Little Rocker Media

Hey Guys!

It’s Amanda checking in!

Hope you have been checking out our flickr, but if you haven’t don’t worry!

I’ve just finished uploading shots from Compromising of Integrity, Morality & Principles in Exchange for Money Tour-2008.

Mayday Parade

All Time Low

Plus over the next few days there will be many exclusive shots posted to our flickr from all the last few shows!

Hope you guys enjoy!

Show Review: 106.7 XL’LENT ELECTRIC XMAS-12/12- Orlando, FL

I am biased.

Yes.

Sue me.

Where does one begin on the complete epic-ness that was the 106.7 XL’LENT ELECTRIC XMAS concert at the House Of Blues in Orlando, FL? Where do I turn off the inner fan-girl dance party to write a review that is both entertaining and informative? I don’t know. And personally, I Don’t Care. (Oh, CWIDT?!)

I digress….

Before I begin gushing on how tight Fall Out Boy’s performance was, or how William Beckett looks like he has toothpicks for legs (jokes, kids), I have to tell you that this was a charity-event show. For the 17th year XL 106.7 are helping the children of Central Florida expierence the magic of Christmas with their Baby DJ Program. Each year, along with the help of the people of Central Florida, they collect toys and distribute them to families that otherwise wouldn’t have a Christmas. Last year, they helped nearly 5,000 kids with toys, food, trees… and proceeds from ticket sales went to buy the extra toys that people did not donate, with the economy the way it is.

Okay, now the juicy stuff.

After standing it what could be considered the longest line I had ever seen at the House of Blues (seriously, it was completely wrapped around the building) we finally got through the craziness and mom and I made our way up to the balcony. There was no room in the pit, and there was still a mile-long line behind us. In all honesty, I think they over-sold tickets. Kids packed in like sardines, but were still surprisingly calm while waiting.

After horrible Top-40 music being played to “set the mood,” We The Kings took the stage at exactly 7pm.  The Bradenton, FL quartet played for about a half hour, and their set-list included:

Stay Young
Woah
Skyway Avenue
All Again For You
Secret Valentine
Check Yes, Juliet

The left the stage at exactly 7:27. Seriously, I was keeping track of all of this. They were fun, ate up the fan-girl screams, and left just as quickly as they appeared.

The Academy Is… were quick to follow, taking the stage at 7:52. Their set-list included:

Summer Hair= Forever Young
Slow Down ( Which included a cameo by Mr. Peter Wentz, screaming as he does, and concluded with a hug and a cheek smooch. Fangirls went crazy.)
Neighbors
Checkmarks
The Phrase That Pays
Rumored Nights
Classifieds
Everything We Had
The Test (with cameo by Cassadee from Hey Monday)
We’ve Got a Big Mess on Our Hands
About A Girl

They only played for about an hour, but to be totally honest, no one seemed like they wanted to be there. William Beckett stomped around stage like a 3-year-old Mick Jagger having a temper tantrum. He jumped off speakers, high enough to break his neck if he landed wrong, and barely talked between songs. I think he needs a nap. He needs to go home, spend some time off the stage, and relax. I think the touring 300 days a year took its toll this year.

Mike Carden seemed to be in high-spirits, strangely. He was smiling, laughing. Quite out of character for Mr Carden.

And the curtains closed.

And they stayed closed. For what seemed like forever. My mom stood next to me, poking me. Trying to get the inner-fan-girl to emerge. She was already squealing with excitement on the inside.

It had been over a year since I last saw Fall Out Boy. It was November 1, 2007 on the Young Wild Things tour at the UCF Arena in Orlando. Here I was on December 12, 2008 the most excited I had ever been for a Fall Out Boy show. So much had happened in the year between.

Pete Wentz had gotten married and had a baby. Patrick Stump had produced his ass off for Cobra Starship, The Cab, Tyga and countless others. Joe Trohman had grown an amazing fro, proposed to his girlfriend, and seemed to learn some even sicker riffs. Andy Hurley got more tattoos, discovered Twitter, and brought us the glory that is Fuck City. (totally Off Topic, but how adorable is Mixon? Seriously…)

The band took the stage at 9:11.

