Concerts

This blog entry is going to be about concerts. I've been asked many times by people who i've seen in concert and which ones were my favorites and least favorites. I thought it might be fun to tell you all on here. I'm not going to tell you where I saw these bands/singers and what day I saw them only because this is the internet and you have to be careful with what you say. So without further ado here we go...

(2001) Kelly Clarkson: I was 11 when my mom took me to see Kelly, it was an outdoor concert. I was so excited when she came out that I cried. :P She was amazing live and I would definatly go see her again. She really connects with the audience and that was 9 years ago. I'm sure she's gotten even better throughout the years.

Grand Funk Railroad: This was another outdoor concert and I went with my mom and my friend Heather. I don't remember what year it was but I think that I was about 12 or 13. That concert was a lot of fun because Heather and I went up to the stage so we were in the middle of all the action. I also got the drummers drumstick and I thought that it was the coolest thing that could ever happen to me.

(2007) Trans-Siberian Orchestra: One word comes to my mind when I think of this concert: Amazing. I have never been to a concert like this in my life. If you have not seen Trans-Siberian Orchestra in concert yet then I suggest you get yourself some tickets. The band is incredible and the light show is simply amazing. After the concert my mom and I met the band and every one of them acted like we were best friends. They are great people and they put on a great show.

(2008) Bret Michaels: This concert started a tradition that my mom and I have. Every year on or around my birthday we go to a concert. That's my present. And let me just tell you what having Bret Michaels as your birthday present is one of the greatest things you could get. My mom took my friend Heather and I to see him for my 18th birthday and it was so much fun. He puts on a great show and he sounds just as good live as he does on an album! I want to see him again.

(2008) Finger Eleven: This was yet another outdoor concert and it was one of the coolest experiences of my life. These guys are seriously sick. They played a cover of Pink Floyds "Another Brick In The Wall" and it was terrific. That is one of my favorite memories from any concert i've been to.

(2009) Skid Row/Firehouse: My mom and friend Dan took me to see these two bands for my 19th birthday. Firehouse was really cool live and they are a band that i've wanted to see for a long time. The only thing that I have to say though is that a lot of their songs are ballads so you don't really get to jump around and stuff. So if jumping is what you're into then I wouldn't suggest seeing them. But they are great live. We also met them afterwards and they are great guys. Skid Row played after Firehouse and they kicked ass. It was fine that I didn't jump around during Firehouse because I needed to save that energy for Skid Row. They are so into there show and they make you feel like you are right up on stage with them.

(2009) Hinder/Theory Of A Deadman/Black Stone Cherry/Veer Union: The Veer Union opened the show and I must say that right before they came on my mom, Dan and I were like "The who?" But when they came on we were more like "WOOOO" They are a great rock band and they did a great job during their set. Next was Black Stone Cherry. The best thing that I can say about them is that they played a song called "Peace Is Free" and it's one of the most beautiful songs that i've ever heard. They also seem like great guys and the singer, Chris. really does include the audience. Here comes the bad news...I was bored out of my mind when they came on. I only enjoyed the one song because to me the rest sounded the same. It was just one big never ending song. If you are a fan of them that's great, this is just my opinion. Theory of A Deadman came on after BSC and they did a pretty good job. They sounded just like they do on the cd and they did pretty good at getting the audience into it. Last but certainly not least was Hinder. Oh man they were good. Wait no..good doesn't do them justice. They were brilliant! Austin Winkler seriously makes you feel like he's singing and talking to you. They sounded great, looked great, did everything great. Loved seeing them and would definatly go again.

(2009) Saving Abel/Monty Are I: I am a huge fan of Monty Are I so when they came on I freaked out. They put on an incredible show. You feel like a part of the band with them and believe me it's a great band to be a part of. I cannot begin to describe how wicked their show was but I can say that I will see them again. My mom, Dan and I also met them after the show and they were the nicest guys ever. They really take the time to talk to you and it makes you feel really connected. I had hoped we'd get to meet them so I brought my cd with me and when I gave it to Stephen he freaked out and said "where'd you get that? we aren't selling that here." I told him I brought it with me and he said "you have to stay and meet the rest of the guys and show them you have the cd" I felt so cool it was great. :P Up next came Saving Abel and they did alright. There were a few complications with the speakers and things so it didn't sound so great. I didn't enjoy them as Monty Are I and I wouldn't see them again unless they came with some other band I really liked.

(2009) Michael Bolton: Ever since I was born my mom has made me listen to Michael Bolton so when he came here we had to go. It was kind of like Firehouse because you didn't really stand up and jump around but he was great. He has one of the most beautiful voices in the world and it didn't falter once. Towards the end of the concert my mom and I went up to the stage which was really cool because I could have touched him if I had wanted to. After the concert we met the piano player and bongo player and they are both great guys.

