Tag Archives: music blogger

“Cover Me” in Depeche Mode Tonight!

Global Spirit 2017

The day is finally here:  DEPECHE MODE’S “GLOBAL SPIRIT TOUR” AT MATTRESS FIRM AMPHITHEATRE!

I believe the show is sold out, but there are verified tickets still available on Live Nation.  I have the Live Nation app and I’m taking advantage of the “Fast Lane” Upgrade, since I have lawn tickets.  This will allow me, my sister and our kids to get some prime real estate at the front of the lawn area next to the railing.

Keep up with me on my Instagram for all of my concert coverage and I’ve created a separate section here on my blog of all of my Depeche Mode posts!

Cheers!

I’ve Got The (Global) Spirit!

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Oh yes, Depeche Mode have announced the title of their new album AND tour!  Last week, they held a press conference in Milan, Italy and announced that the new album will be entitled Spirit to be released in 2017followed by the Global Spirit Tour next summer.  Currently, only the European dates are available, which I’ve listed below.  I seriously considered going to the London show (tickets are still available for the pitch/general admission), but that would be too difficult to pull off with Dominic still in school.  I’ll just have to wait until the US dates are announced to have my shot at seeing my all-time favorite band live.  Most dates for the European leg have already gone on sale, so cheers to the lot of you who already have tickets!

May 5 – Stockholm, Sweden – Friends Arena
May 7 – Amsterdam, Netherlands – Ziggo Dome
May 9 – Antwerp, Belgium – Sportpaleis
May 12 – Nice, France – Stade Charles-Ehrmann
May 14- Ljubljana, Slovenia – Dvorana Stožice
May 17 – Athens, Greece – Terra Vibe Park
May 20 – Bratislava, Slovakia – Štadión Pasienky
May 22 – Budapest, Hungary – Groupama Aréna
May 24  – Prague, Czech Republic – Eden Aréna
May 27 – Leipzig, Germany – Festwiese
May 29 – Lille, France – Stade Pierre-Mauroy
May 31 – Copenhagen, Denmark – Telia Parken
June 3 – London, United Kingdom – London Stadium
June 5 – Cologne, Germany  – RheinEnergieStadion
June 9 – Munich, Germany – Olympiastadion
June 11 – Hannover, Germany – HDI Arena
June 18 – Zurich, Switzerland – Letzigrund Stadion
June 20 – Frankfurt, Germany – Commerzbank-Arena
June 22 – Berlin, Germany – Olympiastadion
June 25 – Rome, Italy – Stadio Olimpico
June 27 – Milan, Italy – Stadio San Siro
June 29 – Bologna, Italy – Stadio Rentao Dall’Ara
July 1 – Paris, France – Stade de France
July 4 – Gelsenkirchen, Germany – Veltins-Arena
July 6 – Bilbao, Spain – BBK Live Festival
July 8 – Lisbon, Portugal – NOS Alive Festival
July 13 – St. Petersburg, Russia – SKK
July 15 – Moscow, Russia – Otkritie Arena
July 17 – Minsk, Belarus – Minsk-Arena
July 19 – Kiev, Ukraine – Olimpiyskiy National Sports Complex
July 21 – Warsaw, Poland – PGE Narodowy
July 23 – Cluj-Napoca, Romania  – Cluj Arena
(Photo courtesy of Depechemode.com)

KAABOO 2016 Day 2 Recap

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As I mentioned in a previous post (here), Angi and I won single day passes to KAABOO.  Sadly, Angi couldn’t make it due to a work/travel assignment.  Although she tried her hardest to make it happen, alas, it just wasn’t cost effective for her to create time for a break from her out-of-town commitment.  Luckily, my best friend Janice was free and jumped at the chance to see one of her favorite artists live: Lenny Kravitz.  I was anxious to see Gin Blossoms, Collective Soul, Third Eye Blind and Aerosmith, which is already quite the line-up!  For the most part, it is difficult knowing you may not see all of the acts you want to because of the way the shows are scheduled, but because it’s known as “The KAABOO MIX-PERIENCE”, it should be understood that you just have to get to what you can, when you can and you just have to get creative to ensure the best use of your time.