No flashy lights.
No ramps.
No costumes.
No decorations.

Just them.

In all their glory.

The band that had toured out of their beat up vans promoting Take This To Your Grave, and even earlier, Evening Out With Your Girlfriend, were back. And I lost it. The show was like seeing your best friends. Yes, that sounds unbeliveably creepy, but sometimes, to me they were. They were there for me when no one else wasn’t. Lyrics seemed to help ease the pain, or make the day better. And here they were.

Not in an arena.

On stage at the House of Blues. Quite possibly one of the smallest venues I had seen them in in almost 2 years.

Their set-list was:
Thnk Fr Th Mmrs
Thriller
A Little Less Sixteen Candles, A Little More Touch Me
The Takeover, The Breaks Over
Nobody Puts Baby In The Corner
I Don’t Care (With appearance by Bill Beckett, and more cheek kisses)
Chicago is So Two Years Ago
I’m Like a Lawyer
(A song I believe was “Lullaby”)
This Ain’t a Scene, It’s an Arms Race
Grand Theft Autumn/ Where Is Your Boy (with appearance by Travis of We The Kings)
I Slept With Someone In Fall Out Boy (And All I Got Was This Stupid Song Written About Me)
Headfirst Slide Into Cooperstown on a Bad Bet
Beat It (though someone from the crowd requested “Tell That Mick”)
America’s Suitehearts (With Cassadee from Hey Monday)
A quick rendition of Estelle and Kanye West’s “American Boy”  (So good!)
Sugar We’re Going Down
Yule Shoot You’re Eye Out
Dance Dance
Saturday

And oh, there were antics. More like Pete Wentz-isms throughout the night. I have a couple of notes written down, and I can vaguely remember the situations:

* Pete talked about RPattz and Twilight. (Sorry, but even PW talking about Twilight does not make me want to read/see it.)

* “We are not a Rock and Roll Band. We want to be evangelists. We want to heal you. Put the spirit in you.” He then went all baptist-minister on two or three people in the crowd asking them what their biggest problem was, and told them to face it with “I DON’T CARE” (Obvious intro to “I Don’t Care”)

* When introducing “I’m Like a Lawyer” Pete talked about Friends and how the “next song is about wanting to be someone’s Lobster”, to which Patrick had no idea what he was talking about, and was “kinda glad I don’t know what you’re talking about right now I think..”

* A girl in the audience flipped Pete off:
“What was the middle finger for? Are you having a good time, or was it just because?…. No….no not you, the peroxide princess behind you…(OHHHH) What’s the problem? Why are you mad? You’re mad at me? What did I do?” There was something about Teen Angst or whatever and he went on to talk about how “I was like that for 29 years. Seventeen days ago, that all changed. And you know what my wife said to me? She looked at me, right in the eye and said…” I SLEPT WITH SOMEONE IN FALL OUT BOY AND ALL I GOT…..”

*OMG! PATRICK TOLD A STORY!!!!!!!!! “Pete wants me to talk more on stage. But I never have good stories. Except this one. See, my family doesn’t talk much, we’re all really quiet. I have a cousin. I don’t even know if she knows how to speak to be honest with you. But the other day, my aunt comes up to me and goes ‘So, I know you and her don’t talk much, and she’s never been to one of your shows….but for Christmas, can you get her Panic! At The Disco tickets….’ Um….”
Pete: “Does she know they wear flowered shirts now? They have a cabin in the woods. They called me one time and we’re all ‘oh, come up here and smoke some wacky tobaccy with us….”
Patrick: “I don’t think she cares. But… she’s never been to one of our shows….”

The night gets a solid A+. Photos not included, as everyone in the PR industry seems to hate me and cant hook a sister up with a photo pass. :(

The only down-side to the show was during “Saturday” a boy who was crowd-surfing when Pete jumped in the crowd (who he also passed the mic to) was taken by the throat by security and choked against a wall. I’m sure if PW would have seen it, he would have went nuts (as he has done before) but it happened behind him, and happened so fast. THe kid was, like, grabbing the security guys wrist to let him go. I was scared for the kid. (If he reads this, I hope you’re okay…)

Christine Gunn

Christine@littlerockerphotography.com

Major Updates!

