ALL TIME LOW...Pop Band appears @ Warfield! San Francisco! April 16th!

 

Although a posse of music-lovers escaped town this weekend to - party-hearty, catch a few rays (God Willing), and revel in the eclectic sounds of a handful of high-profile popular bands slated to take the stage at Coachella Music & Arts Festival - a gang of die-hard "All time Low" fans trotted down to the Warfield to snatch up tickets for a live! concert tonight at the legendary venue.

Tourists were forced to maneuver their way through a gang of band enthusiastics camped out on Market Street in a line that snaked haphazardly down the street as far as the eye could see.

"All Time Low" is a band that hails from Baltimore which consists of vocalist/rhythm guitarist Alexander Gaskarth, lead guitiarist/back-up vocalist Jack Barakat, bassist Zachary Merrick, and drummer Rian Dawson.

In high school, the ambitious pop talents started out humbly enough, covering for pop punk bands such as ever-popular Blink-183.

In a short meteoric rise, "All Time Low" suddenly found themselves signing a record deal with enterprising "Emerald Moon Records".

"The Party Scene", their 1st studio album, was released in 2005.

A deal with "Hopeless Records" triggered a debut album which featured two catchy tunes for their EP which was titled "Put Up or Shut Up."

The EP landed on Top Heatseekers charts as a result.

"So Wrong, It's Right" was their most commercially successful recording which peaked at number 62 on the Billboard 200 (and number 6 on the Independent Albums chart.)

"Dear Maria, Count Me In" - a nifty tune about a stripper from their hometown - took off and was singled out at number 86 on the Pop 100 (to later achieve gold status in spite of the fact they did not nab any radio play).

The hotties were first featured on MTV - then followed up that appearance with a high-profile debut on the Jimmy Kimmel show broadcast out of Hollywood.

Understandably, there has been no looking back!

CONCERT

April 16th

VENUE

Warfield
982 Market Street
San Francisco, CA
94102-4012


CURTAIN

7:00 P.M.

TICKETS

http://www.thewarfieldtheatre.com/events.php

http://www.thetattler.biz

Stylish hip band popular!

Moody Blues...heady band from 60's still rocks! Special entertains!



On an off-night, I was channel-surfing, when I stumbled on a live stage performance by the Moody Blues on a cable network.

Within minutes - the distinctive strains of their beautifully orchestrated hits of yesteryear (spacey far-out compositions that are conducive to astral-travelling) - triggered nostalgic memories of my carefree bohemian days in the heady 60’s and 70’s.

Imagine that!

The seasoned heavyweights are still touring the country – and wowing fans – at sold-out houses on the concert circuit.

In spite of the fact the PBS broadcast was essentially a bare bones gig – stripped down to the essentials without the benefit of seductive sound effects or studio sweetening – the set was surprisingly vibrant and lyrical.

In fact, when two dueling guitars (one electric, the other acoustic) dove-tailed (or ran interference with each other by virtue of a bit of controlled-clashing) the effect was dazzling.

Uh-huh!

The Moody Blues succeeded in elevating their musical yearnings to awesome transformative ground-breaking heights.

The distinctive – reflective poetic musings of their youth – still resonate with fans and music-lovers alike.

Unlike a handful of their amazing contemporaries, they may be ripe for a come-back, alright!

In that event, I expect a posse of die-hard fans will be at-the-ready to slap on a platter, pop a hit of acid, and float off into space courtesy of the uplifting musical wizardry of the Moody Blues!

Favorite hit?

"Nights in White Satin", of course!

http://www.thetattler.biz

What a trip, dude!

Hair...a celebration life! Horrors of War still impact in Pantages production!

As soon as the last number ends with a hair-rising rendition of  "Let the Sun Shine In"  at the Pantages Theatre in Hollywood, the audience spontaneously springs to their feet with a rousing standing ovation for the talented cast of the 60's Musical Revival.

Minutes later - without much urging from the actors - ecstatic theatre-goers dash up on to the festive stage to partake in a mystical ritual of dancing and clapping at the close of the well-written Musical.

The Stage Revival - now on tour around the country - is definitely a celebration of life!

In one ribald scene, where the cast sing out joyously about having - "my teeth", glorious "hair", and a hot a** - it is quite evident that the rock musical is also an insightful foray into the elusive world of the inner confines (and erotic fantasies) of mind, body, and soul.

And - the message of LOVE and PEACE resonates just as soundly today - as it did over forty years ago when it first hit the Broadway Stage in NYC.

When the storyline drifts into controversial territory - on such thought-provoking issues as the draft and an unpopular War - Hair delivers up a punch that offers up relevant commentary that smacks of the recent conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Talk about timely!

The horrors of War still impact!

To the instinctive heads of that era - it was quite apparent in their own naive way - that it was intrinsically wrong to rampantly rape, pillage, kill, - and pit Nation against Nation - in the name of protecting the free world!

In contrast, the visionary material also uncannily manages to underscore how different the youth of today are compared to the "hippies" of that bygone era.

After all, in the wake of  9/11 - honor, duty, and serving one's country - became values worth fighting for!

Although some of the references to LBJ (a former U.S. President) and IBM (long before Bill Gates sauntered into the PC Marketplace with compact desktop computers) date the material - in their context - they appear to matter little to enthusiastic theatre-goers who have been packing the house since opening night.

Although some of the directing is a bit pedestrian at times - Hair is a delightful production - that would have benefitted from a bit of judicious pruning here-and-there with the ultimate aim of moving along the pace a tad.

A couple of stand-out poignant ballads are show-stoppers, too!

Members of the audience are particuarly thrilled with the interaction that goes on between the cast and ticket-holders each night once the show gets underway.

At one point - two characters in the stage hit- step out of the Orchestra to offer up a segment of comic relief that is both dazzling and entertaining.

Hair was quite the personal experience for me! 

In fact, I got a little teary-eyed.

Ah, the memories!

Readers of forgus beylan may recall that I posted a promo for the two-act musical in which I recalled my friendship with Book & Lyric contributor Gerome Ragni.

Post: 12/26/10

http://forgusbeylan.blogspot.com/2010/12/hairmemories-of-gerome-ragni-rock.html

Both Jerry & I lived and breathed the engaging material - hence - the reason why the words jump out from the page and touch musical-lovers magically in what has proven to be a memorable Stage experience that will not be long forgotten.

In fact, a number of the lyrics are catchy, amusing, and insightful!

Rush Tickets may be purchased on the night of the performance for $25.00.

Such a deal!

Catch it if you can, you won't regret it.

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