Kate, Andy and Natasha, we're basically BFFs

Last week (or so) was the concert I have been looking forward to THE MOST all summer (nope, not Britney Spears!) but NATASHA BEDINGFIELD!!! I met her back in 2008 (see photo). Clearly she adored me so much she was moved to tears and unable to look at the camera for a quick photo, but whatever. Love the girl!

So anyways, days before the concert I read that opening act Andy Grammer's favorite candy is Sixlets which just so happens to be MY FAVORITE!! So obviously I did what every sane and rational fan does, and I went to the store and I bought the biggest container of sixlets I could find so I could give them to him!! Now trust me, I realize how fanatical this is. But whatever, it's SIXLETS and we Sixlet fans are rare and must stick together. The candy is not easy to find in Florida and having tracked them down for my birthday party, I knew exactly where to go (bulk candy aisle at Target on 192, don't check anywhere else, I looked). Sheena (my concert-going partner-in-crime) and I decide to be hardcore and get to House of Blues 3.5 hours before doors opened. We're that cool. Through wind and RAIN we waited in line. I forced the guy in front of me to be my friend. And the people behind us too. I love making friends at concerts. Once we got in the venue, we bee-lined to the front, obviously! We didn't wait for 3 hours for nothing (PS check our our awesome personal purse rack we made for ourselves!!)

My new obession fave artist, Andy Grammer, played first and played way too short of a set but it was fantastic none the less! Here is his cover of Chasing Cars that I recorded:


After singing along to two opening acts, when Natasha finally took the stage, I couldn't have been more excited. Her tour was called the Less is More tour so it had this very acoustic/chill vibe, which I happen to really dig. She did all her fan favorites, some of her personal favorites and lots of songs from her new album.
 
During her song "I Bruise Easily" something super magical happened. Having been in the front row for many a concert, I am accustomed to maybe the artist looking at you briefly as you sing along to all their songs. And once at a concert for The Script, the lead singer put the mic in my face in an attempt to make me sing into it, which I'm sure he quickly regretted as I am no Aretha Franklin. But aside from that, I'm used to being a face in the crowd and I'm okay with that! So when Natasha was on the other side of the stage but turned towards my side of the crowd the following train of thought happened in rapid succession over a matter of seconds (seriously, my brain thinks very fast):

• Oh, she's looking in my general direction
• Actually, I think she's looking at me...
• She's walking over here
• Why is she staring at me?
• Do I have something on my face?
• Is there a really cute boy behind me? (checks)
• Why is she crouching in front of me?
• Is this really happening?
• Is she reaching her hand out to me?
• She IS reaching her hand out to me!
• What do I do?
• OMG IT'S NATASHA BEDINGFIELD
• REACHING FOR MY HAND
• Allie! Get it together and don't leave the girl hanging
• ::reaches out hand::
• EEEEEEEEEEE
• ::blushing:::
• Why did she dig her nails into my hand? Kind of awkward
• Who cares it's NATASHA BEDINGFIELD!!!!!!!!!!!!!
• ::still blushing::
• Loving Jessi for taking a picture of the moment

Needless to say, I loved her after that night even moreso than I already did! After the show it was time to accomplish my mission of landing myself on super-fan-nerd status with Andy Grammer. We had waited to grab Natasha Bedingfield set lists from the band so we were some of the last people upstairs to the merch booth to meet Kate and Andy. Kate was super nice and we gushed over her and our love for One Tree Hill. But with Andy in my peripheral vision I could feel the nervous anxiety of my mission begin to kick in. Without even saying Hello, I walked up to Andy and said "I did something super nerdy and I hope you're down with that" to which he assured me that he is down with the nerds and encouraged me to continue. I explained the whole my fave your fave candy thing and presented him with the tub of sixlets which he clearly loved:

After taking a pic with Andy (and getting a hug!! eeeeee), I made my way to the always-smiling bass guitar player, Zach. Seriously, the guy smiles so big and so frequently, I was like I must take my photo with him! In a bizzare twist of events, I said I was from Minnesota and this other guy with them was from Wisconsin which caused me to word vommit something along the lines of "Oh that's neat dontchyaknow" in my best Minnesota accent to which Zach laughed uncontrollably. Which then caused an entire conversation to continue with full-on Minnesota accents involved. It was my most nerdy and proud moment all in one. It is safe to say I accomplished my mission and will forever be a super-fan-nerd. And since we had hung around talking to Zach for a while, I opted for 1 last photo op to end the night perfect: a group shot with Sheena and me and the whole Andy Grammer crew. Concert history was made this night and I will remember it forever.

