Steve Aoki & The Glitch Mob at Congress Theatre 3/19/2011

I'm back! I know it's been quite some time since I've last posted anything... yikes! Over a year now!

I always say I'll get back into blogging but this time I actually mean it. I figure the best time to start is now. I've been going to so many concerts and have yet to write about any of them! So here goes...

Saturday night at Congress Theater was a blast to say the least. Of all the concerts I've been to lately, this had to have been one of the best. Aoki & Glitch Mob put on a great show. Congress is probably one of my favorite venues in Chicago because not only is it beautiful but they always have the best artists performing there. I don't think I saw a single person simply standing, everyone was into the music, dancing and having an all around great time. My first time hearing Aoki was at Loyola Marymount University in California with a great friend of mine but his performing during the day was so different than his performance on Saturday night. It had to have been the light show throughout the performance which in my opinion, always adds to a show like his. The whole show was nuts but my favorite part was definitely the end when he played some familiar classics. His take on Douster's "King of Africa" from The Lion King and RATM's "Killing In the Name" was absolutely kick ass. It was definitely a great way to end the show. Of course my favorite, "Warp", was the best song of the night but his way of ending the show was perfect.

The Glitch Mob is pretty new to me but they put on a great live performance and I'm really looking forward to hearing more of them at next week's Ultra Music Festival down in Miami!

Happy Birthday Dad, age ain't nothin' but a number. =)

If I've learned anything from The Beatles, my family, my friends, or my caring boyfriend, it's that all you need is love. Whether or not we are Across the Universe or right next door to one another, all we need is a little lovin'.
So here's to forgiving and forgetting, rewriting the past, making things just a little more merry around here because we all need a little sunshine.
And sure, there ain't no sun without no rain but we've all endured way too much pain so now let's just enjoy the little moments and be happy with what we've got because some of us don't have a lot while a lot of us have way too much.
You can't buy happiness, as The Beatles will tell you...
"Happiness is a warm gun, bang bang, shoot shoot."
So here's to my dad and all the amazing men in this world who make us women go crazy. May we be crazy fighters, biters, haters, lovers...but good lovers at that. =)

And again, love can't be bought so just cherish it because that's all you can do. So whatever your pot of gold at the end of the rainbow- some sweet leaf, some vodka, some wine and cheese, and a whole lotta lovin'- you deserve to damn well enjoy it all.
Here's to no more panic attacks, no more anxiety, and to a whole lot of love- because it sure smells like it.

So...
Happy Birthday Dad, 44 and still a charmer. Sure you may act like a 5 year old and carry on sometimes, but who doesn't? We're all kids at heart, as we should be. I'll always love you dad, we all will. Don't doubt for a second that you aren't loved- nobody should ever feel that way. After all, you and mom remind me a whole lot of Ariel and her Prince.

I love you! Happy Birthday! Every Birthday.

MachineGun Mojo: Definitely got my Mojo on! =)

"I got one more song for all you fuckers on a Wednesday night!" screams out "Rooster" (Josh) of MachineGun Mojo in the dim- lit, brew- flowin' Double Door in Chicago.
As electric guitars fill the air, I think to myself- they should call it "Just Jam"! Everyone and their mother could enjoy this track. The Double Door's bathroom stalls are lined with graffiti, one particular amuses me. It reads "Prome trace acid val"- two of which I've never even heard of- you don't need any of those to dig these guys though, some whiskey will do!
These guys rock hard, their whiskey- infused sound has a Kings of Leon quality to it, especially in "Hannah". Another one of their newest, unreleased tracks has Zep- like lyrics "...by myself, used to have a woman but she left me for someone else..." sound familiar, anyone? If not, well then hey hey what can I do?
Some tunes incorporate Queen's "Fat Bottomed Girls" as well as The Beatles "Hey Jude" and "With A Little Help From My Friends", but you can only get that live! Their on- stage presence is wicked, especially as Rooster rocks out in a jacket that reminds me a bit of something Brandon Flowers of The Killers and Caleb Followill of Kings would pull off if they ever produced a hybrid.
After the show, the band and I get to talking. I see their potential right away- with their harder sound and the few songs that have Kings quality- just about anybody will enjoy them.
Hard should be expected though when you've got MachineGun in a title, but groovin' follows right alongside as Mojo kicks into full gear.
Shawn on second guitar is a bit skeptical of my determination so he blatantly states, "Thanks for your interest but we don't need your help."
I take it personally and come to my conclusions about him rather quickly but soon bassist Matt joins us. They give me some sage advice that I have heard somewhere before, "this industry will chew you up and spit you out. You're a good- looking girl. People will use you. If you aren't smart you can get in with the wrong people and all the people who could have been good for you won't give you a second glance," thank you Anastasia Ganyuchenko and Joel D. Barnes of LePassage- for scaring the crap out of me for all the right reasons.
Matt looks me square in the face and says "Look, we're not trying to be assholes but what can you do for us? Be more specific."
And I don't have an answer. Nothing.
All I can do is tell him how much this industry has and continues to save me. I'm just a fan. I have so much to learn and take in. I'm sure the band has other influences within their music but I might not hear it just yet. There is so much music out there and I'm still a student, I always will be.
What I got out of my first live experience with these guys though was a genuine, whole- hearted talk about the reality of it all.
All too often we hear "You will never amount to anything."
But we want to challenge the very people who tell us so. Sure it gets tough. Really tough. Giving up seems the best option at times but I'm not giving up on my dream- or these guys, because it's all a part of it.
I'm a firm believer that music brings us hope. So I can just hope that you enjoy the sound, the groove, the vibe- as much as I enjoyed "Jammin'" to it. Thanks again Marley- for allowing your words to cross over all divides.
If it's what you love- you'll get paid after you haven't been and you'll go big after you've been small- you just have to be persistent.
I don't want these guys to go big and be at Lolla '10 because I want a cut of it. No, it has nothing to do with that. I'm a fan and music is my passion and these guys deserve to be heard. Music, just like anything in this world, is something we share with one another because it makes us feel.
And with these guys, all I feel like is putting my "dancing shoes" on as Rooster's most devoted fan mentioned before the show.
This rocker chick knows exactly how to have a good time- black T with a skeleton drawn onto the front, ripped jeans and sneakers- that's my kinda girl.
"I love when he brings out the acoustic," she says.
"It's about you, isn't it?"
She just smiles and we both start to dance.
As Elaine Miller's character of Cameron Crowe's Almost Famous says, "Take a look around. See what you like."
And so that's what I ask all of you to do, if you're so inclined. Take that look around, listen to MachineGun Mojo yourself just to see if "Hot Damn" really is something you and your mother could groove to!

