@ZackTeibloom “Have you ever crashed Cactus Cafe?” Bryn texted me at 3:20 p.m. Thursday. “Nope. Don’t know anything about it.” I texted back. “It may be dicey. Really tiny venue. Show’s sold out” he wrote. I sighed and put it in a way I knew this Hoosier would understand. “I’m Reggie Miller. You’re Rik Smits. Security is Spike Lee. Cactus Cafe is MSG. No worries.” Read the rest of this entry »

@AndyShore Overall, it was a less than spectacular week one from American Idol. My favorite of the girls, Ashley Rodriguez, might be in trouble. Joe Munoz unexpectedly stood out from the guys. After Idol played up the chemistry between Casey James and Kara, her husband is sitting front and center. Tim Urban and Tyler Grady should go home from the guys. I’m not as sure about the girls, but I do hope Haeley Vaughn is one of them. Read the rest of this entry »

@AndyShore After the talk of it being the girl’s year, they didn’t deliver last night. Hopefully the guys will be better tonight. I didn’t see anybody last night that I thought could be a threat to Andrew Garcia. I would have said the same thing about the girls and Ashley Rodriguez last night, and she wound up being one of the worst performances of the night. The sports fan in me wants to say, “that’s why the play the game.” Let’s hope there’s a few more contestants that open some eyes tonight. Read the rest of this entry »

@AndyShore Tonight the top 12 girls perform on American Idol. I’m looking forward to seeing full performances from each contestant. They keep talking about how much talent there is from the girl’s side this year, but only Ashley Rodriguez has stood out to me. She’s also the hottest. Not a coincidence, but she’s got a great set of pipes. I do also recall Didi Benami and Janell Wheeler. Read the rest of this entry »

@AndyShore Last night we discovered seven of the top 24 of American Idol Season 9. Tonight we find out the other 17. I’m gonna go out on a limb and say that Andrew Garcia and Ashley Rodriguez are part of that group. Much like the contestants, Ellen is coming into her own this week in Hollywood. She has the hang of messing with the contestants, and has actually been able to offer valid criticisms. I hope that we don’t see the contestants repeat songs four and five times over tonight. I’ve had enough of “I’m Yours” and “Man in the Mirror” for one week. Read the rest of this entry »

@AndyShore This week is when contestants will begin to make a name for themselves. The group round is mostly pointless. It serves as a way to weed out the weak links and to ramp up the drama for our viewing pleasure. I am sure I will have my horses for this season by the time this week is over. I’m already on the Andrew Garcia bandwagon, but there are also quite a few talented ladies this season…and they can sing. Read the rest of this entry »

@AndyShore Haiti has left the headlines, but there is still a ton of work to be done there. Harmonies For Haiti reminded us of that, bringing 17 bands together to raise money for the Red Cross. Hosted by Jonas’ Chelsea Staub, the event saw many of Hollywood’s young stars onstage and in attendance. I stood out like a sore thumb, standing a head taller than the hundreds of tweens in attendance. Regardless, I enjoyed most of the music and managed to get some pretty decent shots. I’ve been in LA about five months and I’ve now shot a cast member from the Hills and a Cyrus. Have I dropped n00b status yet? Read the rest of this entry »

@ZackTeibloom The 2010 Sasquatch Festival Line-up is out and it’s another crop of Indie-rock all-stars that makes a trip to the Pacific Northwest for Memorial Day weekend sound tantalizing.  Sasquatch goes down Saturday 5/29 to Monday 5/31 and the Pavement/My Morning Jacket/Massive Attack headliners are outstanding and even though I’d think LCD and Ween would be headlining with Pavement, the supporting acts will make this indie-rock heaven.

Below I’ve listed the 11 acts I’ve seen that will be there and the grades are 5 A’s, 5 A-’s and a B. I’d be happy to come home with that report card. LCD and Pavement are all over the festival circuit this year as well and they’re welcome here. Ween has been doing the festival circuit for about a decade and even though Gene Ween aged 20 years in the last 3,* they’re still tearing it up with their own bare hands. The Dirty Projectors are the freshest thing in rock with their heavenly voices and Vampire Weekend is riding high off their #1 selling sophomore album, Contra. Throw in Miike Snow, Public Enemy (w/ Flava Flav), MMJ, Wale, The xx, Passion Pit, and a ton more and we’ve got a hell of a festival brewing here.  Read the rest of this entry »

@AndyShore It’s the dreaded group night says Ryan Seacrest. That just means there’s going to be a whole bunch of drama to make fun of. The Mighty Rangers left a key word out of their name, and Phoenix is taken. Stupid American Idol contestants. The producers do have one thing right. Sticking dozens of divas into small quarters and making them work together can only end in hilarious results. Read the rest of this entry »

@AndyShore There is a lot of emphasis as to what headliners a music festival has. Sure, it’s the big names at the top of the bill that will put the butts in the seats, but it’s the rest of the line up that can make or break a festival. A top-heavy festival can be its downfall. Often the most memorable shows are the bands you stumbled across or your new favorite obsession that hasn’t exploded yet. The headliners get all the glory, but it’s those middle of the line-up bands that do the heavy lifting. Let’s pay them their due. Read the rest of this entry »