I Wish I Did This for a Living - Concert Photography by Allie

Over the years I have been fortunate enough to see some of the biggest names in music play live. If I'm lucky, I will catch a moment in concert history that really dazzles me. 

Here are some of those photos:

All American Rejects

Beyonce

Colbie Caillat

Christina Aguilera

Zac Hanson

Hanson

Jesse McCartney

Jesse McCartney

Eric Hutchinson

Jon McLaughlin

Justin Timberlake

Miley Cyrus

Natasha Bedingfield

Plain White Ts

Rihanna (Before she was Rated R, she was PG-13, ha!)

Robin Thicke

Sara Bareilles

The Script (Probably my #1 fave)

The Veronicas

Yellowcard

Yellowcard

Parachute

Also, I learned recently that some of my friends don't know that I upload my concert videos to Youtube. I have over 100 videos, so feel free to browse. I am not proud of the fact that my Billy Ray Cyrus video is one of my most viewed, but it happened =)
Allie's YouTube Channel

The 4th Idol Judge: ME!

I am not going stress over this but this I am watching Idol without my Idol watching companion and I need SOME outlet for my thoughts! First of all, the judges are not really giving helpful critiques at all except Randy, they just go oh good job, blah blah blah.

Clint: Boring! He is a karaoke hosts and it showed in his performance.

Giovanni: Also super boring! What the heck guys? Do you not realize how big a deal this performance is?

Jordan: The judges ripped him apart for straying away from who he is as an artist but I have seen Usher perform that song twice and Jordan sang it better (because he actually SANG whereas Usher just sings key words and dances around). So if the guy can sing it better than Usher does live, then he has to get some credit. And most Idol hopefuls stay away from that style of music, so props for Jordon for taking that risk.

Tim: Mic check 1-2 1-2. Did they forget that step before he sang or is he just not that loud of a singer or am I just imagining things? I am admittedly biased here because Tim is a total babe, I liked it but I did not LOVE it. So yay for me being objective! I just find it funny that the judges are not loving this when it sounded on par with the first 2 (which they loved!).


Brett: I can't figure out if I don't like Brett because I'm jealous of his perfect bouncy curls or his seductive (if he were a girl) dance moves. And what the HECK!? The judges LOVED it!? Oh, J.Lo and Steven, we are on such different pages. I love him as a person, but would I buy his album? Sure, if you paid me.

James: The first of the night, in my opinion, to really shake things up and do something fun and interesting. Not my cup of tea in terms of song choice, but I can appreciate it none the less.

Robbie: He remixed the sad-homeless-puppy commercial song....he must have done a pretty good job because I didn't think of it as the sad-homeless-puppy song until the latter half of the song. Props to that! (For those of you lucky enough not to know what song I'm talking about, it's Angel by Sarah McLachlan.)

Scotty: He sings out of the side of his mouth but that point aside, he does sound like a fantastic country music singer. My only fear is that he's not quite the pop star American Idol tends to produce.

Stefano: I didn't love it but I didn't hate it. I had higher hopes for him.

PAUL: Where to begin? He's unique, charasmatic, original, fun to watch.....and I could go on... He actually made me stop typing and turn up the volume which is a feat all the contestants before him didn't accomplish.

Jacob: Belongs on broadway or singing gospel. Is that a bad thing or a good thing? Well that's open to interpretation.

Casey: He sang "I Put a Spell on You" and I think it's true! I am spellbound. He is delightful.

Final Verdict: Casey, Paul and Tim are the main 3 on my radar. 

My 2nd Script Concert

Unlike Mother Goose, I am going to jump right to the moral of the story here because it's just that important that you all understand that The Script is amazing and you should all see them live at one point.

