I’ve had a busy, concert filled few days. Thursday, I checked out Musiq and Ledisi at the recently restored Warfield in San Francisco. Downstairs is standing room only with some tables, while upstairs is all seated.
There used to be a time when I didn’t mind standing for hours waiting for my favorite artist to perform. These days, if I have a choice between standing or sitting, I’m sitting!
Ledisi hit the stage with extremely high energy, wearing all black and some serious black stiletto boots. I don’t know how she jumped around on stage for almost an hour, but she rocked it. She even made reference to her attire – “I’ve been hanging with Prince! Can’t you tell, I’ve got on my boots!”
I must admit, I’m not a true Ledisi fan. I have a few of her albums on my iPod, and I tried to really get to know her music before the show, but I still wasn’t familiar with many of the songs she sang. It didn’t matter though because I was grooving the entire time she was on stage.
Ledisi gave a heartfelt performance, speaking to the audience about how she really thought about leaving the business, but she pushed on and is now a two-time Grammy-nominated artist. Her voice is funky and jazzy, and she definitely gives her all when she’s performing.
I wish I could say the same about Musiq. I’ve been a fan since Aijuswanaseing and have all his albums. I’ve seen him a few times before and didn’t leave disappointed.
Unfortunately, Musiq wasn’t quite right this time. I don’t know if it was because his band was too loud or if his voice was off. Whatever the case, I left feeling like Ledisi should have been the headliner.
After waiting 52 minutes for him to appear, Musiq began the show with his first single, Just Friends and from there launched into Half Crazy. When he got to For the Night – which is my jam – I felt like he was doing more dancing than singing. I also noticed you couldn’t really hear the backup singers that well.
At one point, he left the stage and came back apologizing for the “technically difficulties.” Whatever those “difficulties” were, they weren’t fixed because the band was still too loud.
Musiq started to lose me when he went into an extended version of Teach Me (off his latest Luvanmusiq). The song went from four minutes to 20 because he decided to take a break and change clothes. While we waited, one of his backup singers introduced the band.
Musiq returned in a new outfit and a piece of candy in his mouth.
He politely ate it (while checking his phone) and the band kept playing Teach Me. Oh, I forgot another reason the song was so long – he decided to have a man moment, explaining why men are the way they are. I didn’t have a problem with that, I just think he should have had this man moment and not changed clothes.
After singing a new version of Who Knows (stick with the old), he went into Don’t Change. That ended up being the best song of the night – and the last song I heard because my friend had to go to work.
I usually stay until the end, but this night, I didn’t feel bad leaving before hearing B.U.D.D.Y. I hope Musiq can overcome those technical difficulties and pull it together for his next show.
***Concert alerts!***
Chante Moore
I saw Ms. Moore when she did a guest appearance for Norman Brown during the JVC Jazz Festival. That woman has pipes, so I can only imagine how great she’s going to sound at Yoshi’s.
Mary J. Blige
I’ve already seen Mary earlier this year and I’m pleased she’s coming back because my seats we horrible for her previous show. If you’ve never seen her, she’s worth every penny. The last two times I saw her, my behind never saw the seat and the last time I felt like I was going to pass out because I was singing and dancing so hard!
Maxwell
He’s back! Well, can you really be back if you haven’t released an album in seven years and still don’t have one out? Nevertheless, he’s touring and I bought my tickets before they went on sale. I just hope he releases a single before he comes to Oakland Oct. 28 and 29.
Me
- Soul Sista D
- Bay Area, CA, United States
- Music wakes me and keeps me going all day, every day. I’ve had a love for music since childhood, and it’s only intensified as I’ve matured. Musings On Music was inspired by Kenny Lattimore. I saw him perform in 2008 and realized there was something in his music that spoke to me on a level which said I needed to write about what I witnessed. I’ve been writing ever since.