If you want to see more pictures of the show, become my friend on Facebook and a fan of MachineGun Mojo! You can find the links right here on my blog!

Miller's character also said "Follow your dream" just after "See what you like".
That is exactly what these guys and I are set out to do. But fans are always the biggest critic, so hear them for yourself and decide, could you jam to "Hot Damn"? Because I sure can!

back to basics...

Hey there,
It's been quite a while since I've blogged last. Last year close to the end of first semester in Chris Salituro's Sociology class to be exact (great class to take, if ever considering it!)

As mentioned in the about me section, rather the "just me, my thoughts, and my music..." section, you will come to find that this is really what it is all about. I am not here to make enemies, I am just here to write about my thoughts on different subject matter along with personal experiences.

Please feel free to comment or just enjoy, and if you don't enjoy, that's fine too. =)

The Final Blog =(

After a semester of sociology I feel that I have been able to open my mind to all kinds of people and appreciate the many things that make us up as individuals rather than as a general group. For so long, I’ve picked up on words and terms given to a general group and would then unintentionally label a person by this specific group rather than come to understand whether or not this small part of them was even voluntary or involuntary. Although I would never repeat these words aloud, they would simply come to my mind because I heard them around me constantly. Throughout this course, we have learned about being sociologically mindful of those around us, understanding the many agents of socialization that make up every aspect of us, and through this I have learned to truly appreciate every person for what they’re worth.
I haven’t changed my mind at all about the type of person I am and the type of person I hope to one day become. I still do think that what realm of society we are a part of is an agent of socialization in the type of person we are. Sadly, the media greatly affects us in what we wear, what we eat and don't eat, etc. I’m sure that if I was in the lower-middle class, I wouldn’t be as concerned with material things, instead I'd probably just be trying to get by. For this very reason, so much of me wants to just get up and leave this area and see all the world while trying to help those less fortunate than myself. We have done plenty of simulations in which we have seen how hard it is for people to make it in this country even though we present ourselves as “the land of the free,” freedom certainly has a price to pay. I have gained much more respect for the many people around me who face different struggles and hardships day to day while I have been fortunate enough to learn in a classroom setting and soon will be going off to the college of my choice.
I think that this class has put the world into perspective for me, I have come to an understanding with so much that I hadn’t before and I just hope that as I go on through life I will continue to stay sociologically mindful of the many people and situations I encounter.

"Crash"

We've been watching the film Crash in class all week and it was a really intense film that has put so much into perspective for me. Without even knowing it, we classify people by their race and generalize about them. The film showed how a number of characters of different descents were all intertwined in some way. It's funny because in life, we go through everyday without truly knowing the many people around us but inadvertently size them up simply by looking at their faces among the sea of many faces.
I finally started to hear myself make comments or look at people and realize that I do it too, I size people up way too quickly. The movie was very powerful, every moment was important because it justified the next one, you never got too close to any one character because they all made a significant difference.
I was moved by the main character being racism, as Sal likes to say. I think that's why the audience can never truly get to know one specific character, because they are all of equal importance, they all connect in the way that we do in everyday life. Sure, the plot may not be realistic, but every day people are being discrminated against and being wrongfully judged.
I gained from this movie insight on myself and how I can potentially better myself as a person. I just hope to change my own view of that stereotypical perspective we all have of one another, break that barrier, and be open to everybody and their differences.

Graham: It's the sense of touch. In any real city, you walk, you know? You brush past people, people bump into you. In L.A., nobody touches you. We're always behind this metal and glass. I think we miss that touch so much, that we crash into each other, just so we can feel something.

Race Relations

Here in America, we classify everybody by skin color, by "race." But what is it really? Upon reading Mixed Blood, I came to terms with the fact hat depending on where one lives, they may be a different "race" entirely. "Race" is not biological, it is a classification depending on where exactly a person is at the moment.
In America for example, race is based on one's skin color, not including their hair, their eyes, their nose, their lips, just solely their skin color. Why is that? Why is it that I'm white and your black and he's Asian and she's Hispanic? What if my mom was Hispanic, my dad was Black, my grandpa was Phillipino, well hey now they have a new term for that too, multiracial. So many prejudices have been made based on "race," so many judgments have been made based on a social classification. How do we end this? How do we put a stop to limiting the way we view other humans, just that, humans. No white, no black, no Asian, no Hispanic, no nothing, just human. We all have vast differences and are so similar that rather than judging one another in a negative manner for something as simple as our skin color, we should just come to understand what's underneath it all.