The Script is so under appreciated it makes me sick. They are amazing, and everyone at House of Blues last night knew it. But in my opinion, they should be much bigger venues than the House of Blues. The people in Ireland and England know better because over there, The Script sells out huge arenas in less than an hour, but some Americans (not me, obviously) take a little longer to catch on to the greatness that is THE SCRIPT! 

They played new songs last night that are on their Album "Science and Faith" which has, so far, only been released overseas. I am in LOOOOOVE with this song of theirs called "Nothing" which is about drunk dialing, no lie:

Sadly, I wish I would have thought to go see if they were selling their new CD at their merch table last night, but I didn't. Anyhow, moving onto the positives. This photo. I really wish I could make a career out of taking photos and videos of concerts. Because I think that is my dream job. He was just really beside himself with how everyone knew every word to the song he was singing that he just sat and soaked it all in, adorable.

 

Danny is also the only artist I've ever seen actually get IN the crowd at the House of Blues. Seriously, he interacted with the crowd more than anyone and I have seen A LOT of concerts. He did the same sort of intractions when I saw them in Minnesota just over a year ago, but that was a smaller venue. On multiple occasions he jumped down from the stage into the small space between the crowd barrier and the stage and at one point, he even went over the barracade and into the crowd. And the crowd went nuts, and I got pushed, and the following photo happened. Then I regained my footing, and the bottom picture was made possible. =)

Go me.

Another exciting moment of the concert....I realized I can zoom in and out WHILE IN VIDEO MODE!! I don't know if you can wrap your head around how cool this is to me. I made the discovery about 34 seconds into the video below, lol enjoy! 

Sara Bareilles Concert

My friend, Becca, and I decided to be hard core about the Sara Bareilles concert so we could be RIGHT UP FRONT, and we succeeded! We were both so excited to see Sara perform, we didn't want to be smushed in the back! She put on such an amazing show. Not only is she talented in terms of singing and piano playing, she is also HILARIOUS.

This is probably my favorite photo of mine from the night. Now, keep in mind, I know NOTHING about photography, but I do know the difference between good lighting and bad, and I loooove the lighting in this photo. 

This was my fave video from the night, in the beginning she was talking about how she wrote this song about a relationship she thought was over and done forever and how it made her crazy but then it ended up being okay, it was pretty funny.



Also, sad to report, this is the last concert my trusty little camera was able to capture before it met its demise when it collided with the hard wood floors of the House of Blues. This was it's last photo, I am glad it went down in style. RIP Pink Camera (May 2008-Oct 12th, 2010)

I wish I knew this song a few months ago

But better late than never



My heart soars when I find new music to love.

American Idol Tour 2010

We wanted to be early and beat the traffic on I-4 to Tampa, but never did we think that arriving several hours early would land us here:

We were just pulling into the parking lot and I spotted the amazingness that is Casey James from a mile away! We parked and literally ran across the street for the chance to say hi to these fellas. The first guy I talked to was Tim Urban. I was on a mission because my friend Garrett is in love with Tim and I promised Garrett I would ask Tim if he remembered meeting him at the Idol stop in New York. There weren't a lot of fans out and it was pretty chill, so when Tim said he DID remember meeting Garrett, I went "wow, I can't wait to tell him, he's going to be so happy!". Then, after a moment of brilliance, I thought aloud "Tim, will you tell Garrett yourself that you remember him?" and Tim said sure! So I grab my phone, and while I'm waiting for Garrett to answer, Emily snapped this pic below (I am such a multi-tasker):

Tim was the nicest Idol out of all the ones we talked to. And he has that star quality moreso than any of the others in my opinion (even Lee). But anyhow, here is the adorable Tim chatting up Garrett on my phone:

Emily and I were also lucky to meet Idols Big Mike and Aaron Kelly. It was a fun and unexpected occurrence!

The concert itself was so much fun! Our seats were unbelievable, we were in front of the first row lol it made it 100 times better being so close. I recorded my favorite tunes from the night:

Not Like The Movies

I'm in love with this song. I always knew Katy Perry could sing and deliver not-so-bubblegum-pop tunes, and here it is. Looooooove love love. 



PS I really need to blog about my American Idol tour experience. Perhaps I will get to it tomorrow! So much greatness!

