Welcome to another week of Sunday's Seven Songs! Tonight concludes my last weekend before a series of very busy, but very fun weeks and weekends ahead. Next week is the Pot of Gold Festival! On Friday there will be bands like Bleachers, Awolnation and Bastille. Saturday will be hosted by bands like Hoodie Allen, Kongos and Kendrick Lamar. Sunday will feature New Politics, Echosmith, and one of my (many) favorite bands, Fall Out Boy!! Tuesday will wrap up the festival with bands like Korn and Godsmack. I am planning on volunteering on Saturday and Sunday, and I am crossing my fingers that I will also be there on Friday. On Monday, I leave for California during Spring Break. The day I have been looking forward most to is just two weeks away from tonight. Blink 182 featuring Matt Skiba will take the stage at Musink Festival and I am one of the incredibly lucky and fortunate people who get to see them. Then in April I will be attending the American Candy Tour (The Maine, Real Friends, Knuckle Puck, The Technicolors), FestivALTAZ (Panic! at the Disco, Death Cab for Cutie), the Chipotle Festival (twenty one pilots), and Matt & Kim's show. So unbelievable. I love having this much to look forward to.
We have more than just concerts coming up in the next few weeks. Tom Delonge will release his first song from his new album tomorrow. All Time Low are releasing the second single from their new album tomorrow. The Maine are releasing their second single from their new album on Tuesday. Sleeping with Sirens are releasing a new song from their new album everyday until their album is released on March 17. The Technicolors announced they have a new single coming out this month. Can you believe all that new music headed our way??? I can't express how excited I am.
On a side note, Travis Barker did an interview with Alternative Nation where he talked about music, the Musink festival and performing with Matt Skiba, and a comment on Tom Delonge. While what I took out of the interview was that this concert at Musink is going to be absolutely incredible, every headline that I have read makes it look like Travis is talking trash about Tom which is not true. I know it's a catchy headline, but a headline like "Travis Barker Announces That This Is The Best Blink Has Ever Sounded" would have equally caught my attention.
Alright, I'll get started with the seven songs now:
1) All of the Stars by Ed Sheeran
This song is taken from the soundtrack from The Fault in Our Stars. Ed Sheeran has such an unique voice that could not be compared to anything else. I love how this song is just the piano and his voice, for the most part. The other instruments and soft and don't overshadow the vocals and piano. The soundtrack for this movie is so wonderfully put together. Everything from loving to sad to Swedish rap.
2) Wait by M83
This song also comes out of The Fault in Our Stars. I've kind of been obsessing over this song today. I love when a song is so calming that you don't really need to pay attention to appreciate it. It's fulfilling whether you listen to every word or if you just keep it on as background music. The vocals are easy to listen to and they also have a powerful effect that I can't exactly find the words to describe. It's that song that you want to play when you're out on a late night drive, trying not to think of anything.
3) Chocolate by The 1975
This is the song everyone knows by this group. It's popular for a reason. It's catchy and simple so why wouldn't everyone love it. I can still picture the band performing this song last November. The way the lights bounced off the smoke in the arena. Such an easy and creative effective, but I've never heard of anyone doing it quite like them.
4) This is Gospel (Piano version) by Panic! at the Disco
This is easily one of my favorite P!ATD songs. The piano version blows away anything I have heard by them. Brendon Urie's voice is one of the most talented and smooth and beautiful voices ever. Just click on the link in the song title and tell me I'm wrong. He's a natural performer. The music video took something that was simple and elegant and made it fun and messy which I totally enjoyed. I can't wait to see this band next month!
5) Asleep by The Smiths
This song comes from The Perks of Being a Wallflower - both the book and the movie. The song took on a new meaning for me after I read the book that's a little hard to explain. As the title suggests, it's the perfect song to fall asleep to. Morrissey will always and forever be a legend in the music world.
6) Chasing Cars by Snow Patrol
This song is probably in a lot of films, but none come to mind at the moment. I was listening to a really well put together playlist on 8tracks and this song was on it. I feel like this is one of those songs where you know all the words, but you aren't really sure where you learned it from. It goes along with the theme of the rest of the songs though - really mellow, soft, something to relax to.
7) LA Girl by The Janoskians
This song does not whatsoever fit with the themes of the other songs. If you've never heard of them, The Janoskians are a group of five Australian guys who are best known for their dumb pranks they film and upload to YouTube. They've ventured a little bit into the music industry and their sound is nothing really serious, but almost solely to make someone laugh. I picked this song because I love the vocals the best in this one. All five guys take turns singing, however I promise they are nothing like One Direction if that's what you started to think. Anyways, they had an EP come out on March 2 and it's pretty good. I just thought that I would bring it up.
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That concluded this week's list of seven songs. I'm really looking forward to concerts and new music so I have something different to blog about (not that I don't love this weekly blog).