I want to also express wholeheartedly that I had a phenomenal time.  This was my second festival ever (my first was The Rewind Festival, post here), and it was amazing!  I’ve read some negative reviews this year because of what happened after The Chainsmokers set was completed.  Apparently, due to noise ordinances, the “Encore” portion was scheduled to take place indoors.  Because of the limited accommodations, many of the people who wanted to see Ludacris followed by Steve Aoki couldn’t get in, and a near riot happened.  I also read that a lot of people couldn’t get in to see Sarah Silverman as a part of their “Humor Me” comedy club.  I remember the line was pretty insane as we were leaving the Aerosmith show.  Because we chose to make the most of this experience by purchasing a parking pass and arriving incredibly early (12:30 pm), we enjoyed a leisurely tour of KAABOO prior to it becoming crazed and crowded.  We also decided that Aerosmith would be the last act we would see before heading home, where we took the back-way and completely avoided any traffic.  This is why we were so surprised to hear about how insane the night had become just after we left.

Overall, the food was wonderful, the mix of artists was fantastic because I don’t think I would have ever been able to see any of the bands I did in such a short amount of time, and for us, everything went without a hitch.  There was plenty of areas to chill out between the shows, and I liked the “Hydration Stations” throughout to provide much-needed water at an outdoor event, along with several areas to charge any portable communication device (phones and tablets).  I had gone to the San Diego County Fair earlier this year, and the Del Mar Racetrack was completely transformed into a hip alternate universe, which I’m sure was the whole point!  I would love to attend KAABOO again next year, and maybe upgrade myself to the VIP experience.

To make the most of documenting my experience, I broke up this post into three parts:  The Food, The Music, and Everything Else.  I hope you enjoy my recap!

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THE FOOD

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I should have taken pictures of the inside of “Posh Nosh” because not only were there seated areas with tables, but comfy cushions to really get that lounge experience.  Arriving early in the day allowed us time to walk around and get to know all of the food choices.

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Of the food inside “Posh Nosh”, we opted for one of my favorite restaurants, Sausage & Meat.  I’m not the biggest fan of slaw, but add bacon to it and I’m sold!  This was the “2 Eggs, 3 Balls, Slaw” combo meal and it was definitely the heartiness we needed before tackling the day.

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Outside of “Posh Nosh”, there are many places to grab a bite to eat.  After seeing the Gin Blossoms and during Third Eye Blind, we decided on the Lob Mac at Wicked Maine Lobster.  I swear, that’s an entire lobster tail in there!  It was better than I can describe, so shall I say it was wicked good?!

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I ended my KAABOO food experience with a Cinnamon Toast Crunch milkshake from The Milk Bar.  Not only was it absolutely delicious, the crew was so much fun!


THE MUSIC

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GIN BLOSSOMS

I have always wanted to see Gin Blossoms because one of my all time favorite songs is “Hey Jealousy”.  By sheer coincidence of scheduling, they were moved to Saturday and I feel that the universe was aligned for this moment, and it was everything I hoped it would be.  “Til I Hear It From You” and “Found Out About You” were also great live, and they are a fun band to watch.  Check off another one from my concert bucket list!

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THIRD EYE BLIND

I think the picture above should give an indication of just how crowded it got right around 4pm.  As we ate our Lob Mac, we enjoyed the many hits of Third Eye Blind.  I think this picture was taken during “Never Let You Go”, and I was so happy that I also got to hear “Jumper” and “Semi-Charmed Life” live.

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COLLECTIVE SOUL

Truth be told, I’m a novice when it comes to Collective Soul.  That did not stop me from wanting to see them, so this is where Janice and I split-up.  She wanted to catch all of Lenny Kravitz’s show, and I got to witness live the only two Collective Soul songs I know: “Shine” and “Better Now”.  I’m infinitely glad I did, and my hubby was a bit jealous that I caught their show.  “Shine” is even better live!

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LENNY KRAVITZ

Even after arriving a little late, I still got to catch songs like “Are You Gonna Go My Way”, “Fly Away” and “American Woman”.  Great set!

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AEROSMITH

It’s not often you get to witness greatness, and one should acknowledge when that happens.  Aerosmith are rock legends, and it had been over a year since they played live.  There are moments where you need to make a choice, and although The Chainsmokers are wonderful in their own right, there was just no contest when it came closing out KAABOO for us.  “Walk This Way” was worth the price of admission alone, and everything was icing on the cake.  I am truly not worthy.

