Concert Review Site

Americans might not be aware of the Isle of Wight Festival, but the three day festival held on England’s largest island has developed into one of the best music festivals in the world. This year the show’s saw hip hop superstar Jay Z, the return of The Strokes, and the legendary Sir Paul McCartney perform. Despite the muddy conditions, concert goers poured into the festival with such big names on the bill. Jay Z headlined the show on Friday night which marked a special guest appearance from Kanye West. On Saturday fans tuned in on big screens to watch England and USA’s 1-1 World Cup tie and saw bands like Vampire Weekend, Blondie, and The Hold Steady. Sir Paul brought the festival to a epic crescendo on Sunday night with his rip-roaring set which included a cover of Jimmi Hendrix’s “Foxy Lady” and Beatles gems “Helter Skelter”, “Yesterday”, and “Let It Be”.

Recently, I chatted with someone who saw the Chicago Civic Orchestra earlier this week. The concert included an interesting mix of 20th century music, including Bartok, Schumann and another composer, with whom I was not familiar. According to this person, however, the orchestra acquitted their job quite well. The newer piece was one of these interesting pieces that combines interesting poetry with great orchestration. It was apparently a bit harder to understand, and the singer could have been somewhat clearer in enunciation. But the text could be found in the program, so this isn’t quite such a problem. The other pieces were well done. What was with the Symphony Center, though? The lights flickered and distracted my friend quite a bit.

The 16,000 odd hard rock and heavy metal fans were treated to a rock solid performance by Metallica at the Verizon Amphitheater in Irvine lat Saturday night. Metallica took center stage at the California music fest and treated the audience with sumptuous music for about 105 minutes and the menu included a list of their most popular 15 songs. The Metallica Band lived up to its high performance status all through the 105 minutes and fans at the concert were thrilled to bits to see the band perform live in front of them. “Creeping Death”, “Masters of Puppets”, “Fade to Black”, “Battery” and “Seek and Destroy” all got mass appreciation and good reviews from the fans.

In a bit to improve ties with Vatican City, China represented the China Philharmonic Orchestra and asked the Vatican if they could perform for Pope Benedict. The Vatican saw this move as a way to renew their relationship and approved the concert but hoped that this will eventually lead to better things on the diplomatic horizon. The concert will be held on the coming Wednesday night, the official sources from the Vatican have reminded all parties that drastic improvements will not be implemented overnight. They also expressed their understanding about the situation.

The concert will boast of a top notch performance from the China Philharmonic Orchestra which is now on its ongoing European tour. They are expected to play Mozart’s “Requiem” as well as Chinese folk songs in the spacious audience hall in Vatican City.

Every wondered what is it like being a hippie, even for a day? Now at Hippiefest 2008, there’s no reason to hide your hippie fetish! The Hippiefest 2008 tour will begin at the Dodge Theatre, Phoenix, Arizona on July 11 with seven tour dates in between, culminating in a climax at the Pompano Beach Amphitheater, Florida on August 9. The lineup is an exciting one and is guaranteed to bring back memories from the 1960s. It features Jack Bruce of Cream, an artiste renowned for the song “Sunshine of Your Love” and “I Feel Free”. Other acts include Eric Burdon and the Animals, The Turtles as well as Jonathan Edwards.

This is the third time that Hippiefest was held since its inception in the year 2006. Just like the previous years, Hippiefest was created as a “Concert for Peace and Love” and fans are encouraged to come dressed as a hippie and experience a day in the life of a hippie.

The fans of Keith Urban were spell bound with his performance at the Love Fest Concert in Hordern pavilion at Sydney. The success of this event was purely due to the outstanding musicianship shown by Keith and his group and the profuse support of the Urban Fans. The event has got appreciation from the critics of media that review concerts. Urban launched his show at Sydney with “Once in a Life Time” and later performed songs from “Love, Pain and the Whole Crazy Thing”, his Grammy- Winning album.

A crowd of more than 5000 were made hysteric by the performance of Urban and his interaction with crowd. Urban asked them to sing verses and choruses and joked with the audiences. Urban’s wife and the star Nicole Kidman was present at the venue along with Cricket star Shane Watson of Queensland. Urban said that he is happy to perform in Sydney as he will be able to go home and sleep in his bed.

José Gonzalez hypnotized his audiences during his last performance at the Highline Ballroom in New York on March 11th. This quiet guitarist sat down and adjusted his strings to give “Deadweight on Velveteen” as the opening performance. This Swedish Song writer won the hearts of the audiences by playing mellow tunes. The quiet atmosphere of the auditorium was turned to frenzy by the time José Gonzalez reached his third song “Fold”. The background projection with attractive scenario added the visual treat. Audiences were completely shaken by his rendering of “Crosses”, a song from “Veneer”, his first album.

He had Yukimi Nagamo as his background Vocalist and Christopher Berg as his percussionist, whom he introduced to the audience in between the show. José Gonzalez also performed “In Our Nature”, “Killing For Love” and “Down the Line” from his second album. He surprised the audiences by performing the eight–minute long song “Cycling Trivialities”. The audiences clapped and danced for some of his songs and he cracked some jokes about the sleepy nature of the song “Teardrop”. José Gonzalez did a one hour show and covered 20 songs. The audiences were very satisfied with the quality and liveliness of the performance. The artist thanked the audiences and waved farewell before leaving the venue.

Elton John the famous British Pop-singer was able to make his debut finally at the Kitchener Memorial Auditorium, much to the satisfaction of his fans. Elton john who is appreciated for his song writing ability and as pianist performed in this auditorium 40years after the release of his first musical album. Kitchener was one of the venue for his 2008 tour named “rocket man Tour” in Canada. His last Canadian tour was in 2006 and he performed at the Air Canada Centre. This year he wanted to get in to areas were he has never performed earlier.

Elton John was welcomed by huge Cheers in Kitchener and Elton said that it is great to perform in these parts as not many artists select these places and people in these areas also deserve some Entertainment. More than 6,000 tickets available for the concert were sold out within half an hour of sales. He opened the show with the song “Your Song” which was his break through song in 1970 and he got standing ovation from the crowd. He sang some famous songs like the “Greatest Discovery”, “Sixty Years On” and “I Need You to Turn to” etc. The show gave a glimpse of his talent and for the great voice he possesses, even though he has crossed 60 years.

Indigo Girls are a folk rock duo that consists of Amy Ray and Emily Saliers. Indigo Girls released a seven-inch single called “Crazy Game” in 1985. The band’s second album named Nomads Indians Saints, became gold in 1991. In 2002, the band released Become You, which is a full album of new compositions that gained much critical acclaim. If you are fond of country music you have a chance to see Indigo Girls’ shows in January and February. Tickets are available.

Kelly Clarkson is definitely gifted. She’s a  pop and rock singer, actress with the Grammy Award. At the beginning she was sang pop music and her first album “Thankful” was released in 2003. Kelly will perform her show on Jan 26, 2008 in Crown Center of Cumberland County,
Fayetteville, NC.