GUEST BLOGGER: EMMY PEI

The expression “What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas” is an unwritten rule that is followed by many, and understood by all. For Celine Dion, however, some rules are meant to be broken. While tourists were busy gambling their children’s college fund away, and while couples who shared nothing more than a dozen tequila shots were getting hitched in Cupid’s Chapel on Las Vegas Blvd, Celine Dion was busy performing 717 shows to nearly 3 million adoring fans at Caesar’s Palace. And with her upcoming “Taking Chances” tour, she is proving that the new unwritten rule should be “What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas…unless what happened grossed more than $400 millions dollars, in which case, you bring what happened in Vegas around the world!”

As her status evolved over the years from small town French Canadian singer, to award-winning pop star, to larger than life super-diva, her live shows have developed into events which are nothing short of spectacular. You don’t even have to be a fan of her singing to appreciate the Cirque du Soleil calibre talent swarming her stages and appealing to your senses. World class musicians, dancers, artistic directors, and choreographers have put blood sweat and tears into creating these shows, and with Celine singing her heart out at the front of it all, you can’t help but respect the journey this woman has made from such humble beginnings.

Along with the extra glitter and breathtaking stage sets, people with Celine Dion tickets can expect a little more edge and sexiness during her world tour. Aptly named after her new album, “Taking Chances” reveals a Celine who’s not afraid of risks, of exposing her vulnerability, and of giving her all for the benefit of others. The image of her on her album cover resembles a Calvin Kline ad as she seductively looks out, hair dishevelled and blazer wide open. She’s also hired Emmy-Award winning choreographer and director Jamie King, who’s injected sexiness via incredible dance routines into the tours of superstars like Madonna, Shakira, Avril Lavigne, Christina Aguilera and Mariah Carey, just to name a few.

Over the years, Celine Dion brings her voice, her charisma, and her passion for music to every stage she performs on. And while her shows have dramatically increased in glitter, glamour, and gloss, she has and will continue to win fans over by singing from the heart. The main constant in Celine’s career, and the reason why she’s maintained the loyal following she’s earned since day one, is the fact that she sings about what means the most to her in this world: the power of love.

Click here to read more about Celine Dion, watch her videos, buy tickets, and get the tour schedule for “Taking Chances.”

Wild Sweet Orange from Birmingham, Alabama appearing at the Tractor Tavern Sunday Oct 12

They’re on tour supporting their latest CD We Have Cause To Be Uneasy

They appeared on David Letterman a while back and by the miracle of YouTube, we have a clip here

Wild Sweet Orange Upcoming Events

Sun, 10.12.08 -
w/ The Audrye Sessions
Tractor Tavern
Seattle, WA

Tue, 10.14.08 -
w/ The Audrye Sessions
Great American Music Hall
San Francisco, CA

Thu, 10.16.08 -
Hotel Cafe
Los Angeles, CA

Wed, 10.22.08 -
w/ Margot & the Nuclear So & So’s
Bowery Ballroom
New York, NY

Mon, 10.27.08 -
w/ Counting Crows
Wellmont Theatre
Montclair, NJ

Links:

Wild Sweet Orange on Culturemob
Event Link

I returned to Seattle Sunday night around 8PM from three days of camping, dancing, partying in tents and jamming out to sick electronic music like next week was Armageddon, going on about three hours of sleep with a car and a face full of sand, sunburned shoulders, river hair, a pack full of wet clothes and muddy shoes. There was only one thing I was up for-

Sunset Seattle: the Decibel Festival prefunk by Innerflight at Golden Gardens, of course!

Why? Because Innerflight can party, and I KNOW THIS.

So I raced out to my favorite Seattle park just in time for the beginning of Novatron’s set as well as for the onslaught of pouring rain, which in fact seemed to be having precious little effect on the dancing crowd who had obviously been living it up all day long. Nova was laying it down fat and bassy like the people like it and having quite a bit of fun himself, and dancers were straight getting down in the downpour, rocking it hard right out in front of the sound master. Dancing in the rain on a beach to Novatron was the perfect cap to an excellent weekend, especially as the experience included recognizing friend after friend in the darkness next to me smiling, grooving, shaking the wet right from them and reveling in the warm cozy feeling that is the Seattle electronic music community.