Hey everyone! Sorry we’ve been slacking on bringing you guys updates directly to the site. We’ve been so busy going to shows and editing pictures that we forgot we were neglecting you over here! Will you accept a bunch of awesome photos as an apology?

Amanda shot some absolutely beautiful photos in the months of October and November.

Here are her shots from the following shows:

The Maine on Compromising of Integrity, Morality & Principles in Exchange for Money Tour

The Academy Is on Bill and Trav’s Bogus Journey Tour

Hey Monday on Bill & Trav’s Bogus Journey Tour

We The Kings on Bill & Trav’s Bogus Journey Tour

Christine has also uploaded a bunch of shots too!

Sing It Loud on The Sassy Back Tour!

Hit The Lights on The Sassy Back Tour!

Even a long over-due post of Cobra Starship from Warped Tour 2008!

Enjoy!

And Happy Holiday shopping!

Little Rocker Media

10-5-08- The Academy Is and We The Kings

Most tickets, when purchased, have a “fine print” that states the event will take place rain or shine.

They just fail to mention what happens if the so-called rain makes their equipment blow.

Mom and I left the house about 4:30 to get to Jannus Landing at about 6pm. That was my goal. The show didnt start until seven, and I really have no reason to wait in line with a photo-pass waiting for me.

As SOON as we open the garage door, the sky opened up and God said “I hate you, Christine. I shall rain all over the Central Western part of Florida and ruin your night.”

“Ha”. I say. “Ha. Ha” (Note to self: don’t let God know you laugh at him.)

It is about an hour and 15 minute ride to the venue, all the while there is a dark cloud hanging over the car. Its following us. I know it is. We get to the parking garage just in time and the skies rip apart. Unfortunately, the venue is STILL across the street.

Mom and I sneak into Starbucks and watch the line. Everyone is wearing ponchos, hiding under umbrellas, or just getting soaked to their underwear.



The rain would not stop. It was getting closer and closer to the time they were going to open the doors, and it just kept pouring and pouring. Bill even blogged from the tour bus about the rain:

The past two days its been raining here in Florida.  Thats two days straight weve had people soaking wet, waiting in line to see the show.  It was a great show last night in Fort Lauderdale anyways  Im a little worried about the safety of the show tonight if it keeps raining like it is now.  Its outdoors, and no one likes to be electrocuted, not even for the likely press coverage.

True that, Bill Beckett. True that.

About 6:50, I mosey on up to the will-call line to get my photo-pass (shout to Atlantic Records!). It is at this point I look up and see Michael Guy Chislett and Jack the Camera Guy doing what I assume is a TAI-Tv bit and recording all the drenched fans in line.

Yes, they are soaked. No, they dont find your dry clothes and filming humourous. ThankYouVeryMuch.

I find mom a place to sit and head into the photo pit. There is equipment EVERYWHERE and a bunch of people running around on stage, trying to figure out whats going on. I talk to my security guard pal Eric, who informs me that the first three bands were cancelled. (At this point, I only knew of Hey Monday, Carolina Liar, We The Kings, and The Academy Is playing.) I thought they canceled WTK, and I was bumming because this was a home-town show for the boys. (side note: we love you, and are so proud of you)

They check equipment for about an hour, or more it seemed like, only to offically cancel Hey Monday and Carolina Liar. From what the inside scoop was: The rain came down so hard and so fast it flodded the eletrical cords and the amps. When they went to test the equipment, people were getting electrocuted and someone apparrently got caught in the wires and started bleeding under his fingernails!

They start checking WTK equipment, testing for similar bugs in the system. Most soundchecks will take about five to ten minutes. This one took about a half hour. Testing every mic, every guitar, every amp. Just seeing if they would blow.

At this point, I see Hansel.