Until next time,
Nikole xx
Showing posts with label the 1975. Show all posts
Showing posts with label the 1975. Show all posts
Sunday, March 8, 2015
Monday, November 24, 2014
The 1975
Last weekend I had the amazing opportunity to see a very popular British boy band - no not that boy band. The 1975 made a stop in Phoenix for their 2014 North American Tour on November 22 and since my friend had an extra ticket, I was actually able to see them. The band from Manchester is probably most well-known for their song "Chocolate." They had two opening acts who had the same mellow vibe as The 1975 - Young Rising Sons and Cruisr.
Young Rising Sons + Cruisr
The first act of the night, Young Rising Sons, came on stage at 8 p.m. YRS is a band from New Jersey composed of Andy Tongren, Dylan Scott, Julian Dimagiba, and Steve Patrick. They were my favorite of the two opening acts. They were able to get the crowd - who was unusually less pumped than I expected them to be - to get up and almost get loud. The most memorable part of their set was when they covered Modern English's "I Melt With You" (I always associate this song with Sky High...).
In case you didn't know the band's name, it was spelled out on a giant banner behind the group and they made sure to mention that a few times while they were playing. Cruisr is an indie band from Philadelphia made up of Andy States, Jonathan Van Dine, Kyle Cook, and Bruno Catrambone. I felt bad during their set because the crowd was not animated at all. I just don't understand that. How do you not get excited when you're at a concert?? Despite the lack of emotion from the crowd, they still put on a great show. Very indie and very subdued kind of sound. Both of these acts were a good choice for the tour.
The 1975
The 1975 truly have a one-of-a-kind sound. I can't compare them to anything I have heard before. The British band comes from Manchester and includes Matty Healy (vocals, guitar), Adam Hann (guitar), George Daniel (drums, backing vocals), and Ross MacDonald (bass). Matty introduced the newest member of the band, John Waugh, a saxophonist.
Before they came on, it took the crew about 30-40 minutes to set up the stage and most of that time was spent pumping the arena with smoke. It was really annoying at first, but the effect it had was absolutely astonishing. You couldn't see the smoke until the lights hit the air at the right angle and somehow they were able to make the effect that there were clouds right about your head. You can raise your hand up through the smoke and it was one of the coolest feelings. From pictures, I could tell that part of a The 1975 show was the smoke, but pictures never caught the full effect. Just this detail was probably one of my favorite parts of the performance.
Opening with "The City," The 1975 make their way on stage. I'm not sure how to describe Matty, but he is what I picture a typical British indie rock star to look like. Loose white unbuttoned shirt, longish hair that falls in his face, tattoos that cover his torso, piercing eyes, the IDGAF expression on his face. He performs almost lazily, like he's in a dream. Their songs make you feel dreamy too and that's one of the things I love about their music.
Matty asked everyone to put their phones away during a song so they can live in the moment. "This is the first time I am ever seeing you and I want to see you, not your phone." Of course, I put my phone away and enjoyed every second of the moment. Later, once the song was done and people pulled their songs back out, Matty actually reached over the barrier to take someone's phone. He took pictures of himself and the crowd plus a few funny selfies and gave it back. What a lucky fan.
My favorite song of the night (also one of my favorite songs by the band) was "fallingforyou." Matty drank from a bottle of wine he was carrying around stage and softly sung the words to the crowd. When he actually talked, it was hard to understand a word because I couldn't tell if he was slurring or if his accent was just really thick (or maybe a combination of the two). It was one of the songs where the lights were positioned just right to create the cloud allusion. Another thing I found different about Matty's performance other than the drinking on stage was the smoking on stage. Both him and George Daniel had a few cigarettes that night and I can't say I have ever seen an artist do that. It kind of just fit with the atmosphere and their characters.
Apparently this was one of the largest crowds the band has played to on the tour and they made sure to make it extra special for the audience. Matty with cigarette in hand sat down at his piano and played "Is There Somebody Who Can Watch You" for the first time on tour. While the person behind me complained that they were falling asleep, I couldn't be more awake. Matty sniffled and you got the idea that he was crying a little bit and the entire crowd let out a simultaneous "awww." I'm happy that the band made the night extra special because hopefully they'll remember it just like I will.
The last four songs they played - "Girls," "Robbers," "Chocolate," "Sex" - were some of their most popular and it was a great way to end a great night. The lights got brighter and pulsed faster as they approached their finale. The crowd was more than awake now and everyone singing along was a beautiful sound. I know The 1975 will be busy in the studio after they finish this tour, but I hope they come back soon.
