Living the Dream

I love to sing.  In the shower, on the street, in the studio, on the stage, wherever.  I'm not as shy as I used to be, but singing was always the thing I could hop on stage and do without the fear of public humiliation (even if I was, in fact, humiliating myself).

This past weekend, I sat in for guest vocals with two local bands - The Inlaws and Mark Roberts and The Occasionals.

Saturday afternoon featured a terrific open house event at Rock N Roll High School in Apex.

This music school has state of the art studios for lessons and its crown jewel, an auditorium with amazing sound and lighting - so the students can train and play in a true live setting. This is where The Inlaws and I did a set on Saturday afternoon.

Saturday night brought me to The Sports Page in Knightdale, where Mark Roberts from WRAL-TV and Capital Ford invited me to sit in with his band.  They handed me this when I walked in:

I knocked out songs 5 and 6 on the list, then they asked me to do a couple additional (Runnin Down a Dream and then "Kryptonite" from the second set list.)

Both bands have some dynamite musicians and there are surely worse things in the world than bopping around town on a beautiful Saturday to sing some of my favorite tunes.  Can't wait to do it again.

Foster
Radio 96.1

Fiona Apple Review

Fiona Apple will be playing Durham Performing Arts Center on September 27th, and I snuck a peek of what to expect when I saw her play The Joint at the Hard Rock Hotel in Las Vegas this past Saturday night.

Here's a glimpse:

First, a Fiona Apple show is not loud.  It's not an in your face, wipe the sweat from your brow because oh man, what just happened kinda show.  A Fiona show is an experience that will have you appreciating the musicianship but won't leave your ears ringing.

Second, the music is well worth appreciating.  Blake Mills, who is Apple's guitarist, also happens to be the opening act and is worth arriving early for - if not only for his cover of Santo and Johnny's "Sleepwalk", the sad instrumental played after the plane crash in the movie "La Bamba".

Third, Fiona dives deeply into her music.  She plays with a great deal of intensity, often with her eyes closed and arms flailing around.  She rarely engages the audience through dialogue - the only times she spoke to the crowd was to say "I love you too" to a yell of affection, complain about the large video screens, and to tell us that the last song of the set was, indeed, the last song so don't expect an encore.

I didn't really mind that, though.  I kind of appreciate the fact that she recognizes that encores are staged, fake displays of egotism for the artist, so why not just play the set and leave it be.

It's hard to believe that Fiona Apple was only 18 when her debut album, "Tidal" went multi-platinum in 1996.  Today at 35, she's winning over new fans by focusing on the only thing that matters - the music.

Foster
Radio 96.1

Hopscotch Review

Today's guest blogger is Radio 96.1 Web maven Sidney Little.

The Independent’s Hopscotch Music Festival took over Downtown Raleigh this weekend. So naturally, I could not resist attending. I have been sitting here this morning in a daze, trying my best to recall all of the bands, beer, and venues that made up my Hopscotch. The festival was made up of 175 bands and 15 venues scattered throughout the downtown area making schedule conflicts the biggest and only issue of the weekend. Picking and choosing bands was made a little easier with the epic line up of day parties which were sponsored by everyone from Ashley Christensen Restaurants to School Kids Records.

Thursday night, my Hopscotch opened with the wonderfully eccentric banjo, singer/songwriter Curtis Eller.  

Not only is his music amazing, but seeing him run around Five Star makes attending hard to resist . The festival continued on Friday; me being stuck at work, while the day parties raged. But the night made up for everything I missed with Built to spill at City Plaza, Hiss Golden Messenger performing at Fletcher Opera Hall and ending with the mind blowing audience participation of Dan Deacon.

Deacon, a composer and electronic musician, packed out the Pour House. His live shows are known for the combination of electronic build ups and participation.  His mobile app syncs the audience’s phones to the music which creates an insane light show. The energy in the pour house was so over the top that I probably could have stopped Hopscotching right then and been satisfied.

Luckily I still had one more day, which started off the right way with a Bloody Mary in hand, and Megafuan and Friends out on the street in front of Mecca.  

The night shows were delayed with rain, but with the Roots playing after a rain delay at City Plaza, it put the mood of Hopscotch right back to the perfect place .A Hopscotch set and  5 blocks later we were jumping around to the insanely loud NoBunny (who wears a bunny mask and not much else…) show at the Contemporary Art Museum. This without a doubt is the greatest venue offered at Hopscotch; the art, open feel, and tons of room to dance really is incomparable.

Finally we ended Hopscotch the best way I could imagine, at Deep South the Bar with Starlings, TN and Shovels and Rope. Starlings, TN really warmed the crowd up to get down with some traditional bluegrass. And finally, Shovels and Rope closed out my weekend. This husband and wife duo was, to say the least, my favorite show of the festival. With their chemistry, lyrics, and overall performance, it was hard to keep my excitement in check. To say I would recommend them to everyone I ever meet is an understatement.

Overall this Hopscotch provided some of the most unique, exciting, and powerful shows I have ever seen.

