3OH!3 - New Picture

Check these guys out if you get a chance! Later today, I'll be reviewing new music from CMJ!

10/25 - Love Automatic - Kenny's Castaways

Love Automatic is a band from New Jersey. The singer, Brent, doesn't seem to stay on stage... he loves to interact with the crowd and it's awesome! I got a high five during a song last night, haha. http://myspace.com/loveautomatic

10/25 - Little Jackie

Little Jackie
Check them out: http://myspace.com/littlejackie

10/24 - Backseat Goodbye @ Crash Mansion

Backseat Goodbye is a guy named Chad and his acoustic guitar. http://myspace.com/backseatgoodbye

Sad love songs performed sweetly with an acoustic guitar. If you're into it, you'll probably really enjoy this guy. Even if you don't think you would be into it, check him out anyway! He's really sweet and has a passion about the music he's performing which conveys greatly when he's on stage.

xo
erica

10/23/08 - Knitting Factory (Main Space)

3OH!3 is quite possibly the most fun band ever. Their set is crazy and super fun w/ choreographed dance moves on some songs and electronica type hip hop beats backing their rapping/singing. I can't really describe it in words, but it's good stuff. It's virtually impossible to have a bad time at a 3Oh!3 show! Highlights: During Don't Trust Me - Martin Johnson of Boys Like Girls and random people from the crowd joined the band on stage for a crunk jam session! Fun times were had by all. :)



Definitely go see this band if they are ever in your town and if you have to drive to another town, do it!

xo erica

10/23/08 - Knitting Factory (Main Space)

Photo Finish Records - Showcase

Opening band: Sparks The Rescue
A really energetic and entertaining power-pop band. I enjoyed the little bit of their set that I got to watch...I'd probably go see them again. :)


xo erica

10/23/08 - Pictures from the CMJ Artist Lounge...

Hanging at the CMJ Artist Lounge today before the 3OH!3 show at Knitting. Fun times!

Knitting factory!

Fun fun fun

Hangin at the cmj lounge!

Come have free red bulls with us.

Tuesday, October 21st 2008

first day of cmj was amazing! erica and i made our way to the cool kids show which ended up being the first highlight of the week. the first band was free sol and the setup was very gym class heroes-esque. if i had my eyes closed while seeing them i probably wouldve thought travie was on the mic. the singer even had his face/hand motions down pact. i'm sure he wouldnt be happy about being compared to that band but it's the only thing that popped into my head. [side note; there was a band tech there who was black as night but wearing white eyeglasses. somebody done told him wrong]. i'd recommend the band to anyone who likes the style of gch but with a bit more lyrical power. next came skillz aka mad skillz who called himself the backpack millionaire. his style reminded me of dead prez with a bit of eminem mixed in; he managed to be political without the music coming off as a flaming psa. skillz was also able to use the crowd participation to his advantage with his song crazy world about the ongoing changes this country is seeing. although his transition was a bit off [i didnt know when the songs ended] he came off as someone passionate about what he does. that makes an amazing artist in my book.

next were the carps. immediately after they came on i was reminded of underoath as they both have singing drummers. they also played a song called jesus christ which afterwards was accompanied with a sporatic drum solo. the most interesting thing about this band how amazing the singer's vocals are but they become distorted and undistinguishable alongside the drums and guitar. the guitarist also managed to become the keyboardist when the time called but it only caused me to question why they were stretching themselves so thin [being as they are only two people in the band]. when i thought their performance couldnt get any more odd they managed to enact a convenient store shootout where afterwards the keyboardist/guitarist drop kicked the microphone stand. although i am all for self expression and music with a message i think the carps need to be thrown back into the water.
with the crowd on edge after a spectrum of openers the cool kids came out and impressed me. not only did they take crowd participation to a new level [inviting girls onstage for a dance contest and having a joke contest] they managed to keep the crowd's energy up. even the people in the last row of the crowd were jumping around and feeling the beats [i see you red sweater man and bar man!] overall i'd recommend any fan of rap/hip hop to check out a cool kids show to understand what these mainstream emcee's are missing because you will not be disappointed.

Twitter

hey! just a quick reminder that the spotlight will be doing live updates from our various cmj events this week. make sure to check out our twitter and check back here for reviews of all the things we attend.