The White Tie Affair and Runner Runner Concert

July 28, 2010

For the first time in my concert history, I went to a concert and didn't even stay for the headlining act. The headliner of this concert was actually Secondhand Serenade but my friends and I went strictly for Runner Runner and The White Tie Affair. (I would have stayed for S.S. but my friends had to work in the morning and I only knew their radio hits anyways so it was no big deal to leave. I will laugh when someday I become a huge S.S. fan and wish I would have stayed) Anyhow....

All in all, it was a great night! The bands were amazing as always and nice as always. Another first, we actually had our picture taken by someone in the band instead of us taking the band's picture. go figure! I asked Peter of Runner Runner (who was just walking around the club before the show pretty much going totally unrecognized by everyone) if they were going to play "Hey Ally" because my name is Allie and not only did they play it but they dedicated it to me as well (like legitimately they did, they said "this is for Allie" before they started singing it)!! Anyhow, he took our pic for his tour scrapbook, how cute is he?? I love bands when they are just starting out, they are so nice.

The White Tie Affair played a lot of new material which made me even more excited for their upcoming album despite it's cloudy release date. Check out 2 of the new songs below!

 The sound is pretty good considering I recorded them my point-and-shoot little sony camera.




Last but not least, my friend Sheena really wanted to meet Sean P and being the amazing friend that I am, I fought the crowds for her and made it happen. Then, being the amazing photographer that I am, I made this pic happen.

My modesty is pretty stellar, I know. But seriously, I want a picture like this with a member of my favorite band! They look like besties! Anyhow, on a totally different concert note, I have American Idol coming up Wednesday!! So excited, mainly because I assume Casey James is going to fall in love with me!

Jordin Sparks Concert

Last night I saw Jordin Sparks in concert for roughly the 4th time, which is a little crazy if you ask me. But it was kind of an accident, seeing her so many times, but a happy accident for sure. I saw her at a Christmas show in MN where they had a big group of artists performing. She opened for Alicia Keys in MN, along with Ne-Yo and she co-headlined a tour with Jesse McCartney. This was my first time seeing a strictly Jordin Sparks concert though. I thought it was going to be hard to top the last time I saw her since Drew and I were in the 2nd row and she was AMAZING, but I was even MORE impressed with that girl's skills this time around! First of all, she truly does have an amazing voice and she made it seem so effortless. Second of all, she is SO beautiful. She's like a mini-beyonce. She looked FIERCE! Last time I saw her she was cute (left) now she is like BAM, move over Beyonce (am I right or am I right?!)

 Anyhow, back to the music, most of the songs she played were off of her new CD Battlefield (which I am in love with). She rocked it out with some dance moves on "Walking on Snow" and even sang a song from the broadway play she is staring after she finishes her tour (Orlando was the first show she sang the song at, lucky us!).

My favorite song off of her new CD, for many reasons, has to be "It Takes More". Listen and enjoy:





The concert was made even more fun by the fact that I literally made friends with every person around me. Behind me was 2 girls on the International college program who I ended up giving a ride home. To my right was a mom with her daughters from Wisconsin and in town for a volleyball tournament. We bonded over our Midwestern roots and I let her in on a few Disney secrets. In front-left were 2 brand new College Program boys, one of which almost fainted when Jordin waved at him. I liked him because he told me I looked like the lead chick from Glee (not true, but a compliment none the less lol) To my front-right was a couple from Lake City who looked like college program kids but in fact were just locals. I always enjoy getting to know people at shows, it's almost inevitable when you're in tight quarters for several hours, but never have I met a nicer group of people! I would have them over for lunch if that wouldn't be really awkward lol All in all, it was a great night and for the first time in 7 months, I felt like I had back of piece of what was missing. It's amazing to me the effect live music has on me. It's like a drug with no downside lol. Lucky for me, I won't have to go another 7 months without another concert. White Tie Affair is on the horizon again, along with American Idol and The Script and let's not forget Hanson is playing 2 nights at Epcot in November!!!