3 days

20 bands seen

16 hours of sleep

More PBR than one person should ever consume

1 Shovels and Rope shirt

1 line waited in (Dan Deacon!!)

Endless mustaches and beards

5 jogs in the rain

200 pictures

and countless memories make my current Hopscotch hangover more than worth it. 

Mark Roberts has an awesome gig

You can't possibly live in the Triangle and not know who Mark Roberts is.

If you've lived here less than 5 years, you know him as the Capital Ford guy.

If you were here prior to 2005, you probably know him as WRAL's traffic guy.

I've done a couple events with Mark recently, and I discovered he plays drums in a band - Mark Roberts and the Occasionals.

I'm told the rest of the band is cool with me sitting in and singing a song or two with them one of these days.

Whether that happens and they live to regret that decision remains to be seen, but it's always fun hanging out with one of the nicest guys in the business.

Foster
Radio 96.1

A Wild, Whirlwind Weekend in NYC with DPAC

This weekend, I had the pleasure of being invited to New York City with other Triangle-area radio people to see Broadway shows and be treated like a queen by the folks at the Durham Performing Arts Center.

This was my second time heading to NYC with the crew, and it's always great because they put us up in an incredible hotel, show us previews of a few of the shows coming to DPAC this year when their Broadway Series starts.  We flew up on Saturday morning and were home at 11 last night.  Whirlwind is really the only way I can describe it. 

We stayed at the Westin just off of Times Square.  Last year, I ended up with a view of the air conditioner.  Not so, this year:

I think this is 42nd Street.  I say 'I think', because I'm too lazy to pay attention most of the time.

Pretty sweet view, right?  Never mind that it was basically a five-star hotel and there was an iMac with free internet in my room.  I sort of felt gypped because another guy in our group got a full-on massage chair.  A massage chair!   But, I digress.

My best friend had taken the train in from New Jersey and got to witness the action.  So, this whole thing was a win-win for me:  a weekend of being treated royally while hanging out with my best friend.  Also, no view of the air conditioner.  Already, this trip was better than last year's--and last year's was AWESOME.

My BFF comes to dinner.  I'm glad she is used to rowdy people, or we might have scared her off.

We had a great group dinner at a fancy pants restaurant.  I think everyone in our group, each of whom is on the air somewhere in this market, was shocked that DPAC would take us somewhere so nice.  Don't they know that radio people love to drink and can get rowdy?  At any rate, the food was great and it was just a pre-cursor to a really fun night. 

One of the big shows coming to DPAC this October, is Jersey Boys.  The show was fantastic, and it was cool to see the guy who originated the role of Frankie Valli on Broadway in that role again.  I spent the evening amazed at how high his falsetto is.  How do they do that?   It was just a fun show with great music that you know you know all the words to.  I think I had about every 45 of The Four Seasons when I was growing up (I never got new records, really, I just had my dad's badass record collection from the 60s and I wore it out.)    It did not escape my amusement, though, that the "curtain" for Jersey Boys was made of chain link fence.  If I had a dollar for EVERY yard in Jersey that had a chain link fence when I was growing up,  I would have been able to afford to stay in that state.  Instead, I moved to NC.

That's chain link, people.

After the show, I was super tired (day drinking will do that to you.)  So my friend and I hopped a rickshaw to take us the 11 blocks back to our hotel.  The guy was crazy, he was weaving in and out of traffic.  But that wasn't the best part about the ride. 

 

 

 

These girls are about to join a midget biker gang.

 At the next light after jumping into the rickshaw, we were suddenly surrounded by midget bikes and midget bikers.  Well, the bikers weren't midgets.  But these crotch-rocket style bikes were the smallest things I've ever seen.  We were stuck AND surrounded by a midget biker gang.  Oddly, this may have been the highlight of my trip and I haven't even gotten to Sunday yet, which was epic.

If it looks like these people are smaller than me, it's because it's a midget biker gang! Look at the ratio of the guy in the plaid to the car next to him.  That is how small the bikes are.

The next day, we were treated to one of the coolest things I've ever done.  Below the legendary nightclub Studio 54, is a little club.  It's a late-night place, where, according to the internet, it's been made over by people that do Broadway theaters, and people who are actually on Broadway are known to get up and sing.  They also do a Jazz Brunch on Sundays.  So, we all arrived at 54 Below, as it's called, and were seated.  Drinks started flowing, food came and suddenly there was an awesome band on stage.  They were led by a white French guy that you can't see in this picture, because the way I was sitting I couldn't capture him.  I have seen a lot of great musicians over my career.  These guys topped the list.  The incredible musicianship and chemistry of the band made this brunch the most fun I have ever had whilst eating. They wanted us to keep our phones off, so I had to sneak a picture, which was difficult since I was down front. If you are EVER in New York, do yourself a favor and make a reservation for the Jazz Brunch at 54 Below.  The talent changes out every few days and it's just super cool.

These people are 150 times cooler than I will ever be. 

