Tori Kelly in DC

I had second-row seats to see Tori Kelly in DC on April 23, 2016. Here are some videos I took:

Dear No One

All In My Head/Say My Name

Prince tribute - When Doves Cry

YouTube Medley

Daydream

My top 20 albums of 2015

Here is my personal list of the top 20 albums of 2015:

20. Fall Out Boy - American Beauty/American Psycho

19. Leona Lewis  - I Am

18. Jewel - Picking Up The Pieces

17. Maddie & Tae - Start Here

16. Beth Hart - Better Than Home

15. A Great Big World - When the Morning Comes

14. Rico Love - Turn the Lights On

13. Demi Lovato - Confident

12. Janet Jackson - Unbreakable

11. Alessia Cara - Know-It-All

10. Chris Stapleton - Traveller

9. James Bay - Chaos and the Calm

8. Adele - 25

7. Florence + the Machine - How Big, How Blue, How Beautiful

6. Marina & the Diamonds - FROOT

5. Original Broadway Cast - Hamilton

4. Tori Kelly - Unbreakable Smile

3. Maria Mena - Growing Pains

2. Ellie Goulding - Delirium*****

1. Carly Rae Jepsen - Emotion

That's it.

*****I'm going to see Ellie Goulding in concert in June! I may do a blog post about it. I have a front row seat right behind the pit. Can't wait to attend.

Introducing Tori Kelly

Enjoy!

My top albums of 2012

I listened to about 70 albums released in 2012. That is unusual for me. I doubt I do it again this year. I was going to rank my top 30 or 40 albums but I got too overwhelemed so this is it:

1. Jason Mraz  - Love is a Four Letter Word
2. Rachael Sage - Haunted By You
3. Alanis Morissette - havoc and bright lights
4. Melanie Fiona - The MF Life
5. Tristan Prettyman - Cedar + Gold
6. Fun.  - Some Nights
7. Frank Ocean - Channel ORANGE
8. No Doubt - Push and Shove
9. Christina Aguilera - Lotus
10. Lana Del Rey - Born to Die
11. Yuna - Yuna
12. Grace Potter and the Nocturnals - The Lion The Beast The Beat

Honorable mentions (in no particular order):
Alamba Shakes - Boys & Girls
Bonnie Raitt - Slipstream
Philip Phillips - The World From the Side of the Moon
Nelly Furtado - The Spirit Indestructible

If I ruled the Grammy's

The Grammy nominees are all here

• Everyone is wondering how did Taylor Swift’s “We are Never Ever Getting Back Together” got nominated. I agree. There are so many better pop songs they could have chosen. Even Demi Lovato’s “Give Your Heart a Break” would have been a better choice. It is just sad. I hope Swift doesn’t rule the Grammy’s in 2014 (I know - too early to care but I do). Her album, “Red”, has about 4-5 good songs out of 16. Well it feels like it has 16 songs. I should know, I have listened to it several times and I’m so disappointed in it.
• I’m glad Fun. got the recognition they deserved.
• I’m shocked they noticed: Kelly Clarkson & Tamia. Kelly made a decent pop album and I love when good pop gets recognized by the academy. I had forgotten it qualified since it came out in 2011. I hope this means a huge bump in sells for her. Tamia’s album is good but not great. It is definitely worth a listen if you like R&B.
• Melanie Fiona’s album is awesome and should have gotten more nominations. I would have nominated one of her singles as “song of the year”.
• Who should have been nominated but got screwed: Bob Dylan, Dave Matthews Band, Emily Wells, Demi Lovato, Grace Potter and the Nocturnals and Lana Del Rey. I could probably name more. (I’m not sure Bob Dylan made the deadline).
• I’m so glad I’m not the only person who doesn’t think John Mayer’s latest was the greatest album of the year. It didn’t get one nomination. That’s harsh since the Academy loves him but I don’t think “Born & Raised” is that good.
• Overall, I thought they did a decent job. Nothing too out there was nominated (besides Swift). And people get overlooked every year.

