Heather Larson's Blog
Posted by Heather Larson
Countdown to Zeppelin on iTunes
There’s less than a month until you can buy Led Zeppelin’s music on iTunes. November 13 is d-day for Zep’s digital arrival.
R. Kelly’s and Keyshia Cole On Tour
Keyshia Cole is joining R. Kelly’s tour November 14 in Columbus, GA. Here’s a link to her new song featuring Amina, “Shoulda Let You Go.”
Check out the video too. You probably don’t want to miss this one; the lady looks HOT! Yes, it’s Keyshia Cole on the beach in a pink bathing suit. Fellas, you’re welcome.
Keyshia Cole Tour Dates:?
Wed Nov 14 Columbus, GA Columbus Civic Center ?
Thurs Nov 15 Atlanta Phillips Arena?
Fri Nov 16 Greensboro Greensboro Coliseum?
Sat Nov 17 Birmingham BJCC?
Sun Nov 18 Charlotte Bobcat Arena?
Wed Nov 21 Philadelphia Wachovia Center?
Thurs Nov 22 Newark Prudential Center?
Fri Nov 23 New York Nassau Coliseum?
Sat Nov 24 Baltimore 1st Mariner?
Sun Nov 25 Washington DC Verizon Center?
Thurs Nov 29 Little Rock Alltel Arena?
Fri Nov 30 New Orleans New Orleans Arena?
Sat Dec 1 Dallas American AirlinesArena?
Sun Dec 2 Houston Toyota Center?
Thurs Dec 6 Minneapolis Target Center?
Fri Dec 7 Kansas City Sprint Center?
Sat Dec 8 Indianapolis Conseco Fieldhouse?
Sun Dec 9 Memphis Fed Ex Forum
Thurs Dec 13 Las Vegas Mandalay Bay?
Fri Dec 14 Los Angeles Staples Center?
Sat Dec 15 Oakland Oakland Arena(Oracle)
Sun Dec 16 Sacramento ARCO Arena?
Thurs Dec 20 Chicago United Center?
Fri Dec 21 Chicago United Center
Sat Dec 22 Detroit Joe Louis Arena?
Sun Dec 23 Detroit Joe Louis Arena?
Thurs Dec 27 Charleston North Charleston Coliseum?
Fri Dec 28 Orlando Amway?
Sat Dec 29 Columbia Colonial Center?
Sun Dec 30 Jacksonville Veteran Memorial?
Mon Dec 31 Miami American AirlinesArena
Fri Jan 4 Cleveland Wolstein Center?
Sat Jan 5 Louisvile Kentucky Expo Center?
Sun Jan 6 St Louis Scottrade?Wed Jan 9 Savannah Savannah Civic Center?
Thurs Jan 10 Greenville Bi-Lo Center?
Fri Jan 11 Richmond Richmond Coliseum ?
Sun Jan 13 Hampton Coliseum Hampton Coliseum
Posted by Heather Larson
Everyone is getting in on the pre-holiday music releases, all hoping to be under your Christmas tree or sitting next to your Menorah. Mary J. Blige’s Growing Pains is set for release on November 27. A week later, you can get your hands on Wyclef’s Carnival II: Memoirs of an Immigrant.
First, there was an Internet-only montage of “Sweetest Girl” put on YouTube. It’s a song featuring ‘Lil Wayne, Akon, and newcomer NIIA. Now you can enjoy the real video online.
The song’s hook makes reference to a decade old Wu-Tang Clan song, “C.R.E.A.M.,” with the lyrics: "I'ma tell you like Wu told me / Cash rules everything around me..."
It’s an essential hip-hop song; if you haven’t heard it before, you better check it out now on the Wu MySpace.
Besides giving homage to some classic hip hop, ‘Clef’s new joint will feature some of today’s best stars. Guests on the album include Mary J. Blige, Chamillionaire, Lil' Wayne, and TI. What a dream team!