_____
Even though November has been one of the more stressful months of the year, it definitely had some of the most memorable moments. I turned 18. I got to see four concerts which in total included 14 incredible acts. I have met new friends. I have my best friend coming to live with me over winter break which is just a little over three weeks away. I'm more excited than I have ever been about my future career (even though from my gov project I have learned that it will be a very competitive field and I won't be making a huge amount of money, but I know it will be rewarding nonetheless). I know I'll be making even more incredible memories in December once Kaitz arrives. :)
Thanks for reading!
xx Nikole
**The pictures aren't uploading so I'll try to update this post with pictures tomorrow
Young Rising Sons + Cruisr
The first act of the night, Young Rising Sons, came on stage at 8 p.m. YRS is a band from New Jersey composed of Andy Tongren, Dylan Scott, Julian Dimagiba, and Steve Patrick. They were my favorite of the two opening acts. They were able to get the crowd - who was unusually less pumped than I expected them to be - to get up and almost get loud. The most memorable part of their set was when they covered Modern English's "I Melt With You" (I always associate this song with Sky High...).
In case you didn't know the band's name, it was spelled out on a giant banner behind the group and they made sure to mention that a few times while they were playing. Cruisr is an indie band from Philadelphia made up of Andy States, Jonathan Van Dine, Kyle Cook, and Bruno Catrambone. I felt bad during their set because the crowd was not animated at all. I just don't understand that. How do you not get excited when you're at a concert?? Despite the lack of emotion from the crowd, they still put on a great show. Very indie and very subdued kind of sound. Both of these acts were a good choice for the tour.
The 1975
The 1975 truly have a one-of-a-kind sound. I can't compare them to anything I have heard before. The British band comes from Manchester and includes Matty Healy (vocals, guitar), Adam Hann (guitar), George Daniel (drums, backing vocals), and Ross MacDonald (bass). Matty introduced the newest member of the band, John Waugh, a saxophonist.
Before they came on, it took the crew about 30-40 minutes to set up the stage and most of that time was spent pumping the arena with smoke. It was really annoying at first, but the effect it had was absolutely astonishing. You couldn't see the smoke until the lights hit the air at the right angle and somehow they were able to make the effect that there were clouds right about your head. You can raise your hand up through the smoke and it was one of the coolest feelings. From pictures, I could tell that part of a The 1975 show was the smoke, but pictures never caught the full effect. Just this detail was probably one of my favorite parts of the performance.
Opening with "The City," The 1975 make their way on stage. I'm not sure how to describe Matty, but he is what I picture a typical British indie rock star to look like. Loose white unbuttoned shirt, longish hair that falls in his face, tattoos that cover his torso, piercing eyes, the IDGAF expression on his face. He performs almost lazily, like he's in a dream. Their songs make you feel dreamy too and that's one of the things I love about their music.
Matty asked everyone to put their phones away during a song so they can live in the moment. "This is the first time I am ever seeing you and I want to see you, not your phone." Of course, I put my phone away and enjoyed every second of the moment. Later, once the song was done and people pulled their songs back out, Matty actually reached over the barrier to take someone's phone. He took pictures of himself and the crowd plus a few funny selfies and gave it back. What a lucky fan.
My favorite song of the night (also one of my favorite songs by the band) was "fallingforyou." Matty drank from a bottle of wine he was carrying around stage and softly sung the words to the crowd. When he actually talked, it was hard to understand a word because I couldn't tell if he was slurring or if his accent was just really thick (or maybe a combination of the two). It was one of the songs where the lights were positioned just right to create the cloud allusion. Another thing I found different about Matty's performance other than the drinking on stage was the smoking on stage. Both him and George Daniel had a few cigarettes that night and I can't say I have ever seen an artist do that. It kind of just fit with the atmosphere and their characters.
Apparently this was one of the largest crowds the band has played to on the tour and they made sure to make it extra special for the audience. Matty with cigarette in hand sat down at his piano and played "Is There Somebody Who Can Watch You" for the first time on tour. While the person behind me complained that they were falling asleep, I couldn't be more awake. Matty sniffled and you got the idea that he was crying a little bit and the entire crowd let out a simultaneous "awww." I'm happy that the band made the night extra special because hopefully they'll remember it just like I will.
The last four songs they played - "Girls," "Robbers," "Chocolate," "Sex" - were some of their most popular and it was a great way to end a great night. The lights got brighter and pulsed faster as they approached their finale. The crowd was more than awake now and everyone singing along was a beautiful sound. I know The 1975 will be busy in the studio after they finish this tour, but I hope they come back soon.
_____
Even though November has been one of the more stressful months of the year, it definitely had some of the most memorable moments. I turned 18. I got to see four concerts which in total included 14 incredible acts. I have met new friends. I have my best friend coming to live with me over winter break which is just a little over three weeks away. I'm more excited than I have ever been about my future career (even though from my gov project I have learned that it will be a very competitive field and I won't be making a huge amount of money, but I know it will be rewarding nonetheless). I know I'll be making even more incredible memories in December once Kaitz arrives. :)
Thanks for reading!
xx Nikole
**The pictures aren't uploading so I'll try to update this post with pictures tomorrow
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