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Home > Atlanta Music Scene > Archives > 2008 > November > 11
Tuesday, November 11, 2008
Mastodon Member Hospitalized
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Mastodon’s record label has sent out a press release that the Atlanta rock band’s guitarist, Bill Kelliher, has been hospitalized in London since Nov. 3 - but it doesn’t say why.
And Mastodon has decided to keep playing its European Unholy Alliance Chapter 3 tour as a trio. “Doctors will continue to monitor his condition, which is improving at press time,” the release from Warner Bros. states. And they are hopeful he (pictured above, in center) will rejoin Troy Sanders, Brent Hinds and Brann Dailor in time for their headlining tour of Europe, starting Nov. 30 in Utrecht, Holland.
Have you heard what happened to Kelliher?
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“Brothers To Brutha” Makes Debut Tonight — (With The Late Shakir Stewart)
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Last time we saw Brutha, the R&B quintet was on a one-off, Peachtree TV reality show, preparing for a make-or-break audition in Atlanta.
Seven months later, not only have they secured that record deal with Island Def Jam Music Group, but their plight is playing out nationally on BET, starting tonight at 11 p.m. .
“Brothers to Brutha” opens in New York, where Jacob, Poppa, Jared, Anthony and Grady are meeting with the recently-departed Atlanta music power Shakir Stewart, and his fellow Island Def Jam execs.
It was Stewart who signed the group, and in the Peachtree TV show leads Brutha through various rigors to perform before Jermaine Dupri.
The New York boardroom meeting is pretty quick, then the show shoots back to the brother’s home state, California. This is where viewers start to get to know the group individually, and their background. It’s Anthony that’ll get everyone’s attention first though, with this admission:“I drink consistently…Do I think it’s a problem? No.”
Cue drama. But the sluggish thing about the first half of this debut is so so much of what Brutha says seems forced. Unnatural. Maybe it’s the editing. Maybe it’s just them.
Things get way more amped in the second half — a virtual editor’s nightmare there is so many “N” words and profanities tossed around. Here, Brutha is in Las Vegas visiting their estranged father. His quote/threat of the night, directed at Poppa: “I’ve got two words for you: Marvin Gaye”.
(As you may know, Gaye’s father shot the legendary R&B singer to death).
Planning to watch it — and the lead-in, Atlanta’s “Keyshia Cole: The Way It Is” tonight? Remember Brutha’s Peachtree TV bow?
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Usher at the Tabernacle
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
PHOTO CREDIT: Raymond Hagans
The last time an Usher concert was in town it was four years ago, at Philips Arena, and it was a great show.
Last night when the Usher tour stopped in Atlanta it was at the far-smaller Tabernacle, and not only was it a great show, but it was great Usher.
In his 14 years in the music business (believe it or not) Atlanta’s 30-year-old R&B superstar has enjoyed quite the ascent. “And with that success, there’s been some distance,” the five-time Grammy winner conceded before his performance. “I want to get back and do something more intimate. A more personal ‘Thank you’.”
So Monday evening the heavily-female audience at his “Ladies Only” concert were close enough they could untie and tie his shoes, he joked. But what was particularly remarkable about his near-sold out, 90-minute set, was that Usher was just as accessible, and giving.
The singing and dancing phenom reached waaay back, and into, his five-album catalog, performing rarities such as first solo hit “Think of You” and album tracks “Seduction” and “Bad Girl”; songs he was merely featured on like “Lovers and Friends” (with Lil Jon and Ludacris) and “I Need A Girl” (with Diddy); and bits of songs he just seemed to like, such as Prince’s “Do Me Baby” and “Adore”, Stevie Wonder’s “Rocket Love”, OutKast’s “Prototype”, John Legend’s “Green Light” and T.I.’s “Whatever You Like”.
“I didn’t bring you all the way here just to look at me,” the elegantly-attired Usher told a crowd that included Grammy winner Johnta Austin, rapper-actor Bow Wow, choreographer-turned-record label power Devyne Stephens and V-103’s Wanda Smith. “I told y’all I was going to give you a show!”
If you were there, do you think Usher achieved that goal? Feel it was worth the $100-plus ticket price?