(2010) Third Eye Blind/Joshua James: I've already written a blog post about this band and Joshua James so all i'm going to say is that they are amazing. If you want to know more about them read my other post. :)

(2010) Rick Springfield: I wrote about Rick Springfield in the same post as Third Eye Blind and Joshua James so if you'd like to know details please read that post. But for now I'll just say that he's spectaculor.

My least favorite bands that I saw (so far) have been Black Stone Cherry and Saving Abel. I really can't say a favorite because that would be most of them.
*I had a lot of fun writing about Third Eye Blind, Joshua James, and Rick Springfield after I saw them so I think that when I go to future concerts i'm going to do a post about them.

Top Favorite Songs Of The Moment

*Two songs have carried over from last months favorites to this months because I can't get sick of them. :) Hope you enjoy the list!

10) Bye Bye Symphony by Foxy Shazam
9) Whataya Want From Me by Adam Lambert
8) Apologize by The Last Vegas
7) Love Left To Lose by Sons Of Sylvia
6) The Only Exception by Paramore
5) Cherry Bomb by Dakota Fanning Feat. Kristen Stewart*
4) Mean by P!nk
3) Bonfire by Third Eye Blind*
2) A Little Piece Of Heaven by Avenged Sevenfold
1) Dance So Good by Wakey! Wakey!

I would just like to give a quick tid bit of info about my current number one. The lead singer of Wakey! Wakey! is Michael Grubbs who has also been playing the bartender/singer Grubbs on the CW's One Tree Hill. Now if you are obsessed with OTH like I am then you know who i'm talking about. This song was featured on this past Mondays (May 3) episode. I'm a huge fan of Michael Grubbs and I definatly recommend getting Wakey! Wakey!'s new album "Almost Everything I Wish I'd Said The Last Time I Saw You" Also watch OTH Monday nights at 8:00 on the CW!

(I am not being paid to talk about any of these songs, bands or television shows. What i've said is my own opinion. In no way was I asked to talk about any of this.)

Album Releases: May 2010

Tuesday May 4th, 2010
Michael Bolton: One World, One Love
Bone Thugs-N-Harmony: Uni5: The Worlds Enemy
Toni Braxton: Pulse
Broken Social Scene: Forgiveness Rock Record
Justin Currie: Great War
Deftones: Diamon Eyes
Godsmack: The Oracle
Papa Roach: To Be Loved
Josh Ritter: Runs The World
Tonic: Tonic
Trina: Amazin'

Tuesday May 10th, 2010
Foals: Total Life Forever
Keane: Night Train (EP)
Male Bonding: Nothing Hurts

Tuesday May 11th, 2010
Crash Test Dummies: Oooh La La!
Everest: On Approach
Jessica Harp: A Woman Needs
Keane: Night Train
Meat Loaf: Hang Loose Teddy Bear
The Morning Pages: Rising Rain
The National: High Violet
Stereophonics: Keep Calm and Carry On
Tokyo Police Club: Champ

Tuesday May 18th, 2010
Band Of Horses: Infinite Arms
The Black Keys: Brothers
Macy Gray: The Sellout
The Poison Control Center: Sad Sour Future
Club 8: The People's Record
Audio Bullys: Higher Than The Eiffel
Miggs: Wide Awake

Tuesday May 25th, 2010
All Time Low: Straight To DVD (Live CD/DVD)
Beach Fossils: Beach Fossils
Far: At Night We Live
Stone Temple Pilots: Stone Temple Pilots
Keller Williams: Thief
Widespread Panic: Dirty Side Down
Transient Songs: Cave Syndrome
Tomorrows Bad Seeds: Sacred For Sale

Concerts

Brad Hargreaves and Me

Joshua James and Me

So recently I have gone to two concerts and i'd love to tell you all about them!

First I went to see Third Eye Blind. Now I have been a fan of Third Eye Blind since I was little so when I found out that they were going on tour I freaked out and knew that I had to go. If you haven't seen them yet then I suggest that you go to their website, find a place that they are coming near you and GO! They were so amazing live! Stephan Jenkins' voice is so different from any other artist and it sounds just as good live as it does on an album. He also has an amazing presence onstage and he connects to everyone in the audience. And he is also hilarious! The band is equally amazing!
They performed some of there older songs such as Semi-Charmed Kinda Life and Jumper which really got the crowd going. But it was the songs from their new album that had me excited. Their new album is called Ursa Major and it is so so good! So if you are a fan of Third Eye Blind go get their new album and go see them in concert, you will NOT regret it.
After the show I got a chance to meet the new guitarist, Chris and Brad who is the drummer. They were so nice in person and I got some great pictures. I was also SO excited because when I went to get the picture taken with Chris he told me that he was really excited. I asked him why and he told me that it was because I was his first fan picture. OH MY GOSH! Can you believe that?! I almost cried I was so excited! :)
The next person i'm going to talk about is Joshua James who opened for Third Eye Blind. Now i'm going to be honest and admit that I had never heard of this guy before the concert but after he came on stage I couldn't believe that I hadn't heard him sooner! He has such a great voice and it's completely original. After the concert was over and before I met some of TEB I went and bought Joshua's newest album Build Me This. I also got a chance to meet him which was amazing because he is so genuine! I loved this guy and I think you will too so go and check him out!

