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The Unlikely Candidates have my vote for great new music!

October 10, 2013

Last night Blue October returned to the legendary Fillmore in San Francisco for their SWAY tour. Opening up for them was a fantastic five piece band from Keller, Texas called The Unlikely Candidates. They have a strong alternative rock/grunge style that blends with a bit of southern rock. It is a perfect combination that brings these five guys together to form The Unlikely Candidates. They came out with an energetic and charismatic performance. On guitars you have Brent Carney and Cole Male. Cole has a spirited stage presence and Brent delivers some great backing vocals as well. Jared Hornbeek jumps around and gets the crowd pumped with his smooth bass lines. Kevin Goddard and his intense energy deliver pack a punch heavy drumming. The singer, Kyle Morris truly brings the crowd to their feet as he not only dishes out amazing vocals, but is high spirited in his stage antics. They really put on a powerful show and for an opening band, delivered a headlining performance. You will definitely want to check out this band. One [Read More]

Tori Vasquez and her amazing performance at the Fillmore

October 10, 2013

Last night we covered the Blue October SWAY tour show in San Francisco at the historic Fillmore. We were treated to an amazing performance by Tori Vasquez. We got to see Tori as she opened for Justin on his Open Book tour earlier this year. At that time, she did an acoustic performance and that was wonderful. Well, last night we had the honor of seeing Tori play with her band and it was spectacular. Her band definitely give out great energy. When Tori first steps out on stage, she reminded me of a young Linda Ronstadt and when she performs she brings out the Pat Benatar rockstar in her. She has quite a magnetic stage presence and along with her alluring voice, you can’t help but be drawn to her. Check out the Rockin Ryan’s slide show of photographs from her set: Check out this amazing tribute video Rockin Ryan made for Tori with her song, Free Upon a Dream: Tori has been working on releasing her first full length album and we [Read More]

Top Ten Songs to celebrate America on Independence Day!

July 4, 2013

Top 10 songs for 4th of July to celebrate America With everyone celebrating Independence Day with barbecues, fireworks, lemonade stands and cocktails, you can’t forget one essential ingredient to your party! You have to have some great music to celebrate Independence Day. So here are my top ten songs to celebrate and their videos: 10. Miss America by Saving Abel 9. (You can still) Rock in America – Night Ranger 8. American Witch – Rob Zombie 7. Kids in America – Kim Wilde 6. We’re an American Band – Grand Funk Railroad 5. American Woman – The Guess Who 4. Any Man in America – Blue October 3. America – Deuce 2.American Idiot – Green Day 1. America – Motionless in White Okay I know you might have been expecting some more mellow ones like American Pie by Don McClean or God Bless America but I needed to make it a little heavier this year with all of my favorites. So have a [Read More]

Justin Furstenfeld opens his heart on his Open Book Tour

April 8, 2013

A few months ago I told you about how one of my favorite singers announcing his solo tour to highlight the release of the third edition of his book! Yes, Justin Furstenfeld of Blue October. You can read that post here. Well, I can’t wait to tell you how everything went. First, remember when I told you I took my son Rockin Ryan to see Blue October in November 2012 and how Justin loved Ryan’s jacket and Ryan was going to make one?? Read that post here. Well, Ryan spent the past two months making one for Justin and couldn’t wait to give it to him at the show last Friday at The Observatory in Santa Ana. We set out for the 7 hour drive right after dropping Brandon off to school, perfectly scheduled to arrive at 3:45 in plenty of time for the Meet and Greet and Soundcheck. Well, we didn’t calculate the 10 miles per hour traffic from LA to Santa Ana. 9 hours later! We arrived late at 5:25 and missed most of the [Read More]

A Warm Embrace from Barcelona

November 13, 2012

Barcelona Barcelona is an indie rock band from Seattle, Washington formed around 2005 and I wish I had heard of them sooner. But I am glad that I do have them now in my regular playlist. Barcelona opened up for Blue October (full review here) on Saturday night (Nov. 10, 2012) and they put on an exceptional show. Their sound is piano based harmonies wrapped with edges of rock interlaced. They remind me of The Fray, Augustana or Throwing Ivory which are also some of my favorites. Brian Fennell is on piano and also provides the exceptional emotionally charged vocals. Chris Bristol beautifully entertains us on guitars and backing vocals while we get our energy recharged by Rhett Stonelake. They currently have their new CD out, “Not Quite Yours” which holds some of my favorites like “Only Son”, ‘Evermore” and “Change”. You can get their CD or my preference the Vinyl straight from their website or if you must download, they also offer that direct from their site. While you are at it, you will [Read More]

It is time to make some noise for A Silent Film

November 12, 2012

A Silent Film is a powerhouse quartet from Oxford, UK that took me by surprise on Saturday night. I went to see Blue October play at The Regency Ballroom and you can read my full review from that show here. A Silent Film was one of the opening bands and I am sure glad that I got there in time to watch their whole set. These guys were incredible. I was up sitting in the balcony area and gathering my notes for my review and as soon as they hit the stage, I literally got up and had to get downstairs onto the floor and to see if what I was hearing was accurate! I swear for a second there I was taken back to the first time that I listened to U2 as a teenager and became enmeshed with Alternative Rock. It was the sweet lyrics, uptempo beat, melodic harmonies all drawing me in once again. I stood there and my mind was flooded with some of my favorite acts coming to mind; Jack’s [Read More]

What is your Go To Song?

August 26, 2012

I have always expressed on numerous occasions how music has helped me through so many rough patches in my life as well as a way to celebrate the good times in my life. We all have Go To Songs. The songs that no matter what mood you are in, you can listen to it and it will provide relief, comfort, energy, happiness, inspiration, courage and just about any myriad of feelings. Growing up I even had my Go To songs. I was born in 1968 and was the youngest of 6 so I grew up listening to my older siblings’ music which I am grateful for. It led me to be have a vast appreciation of all types of music including the music of my parents’ time. When I was young preteen, I remember one of my songs being, “Fantasy” by Earth, Wind and Fire. I remember watching my older sisters getting ready for parties or going out and they would dance around and sing the song. They were so happy so it became my Go [Read More]