Monday, September 22, 2008
Amel Larrieux returns to Yoshi’s
After seeing Musiq and Ledisi on Sept. 18, I checked out Amel Larrieux on Sept. 19. I think that’s the first time I’ve done back-to-back shows.
Knowing I wouldn’t be able to make it to work following a Thursday night show (and going to the club afterwards), I took the day off and spent it chilling and preparing for Amel. I didn’t do anything special – just got the eyebrows and feet done. J Nothing like a little pampering to make your day better.
Amel Larrieux is a Yoshi’s regular – she performed there last year. This go around, her shows were sold out for all three nights. After this experience, I can see why.
There were two main reasons I went to see her – my friend asked me and I enjoy being able to leave the house every now and again. The only Amel album I own is Infinite Possibilities and I don’t know it that well. I’ll put it on when I’m sitting at work trying to focus – which means I’m not listening really close to the lyrics.
Amel’s music is truly mellow, and her show was the same. She funked up some songs, but for the most part, listening to her was like lounging in a hammock next to the beach under a full moon on a warm night – relaxing and peaceful.
Her voice sounded sharp and she had a great rapport with the audience. A lucky 9-year-old girl had the Amel Larrieux version of happy birthday sung to her; she recognized those in the audience who belong to her official Web site Bliss Life and she even asked an audience member if they had been at the show last year. I thought it was cool of her to remember seeing someone from so long ago.
As she sang, it was obvious she really feels the words behind the music. Her backup singer, Amina, was in sync with her every step of the way and their voices blended together well. The rest of the band was on point.
Thinking on her feet, Amel gave three sections of the audience three different parts of a song to sing. You could tell she made it up, but it flowed well with the show.
Her personality was engaging and at the end, I was delighted I got to experience her performance.
Knowing I wouldn’t be able to make it to work following a Thursday night show (and going to the club afterwards), I took the day off and spent it chilling and preparing for Amel. I didn’t do anything special – just got the eyebrows and feet done. J Nothing like a little pampering to make your day better.
Amel Larrieux is a Yoshi’s regular – she performed there last year. This go around, her shows were sold out for all three nights. After this experience, I can see why.
There were two main reasons I went to see her – my friend asked me and I enjoy being able to leave the house every now and again. The only Amel album I own is Infinite Possibilities and I don’t know it that well. I’ll put it on when I’m sitting at work trying to focus – which means I’m not listening really close to the lyrics.
Amel’s music is truly mellow, and her show was the same. She funked up some songs, but for the most part, listening to her was like lounging in a hammock next to the beach under a full moon on a warm night – relaxing and peaceful.
Her voice sounded sharp and she had a great rapport with the audience. A lucky 9-year-old girl had the Amel Larrieux version of happy birthday sung to her; she recognized those in the audience who belong to her official Web site Bliss Life and she even asked an audience member if they had been at the show last year. I thought it was cool of her to remember seeing someone from so long ago.
As she sang, it was obvious she really feels the words behind the music. Her backup singer, Amina, was in sync with her every step of the way and their voices blended together well. The rest of the band was on point.
Thinking on her feet, Amel gave three sections of the audience three different parts of a song to sing. You could tell she made it up, but it flowed well with the show.
Her personality was engaging and at the end, I was delighted I got to experience her performance.
Monday, September 15, 2008
Do you remember Thriller?
This morning, a local DJ remarked that Michael Jackson’s album Thriller is still selling thousands of copies a year – more than 25 years since its initial release.
His comment sparked a memory of when I first saw the video for Thriller. Back in 1984, there was a relatively new television station that played only music videos. Aptly titled Music Television, MTV played music videos 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
It’s hard to fathom that MTV used to be all about music and not what it is today.
In the beginning, MTV did not play black recording artists. Then along came Michael Jackson and Thriller. According to Wikipedia, Michael is the artist who broke the self-imposed MTV color barrier and made it more acceptable for black singer’s videos to be placed in to rotation.