Radio peeps and DPAC peeps outside of 54 below.

After brunch, we trekked to Lincoln Center to see War Horse.  There could not be two polar opposite shows for us to see in a weekend.  This was no Jersey Boys, in that it was not a sing-a-long musical.  However, the acting was great and there are some astonishing puppets that are used to make you think that a real horse is on stage.  The movements, the way the horse would eat, you even think the horse is breathing for real at one point.  You develop empathy for a puppet.  A puppet.  War Horse will be at DPAC in October as well.  The horse puppets alone are, in my opinion, worth the price of admission. 

After War Horse, it was back to the hotel, and then back to reality.  I am constantly amazed on these trips how DPAC does you right--they bring you great entertainment, and make Broadway close to YOU so that you don't have to go to New York to see really cool things like a puppet horse, or singing Italian degenerates from New Jersey. It was a great time, and I'm so appreciative to have been part of it with other Triangle radio people, who I always enjoy but never get to see.  I made new friends, saw old ones, ate great food, heard great music, and I'm excited for you to see the shows when they come to DPAC this fall.  DPAC brings quality entertainment, and when they take you on a trip, they bring their A-game.  Thanks to Rachel, Emily and Jennie for a great weekend.  I threw in some bonus extra pics of Central Park and whatever else I didn't include here.  They're at the bottom of this blog.  Enjoy them, and in the meantime, I'll see you at DPAC for the Broadway Series.



 I will say, though, they will not be bringing you a midget biker gang.  You're on your own for that.


Alli

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Big Time Blur

I hadn't seen a boy band since New Kids on the Block in 1989.  (Go ahead, laugh - I got them free from a radio station.)  My kids wanted to see Big Time Rush at Time Warner Cable Music Pavilion, so being the top notch dad that I am :), I got them tickets.

As I told Alli this morning, it was what it was.  Cheesy, glossy, girls screaming...just what you would expect. When the band asked the crowd, "What's your favorite Beatles song?  Scream it out in 3, 2, 1...", I could hear the crickets.  No, wait - that was the sound of little girls googling to see who The Beatles were on their smartphones.

My kids enjoyed it, but what really got them up and dancing was their new single, "Windows Down" which has the whole crowd screaming, "Woo Hoo!!!"

Does this sound familiar?

It should - it's the same music as Blur's "Song 2".

I found out that Blur is, in fact, on the songwriting credits - so Blur gets paid when screaming girls in 2012 think they are listening to a brand new song.  Which is a good thing...I guess.

Foster
Radio 96.1

Duran Duran Review

I was 11 years old in 1983, so seeing Duran Duran in 2012 means more to me than it would to see another Led Zeppelin reunion.

I know to some those words will sound like blasphemy, and - believe me - I love me some Zep.  But contextually, in 1983, Led Zeppelin had already disbanded 3 years prior.  Duran Duran was the one of the hottest bands on the planet, launching the year by playing "Hungry Like The Wolf" on MTV's New Years Eve Ball.   So for me, a Duran Duran concert takes me back to playing Pac-Man at the arcade, Friday Night Videos, and a pretty darn happy and innocent time.

Durham Performing Arts Center has done an outstanding job of bringing in artists that generally play larger venues to create once-in-a-lifetime experiences.  Duran Duran, for example, played an amphitheater in Atlanta in the show before DPAC, and is playing an amphitheater in the show after - both venues double the size of Durham's gem.

The show began with a bizarre 10 minute video of Aztec statues and water features set to a symphonic soundtrack.  It wasn't the unusual nature of the video that bothered me so much as the images of falling water made me want to go to the restroom.

The band appeared and launched "Before The Rain", a slow to mid-tempo tune from their latest album, 2010's "All You Need Is Now" (the band has been touring in support of this album for 20 months).  Any designs on the band playing too much new material were put to rest in songs 2 and 3 of the set, the excellent minor hit "Planet Earth" and "A View To A Kill".

The newer songs sounded superb, woven expertly throughout the night with every hit you'd want to hear.  A fan was brought on stage to sing the "dah-dah-dah-dah" intro to "The Reflex".  One of my favorites, "Union of the Snake", was a pleasant surprise, as was their impeccable cover of Grandmaster Melle Mel's "White Lines".

Simon LeBon introduced "Ordinary World" as a song they never tire of playing, because it reaffirmed the band's relevance at a time Duran Duran was hanging by a string and could have disappeared forever.  "Hungry Like The Wolf" played well into "(Reach Up For The) Sunrise", a terrific 2004 track that charted much better overseas than in the U.S. but is one of their best moments of their live show.

Ever notice that "Wild Boys" kinda sounds like Frankie Goes To Hollywood's "Relax"?  They did a wicked version of "Wild Boys" that veered into "Relax" in the middle.

Finishing their 2-hour set with "Rio", Duran Duran proved to a jam-packed house that you can go forward and back and the band sounds as good as ever. A terrific night.

Foster
Radio 96.1