Atlanta Music Scene Has Moved To WordPress
Slowly but surely, the Atlanta Music Scene blog has been transitioning to WordPress - a bigger and better blogging and commenting experience!
See you there, at http://blogs.ajc.com/atlanta-music-scene/
Home > Atlanta Music Scene > Archives > 2008 > January > 26
Saturday, January 26, 2008
All-Star: All Screams for Jonas Bros.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Ahhhhh…There’s nothing like the screech of boy-crazy adolescence in the morning to wake you right up.
Or for hockey-crazed boys, seeing their favorite NHL players up close, in one venue.
And for those teen girls and boys dads, well, let’s just say quite a few Bud and Miller Lites were being sold Saturday morning at Philips Arena, even though the clock hadn’t even struck 10 a.m. .
That was some of the sights, sounds and sips happening at the Verizon Wireless/NHL Rockin Skate Saturday at Philips; where hockey was supposed to be the focus of this NHL All-Star Weekend event, but the loudest screams were for the Jonas Brothers. And when the pop-rock trio actually got on stage for their closing eight-song set - wow!
Amongst the many teen girls in the audience (surely an anomaly at a “hockey event”) were Peachtree City 14-year-olds Taylor Kemp, Katie Gingher and Jessica McCloskey. They were holding a homemade sign in the arena aisle that read: “Hello Beautiful Hold On To Your S.O.S. When You Look Me In The Eyes” — a greeting made up of songs from the Disney stars’ latest self-titled CD.
Sure “Friday Night Lights’ ” long-haired pin-up Taylor Kitsch was co-hosting, along with actress Alyssa Milano (promoting her new line of clothing) and Atlanta’s five-time Grammy winner Usher (whose non-profit organization New Look benefited from the ticket sales).
But even the one-time teen fave himself seemed to realize as he was explaining his foundation, that the only thing those in the maybe half-full arena wanted to hear were the words ‘Jonas Brothers’.
“i don’t know if you guys know much about what I do but I mentor at-risk youth,” Usher said. “I teach them about the business side of the sports and entertainemnt industry…As you look at your screen you’ll see what we’re doing with New Look here in Atlanta. But also, there’s an intern program that has been put into action with the NHL allowing those kids to apply a lot of what they learn through our, uh [pauses] Jonas Brothers!”
It was like, “Jarome Iginla, who?”
And after the east and west teams took to the ice for skating, interviews and some of the SuperSkills demonstrations, that point was only underlined by the high-decibel response to the arrival of siblings Joseph, Kevin and Nicholas.
Their mostly up-tempo show (“Year 3000,” “That’s Just The Way We Roll”) slowed only twice for the girls to raise their cellphones and free glo sticks to “Hello Beautiful” and “When You Look Me In The Eyes.” But the closer was the charging “S.O.S.”, reason number 102 during the three-hour event for Taylor, Katie and Jessica to test out the adult’s ear plugs — again.
Did you wear out your vocal chords with the others at Philips Arena? How would you rate the show? Happen to see the Jonas Brothers when they opened for Hannah Montana/Miley Cyrus a couple of months back at the Gwinnett Arena? And if so, how did it compare?
All-Star Music at the Tabernacle
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Atlanta R&B superstar Usher capped what had to have been a taxing week back in his hometown Friday night, where he played host at the NHL All-Star Weekend concert featuring Wyclef Jean.
Though Usher walked the red carpet at the Tabernacle, and posed for pictures, he did not discuss his father’s passing days earlier, his campaign appearance with Barack Obama Tuesday, or even his New Look Foundation, for which the Jean concert was a fundraiser.
On stage, however, he warmly welcomed the near-capacity crowd, and paused a few times to soak in its applause and adoration. “It’s all about the love in here tonight,” he remarked.
Actually, the Jean concert was about a lot of things: Before the incredibly talented musician wrapped up his set, after midnight, he had addressed the country’s economic state (“I love America - we’re going in a recession right now”); poked at this country’s president (“George Bush don’t care about me. He care about the oil”); flashed back to his days with the pioneering hip-hop trio the Fugees (playing “Fu-Gee-La” and “Ready Or Not”); channeled a bit of late rock legend Jimi Hendrix (playing his guitar with his mouth); welcomed Atlanta rapper-producer Akon to the stage (with whom he performed Jean’s recent single “Sweetest Girl - Dollar Bill”) - deep breath here - and finally, created a bit of Carnival.
Jean called it a “hip-hop rock and roll show”. But with all of that - plus a mighty eight-piece band (including a four-piece horn section), a bit of Shakira, and many local notables (Willie O’Ree of the NHL, Atlanta City Council member Kwanza Hall, Bert Weiss of Q100’s “The Bert Show”, Slim of 112, Nicci Gilbert of Brownstone) in the audience - it was, spectactularly, so much more.
Were you at the Tabernacle for the concert? How would you rate it? And what about opening act the Old 97’s?
.JPG)
-1.JPG)
Services »