The night of the video’s premiere was preceded by days of anticipation. Everyone knew the day and time the video would be shown. At my god parent’s house, my sister, god sisters, god brother ate fast and I made sure our homework was out of the way.
We did not want to miss this event because we knew the next day everyone would be talking about it at school.
We prepared as if we were going to witness the greatest thing since the showing of the miniseries Roots. In our eyes, this video was something that we would never witness again.
I remember sitting in front of the TV, eating popcorn and waiting for the show to begin.
And what a show it was.
Michael Jackson gave us 14 minutes of something we had never seen before – a video complete with acting and a story line that actually went with the song lyrics. Sitting on the floor, I felt myself becoming scared as the scene opened with Michael and his date being at the movies.
I remember flinching and closing my eyes when Ola Ray did.
Walking down that dark street, we knew something was going to happen. But what? I was on edge the entire video.
Michael Jackson did not disappoint with Thriller. He set the bar high and made it so you expected much more from a music video than just singing and dancing.
Despite what you may think of Michael, his influence and revolutionary way of entertaining us through song changed how we would forever view videos.
There are many who have tried to duplicate his style, but there will never be another artist who has done what Michael has.
Never.
His comment sparked a memory of when I first saw the video for Thriller. Back in 1984, there was a relatively new television station that played only music videos. Aptly titled Music Television, MTV played music videos 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
It’s hard to fathom that MTV used to be all about music and not what it is today.
In the beginning, MTV did not play black recording artists. Then along came Michael Jackson and Thriller. According to Wikipedia, Michael is the artist who broke the self-imposed MTV color barrier and made it more acceptable for black singer’s videos to be placed in to rotation.
The night of the video’s premiere was preceded by days of anticipation. Everyone knew the day and time the video would be shown. At my god parent’s house, my sister, god sisters, god brother ate fast and I made sure our homework was out of the way.
We did not want to miss this event because we knew the next day everyone would be talking about it at school.
We prepared as if we were going to witness the greatest thing since the showing of the miniseries Roots. In our eyes, this video was something that we would never witness again.
I remember sitting in front of the TV, eating popcorn and waiting for the show to begin.
And what a show it was.
Michael Jackson gave us 14 minutes of something we had never seen before – a video complete with acting and a story line that actually went with the song lyrics. Sitting on the floor, I felt myself becoming scared as the scene opened with Michael and his date being at the movies.
I remember flinching and closing my eyes when Ola Ray did.
Walking down that dark street, we knew something was going to happen. But what? I was on edge the entire video.
Michael Jackson did not disappoint with Thriller. He set the bar high and made it so you expected much more from a music video than just singing and dancing.
Despite what you may think of Michael, his influence and revolutionary way of entertaining us through song changed how we would forever view videos.
There are many who have tried to duplicate his style, but there will never be another artist who has done what Michael has.
Never.
Tuesday, September 2, 2008
Obama and my mama
Let me preface this blog entry by saying it won’t have anything to do with music. You probably could have guessed that from the title.
I can not pass up the opportunity to talk about the excitement this election season is having on my family – in particular, my mother.
First, let me let you in on a little family background. Politics were not a topic of discussion in my house. My mother was too busy rearing two daughters to discuss such things. Any talk about politics would be my father’s domain – but I can’t recall having conversations with my father about politics when I was younger either.
My mother didn’t take us to the polls when she cast her vote because she didn’t – she was too busy working.
It’s not until recently that mom has been exercising her right. She’s not a fan of either Bushes and she used to like Clinton (Bill that is), but he fell out of her favor when the current process of selecting a candidate for the Democrats began.
As most people are aware, last week was the Democratic National Convention (DNC) in Denver, Colorado. I was reared in Denver and my family still lives there. My sister volunteered at the convention and my extended family all had a part in the historic occasion.
Unable to travel home, I lived vicariously through my sister’s five-day odyssey (boy, she has some great stories to tell and I hope she blogs about it like I told her to).