The second concert that I went to was Rick Springfield and all I have to say is wow! He was unbelievable! He got into the crowd. And people when I say that he got into the crowd I mean he literally got into the crowd! It was wicked and everybody freaked out. He also brought some people up on stage with him to help him sing which is pretty rad if you ask me. I would definatly recommend going to see him if you get the chance because it's a show you'll never forget. Obviously he performed Jessies Girl, if he wouldn't have I think there would have been a huge amount of dissapointed people! He was promoting his newest album though which is Venus In Overdrive. Before the concert I hadn't listened to the whole cd, I had only heard the song "What's Victoria's Secret" which is a great song. After the concert I went back to the merch seller and bought the cd because I loved every song that he sang. I have listened to the cd over and over again and I am still not sick of it. It is so good. So like I said for Third Eye Blind and Joshua James go out and buy Rick Springfields new cd Venus In Overdrive and if you get the chance go see him in concert.

{I am not being paid to say any of this and I was not given the tickets I bought them myself. Everything that I have said is my honest opinion in no way was I asked to say this}

Top 10 Favorite Songs Of The Moment

These are my top 10 favorite songs of the moment. The videos for these posts are on my youtube channel www.youtube.com/kayleighcalling

10) Breakeven by The Script
9) Baby by Justin Bieber
8) Nothing On You by B.O.B. Featuring Bruno Mars
7) The First Single by The Format
6) You Give Me Something by James Morrison
5) Nothing Compares To You by Sinead O'Connor
4) Dear God by Avenged Sevenfold
3) When I Look At You by Miley Cyrus
2) Cherry Bomb by Dakota Fanning Featuring Kristen Stewart
1) Bonfire by Third Eye Blind

Album Releases: April 2010

If you subscribe to me on youtube then you know that i've started doing monthly album release videos. All this is is a list of albums that are being released for this certain month. I hope someone you love is releasing a new cd! Enjoy! :)
*You can also check out the videos @ www.youtube.com/kayleighcalling

Tuesday April 6th,2010
Dr. Dog: Shame Shame
Jakob Dylan: Women and Country
Future Islands: In The Fall
Hypernova: Through the Chaos
John Butler Trio: April Uprising
Murder By Death: Good Morning, Magpie
Slash: Slash
Peter Wolf: Midnight Souvenirs

Tuesday April 13th, 2010
Jeff Beck: Emotion and Commotion
Bleeding Through: Bleeding Through
Coheed and Cambria: Year Of The Black Rainbow
Natalie Merchant: Leave Your Sleep
MGMT: Congradulations
Jason Castro: Jason Castro

Tuesday April 20th,2010
The Apples In Stereo: Travellers In Space and Time
Cypress Hill: Rise Up
Earl Greyhound: Suspicious Package
Merle Haggard: I Am What I Am
Kate Nash: My Best Friend Is You
Willie Nelson: Country Music
Plants and Animals: La La Land
Ratt: Infestation
Sevendust: Cold Day Memory

Tuesday April 27th, 2010
Bullet For My Valentine: Fever
Melissa Etheridge: Fearless Love
Hole: Nobodys Daughter
My Education: Sunrise
White Fence: White Fence
Wounded Lion: Wounded Lion

Skillet

Skillet "Comatose" 2006

Rebirthing: Rebirthing is about someone who is spiritually dead. They feel as if their life is meaningless and then they get saved by God. Now they live their life for God and Jesus. It's a great Christian Rock song because it has a beautiful message about God but I also love it because it's serious rock.

The Last Night: This is honestly one of my favorite songs in the world. The meaning behind it is brilliant and the instrumentals are seriously amazing. This song is sung by John and Korey and their voices go extremely well together. I've read that John said when he sings his part it represents God and Korey's part represents a teen. Although that makes it very inspiring I also feel like this song is perfect when you have a friend going through something like this. I feel like you take on Johns part of the song because you want to be there for you friend. The song is about a girl who is going through a very hard time. She's cutting her wrists and her parents are always breaking her down. Johns part (the part of God) is saying that he's going to save her. "This is the last night you'll spend alone. Look me in the eyes so I know you know I'm everywhere you want me to be. The last night you'll spend alone, i'll wrap you in my arms and I won't let go. I'm everything you need me to be."

