~Z.T.~ Every time is a good time for Girl Talk, but why not pop on this Chicago Girl Talk New Years show from 2007 at the strike of midnight. This is not your grandma’s Auld Lang Syne:
Happy New Years!!
Archive for December, 2008
New Years Resolutions for Festival Crashers
On December - 31 - 2008
~Z.T.~ Andy and I did a little Hanukkah gift exchange Sunday night. He gave me a framed, blown-up photo he took of Jack White (which I described as the best piece of artwork I’ve ever owned) and I got him Tenacious D: The Complete Masterworks Volume 2. We watched the brilliant documentary, which starts off with an early D performance in ‘96. After they play “Tribute” for David Cross and Bob Odenkirk, Odenkirk asks them what they want. J.B. says he wants a record contract, a T.V. show/T.V. special and a movie.
Flash forward ten years later and the D has accomplished all those goals as they prepare for a sold-out world tour. I like to consider us the Tenacious D of blogging, so I thought maybe we should make some goals as well. Read the rest of this entry »
Championship: Lil Wayne “Lollipop” vs. Metro Station “Shake It”
On December - 31 - 2008
-A.S. It seems like so long ago that Festival Crashers came up with the idea of a contest for the Catchiest Song of the Year. The entire process has been great, and we thank everybody who has participated. It makes our work that much more fun when we have our readers nominating songs for the contest, filling out brackets and voting for their favorite songs. With all your help, this certainly won’t be the last contest that Festival Crashers runs. Read the rest of this entry »
“Lollipop” vs. “Shake it” in Finals
On December - 31 - 2008
~Z.T.~. Andy and I will have analysis of the finals up by noon, but I just wanted to announce that Lil Wayne toppled Estelle, getting 78% of the vote, to set up a date with Metro Station in the finals. Voting ends at 11:55 p.m and the winner will be announced here at midnight.
Semifinals: Estelle f. Kanye West “American Boy” vs. Lil Wayne “Lollipop”
On December - 30 - 2008
-A.S. Two titans go head to head in this match up of number one seeds. You have Zack’s original pick to win it all (before he flip flopped) in “American Boy”, and the biggest song from one of the biggest musical acts in the world right now in “Lollipop.” Which one will you send on to the championship? Read the rest of this entry »
Lil Wayne WGCI Big Jam at the United Center
On December - 29 - 2008
-A.S. Kanye West tried to make his Glow in the Dark Tour the spectacle of the year. He had a rocky terrain looking stage and a screen that was supposed to be a space ship. Lil Wayne actually made his I Am Music Tour stage a spectacle. His DJ was suspended over the stage, and the band was lowered individually from the rafters whenever it was their turn to play. Not to mention the fact that Weezy had better lights, smoke, pyrotechnics and was flat out a better performer.
After opening with the DJ Kaled tune “Out Here Grinding” that features Lil Wayne among others, Weezy introduced himself as “Mr. Carter.” T Pain hadn’t had enough of the Chicago crowd yet, and brought Mac Main out with him to meet Lil Wayne onstage for “Got Money.” T Pain rolled out on a Segway, and chased Lil Wayne “this a way” and “that a way” across the stage on it. After the song, T Pain asked if he could do a pimp move. He then rode the Segway to the edge of the stage and hopped off as the Segway rolled off towards backstage, which Lil Wayne deemed “cute.”
He Raps, He Sings. Lil Wayne struts, T Pain rolls. Photo by Eric Weiler.
The two began debating who was the most featured artist. The two took turns trading hooks and verses of various songs they had worked on. At one point Lil Wayne didn’t even rap a verse because he said he was that big of a deal. T Pain countered with playing a hook he had written, but didn’t even sing on.
Lil Wayne took a break as the DJ introduced several members of the Young Money crew. Weezy returned to the stage to do “Mrs. Officer” and then welcomed Keri Hilson back up to the stage. The two performed the Hilson song “Turnin’ Me On,” which Lil Wayne is featured on. He then busted out the green guitar he has been seen holding everywhere, and did just about as much playing on it as he has every other time it has made an appearance: three notes.
For a live show it’s not how good a guy can rap, it’s how good of a performer he is. Even in making mistakes, Lil Wayne (pictured right, photo by Eric Weiler) was a better performer than Kanye. When he tripped and tumbled to the stage, he got right up and told all the ladies in the house that he knew they wanted to jump his bones while he was down. After the song he even laid back down on the stage, asking the ladies to come get on him. He then thought better and said he didn’t want to start a riot.
“Lollipop” closed out the set as every single person in the packed United Center sang along. Lil Wayne left the stage as the 18,000 strong pleaded for more. “My Life” began the encore and segued into “A Milli.” The latter featured loud pyrotechnics and a wailing guitar solo. As he left the stage, Lil Wayne had the crowd belting Whitney Houston’s classic hit from The Bodyguard, “I Will Always Love You.”