For those of you who dont know, Hansel was that hot-tech guy you watched set up all the equipment for Cobra Starship on The Really Really Ridiculously Good Looking Tour and Warped Tour. It is also at this point when I realize I am the only person in the crowd who knows who he is.

The crowd was getting antsy.




They finally set up all the equipment and WTK finally graces the stage.










The band played the first two songs: Stay Young and Woah with a full band. The feedback in the monitors was too much, and one of them caught on fire. “…the blue kind, so you know it’s bad” singer Travis Clark stated as he came out with an acoustic gutiar about 10 minutes later.



As an acoustic set, Travis was solo on the guitar and played: Skyway Avenue, Secret Valentine, Check Yes Juliet, and This Is Our Town.

The fans LOVED it!




It was about 20 minutes later when Bill and Chislett came out to do an acoustic show as well.



They played (in no particular order because I have a bad memory, though it seems right…):

Summer Hair=Forever Young
Classifieds
Everything We Had
40 Steps
(cover song) Time After Time
Down and Out (with appearance by Casadee of Hey Monday, pictured below)
The Test
About A Girl (with appearance by Travis of We The Kings)



All-in-all, the night gets an A+. Some fans were saying that it was their first TAI show, and were bummed because it was acoustic. Grant you, I was upset I didn’t get to scope me some Mike Carden, but when given the chance to see ANY band acoustic, you do it. The Academy Is should be first on your list.

There is something about a band playing acoustic. Its raw talent. Just a guitar and a voice. It was beautiful.

A huge thank you goes to TAI and WTK for sticking it out. While other bands would have cancelled the show, they stuck around and gave the fans who had been in line all day, and sat in the rain for hours a how that they deserved.

After the show, Hey Monday played an acoustic set outside the venue next to the van, which was awesome as well.

New Kids on The Block- Hangin’ Tough Since 1984

Photos of concert via TBO.com
Photos by:Tampa Tribune’s Chris Urso

For those of you who think that a Jonas Brothers concert brings out the shrieks of joy and admiration from 12 year olds, you should hear the shrieks of drunk 30-somethings reliving their teenage glory days.

I was seated amongst a sea of home-made Mrs. Knight and Mrs. McIntyre tee-shirts, of which I am sure their husbands must have been so pleased. Donnie’s A Sexy Beast,  Fan Since 1985, and Will You Marry Danny signs were placed around the forum.

Fans wore shirts that had been stuck in their closest since 1986, and obviously had not been worn since, seeing as it was the last time they fit.

Now of age to drink legally, have sex legally, and have a good time, there was nothing holding these girls back.

Oh, man. This was going to be one hell of a show.

First up, was Lady Ga-Ga, or as I called her the whole night, Lady Goo Goo. First of all, let me let Audrey Kitching know that someone else is stealing her look. Now, back to the show…

Lady Ga Ga, whose real name is Stefani Gabriella Germanotta is considered a dance-pop/electronica musician. Funny, how the word ‘musician’ gets thrown around so easily these days. Miss Ga Ga is a life size barbie with fake blonde hair and an even faker self-tan. It was 20 minutes of bad Euro-pop-techno-trash, as well as a cheap imitation of Gwen Stefani.

Please, do not make me sit through that ever again.

Ms. Natasha Bedingfield was up next, and sadly disappointed me. The disappointment came before she even got on the stage. The announcement of her arrival was quickly bashed, when the voice-over mentioned that her song, “Unwritten” was the theme song to MTV’s The Hills. I hung my head, stood, and went to go buy my $35 NKOTB tee-shirt (which for the record, is super amazing) and some snacks. Sorry honey, but when you don’t look into your set, I’m not into it. Cheer up, wash your hair, and get a new dress. I was not feeling it.

Ladies and gentlemen, cue the screaming. Not just “Woo, NKOTB is here.” No, I mean the fan-girl kind. The high-pitched, pushing-the-threshold-of-pain shrieking.

Jordan Knight can still hit the high-notes, they still have all the cheesy dance moves, and Donnie Wahlberg is still as gangster as ever.

