Tag Archives: concert

A Fine Frenzy – 19 songs and 5 videos for only $5.99

Posted on October 3, 2007 | Leave a comment

AfinefrenzyonecellintheseaSo I’ve mentioned A Fine Frenzy more than a few times lately; they tour with Brandi Carlile and hit Detroit next Sunday (not this Sunday). And I can’t get enough of their album. Plus, I’ve specifically mentioned that their 14 track album of One Cell in the Sea was only $7.99 at iTunes (even higher quality DRM-free) or at AmazonMP3. But they sent me an e-mail advertisement stating that it’s temporarily only $5.99 (in the US), for fourteen tracks, that’s a deal so if you considered it before it’s even a better deal now. The ad made it sound like it was a deal for me since I’ve purchased their music before but it looks like it’s that cheap even when I don’t log in. I have no idea when this will last, please let me know if you see that it goes back up.

On her debut album, Cell In the Sea, Alison Sudol evokes adjectives like enchanting and wistful. A self-taught pianist, she took the name A Fine Frenzy from Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Inspired by fantasy writers such as C.S. Lewis and Lewis Carroll, and musical artists Keane and Sigur Rós, the chanteuse’s sublime melodies are guided by her delicate piano work and feminine vocals, which sometimes sound reminiscent of the Sundays. The beautifully sad “Almost Lover” is a surprisingly confident song, and “Hope for the Hopeless” is a perfect remedy when you’re feeling down.

– From the iTunes Description

Plus you can go the the A Fine Frenzy site, and download 5 songs and 5 videos for free (some look like the same odd singles and EPs you can buy at iTunes); these 10 items are free if you purchased a CD or got it from iTunes. You do need to have a CD in the drive so you need to burn it if you don’t have a real CD; the download bonus process even works well on a Mac (for similar promotions for other artists I had to go to a Windows machine and sometimes the files only played on Windows). This really is a deal for $5.99 so I had to share it…

Is anyone going to the Sunday, Oct 14th concert in Detroit? Leave me a message if you are. And if you’ve never been to St. Andrews Hall it’s always way too hot in there so dress accordingly.

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Brandi Carlile – Turpentine – Music Video

Posted on September 19, 2007 | 1 comment

Brandi Carlile’s new video for Turpentine is out.

If you can’t see it embedded above click here to play Turpentine or to see the lyrics. This song always makes me a little sad, I’m not sure if it’s the music, the words or both…

Less than a month to see her at St. Andrews Hall in Detroit, MI (Oct. 14, 2007). Opening is A Fine Frenzy and I’ve been playing One Cell In the Sea over & over so I’m more than ready. If you’re going to be at the concert (and tickets are available) let me know…

Is it proper to say “their CD” when I just purchased the tracks from the iTunes store and listen on my iPod or Treo?

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A Fine Frenzy

Posted on August 14, 2007 | Leave a comment

AfinefrezyfreeitunesWhen Brandi Carlile is in Detroit (October 14, 2007) she’ll be playing with A Fine Frenzy. I’m not really familiar with them but their You Picked Me is the Free iTunes song of the week this week (until August 20, 2007) so check them out. The free song is and I like it the few times I’ve tried it so give it a free download! And if you turn on iTunes Plus it looks like it comes without DRM copy-protection so (maybe?) you can put it on some other music players. Actually, most of their music at iTunes is DRM-free and inexpensive ($7.99 for a fourteen track album or $1.99 for a three song EP) when you consider the higher quality DRM free versions are $1.29 a song.

The 10/14 concert is general admission ($20) and it’s a a great venue (my second favorite in the Detroit area). Let me know if you’re going to the Detroit concert so we can say “HI!”

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The Future of Television is selling me individual custom episodes

Posted on July 23, 2007 | 2 comments

So the future of television is certainly changing. The networks haven’t completely caught on yet, but they will. In a day when users can download higher quality video than they currently receive, get shows from parts of the world that aren’t available and have the advantage of having no ads and are free (please note this means stolen). We can also buy many of these videos from the iTunes store or Amazon UnBox for $1.99 an episode (iTunes has some at 99 cents for an episode and sometimes get that cheap if you subscribe for season). I know “legal” is not what people think when they hear the word BitTorrent, but BitTorrent.com even sells shows legally these days.

If I could subscribe to a lot of the shows I enjoy for 99 cents an episode and have them automatically download to my AppleTV, TiVo, iPod or other device I’d never have anything more than basic cable. I’m sure this goes for a lot of people. Everything needed (except the mentality) to do this currently exists. The networks and producers of these shows need to somehow start embracing this model before it gets even easier for people to get (steal) these shows for free.

Or charge me significantly less and let me trade the produces some statistical information about myself and let them insert in advertising relevant to me. Give me geeky ads, movie and TV show previews that I like, music that I like. Advertise events and concerts that are taking place where I live. I don’t need diaper ads, tampons, bad credit information, refinancing, ads for cars that cost $50,000+, ways to give up smoking. With the right information instead of advertising a new bed which I may have just purchased, they can advertise new pillows or new sheets (and mark in their files to start giving me new bed advertisements in another 5 years) that I might actually purchase.