T Pain WGCI Big Jam at the United Center
On December - 29 - 2008
-A.S. I had no idea what T Pain’s Thr33 Ring Circus had in store for me. T Pain took the stage to an intro that featured many of the hooks he’s done in the past few years and greeted the fans with a little bit of “Good Life.” Then he walked over to the DJ booth/jack in the box and before I knew what was going on, dancing clown midgets summersaulted out of it.
For most of his set T Pain was accompanied by the dancing clown midgets, but in a totally ironic move, brought a dancer out on stilts for the Flo Rida song that he is featured on, “Low.” For Chris Brown’s “Kiss Kiss,” T Pain showed off his dance moves during the Chris Brown parts, and had a clown holding his mic for him during his verse. 
These dancing clown midgets may have taken a wrong turn off the yellow brick road. Photo by Eric Weiler.
T Pain explained that he named his album Thr33 Rings, because the music industry is like a circus. He called Rick Ross the fat man, Lil Wayne the tattoo man and Bow Wow the midget. He also discussed the fact that someone else had just dropped an album called Circus. T Pain told the crowd he had talked it over with her, and that she had agreed to join him. With that, a midget Britney Spears entered the stage to shake it for a bit to calls of “It’s Britney Bitch!”
T Pain showed off his singing voice, sans auto tuner, busting out a line from the spiritual popularized by Louis Armstrong, “Nobody Knows the Trouble I’ve Seen.” He also tickled the ivories while wearing a piano themed top hat as dancers played with fire onstage for “Can’t Believe It.” During “Bartender” he demonstrated his new dance, the Nappy Boy Shuffle.
T Pain can croon with the best of them, and he’s got flow. Photo by Eric Weiler.
To say that T Pain is just a hook guy would be a huge slight. The man is a straight up entertainer. He sang, rapped, danced and had such a spectacle going on around him that you would think that it was time for the Bulls and Blackhawks circus road trip again. In a nod to their upcoming T Wayne album, Lil Wayne joined T Pain onstage to end the set with “Ride 4 My Niggas.” T Pain closed his set with some parting words. “Don’t do it because it’s cool. Do it because you’re cool.”
Keri Hilson, The Gym Class Heroes and Keyshia Cole WGCI Big Jam
On December - 29 - 2008
-A.S. The only reason I knew who Keri Hilson was when she took the stage was because she was featured on Timbaland’s “The Way I Are.” Taking the stage with two danceres and a DJ, it was the first song she did and the last song I recognized during her short set. She dedicated a ’special’ song to Chicago, but it couldn’t have been that special. I had no idea what it was.
Travis McCoy needs some new banter material, he used all of the same lines here at the Congress Theater in October.
Next up was Keyshia Cole (pictured right: photo by Eric Weiler), and the thousands of screaming teeny boppers were ready. As soon as she took the stage, the row of braces wearing middle school girls behind our seats erupted along with every other girl in the arena. Cole opened with the P.Diddy song “Last Night,” which she is featured on. Armed with a live band, dancers and back up singers, Cole had all the ladies in UC singing along to every song. She did baton tricks on a song dedicated to Tupac and a track that featured Lil Wayne (though he did not come out). I was more impressed with Keyshia Cole than I thought I thought I would be, but I was very ready for T Pain and Lil Wayne.
The Gym Class Heroes didn’t vary their show from when they opened up for the Roots. Travis McCoy even recycled his banter, asking everyone in the stadium to hug the person next to them. They played hits off their new album, The Quilt, including “Peace Sign/Index Down,” “Guilty as Charged” and “Cookie Jar.” They even squeezed in their Supertramp rip off “Cupid’s Chokehold,” which also happens to be the song I drank to most often my senior year of college (thanks ZB).
Next up was Keyshia Cole (pictured right: photo by Eric Weiler), and the thousands of screaming teeny boppers were ready. As soon as she took the stage, the row of braces wearing middle school girls behind our seats erupted along with every other girl in the arena. Cole opened with the P.Diddy song “Last Night,” which she is featured on. Armed with a live band, dancers and back up singers, Cole had all the ladies in UC singing along to every song. She did baton tricks on a song dedicated to Tupac and a track that featured Lil Wayne (though he did not come out). I was more impressed with Keyshia Cole than I thought I thought I would be, but I was very ready for T Pain and Lil Wayne.Semi-Finals Metro Station “Shake It” vs. Pink “So What”
On December - 28 - 2008
~Z.T.~ Nothing big at stake here. Just the song I have winning it all against the song Andy has winning it all. Will it be the song you can’t stop dancing to (”Shake It”) or the song you can’t stop singing along to (”So What?”) Read the rest of this entry »
The Final Four and standings
On December - 28 - 2008
~Z.T.~ No one had this final four exactly right, but don’t worry, the big points start now. 5 pts for each winner of the semis. After looking at all of your brackets, it’s going to be an interesting few days. I officially can’t win. Even if every song goes the way I predicts, someone with the same final two will still beat me. Oh, well. I just want to beat Andy.
Semi-Finals
Estelle “American Boy” vs. Lil Wayne “Lollipop”
Metro Station “Shake It” vs. Pink “So What” Read the rest of this entry »