Check out the video for Sweetest Girl (Dollar Bill)
Posted by Heather Larson
So I go to see the Dave Matthews Band concert at Phoenix’s Cricket Wireless Pavilion. It’s the old Desert Sky Pavilion, at least that’s what we called it when I was a kid. That will give you an idea of how old it is. So the place is a dump, quite literally. Every moment I am there, I am hating the experience. The place needs a serious upgrade. It’s completely cramped.
Once inside after a completely inefficient pat down/purse search where girls go in one line and boys go in the other and everyone is confused, I head to the ladies room. The line goes on for eternity and some drunk chick comes up behind me and starts grabbing on me asking if this is the end of the line. Well, duh. This was the beginning of what would be a night of bad behavior.
Dave Matthews Band fans have absolutely no manners.
A chick blatantly cut in the bathroom line right in front of me, but at least she sang for her supper and carried on an intelligent conversation about Dave and Jimmy Buffet with me. This is very much unlike the drunk chick behind me who kept grabbing me and cursing, yelling at the girls in line to, “Just pick a f***ing stall already!”
There was also a chance meeting between us at the bathroom sink, which had definitely seen better days as it splattered all the nearby ladies with water. I’ve never seen a sink splatter so far before. Note to Cricket: bulldoze your cramped, sagging, dilapidated Pavilion and build something that will handle our growing population.
Next in part two: My trip into hell, or sitting on the lawn at a Dave Matthews Band show.
Posted by Heather Larson
I thought we’d be safe once we found our spot on the lawn to spread out our beach towels. I was wrong.
The extremely bad-mannered Dave Matthews fans walked right over our beach towels. They stepped on my feet. They tripped on my feet. They spilled beer on my feet. Garbage was kicked at us. Loud, drunken people surrounded us having loud conversations. Dave Matthews Band fans are white trash of the highest order. Caucasian debris. In all my years of going to concerts, I have never had such an experience.
The music was fantastic and Dave and the fellas didn’t disappoint. Seeing the band was worth putting up with a sold-out crowd of jerks. But the ultimate example of stupidity came during the encore.
A dancing couple moved into the real estate right behind us on the lawn. The drunken couple danced wildly, and in the beginning, I was actually watching them for laughs as was everyone else in the vicinity. Let face it, drunk people dancing are always a hit. It was especially funny when he twirled her right into a passing fat woman. I laughed pretty hard at that -- until he twirled her into me and almost knocked me over.
I’d rather go to Country Thunder where the “rednecks” are rich and well-behaved. That was the most fun, laid-back crowd I have ever seen. I’d also rather go see Maná any day in any country. Hispanics also have great manners and are very welcoming, even to a loco gringa like me. But a Dave Matthews Band show I could skip just because of the fans. Maybe I’d go if I could buy a seat and avoid the lawn. I’d definitely go see them at another venue in another city. But Cricket Wireless Pavilion I’ll avoid as much as I can.
Posted by Heather Larson
As a freelance music journalist, I get to attend a great many concerts. Friday night, I was at Phoenix’s Chase Field to watch a Smashmouth concert after the Arizona Diamondbacks beat the St. Louis Cardinals. My radio station 98-7 The Peak (KPKX), where I am a weekend on-air personality, presented Smashmouth after the game. It was the first time I had seen them in concert in probably 12 years! They were still great, though a little older and a tad on the heavy side. But then again, so am I!
Sometimes it is easy to get jaded when you go to so many concerts, or to feel unexcited. Usually I do feel excited when going to any live show because I never know what to expect. But tonight I am especially excited to be attending the Mana concert at U.S. Airways Center in Phoenix for Batanga.com because I have been a fan for a few years and I am finally getting to see them live.
Sharing my excitement hasn’t been so easy though. I am finding my white friends have no idea what I’m talking about when I say, “I’m getting ready to go see Mana tonight and tomorrow night and I’m so excited!” They say, “You’re going to see who?” Then I have to try to explain Mana to someone who has never heard of them.
Mana is one of the biggest rock bands in the world. If you’re Mexican, they are your U2, The Rolling Stones of the Latin world. The band has been around since the 1970s and like all legendary bands, has gone through many incarnations with members coming and going through the years.
More in part 2...