Back to mom. I called her to catch up and the conversation quickly turned to Barack Obama. “Do you really think he has a shot at winning the presidency?” she asked with a cautiousness in her voice.
Born in 1943, my mother has been through plenty as a Black woman in America. She’s experienced Jim Crow laws firsthand and has lived through the Civil Rights movement.
She knows being alive to witness a Black man be a major contender for the presidency of the United States is a historic occasion she never expected to see in her lifetime – or mine or the children I have yet to have.
As our talk continued, my mom went on and on about how she watched every moment of the DNC on CSPAN. “I didn’t want to hear what the reporters had to say,” she told me.
“Did you see Ted Kennedy?” she asked. “Stevie Wonder tore it up and Jennifer Hudson did a good job singing the national anthem,” she continued.
“Michelle Obama’s speech was really good and their daughters are too cute.” On and on my mom went about everything she saw.
I couldn’t help but feel a mixture of shock, pride and delight as I listened to my mother inform me about the lies “they” keep telling about Barack and how Hillary gets on her “last nerve.”
Never before, my mother said, has she watched a convention. “I never saw the need.”
But Barack Obama, with his passion to move America in a different direction, has my mother in a place she thought she would never be – hopeful that, come Nov. 4, this country will elect the right man to office. Not just because he’s a Black man, but because he’s the best option to lead this nation out of the despair and dysfunction it currently is in.
I anticipate that on Jan. 20, 2009, my mom will be beaming with pride as Barack Obama is sworn in as the 44th president of the United States of America.
I know I will.
I can not pass up the opportunity to talk about the excitement this election season is having on my family – in particular, my mother.
First, let me let you in on a little family background. Politics were not a topic of discussion in my house. My mother was too busy rearing two daughters to discuss such things. Any talk about politics would be my father’s domain – but I can’t recall having conversations with my father about politics when I was younger either.
My mother didn’t take us to the polls when she cast her vote because she didn’t – she was too busy working.
It’s not until recently that mom has been exercising her right. She’s not a fan of either Bushes and she used to like Clinton (Bill that is), but he fell out of her favor when the current process of selecting a candidate for the Democrats began.
As most people are aware, last week was the Democratic National Convention (DNC) in Denver, Colorado. I was reared in Denver and my family still lives there. My sister volunteered at the convention and my extended family all had a part in the historic occasion.
Unable to travel home, I lived vicariously through my sister’s five-day odyssey (boy, she has some great stories to tell and I hope she blogs about it like I told her to).
Back to mom. I called her to catch up and the conversation quickly turned to Barack Obama. “Do you really think he has a shot at winning the presidency?” she asked with a cautiousness in her voice.
Born in 1943, my mother has been through plenty as a Black woman in America. She’s experienced Jim Crow laws firsthand and has lived through the Civil Rights movement.
She knows being alive to witness a Black man be a major contender for the presidency of the United States is a historic occasion she never expected to see in her lifetime – or mine or the children I have yet to have.
As our talk continued, my mom went on and on about how she watched every moment of the DNC on CSPAN. “I didn’t want to hear what the reporters had to say,” she told me.
“Did you see Ted Kennedy?” she asked. “Stevie Wonder tore it up and Jennifer Hudson did a good job singing the national anthem,” she continued.
“Michelle Obama’s speech was really good and their daughters are too cute.” On and on my mom went about everything she saw.
I couldn’t help but feel a mixture of shock, pride and delight as I listened to my mother inform me about the lies “they” keep telling about Barack and how Hillary gets on her “last nerve.”
Never before, my mother said, has she watched a convention. “I never saw the need.”
But Barack Obama, with his passion to move America in a different direction, has my mother in a place she thought she would never be – hopeful that, come Nov. 4, this country will elect the right man to office. Not just because he’s a Black man, but because he’s the best option to lead this nation out of the despair and dysfunction it currently is in.