Bandmates Donnie Wahlberg, brothers Jonathan and Jordan Knight, Joey McIntyre and Danny Wood brought the Forum to its feet when they emerged from beneath the stage amid plumes of smoke, wearing dress pants, button-down shirts and vests.

They started things off with “Single” from “The Block,” their first new album in 14 years. They immediately took it back to their hey-day with “My Favorite Girl” and “Right Stuff,” all while the crowd stood and sang along word for word.

A quick-change, and the band was in top-hats and suits, serenading the ladies with “Didn’t I (Blow Your Mind This Time)”

Joey-Mac belted through “Please Don’t Go Girl”

For “Grown Man,” also on their new album, they turned up the heat with lots of gyrating and pelvic thrusts, which yes, brought on more screams. It must be a good feeling, that 15 years later, they are making women crazy.

Donnie was the band’s main spokesperson for the night, seeming to do most of the talking. At one point, he even asked the crowd “How does my ass look?” The woman next to me almost clawed her way to the stage. (For the record, it looks fab.)

Danny did some impromptu breakdancing and Jonathan still looked like the kid brother, quiet, shy and keeping mostly to himself.

After Danny’s break dancing, the crowd was serenaded again with “If You Go Away.”

The band disappeared, to reemerge in the back of the forum, (where we were sitting) on a rotating stage with a piano to perform “Two in the Morning” and “Dirty Dancing” and “Tonight.”

There were numerous times they stopped the music and spoke to the crowd, which basked in the love. The more screams, the more the guys chatted. At one point they had the crowd hold a dance-off contest on camera, of which ‘NSync’s Joey Fatone was shown in attendance (Note: At this point, I wanted to hunt him down and DEMAND an NSync reunion. If NKOTB can do it, damn it, so can they.)

They performed “A Little Bit Twisted” and moments later, there was Jordan Knight, shirt unbuttoned and blowing in the wind. Now, this man is old enough to possibly be my father, or at least an uncle, but good-lord, age did his body good.

He performed “Baby I Believe In You” and his single from 1999, “Give It To You”, to which I almost fell down the seats attempting to remember the dance moves, They are HARD.

Joe came out to sing “Stay The Same” also from 1999, and was my “Graduation Song” in the 5th grade. We had to learn sign-language for it, and I remembered it and felt great.

Donnie came out, girls went nuts, and he explained he was single, had a broken heart, and would like the females in attendance to mend it for him. They agreed, and he went on to sing “Cover Girl.”

The band came out later, wearing all white, looking like angels up on the stage. No, not the “OMG! He’s an angel”  But it was pretty and pure…leave me alone.

After, Donnie asked the female population in the audience (which made up 99.99 percent) if they wanted to go home to their husbands. “After all, it is Sunday. You’re gonna have to get up early for work tomorrow, and get your kids off to school. You know, the game is over right about now, and your man is starting to wonder where you are. He’s probably thinking ‘Hm… I wonder if she got a backstage pass and is probably doing something dirty….’”  It was the only time there was a ‘boo’ from the crowd. Don’t mention their prior engagements, Wahlberg. They only have eyes for you.

“Good. You shouldn’t want to go home. You waited fifteen years, and thats fifteen years of partying you didn’t get to do.”

The band performed “Click Click Click” and were rained on by bras. This time, the bras were those of middle-aged women. Not the training bras they wore way-back-when. Yes it was kind of gross. Especially when Joe commented that one was sweaty. Ew.

The group performed their newest song, “Summertime”, and came back fro two encores of “The Right Stuff” and a finale of “Hangin Tough”

Joey and Jordan were the vocal standouts, with Jordan hitting notes that would make Mariah Carey proud. Antics and bravado go to Donnie, who wore a Boston Red Sox baseball cap (he did give props to the Tampa Bay Rays, which caused more screaming, of course). Minus a few dancing missteps early in the show, the boys from the “Block” held their own, and actually looked like they were having fun. If they weren’t, ticketholders did.

Christine Gunn

christine@littlerockerphotography.com