The Liberation Tour

If you get a chance to see this tour, go! I'm glad they decided to kick off the tour in VA Beach. Melanie Fiona, D'Angelo and Mary J. Blige were excellent. I'd already seen Mary J. in concert years ago so I went to see D'Angelo. My biggest disappointment was how short D's set was.

Melanie Fiona was up first. Her set was about 30 minutes. She had a full band with backup singers. People familiar with her music know that she can sing live. Her set included: "4AM", "Bones", "It Kills Me" "Change the Record", and "Wrong Side of a Love song"

D'Angelo went on next. What can I say? I've waited over 10 years for this moment. His usual band was with him. (Pino Palladino, Jesse Johnson, Kendra Foster etc.) He came through from the back of the arena. Thanks to security for the heads up. :) I was 10 feet from him as he climbed the steps to the stage. Of course he was superb. His voice was better than ever. IMO, he never lost his voice so I'm not sure why people comment on that.

D's set list was (not in order):

CRUSIN
UNTITLED
BROWN SUGAR
CHICKEN GREASE
SDM
IN ANOTHER LIFE
LADY
LEFT AND RIGHT
FEEL LIKE MAKIN LOVE

I was very, very disappointed that he did not perform his new song "Sugah Daddy". I love "In Another Life" and was glad to hear it live but he should have also done Daddy. I know he loves performing SDM at every freakin' show for some reason but I wish he would have replaced that with a new track (either "Daddy" or "Really Love").

Here is a short video I shot from the show:

Mary J. Blige! The audience was clearly there for her. (D'angelo who?) It was an amazing thing to see. She basically sang every song she ever made in about 90 minutes. I can't possibly list every song but part of her setlist included:

My Life
Not Gon' Cry
Sweet Thing
Real Love
Ain't Nobody
Mr. Wrong
Just Fine
I'm Going Down
No More Drama
Love No Limit

I have a short clip from the show:



I wished she had performed 25/8. That is my favorite track from her new album, My Life II. I don't know what kind of tour this was. She didn't perform a lot of songs from the new album. This was sort of like a greatest hits tour. I wasn't expecting that. She was perfect. Compared to the last time I saw her (in the late 90s I think), the sound was better. Everything was better. And she danced a lot (with no backup dancers). It was great.

Mary is like my musical soul sister. It was great seeing her again but I was really there for D'angelo so I didn't get to enjoy her set that well. I was so pissed that D didn't play longer. However I was so happy for her. There was so much love there. The audience did 30% of the singing.

Overall an "A" show. If you love Mary, you must go. Just don't expect a ton of new tracks. And D'angelo fans...sigh. He needs to go on tour on his own in the US. What is the hold up? The new album?? Um, will that ever be released? We can only hope. D says the album will be released around Thanksgiving.

Rachael Sage

I had the pleasure of seeing Rachael Sage in concert. I won tickets to see her in Norfolk, VA. If you love Tori Amos, you will LOVE her. (FWIW, I am not a Tori Amos fan).

She is witty and often interrupts herself mid song with random stories. Her manager Wendy was nice and made the experience great. I got a hug from Rachael. And an autographed piece of her own artwork.

She has nine albums! Yes 9! She is on her own record label. She has been a business woman all her life. Melissa Ferrick is on her label.

I can't remember her set list. I know she sung "Invisible Light" "Fame" and "Hey Na". I have listened to so much of her music since then I can't remember what I heard live. It was great to hear the stories behind the songs. There was an awesome moment when Rachael jumped off the stage and stood right beside me and sang.

Samples of her music so you will fall in love like I did:

A new artist I just discovered is Yuna. Her MP3 of her first single Live Your Life is currently free on Amazon. In my opinion that is not the best song on the album. The lyrics are beautiful but there are so many better songs on the album.

Here is Yuna: