this year was the first year I went to ACL FEST.  i actually had the opportunity to go last year but i gave my tickets away to friends and went to MIAMI instead. 

I was looking forward to seeing Passion Pit, John Legend, Raphael Saddiq and more of the 130 bands performing in the 3 days of the festival.  The first day was great.  the weather was beautiful.  the grass was luscious (sp) and green.  i was tempted to take my shoes off and enjoy natures goodness.  but i didnt.  john legend's performance was my friday favorite hands down.  he is a great singer, i knew a lot of the songs he performed and he sang my favorites EVERYBODY KNOWS and SATISFACTION.  and there were so many people at his stage.  i bought a john legend t-shirt, a badass ACL t shirt and a dave matthews t-shirt (to show my support when he performed on saturday)

then came saturday and the rain.  the green grass turned to mud.  and there were pools and puddles and no way to get around it.  i ruined a pair of adidas.  but the music was awesome.  the people were great having a good time.  i have never seen so much weed in my life.  i walked into a portapotty and smoke came out.  haha.  i mean, why hide in the john when everyone was outside smoking.  if that is ur thing, do it.  and do it proud. haha.  Dave Matthews Band was the last to perform I think.  I was stoked because i listened to a lot of his music in high school.  i was also trying to find a group of my friends around the same time and i was frantically texting, and getting irritated at the same time because it was taking too long to send texts and recieve them, it was dark, everyone was wearing jackets and hoods so it was also hard to see because of that.  but i found them.  and then dave got on stage and continued to play every song I DIDNT KNOW.  out of 2 hours of performing i knew maybe 1 song.  which totally killed the experience.  dont get me wrong, they are amazing musicians, but DAMN. i guess i dont know DAVE like i thought i did.

SUNDAY was my favorite day.  i decided to wear sandals because i didnt want to ruin another pair of shoes.  the mud was CRAZY.  it got to the point i had to take off my sandals and hoof it barefoot because i kept getting stuck anyway.  the best band of the night to me was GIRL TALK, a dj that just played non stop mixes for an hour.  i did get the opportunity to see PASSION PIT and BEN HARPER, who both had great performances but the night went to GIRL TALK.  it was crazy.  everyone jumping around and dancing, mud being splashed accidentally but not really caring.  good stuff.
i am definitely going to go again next year.

SUGGESTION FOR ACL: dont put all of the 5 black acts at the same time on different stages.  we know austin isnt big into R&B, but damn.  do you clump them all together to get it outta the way???

 


 

Tayo from "One Neck Two Chains" posted a blog reviewing the Trey Songz concert and I thought I would share it with yall!  This blog is a pretty dope place to get in the know when it comes to all things music. 

http://onenecktwochains.blogspot.com/2009/07/first-class-birthday-bash-review.html

You may remember the Featured Event I posted awhile back. Well, here's the review I did a couple days afterwards; sorry for the lateness, I completely forgot about it. SMH, I must be getting old. *shudders*

First Class Birthday Bash: The Verdict
Words by Tao "Tayo" Zhou

"Oh...my...God! I just slapped Trey Songz's ass! Today is the best day of my life."

This was a response of one hyperventilating fan I spoke to briefly after the First Class Birthday Bash, a concert/party which took place last Thursday at the Monarch Event Center in Austin. Although maybe not for the same exact reasons, many other attendees shared her fond feelings of that night, a night that was jam-packed with exciting and memorable moments.

After a grueling drive from Dallas to Austin, which was made tolerable solely due to large numbers of blunts and Red Bulls, Galileo and I finally reached our destination--- The Monarch Event Center. From the exterior, the place looked very unassuming, on the corner of a small shopping center, so it's obvious that I was thoroughly surprised upon entrance. Armed with a large bar, lounge area, and two stages, The Monarch Event Center looked like a top-notch venue, a real diamond in the rough. Owner Trey Thomason did a great job of keeping a safe environment and the venue staff was more than friendly.

The event itself was thrown by the guys of AC Music Group and AC Promotions in conjunction with Damar Howard of Power Music Movement. Hot 93.3, the Omega Phi Gamma Fraternity, MySmartCampus, and The Fly Society of Austin (no affiliation with Terry Kennedy) did the sponsoring. A big shout out to Cory of AC Music Group for running things with us, and the event in general, so smoothly. A hard-working and highly motivated individual, Cory took care of us and all the other guests the whole night, hardly even pausing to celebrate at his own birthday. Sheesh!

While waiting for the show to get started, I got to socialize with some cool ass folks covering the show. This included The Branch Media Group (TBMG) and DJ Grip, Altantic Records (Meg what up!), and the dudes from onDscene.net, who technically opened up the show via some Swag Surfin'.

After the crowd began to reach its full potential, the show got under way. First to perform was up-and-coming, Houston-based rapper Drastik of Home Team Records; he emerged onstage to a seemingly unfamiliar crowd, but proceeded to give an amazing performance that left even the most stubborn members of the audience wondering who this guy was. His stage presence was exceptional and it was evident he knew how to connect with the crowd from the beginning all the way to the end. The climax of the set was a remix of Ludacris' "I Do It For Hip Hop," where Drastik spits his emotions out acapella, only bringing the beat back during the chorus. This provided a beautiful effect on the song, offering the audience a chance to focus on lyrics rather than to dance mindlessly to beats with a snap and a kick. Drastik is currently working on his debut album and hopes to make the move to Austin permanently in order to better promote his music. For more Drastik check out the links above or stay tuned to us at ONTC for more updates.

After a couple of surprise acts, none of which I attended due to smoke breaks/food runs, neo-soul artist Tje Austin took the stage. At the outset, things did not pan well for Tje (pronounced TIE), technical difficulties left people antsy and whispers of "Where is Trey Songz?" began to surface. Always determined and confident in his abilities, Tje took everything in stride and fortunately, the problems were quickly taken care of. Accompanied only with an acoustic guitar, a far cry from the 2397235 people onstage during the previous act, Tje cooed the audience with his wonderful rendition of Andre 3000's "Hey Ya." To call his voice angelic (pause) would be an understatement; dude literally had the women in the audience melting after every syllable he uttered. To purchase any or all of Tje's music, please search for his name in iTunes. His debut album Love Me Knots is available now. Go support good music!

Due to excessive waiting around for a chance to chop it up with Trey Songz (an interview that never materialized), I ended up missing the Soreal Cru performance. According to my sources though, it was a great performance---- yes, I'm mad. They electrified the crowd with a plethora of crazy dance moves, some of which paid homage to the late, great King of Pop. Such a fitting routine honoring arguably the greatest performer of all time. Did I mention I was mad I missed it?

Finally, the time had come. This is what the people had been waiting for, some for more than 6 hours in the blistering Texas sun. Like a prize-fighter mounting a ring, Grammy Nominated Artist Trey Songz appeared from the dressing room and trotted through a sea of frenetic fans, albeit with heavy security, to the stage. Instantly, an electricity filled the air. The roar of the crowd was endless, overcoming every margin of silence that had previously filled the room just minutes before. "Yuuuup!!!" It was showtime. Trey blessed the crowd with a number of his hit singles, "Missing You," "I Need A Girl," "Can't Help But Wait" just to name a few. The closer Trey moved towards the crowd, the closer girls inched forward to grab a piece of him. With the place still rocking, Trey Songz closed out the night with a warm goodbye to the tune of "Successful" and left the venue with a trail of people following behind him.

Ironic he left on that song because if someone were to ask me for one word to describe the night, it would be just that: successful.

thanks nickie!!!!!

tje "bleeding"

its amazing.  its a great feeling.  it lets me know that people are feeling the songs.  this is a recent video of some dude singing TODAY TOMORROW from the Noah's Arc Movie.  good stuff. 

if you like his video subscribe!!!

first lemme get to the LA deal.  i am pretty excited about this trip.  I am going to LA with 7 of my friends to celebrate my best friend's birthday and mine the 19th of june through the 23rd of june.  I am not emphasizing my birthday too much because its on the 24th and we will already be back by then.  also, last year only two friends within this group called me to wish me a happy birthday which bothered me.  i mean i try not to get close to folks because i was never used to having people i could depend on and shit but since i have moved to austin these people have become my extended family.  and those basterds forget my birthday?? haha.  yeah not bitter.  shout out to white jr and kevin.  yall remembered. 

but i digress...

i got a gig in LA at the Dakota Live Music Lounge which is pretty dope.  playing on the 22nd of june.  and i have to kind of promote this in anyway i can.  being as broke as i am.  so first i have been locating all LA fans of Noah's Arc and trying to let them know, via myspace and stuff.  adding people. which i feel bad about. because it irritates me when bands request me and i dont even know them.  now i am that guy. but i try to make it sound okay in my request.

i am also going to ask the director of the film soon if he can send a tweet or something to his base of folks to try to promote me as well.  

i have been going to different websites geared to LA entertainment online to post the events.

i am looking for blogs to email the moderators so they can put a plug in for me too.  its a lot of work.  haha.

iight. onto the spiders.
i believe there to be an infestation in my apartment.  when i BIANCA came over to my house 3 weeks ago to braid my hair, as i was sitting down, i saw on the wall a baby spider. immediately i informed her we needed to stop and i needed to eradicate the creature.  his death was swift.  then i had to examine the rest of the walls in the living room.  lo and behold there are 3 of his brothers on the ceiling.  3 baby spiders.  they died promptly.  after further inspection, no other creatures revealed themselves.  so i went back to getting the hair braided.

last night i walked into my apartment, and it was dark.  i walked over to my room, and as i was opening the door, i spotted 2 little dark spots on the siding of the doorway.  i flipped the switch to the light in the hallway.  2 damn baby spiders.  or toddler spiders.  they died quickly.  so.  there are baby spiders everywhere in my apartment.  not good.

not good at all.

last night me and the band played at a bar called Hi-Lo for Dawni McCray's birthday bash.  it was a lot of fun.  many familiar faces came out.  i really liked the set up. i had never been before.  the sound was really good, but we were having some mic issues and some issues with monitors on stage. 

i was decked out all in white because i wanted to hit up the white party at the Light Bar.  i stopped by there before my set started when hardly any one was there and i swear i had intentions to go back, but i heard later on it got pretty live.  there were a lot of people out last night on the streets wearing white so i think it had a good turn out.

i also at at Katz' Deli last night.  i ordered a steak with a potato pancake and a potato knish.  the knish... not so much.  the pancake was off the chain.  it came with sour cream and apple sauce.  the apple sauce was left alone but baby... that sour cream went soo hard.  haha.

after the show, i hung out with some friends and witnessed on friend get drunk for the very first time.  which is crazy.  hell must've frozen over because she is so adamant about not drinking.  and she was just tripping.  haha. 

all in all a very fun night. 

Thanks to everyone who came out.  i was going to post some pics but i am too lazy and too tired.  next blog.

so i am just randomly checking myself on facebook (add me!!) and twitter (/tjeaustin) when suddenly music starts playing.  from no where.  i checked everysingle window that i had open and there were no ads anywhere.  the one that usually gets me is the one that screams "HELLO!" with the stupid smiley faces.  stupid smiley faces.

yeah so the computer is haunted.  what would really suck is if it started playing music while it was off.

i am going to see ANGELS and DEMONS today.  i know it will be a good film.  not as good as STAR TREK but is anything as good as STAR TREK?