Janice and I roamed around KAABOO prior to it getting uber-crowded, and took advantage of everything they had to offer in terms of sampling food, photo ops and areas to chill.  One of our favorites was an area called “Indulgences”.  Inside, they offered spa services, retail mini-boutiques, and places to relax and not only recharge your body, but your phone as well!  Between shows, we stayed there to cool off and hydrate.  During a gap after seeing Third Eye Blind and before seeing Collective Soul, I went back on my own before joining Janice at Lenny Kravitz.
 
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There were several areas for fun photo opportunities.  No one ever accused us of being shy!
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 Outside of the music, prominent everywhere was the art.  This was one of my favorites by artist Lauren YS called “Feed Your Head”, which was her take on “Alice in Wonderland”.  Simply breathtaking, especially due to its sheer size.
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 Another favorite rest area outside of “Indulgences” was the Cox Live Lounge.  There was a non-alcohol refreshment bar, plenty of seats and a place to charge up our phones.  We made our mark on their Gigablast mural.
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Our final stop was at the FM 949 booth.  I wanted to capture a picture of us with a KAABOO sign, and after signing the banner, we closed out our night.
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Many, many thanks to Discover SD and Delicious Buzz for the opportunity to win passes to attend KAABOO.  Until next year!

Festival of my Dreams!

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Coachella marks the beginning of “Festival Season”, and I know I’ve seen the fashion inspiration pretty much everywhere!  I’ve thought about this for quite sometime: what would my dream festival be?  Who would be in my line-up?  I actually have made several lists in my head before, and they almost always turn out to be some kind of Rewind Festival, to which I’ve already gone to (my first post about it here, and my actual experience here).  But I know my tastes go beyond the 80s, and with some inspiration from TickPick, I thought about how much fun would it be to include not just my favorites, but those of my husband and son, plus make it fun for all of my friends and family to attend.  Honestly, my list ended up being 30 artists long, but I’ve narrowed it down to what I think became an eclectic mix of 10 artists, which is a combination of favorite acts, spanning several genres.  My top three are intentional, based on my all time favorite band, a band my husband is just chomping at the bit to see, and our son’s favorite band.  The rest is in no particular order, but includes some wants.  If I could turn back time, my list would have included David Bowie and Prince, but alas, that is not to be.  But how simply awesome is the graphic created by TickPick (who, by the way, is a great resource if you’re interested in finding Concert tickets, NFL tickets and more)?!  It almost makes me want to contact someone, anyone, to actually make my Fauxchella happen!

Who would you pick for your ultimate festival?  Let me know in the comments, and here’s why I chose my top 10.  Cheers!

Depeche Mode:  That was a given (too many posts about them on this blog, but see my review of their Delta Machine Tour here).  If their line up could include Dave, Martin, Andy along with Alan and Vince, I think I would just have to drop the mic.

Red Hot Chili Peppers:  A band that my husband absolutely wants to see, sometime in this lifetime.

Imagine Dragons:  Our son’s favorite band.  He knows their lyrics better than we do, and don’t even question him about which song is on which album.  He schooled me once, and it was embarrasing…did I mention he’s seven?  We took him to see them last year, and it solidified his fandom.

Metallica:  Another of my hubby’s favorite. He’s seen them live previously, but would not mind seeing them again.

Duran Duran:  They were my first favorite British band, until Depeche Mode stole that title from them.  But I still adore them and they produce great music to this day, and are fantastic live (post here).

Bruno Mars:  He is a spectacular entertainer and musician.  My husband and I saw him two years ago (review here), and it was so good.

Snoop Dogg:  Because I just want to see him. Do I need a reason?

Q-Tip:  I cannot believe I’ve never seen A Tribe Called Quest in concert (but I did a post about them here).  Now that Phife Dog has passed, I know I will never have that chance.  But Q-Tip has done some solo work, so I hope I get to see him someday.

Maroon 5:  I have been watching Maroon 5 for years because they opened for Guster and John Mayer before heading out on their own.  I then went to see a headlining tour with my best friend once a few years ago, and I think she would enjoy meeting them, especially Adam.  I have met them before (picture here), this was ages ago.

Chromeo:  I thought about a DJ to round out my line-up, and then I realized that Chormeo both DJ as well as perform their own songs!  My husband and I have seen them before (post here), and we would see them again in a heartbeat.