OurStage – a brand new way to discover and enjoy the best new artists and the best new music – as determined by you.
OurStage – a brand new way to discover and enjoy the best new artists and the best new music – as determined by you.
I’ve heard a lot of buzz about Blitzen Trapper but hadn’t checked them out until today. They’re good. Really good. Heartfelt lo-fi pop/country/electronic songs with beautiful harmonies and subtle complexity in meter and chord changes. They’re shaping up to be the band I annoyingly hype to all my friends over the next few weeks (i.e. White Denim in late February, early March).
More pics:
My good friend and OurStage PR guru Jessica Morris, affectionately dubbed “J-Mo” in the OurStage offices, was so enthusiastic about Ingrid Michaelson’s set at Bumbershoot, I asked if she’d write a quick review of her show. As J-Mo always does, she took the assignment seriously and knocked it out of the park. Here’s her review (with more pictures below):
J-Mo’s Biggest Fan Experience:
“I’m at Bumbershoot for work, but I wasn’t going to let that stop me from seeing my favorite artist on stage. This is my “Biggest Fan” experience brought to you by OurStage…
I Love Ingrid Michaelson… I first discovered her through Grey’s Anatomy and have been a fan ever since. I recently caught her show at the Berklee Performance Center in Boston and she did a great job engaging the audience. So, I was curious to see how she fared at a music festival where her audience isn’t quite so captive and she had to compete with many distractions. Again, she dazzled.
Ingrid’s concerts are like a buy one, get one free sale. You pay for a great concert and you get a bonus comedy show just for the hell of it!
While you ‘re watching her on stage, you come to an almost immediate realization that she is just a girl – just like everybody else in the crowd – she just happens to be the one with a microphone… and gobs of talent.
From her clumsy, yet charming strip tease, to her complaints about her muffin top waist, Ingrid isn’t necessarily helping the audience relate to her (although, we do). She’s actually doing the reverse: she is relating to her audience. She is looking out into a sea of adoring faces and seeing a group of her closest friends, at least for the next 45 minutes, and she isn’t going to hesitate to tell you all of her troubles, hopes and dreams. This time, she is so excited to tell us that Dave Matthews told her she gave him a musical woody… she’s blushing the whole time she’s telling the story.
I am definitely looking forward to her next comedy show!”
Thanks J-Mo! BTW, you can all see Ingrid’s next “comedy” show, tomorrow night (9/2/08) on Jay Leno. You should also check out her review on Daytrotter w/ free downloads. Here are more Ingrid pics from Bumbershoot:
At the end of Day 2 at Bumbershoot, I was thrilled to simultaneously catch up with two of the coolest guys I’ve met on the music festival circuit in the past couple years. On the left, Matt Allen (Ice Cream Man and fellow Tapes ‘n Tapes enthusiast) and on the right, Erik (Tapes’ Bassist and fellow Michigan sports fan).
It’s late so I’m not going to spend too much time gushing over Tapes ‘n Tapes. Suffice to say, they saved Day 2 after I left an abysmal performance by Stone Temple Pilots.
Here are a bevy of pics from the Tapes show:
I can’t say I was disappointed with Stone Temple Pilots‘ performance at Bumbershoot. Disappointment requires the precondition of high expectations. With all due respect to my beloved video director (Andrew Bertino) who worships STP, I’ve never been a big fan. My reaction to their reunion was similar to the reaction I had upon learning of the New Kids on The Block reunion: I guess they could use the money…and at least it’ll be fun for their fans.
That it was. Like true rock stars (or douchebags depending on your perspective) the band literally rolled directly up to the stage 30 minutes late in their huge tour bus (because it would have been too much to walk 20 feet to the stage). Once on stage, it was time for the ultimate STP karaoke party, featuring crazy (old) man Scott Weiland and bandmates playing all their hits in rapid succession with a light show that seemed to have been leftover from 1994 along with their songs. Though I wasn’t thrilled, my initial thoughts were confirmed:
1) They made money (I’m assuming)
and
2) It was fun for their fans (thousands of whom showed up)
Here’s another pic for those fans:
