by his DJ that they had been asked to shut down the performance as "Da Time Was Up". After a breif dialogue about going to jail and taking GM place with him, he randomly appeared in the middle crowd. For the next 30 minutes or so, Akon struggled to make his way from left-to-right as the female fans went literally "nuts". I appreciated the fact that he was able to do this for the fans. So many in his position are hands off when it comes to such interactions and choose to remain on stage. It could also be the fact that he is a male artist and does not mind the touch of a thousand females grabbing his body.

Grading:

I give the performance an A. The venue was great; the concert was small and only occupied a quarter of GM place giving it a real intimate vibe with a good view. The artists performed well live and exceeded my expectations of what I was expecting from either of them. What the show was missing was additional theatrics and a larger stage presence. Both artists are singers, not performers, when compared to JT, which I seem to appreciate more from artists in terms of the ability to dance. Concert wise it was well worth it and I liked the fact that I didn't face a 2 hour drive to get home after.


My 2 thoughts anyways....

Is MTV not playing enough Music??

I watched the MTV Awards (or lack of Awards) and I know everyone is weighing in on Britney's performance, the Lee/Rock fight, or Kanye West's rant about being given a chance. While I could care less about most of these (Kanye desearves to be arrogant, his new album sounds great), I was more interested in a comment made by Justin Timberlake.

JT mentioned twice when accepting awards that he would like to see MTV play more music videos. I didn't get it at first, but it got me thinking. There is great deal of interest in reality television now, but is it truly taking over the music airwaves. Remember that "Video Killed the Radio Stars", but is Reality TV killing music videos? Jessica Simpson, Ashley Simpson, So You Think You can Dance, The House of Carters, Gene Simmons and the Family Jewels?? I thought I would find out:

Legend:

Reality - Anything that is based on reality television or close to it. Includes music competitions.

Other related music - Shows related to music but do not contain videos (autobiographies, news on stars etc.)

Music Videos - Countdowns, Top Tens, Music by Genre

TV Shows - OC, Roseanne, etc.

JT is clearly stating the obvious. MTV programming seems more concerned with with music related shows then simply playing music (MTV Live, MTV e2). Reality TV also is the highest with this station as compared to others (Next, True Love, MTV Cribs). Music Videos was a staggering 0%.
You have to give it up for Canadian programming. Overwhelming at 53% is dedicated solely to music video programing (MMM Countdown, MMM Top Tens). A split between TV shows and reality ("Celebrity Fit Club" vs. "MuchMoreMusic Profile") at a mere 20% and no real concern for attacting tv shows.
Country Music Television plays a good mix of music videos but alot of Reba, Roseanne, and Married with Children. I never really understood country but at 6% they aren't interested in reality either.
Finally Much Music, our Canadian Anchor. I am proud to say that it comes a close second in music video content at 50%. Reality television is also moderately high with shows like "So You Think You Can Dance" dominating time slots.

All analysis was taken over a 24hr period on September 12th, 2007.

Now that you think about it, you probably agree. Whens the last time you saw a string of music videos when flipping through the music station instead of being bombarded with tv shows, commercials, reality tv, commercials, and something that was music realted (somewhat). I agree with Justin, where have all the videos gone, or did reality tv kill music videos? I will let you know when myself and the buggles come up with an appropriate song.

My 2 thoughts anyways....

Future Sex Love Show

What: Future Sex Love Show

When: September 8th, 2007.

Why: I was genuinely interested in seeing the former second best boy band member (I always preferred BackStreet Boys) turned hugely successful solo artist.

Where: Tacoma Washington. Couldn't get tickets in Vancouver even though I was on TicketMaster the second they went on (35 seconds is what I read for GM to be sold out).

Who: Myself, My Wife, My Brother In-Law, & Sister In-Law.

Verdict: The man can sing and dance, and move, and perform and any other synonym for dance. My first time in the Tacoma Dome and at first I was a bit skeptical. Unlike GM Place, the setup was circular telling us there would be times when we would see the backs of the performers. The opening act, Good Charlotte, did not disappoint as they made full use of the stage playing to all four corners and doing a great live performance. Its impressive that I knew almost all the songs they played and they really got the crowd (myself included) going.

Justin sent out some decoys to hype the crowd, although we had a great view of where he was coming from and saw him sneak into a box that was wheeled in. To enhance his part of the show, large mesh-like screens were dropped from the ceiling to act as a backdrop. Imagine being able to see the entire performance but close-up images being projected on the see-through screens. I was ripping on Dell (a sponsor of the show) for not having a large screen for the cheap seats, although Tacoma Dome is quite small comparatively. This feature definitely made up for that fact. There was also 4 bars on every corner of the stage for the high rollers.

The show lasted from 8:00 to about 11:10pm. The only other show I have to compare to this is the "Up in Smoke" tour with Dr. Dre, Eminem, Snoop Dogg, and Warren G. While the venue at GM place was better, the FSL Show contained more of the performance element. JT can dance and proved it on stage while actually singing live. The only other difference was that when JT asked people to put their lighters and cellphones in the air, the cellphones outweighed the lighters 50 to 1. At one point of the show, PG 13 would have been appropriate as the dancers became a little burlesque (no actual nudity) but it fit with theme. I also noticed that Justin is a smart guy. He would have a few heavy performances and then play 2 vocal chords while on the piano (or the keyboard, or the guitar) and let his performers do the work. There was also a an intermission about 8 songs in. I knew most the songs, but some of the ballads were beyond my knowledge of his music. The mix of the crowd (as you would guess) was primary females most of whom were in their early teens.

A give the show an arbitrary grade of B+ - essentially I was entertained and only with the thought of driving 2 hours to get home was I looking for the show to finish early. I would give it a higher grade if they had entertainment in-between performances instead of two projection screens where Verizon Mobile was making menu charging people for text messages (by the way, from a business perspective, I think this was ingenious). I am sure this grading will become more defensible as my experience with concerts improve. I am going to Akon and Rihanna this coming weekend.

My 2 thoughts anyways......

Music on the Run

Top 10 songs Nike+ Users Listen to in their Ipods.

I find this list of no surprise as I have many of these in my Ipod. I would include a little more from the rap genre but I believe this list above represents a better cross-section of some timeless classics with some of new-age broad appeal.

From the Rap Genre some Tunes that I love to listen two (in no particular order):

- Hustlers Ambition, 50 Cent
- Victory, P. Diddy
- Honey (Bad Boy Remix), Mariah Carey (Ft Mase, P.Diddy)
- Black Republican, Nas (Ft Jay Z)
- Breathe, Fabulous
- Firm Biz, The Firm
- Mo Money Mo Problems, Notorious Big (Ft Mase, P.Diddy)

My 2 thoughts anyways...