I anticipate that on Jan. 20, 2009, my mom will be beaming with pride as Barack Obama is sworn in as the 44th president of the United States of America.
I know I will.
Chocolate Legs and Eric Benet
Eric Benet wants me to wrap my chocolate legs around him.
Um, well, that’s what he was singing about during the celebration of a local radio personality’s birthday. Of course, I just knew he was singing directly to me seeing as though I was really close to the stage.
Forget about the 30 or so women who were right in front of the stage; he looked me in my eyes (through darks shades) and sang Chocolate Legs to me and only me. Maybe I’m stretching it, but I was there and you weren't.
Eric was the invited guest for Kevin Brown’s 50th birthday party. Several hundred people attended the event in support of Kevin, and for a worthwhile cause – helping children returning to school.
The price of admission was a backpack full of school supplies or $20. I chose the former.
Despite being in line 30 minutes before the doors opened and with only about 50 people ahead of us, my girls and I were still unable to secure seating (there were a lot of VIP sections. What’s up with that?), so we decided to grab something to eat next door.
Unfortunately we missed the surprise appearances of D’Wayne Wiggins of Tony! Toni! Tone! and comedian Mark Curry.
No biggie since we were really there to see Eric Benet. He took the stage around 9 o’clock and sang four songs – Feminity, Georgy Porgy, the aforementioned Chocolate Legs (from his soon-to-be-released album Love & Life out Sept. 9) and his latest single You’re The Only One. I’ve never seen Eric perform live, but he was well worth my backpack full of school supplies.
Eric’s voice was clear and crisp (despite the sub par sound system). I’m sure every woman in the audience felt like he wanted them to wrap their legs around him. There were even a few women in the front row who were trying to make that happen, and Eric had to step back from the stage because several of them couldn’t keep their hands to themselves.
I don’t blame them though. That man oozes sexy. The lips and five o’clock shadow just did it for me!
According to Eric’s Web site he plans to tour in support of Love & Live. Check him out – I actually plan to buy his new album based on his performance (Chocolate Legs had a little something to do with the decision as well).
Um, well, that’s what he was singing about during the celebration of a local radio personality’s birthday. Of course, I just knew he was singing directly to me seeing as though I was really close to the stage.
Forget about the 30 or so women who were right in front of the stage; he looked me in my eyes (through darks shades) and sang Chocolate Legs to me and only me. Maybe I’m stretching it, but I was there and you weren't.
Eric was the invited guest for Kevin Brown’s 50th birthday party. Several hundred people attended the event in support of Kevin, and for a worthwhile cause – helping children returning to school.
The price of admission was a backpack full of school supplies or $20. I chose the former.
Despite being in line 30 minutes before the doors opened and with only about 50 people ahead of us, my girls and I were still unable to secure seating (there were a lot of VIP sections. What’s up with that?), so we decided to grab something to eat next door.
Unfortunately we missed the surprise appearances of D’Wayne Wiggins of Tony! Toni! Tone! and comedian Mark Curry.
No biggie since we were really there to see Eric Benet. He took the stage around 9 o’clock and sang four songs – Feminity, Georgy Porgy, the aforementioned Chocolate Legs (from his soon-to-be-released album Love & Life out Sept. 9) and his latest single You’re The Only One. I’ve never seen Eric perform live, but he was well worth my backpack full of school supplies.
Eric’s voice was clear and crisp (despite the sub par sound system). I’m sure every woman in the audience felt like he wanted them to wrap their legs around him. There were even a few women in the front row who were trying to make that happen, and Eric had to step back from the stage because several of them couldn’t keep their hands to themselves.
I don’t blame them though. That man oozes sexy. The lips and five o’clock shadow just did it for me!
According to Eric’s Web site he plans to tour in support of Love & Live. Check him out – I actually plan to buy his new album based on his performance (Chocolate Legs had a little something to do with the decision as well).
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)