Yours To Hold: Alright so I know that this is Christian Rock so the songs are about God but this is the reason that I love Skillet: even though the songs are about God they also can take on different meanings. "I'm stretching but you're just out of reach. I'm ready when you're ready for me. And i'm waiting for the right time, for the day I catch your eye to let you know that i'm yours to hold." I feel like what he's saying is that God is waiting for the person to reach out to him. He's there to comfort you when you are down and even though you may not actually hear him talk back to you he is listening. I also think this song could be taken as a song about someone who loves somebody from afar. "I see you standing here but you're so far away. Starving for your attention, you don't even know my name." It's as if he sees this person's pain and he wants to help them because he loves them. Either way you look at it it's an amazing song.

Better Than Drugs: The meaning in this song is exactly what the title says. He's saying that Gods love is better than drugs. "You're better than drugs. Your love is like wine. Feel you coming on so fast, feel you coming to get me high. You're better than drugs. Addicted for life. Feel you coming on so fast, feel you coming to get me high."

Comatose: The way that I take this song is that he kind of ventured away from God. It's as if he was tempted to go in other directions and now he's saying that he regrets it all and wants to be close to God again. If you like rock then you'll love this song. John Cooper has one of the greatest voices in the world to me because he doesn't sound like anybody else i've ever heard.

The Older I Get: I've heard that John wrote this song about his father and dealing with his broken family. You might have a different perspective on it or you might not. It all depends on what you feel when you listen to it. "I was sitting there waiting in my room for you. You were waiting for me too, and it makes me wonder...The older I get will I get over it? It's been way to long for the times we missed. I didn't know that it would hurt like this but I think the older I get maybe i'll get over it. It's been way to long for the times we missed, I can't believe it still hurts like this."

Those Nights: This is my favorite song on this cd because it has everything I want in a song. It has great instrumentals and awesome lyrics. I think almost everyone who listens to this song would be able to relate to it. He's talking about spending all of his time with this one person who helps him through everything bad just by being there with him. I think most of us have atleast one person like that. They don't have to say anything because just hanging out with them makes everything alright. "Stay up late and we'd talk all night in a dark room lit by the tv light. Through all the hard times in my life those nights kept me alive."

Falling Inside The Black: This song is in one word: intense. It is very catchy (and I don't mean in a Lady Gaga rah rah ah ah ah way) It's going to make you want to listen to it over and over again. It's a very in your face type of song. What I mean by that is that there is so much going on you can't get away from it. That being said I don't know why you'd want to get away from it because it's amazing. The way I see it is he is saying that he is going deeper and deeper into the darkness and he is trying desperatly hard to not succomb to the black. He's asking God for his help to bring him back to how he used to be.

Say Goodbye: Beautiful and heartbreaking are the words that come to mind when I hear this song. I'm certain that almost everyone has felt these lyrics before. Unfortunatly sometimes relationships or even friendships fade. You grow up and grow apart even though it's killing you. You don't want to lose them and you're begging them to stay. "Don't say goodbye cause I don't wanna hear those words tonight. Cause maybe its not the end for you and I. And although we knew the time would come for me and you don't say anything tonight if you're going to say goodbye."

Whispers In The Dark: The begining of this song is so great because it starts off somewhat chill and then BAM! I've read that John said this song is about the love that God has for us. The way the lyrics are written it's as if John is singing for God. John is speaking the words that he feels God would say. In other Skillet songs you hear John speaking to God so it's really great that he switched it around and is now speaking for God. "I will be the one that's gonna hold you. I will be the one that you run to. My love is a burning consuming fire. No you'll never be alone. When darkness comes you know i'm never far. Hear my whispers in the dark." Another cool thing about this is that it's kind of a follow up to the song Falling Inside The Black. Because in that song John is asking God to help him from going further into the black and in this song it's like God is telling him he will.

Looking For Angels: Amazing and insperational is what this song is. He's saying that the world has some serious problems in it and all most of us want is an angel to help us. We go through life looking for angels to help us with our problems. This song is so great because John speaks some of the lyrics, he doesn't sing them. I think that's pretty rad because it makes it even more unique and special. It's a beautiful song and I recommend it to everyone, especially those of you that are looking for angels.

Favorite Song On Album: Those Nights
Least Favorite Song On Album:

(The lyrics mentioned in this post do not belong to me. Copyright infrigement not intended.)