Even better, let me give “them” lots of information about me, which I’ll update a few times a month with information about what I’ve purchased or I’m shopping for (who in my life has a birthday coming up) or where I’m traveling to. And they can actually pay me to watch television! I’m not looking for a lot of money but just something to make it worth giving them info (besides, think of how much you’d save on cable if it was free!). Maybe some hotel discount coupons when I mention a vacation, or a coupon for Best Buy when they know I’m looking for a new video camera.

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The Police

Posted on July 17, 2007 | 1 comment

I saw The Police in concert tonight at the Palace in Auburn Hills. They were excellent!!!! You’d never know these guys hadn’t toured in years, any other reunion (or county fair concert) I’ve ever seen you could tell everyone was out of practice, but not these guys.

I had a great seat, I wasn’t real close but I was a few rows off the main floor, I had a way better seat than the people who were 15 feet from me on the main floor that (I think) paid a lot more. They had an incredible stage setup, huge video displays and great camera angles.

Here’s the run down on the guys:

  • Sting – Awesome singer. He probably looks less old than the rest of the gang. (I don’t think he did any of his own songs, but his son’s band did open).
  • Stewart Copland – Excellent on the instruments, probably better than the other guys. Not sure what he’s done lately on his own (remember when he did the theme for The Equalizer TV series?).
  • Andy Summers – Looked a little ragged (sorry Andy). I’ve seen him in concert (he opened for Tangerine Dream), I thought he was a lot more mellow.

    I took a few photos, but I don’t know how to get them off the (stupid) Verizon RAZR v3 phone I have from work (my Treo is in the shop). I can’t seem to bluetooth them or e-mail them to a regular e-mail account, anyone?

    And what was up with the really old guitar of Sting? It looked in pretty sad shape, there must be a story (and someone must know it).

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    Ravinia

    Posted on July 16, 2007 | Leave a comment

    So I really enjoyed my concert experience at Ravinia (in Highland Park, IL). It was a beautiful place and I loved it. Beforehand it had been mentioned to me that you couldn’t see from the lawn, but I figured that was an exaggeration, it wasn’t. When I walked in, it was wall to wall people and I couldn’t even see the cover of the pavilion, it was the Lawn From Hell. I bet I walked around for five minutes before I noticed the pavilion, I’m so glad I got a seat, I did look back from inside and there really only were a few spots where I could see a limited number (50-100) of people on the lawn. This place was great though, people had shown up hours early and set up their little fold up tables with their wine and cheese; at first it seemed a bit pretentious but I really began to like the place for as crazy as it was there.

    One complaint is that it wasn’t made clear that I couldn’t take drinks into the pavilion, (bottled water only I think) they’d sell it to me right next to the pavilion but I couldn’t take it in. They said to chug my wine :(

    They have a great shuttle system to get you to free parking lots all over the area (on site is $20-ish). It was a little confusing on the way in but it was like clockwork on the way out. They’ve got a nearby Metra stop too, but I was confused if you need to needed to take the shuttle or if around concert times it actually stops on the grounds; you actually cross the tracks if you park in one of the lots on-site.

    I’ll definitely check the schedule there the next time I’m in the area.

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    Indigo Girls – Act 2 in Ravinia

    Posted on July 15, 2007 | Leave a comment

    So I’m a little behind on the Ravinia concert updates, so here we go.

    As all Indigo Girl concerts go, all the fans know all the lyrics and sing along to all the songs. Okay, so not every song, but pretty much every song. By the end of the concert my ears were ringing a little bit and it’s not because of the speakers, it was because of the fans singing.

    The concert was excellent, one of the better ones I’ve seen of theirs (I’d guess I’ve seen them about 10 times). Philadelphia was one of the best, maybe the farther I go the better they get? And I’d have to say the time I saw them in Lilith Fair (Auburn Hills, MI) was probably the worst. But I digress…

    So it was great and they had everyone going from the beginning, I was a little worried since Brandi Carlile tried to get us to sing along to something and it bombed. We all cheered and sang and applauded over and over. Brandi sang backing on a song. They played some more and Amy Ray sang Romeo and Juliet and it was incredible, it’s one of my favorite songs of hers and she totally nailed it. And Brandi came out and sang Kid Fears, she did the Michael Stipe (REM) part and it gave me chills (I’m getting them even as I type this weeks later), it was amazing. Then IG just continued (and didn’t stop) with an awesome concert, it was well worth the trip. I’ll finish up my review in part 3 (that I promise to post soon).

    I’ve got the word “dancing” here in my notes, but I’m not sure exactly why I wrote that. I must have had an anecdote related to that and I assumed I’d remember…

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    Brandi Carlile in Detroit – You Oughta Know Tour

    Posted on July 11, 2007 | 1 comment

    Brandi Carlile is headlining the VH1 You Ought to Know Tour. She’ll be at St. Andrews Hall on October 14th. Yeah, I know I just saw her, but she;s going to be about a 10 minute ride from my place, how can I not go?

    If anyone is going let me know and we can say HI at the concert.

    Pre-sale tickets were supposed to be at VH1 today, but I can’t find them. TicketMaster wasn’t supposed to have them until Saturday, please note the operative worlds “supposed to” they appear to be available for some cities.

    And Ticketmaster give me 10 free iTunes songs (their choosing) so be sure to pay attention at the end of your order to not miss the button for that…

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