You can feel the heat again this season, but for most music aficionados, it's time for summer concerts. Let loose, be free, rock on and carpe diem!
Even though most would love to go see their favorite artist or attend highly anticipated music festivals, it seems ticket prices this year aren't selling out. Reading Rolling Stones magazine, it seems this year a lot of musicians and artists are having a hard time selling concert tickets due to the bad economy along with high ticket prices.
Well you don't have to worry, if you're living in the Baltimore/DC scene this years. Virgin Festival is bringing back their Free Fest this year, September 25, 2010. That's right! According to Ron Faris, director of brand experiences for Virgin Mobil USA, last year was so successful with great reviews from attendees and band members. It's no surprise the Virgin company and Kyocera had to bring the Free Fest back again to the Merriweather Pavillion in Columbia, MD.
Virgin Festival hasn't announced their great lineup yet, but it will be announced today. Keep updated at http://virginmobilefestival.com.
Last year’s Virgin Mobile FreeFest lineup included Weezer, Blink-182, Franz Ferdinand, Public Enemy, GirlTalk, The National and a dozen more. All 35,000 tickets were scooped up in just 20 minutes. Fans can sign up for the news alerts announcing the 2010 band lineup and ticket information on www.virginmobilefreefest.com.
Work and everything in between have made me so tired throughout my day, so tired to even write a couple sentences here or even worse check my e-mails every day. Well I have definitely become a work-a-holic now. Oh and a small rant on the side, it's been a few months since I've actually been out to a lounge or club. I recently went to the Power Plant Live in Baltimore with my man to a very long overdue rain check. We were both ready to go out clubbing and dancing, until I saw an appalling sight. I was appalled to see how some people dance now. Is it just me or are people pumping their fist in the air now?? Has the Jersey Shore spread their way to the average people's dances now??? Ridiculous!! Maybe that's why I don't really go out in Baltimore much. Sorry Baltimore, your nightlife hasn't impressed me.
Anyway, that's just my rant for the day. So now on to what I wanted to talk about. Recently I have fallen in love to a new type of music to my ears, thanks to my man's introduction. The music has a tropical urban guitar flair, definitely Latino. It's definitely not something I have heard on America's Top 40s yet, but it would be a great variety to have. The music I'm referring to is Bachata.
Oh I have fallen in love with bachata as I have with anything else that I love, like I do with corn, and my friends definitely know how much I love corn. Okay, so I know bachata is definitely not new. But after living most of my life in Florida and if you live in Florida you know about Reggaeton, I am just surprised that I haven't heard about bachata before. Bachata originated in the Dominican Republic and is comprised of five instruments. These instruments are the lead guitar, rhythm guitar, electric bass guitar, bongos and a guira (originating from the Dominican). Even though bachata originated in the Dominican, it has a very distinct variation of bolero music.
Apparently, bachata was first recorded after the falling of the dictator, Rafael Trujillo. Thankfully bachata slowly came to be popular from the days when censorship became obsolete. When Juan Luis Guerra won a Grammy for Bachata Rosa, it may have helped bring recognition to bachata, even though the songs there didn't reflect bachata at all. Thankfully with widespread popularity, a New York based bachata group, Aventura, definitely caught my ears with their urban mix of bachata, therefore making me fall in love with the genre.
One of the first bachata songs I heard was "Su Veneno" by Aventura. Oooh, I really love that song a lot. About bitches and poison, that's love and women, right? Ha, yeah right, but hell it makes a great song to listen to.
Wow, it feels like decades (well, okay, some months) since I've heard any new music or blogged about any music, but work has consumed my life entirely now. Even though it's still no excuse. So, even though I find it difficult to find and listen to new music, it hasn't stopped me my habit of buying new CDs, i.e. Jay Sean's All or Nothing.
I recently got a chance to dust my netbook (my lovely HP Mini) to turn it on and find my Pandora account. Oh thank goodness, for all the different types of "radios" I've created. One of the radios which I based off Jay Sean's "Down," I heard a mix that sounded like a FloRida beat, but the chorus line was so reminiscent of my early 90s love. I heard "love me, love me, say that you love me." Going crazy in my mind, oh snap, it's The Cardigan's song, "Lovefool," which brought me back to my middle school days. Though while listening it wasn't the same. The vocalist wasn't a female, but a young male voice. Lo and behold, when I switched windows back to Pandora, I saw it was Justin Bieber, Usher's new artist on Island records.
Justin Bieber - Love Me
The Cardigans - Lovefool
I remember when I first saw and heard this kid on YouTube. Since he was so young I didn't give him much cred. But who knew that Bieber would blow up and have Justin Timberlake and Usher try to get him on their record labels. It shows how technology and social media is changing the way we're looking for new entertainment and potential artists. For all my favorite underground artists who want to be on a major record label, I hope you're able to make it. Cross fingers and good luck!
I just breathe, speak, laugh, eat, dream, play, feel, live and love music. I crave all things related to music like dance, beats, lyrics, concerts, music videos, fashion, art, personalities, etc.
Surprise me with something new and I might be interested.
