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Pop Rock Nation

Tag: concert

  • Kate Bush announces London gigs 35 years after her only tour!

    Kate Bush announces London gigs 35 years after her only tour!

    Could it be true? Will fans finally get to see Kate Bush perform live again?

    I have been a Kate Bush fan since the early 1980s, when my older sister bought her 1982 album, The Dreaming, and played it for me. It took another seven or eight years before I finally started buying her albums myself. I was enchanted by her otherworldly singing and unusual musical arrangements. Kate Bush’s music is not for everyone, but I have loved most of it for a good portion of my life. I would have loved to have seen her perform live when I was younger. Unfortunately, Kate Bush hasn’t been on tour since 1979, when she famously played at Hammersmith Odeon. That was her one and only tour and it left many of her fans pining for more.


    Kate Bush sings “Wuthering Heights” and proves that she can dance and act.


    The Red Dress version of “Wuthering Heights”.

    I don’t know what has kept Kate from the stage for all these years. She’s clearly very talented at everything that makes someone a great live performer. While she has been somewhat reclusive in recent years, she hasn’t completely disappeared. In 2011, she released 50 Words for Snow, which included some innovative new songs. It was her first album since 2005’s awesome Aerial, which is probably one of my favorite albums by her.


    Kate Bush’s very moving song, “This Woman’s Work”.


    Mesmerizing duet with Peter Gabriel, “Don’t Give Up”.

    Kate Bush’s Before the Dawn show will be at London’s Eventim Apollo in August and September 2014. Tickets for the fifteen shows go on sale at 9:30am GMT on Friday, March 28th. Patrons are limited to four tickets per booking and must show photo identification to the booker upon arrival at the venue the night of the show. I wish I could be among the lucky people who will get to see Kate Bush perform live again after 35 years. Those who attend her concerts are definitely in for a treat.


    Cool version of Kate Bush singing “Running Up That Hill” with Pink Floyd’s David Gilmour.


    “The Sensual World” is one of many favorite songs by Kate Bush. There’s something so seductive about this song.

    I’m sure someone will make a concert DVD of this show, which I’m certain to get my hot little hands on. For now, I can only be green with envy that those who are lucky enough to live in the United Kingdom will get the chance to see this rare event.


    One more for good measure! “Cloudbusting” is one hell of a cool song!

    Have a great weekend, everybody!

  • Jay-Z Runs San Jose

    I attended the Jay-Z concert at the HP Pavilion on March 24th in San Jose and though it was a bit rough early on, I’d have to give the show a solid thumbs up.

    Because I was coaching my sons’ little league baseball team earlier that evening, I figured that showing up late to the concert wasn’t going to be an issue. I didn’t need to see Trey Songz perform anyways. He performs for the ladies. If I wanted to see a sweaty dude take his shirt off, I’d watch UFC. Wait.

    I’d also heard that Young Jeezy was going to follow Trey and if I were to say that I was a huge Young Jeezy fan, I’d be lying to all of you. I couldn’t name one Jeezy song.

    Jay-Z Runs San Jose

    But I’m a big Jay-Z fan. I was there to see Jigga and it didn’t matter who else was going to be there.

    I got there in the middle of Trey Songz’s set and after he performed, there was a short intermission and we (I was with my cousin Tomiko and my friend Christal) went to get some beverages and to use the restroom. The bar was packed and it took forever to get served, but I wasn’t all that bothered. The less I saw of Young Jeezy, the better I would be.

    But then I heard a familiar sound from the bar. It was as the sound of Auto-tune dying. I hoped it was just the CD track of Jay-Z’s D.O.A. playing over the loud speakers, but I wasn’t too sure and peaked my head out towards the stage. It was Jay, and he was already flowing. We hurried back to our seats. Where was Young Jeezy?

    After only what seemed like a few minutes, but was probably closer to a half hour, Jay-Z handed the mic to Young Jeezy. Young Jeezy was Jay-Z’s half-time show. And that’s when I got on my Blackberry to pass the time.

    I haven’t been about to find any reason as to why Jeezy didn’t do his set before Jay. Maybe they didn’t think the Bay Area was feeling Jeezy and would’ve been antsy waiting for Jay? Was Jeezy late? Did he oversleep? Whatever it was, I wasn’t happy with the half-time act and couldn’t wait for Jay to get back on stage.

    When Jay came back on, he went through many hits and songs from his latest album The Blueprint 3, backed by his Roc Boys band. And after about another half hour, he finished Thank You and acted like the show was over. But then he decided to go into what he dubbed OT (overtime).

    OT was designed for the older Jay-Z fans. In fact, he mentioned that OT was going to be all older songs and for the newer fans who are now Jay-Z fans because of his latest album, they might’ve wanted to check out so they could beat traffic, unless they wanted to learn.

    OT was exactly what he described it would be. He performed verses from songs like Money Ain’t A Thing, Ain’t No *****, and even a less than popular Jay-Z song from his second album, Where I’m From, which is also the song Diddy jacked for Angels. After that, he was about to dip into one of my favorite Jay songs, Dead Presidents, but then he stopped and said it was going too far back.

    For most of the older tracks, he just did the memorable verses that the fans would know and would move on (to the next one). He ended the show with Encore before doing some interactive stuff with the fans, including the Roc Wave.

    Jay-Z is not what you’d call a standout live performer. But he’s as cool as they come and had the crowd in his hands. He even shouted out Bay Area favorite Too Short as a Too Short song played behind him.

    He didn’t have a Bay Area State Of Mind, but he didn’t need to. The crowd loved him.

  • MJ To Lip Sync at London Shows?

    The King of Pop may not be singing at his much hyped concerts in London this summer according to a report in ContactMusic.

    The site quote Michael Jackson collaborator Ak0n as saying that Jackson would “perform”, but may not sing.

    The 50 year old pop star turns 51 this August and announced plans earlier this year for fifty concerts in London beginning in July.  The concerts immediately sold out and, according to published reports, could possibly generate enough income to solve the music star’s financial troubles.

    Speculating about MJ on Sonic Clash Radio in March, co-host Double G and his special guest (okay, me) mused about the concerts.  Double G says, “You don’t want the first concert …word to leak out that he doesn’t have it anymore.   That would be the worst thing I can’t imagine he wants anything but praise for that show.”

    Always eager to find something worse, I quickly chime in, “Even more of a threat to MJ than bad reviews…is if he is found to be lip syncing…I think that’s going to destroy any hope he has for musical redemption.”

    But what if a proxy, public red herring, stooge, collaborator like Akon spreads the word first that it’s a performance?  The debate is taking place now in our forum.  Go and be heard.