Last but not least, check out her performance of Battlefield from last night. She TOTALLY got the crowd pumped right from the get-go:

I am an equal opportunity listener (well, kinda)

I'm always up for hearing the latest and greatest music from across the pond. Agnes is by no means NEW, she is just new to me! She's like Shakira but a tad less annoying because she doesn't shake her hips 99% of the time. Anyhow, she's from Sweden, and I love this song. One last fun fact, she won Swedish Idol in 2005. Enjoy!

It's a small (boy band) world afterall

Last night on American Idol, a guy named Travis Garland performed. Most people were probably like, "Who?" but let me tell you! Travis Garland used to be a member of the boy band NLT (stands for Not Like Them (boybands), i.e. not like Nsync or not like the Backstreet boys, haha and not successful like them either apparently). Anyhow, I don't mean to rip on NLT because they actually can sing but singing, dancing, boybands are just not gonna happen right now. Anyways, NLT went on this tour with V Factory and Menudo and my favorite band ever, Mark & James were the hosts of the tour. So I knew of Travis only through my love of M&J.

First Vid: Travis is singing "Karma" (a song I really like), Mark is on guitar


Second Vid: Travis doing a clever boy band melody, James on guitar. Glee fans, recognize Kevin (at the end) ? I bet 99% of Glee fans don't even know Archie was in a boy band. And it's sad to me because if you check out video 3 (below 2) you shouldn't have someone who can dance so well play a character confined to a wheelchair. Just sayin.



The Official Karma video: If you're the impatient type, you can skip the first 50 seconds as it's just dialog.

Neon Trees - Animal

The Band Perry

I am so excited about this new band. I love the lead singers voice. I love their unique songs that they write themselves. I love it all, well, except the hairdos of the guys, but I am assuming that once they become more successful, they will be forced to conform with a less horrific hairstyle and sadly this will make me happy.

New Loves

Gary Go - Wonderful



B.o.B and Hayley Willams of Paramore - Airplanes

Ke$ha & Mark

Where is this song on her CD!?!? I love it! It's called "Get In Line" and sadly I have no idea where to get, if you know, please tell me!



Also, if you are a girl and you have a pulse, check this one out:

My Latest Obsession

Last Week in Song

Last week was pretty much the most stressful week of my life. It even beat out driving from Nashville to Orlando with only 1 good eye and a busted car, it was that bad! Of course, I will write about it in my regular blog. But music sometimes (most of the times) expresses feelings better than anything. These 2 sum up a lot of feeling for me this past week! Enjoy!

Really?!

The future of music is bright, lol, but I can honestly say this song makes me laugh.

What I'm Thankful For

In the spirit of Thanksgiving, I decided to remind myself of what I'm thankful for, musically. This is 90% of the concerts I've been to in my life:

Michael Buble
Gwen Stefani
Christina Aguilera
Linkin Park
Rihanna x 2
Maroon 5
T-Pain
Nelly Furtado*
Hanson x 3
Parachute*
The Script
Green River Ordinance*
Ne-Yo* x 2
Alicia Keys
Timbaland
Jordin Sparks x 3
Jesse McCartney*
Jonas Brothers
Beyonce
Kelly Clarkson
Eric Hutchinson* x 4
Jon McLaughlin* x 4
The White Tie Affair* x 2
Lady Gaga
All American Rejects
Ashlee Simpson*
BBMak
Miley Cyrus
Avril Lavigne
Justin Timberlake
Nysnc
Backstreet Boys
Boys Like Girls
Colbie Caillat x 3
Danity Kane*
David Cook
The Fray
Jack's Mannequin
Jessie James*
Kanye West
N.E.R.D
Katy Perry*
Marie Digby
The Veronicas x 2
Natasha Beddingfield*
The Pussycat Dolls
Rooney
Sean Kingston
Simple Plan*
James Blunt
Nick Lachey
Good Charlotte
One Republic
Akon
Robin Thicke
Gavin DeGraw
Celine Dion
Kate Voegele
Chester French
Bow Wow
All Saints
Runner Runner*
Mark & James*
Treaty of Paris
Kris Allen
Pink

Can you guess what the stars mean? You should be able to =)

And I would MOST like to add to that list:
Taylor Swift, Carrie Underwood, John Mayer, Francesca Battistelli, Leona Lewis, Mariah Carey, Paramore, Owl City, James Morrison, among many others. We'll see!