And we are a community, which today is no longer defined by tradition or geography or family but by interest- and we love the beats, baby. Whether you are a househead, a techno freak, a drum and bass fanatic, a wonky dubstep lover, a breaks ninja, electro warrior, a spirit dancer or just a total bass slut like me, we all share a great passion for electronic music and the community created around it, and we should not take it for granted. We understand how very important creative expression is to human beings. Dancing is my religion, and it is all the promoters, DJs, dancers, producers, party-throwers and guys who haul heavy-ass speakers that enable me to indulge in the most important thing in life, having fun. Thank you.

And you can thank them by showing up at the Decibel Festival, not only for the big names like Deadmau5 and Carl Craig but for all the locals involved in the festival as well. Go to the free DJ lounges going on each night at Grey Gallery, indulge in a little more of the freaky beat goodness that is Novatron at the Sensory Effect Showcase, and check out all the other local performances including the Innerflight Showcase taking place Sunday night at Sole Repair. Get a pass so you can hop around the whole weekend to all the venues and not miss anything, and let’s show ‘em how we roll in the 206. And tell the musicians who make your life better just that; your words feed their souls and you know those starving artists need a burger now and then.

If Innerflight’s prefunk was any indication of what will ensue at Decibel, get ready and load up on the morning-after Emergen-C, because all those freaks were going wild in the rain, and I was proud to be one of them.

For more information including the full lineup and artist information for the 2008 Decibel Festival of Electronic Music Performance, Visual Art and New Media taking place THIS WEEK in Seattle, click here.

To read my guide and showcase picks for the Decibel Festival, click here.

To visit the official Decibel Festival website with all the juicy goods, click here.

See you on the dance floor.

Seattle Weekly’s annual local music festival REVERBFest hits Ballard like a guitar smashing down on stage, scattering its glistening goodness to all around. From the Bit Saloon to Mr. Spot’s Chai House you will find Seattle’s hottest artists as well as up-and-coming musicians pouring their souls out all over the neighborhood, and you can get in on the action for less than $10!

It all goes down Saturday, October 4 but wristbands are on sale now for $8 advance/$10 at the door ($5 advance/$7 at the door for minors) and for the cost of two lattes you get access to nine stages and over 65 local bands. Ballard was built for pub crawls, so grab your friends, get a wristband and keep the Seattle music scene blazin’!

Find out more about REVERBFest here or check out the lineup below for the full run-down; click on the artist name for performance and venue information. My top pick? Truckasauras.

REVERBFest 2008 Lineup:

Elder Mason
Ripynt
C-Leb & A-Bro
Kim Virant
Thee Sgt Major III
Hazelwood Motel
Blood Red Dancers
The Monday Mornings
Sweet Potatoes
Zach Harjo
Kublakai
Sage
Panda & Angel
Herman Jolly
The Crying Shame
Kate Tucker & the Sons of Sweden
Arbitron
The Knox Family
Bob Wayne and the Outlaw Carnies
Husbands, lover your wives
Ian Moore
Keg
KEXP Audioasis Live
The Braille Tapes
The Lonely Forest
Michael Vermillion
Canary Sing
Brothers of the Sonic Cloth
Pufferfish
Bacchus
Lonesome Rhodes & the Good Company
The Rainieros
Wizdom
Black Whales
Little Penguins
Onry Ozzborn & the Gigantics
Boat
Emeralds
See Me River
Gatling Gees
Man Plus
Police Teeth
Truckasauras
Guns and Rosetti
Mono in VCF
Piece
Red Jacket Mine
17th Chapter
Team Gina
Trombone Cake
Orbitron
Massy Ferguson
The Curious Mystery
The Valkyries
Aqueduct
Madraso
North Twin
Neon Nights
Diminished Men
The Quit
Grayskul Feat Candidt & XP
Shim
At The Spine
Dragstrip Riot
The Moondoggies

Who is Anberlin? All I can tell you is that Anberlin is a rock band with pop influences. This band from Winter Haven Florida is fueled with big drums by Nathan Young and leading vocals by Stephen Christian. I mean, a guy with a good voice that’s not afraid to get loud and make his point is hard to find these days. He’s got a lot of attitude. I dig it.

A well produced CD called New Surrender which is scheduled for release September 30th is the purpose for their latest tour, which starts tomorrow (9.13.08) in Boston and finishes in Glasgow Scotland (11.25.08).

New surrender is dominated by the guitar players…did I mention the big drums too? Okay, because there’s this drummer who doesn’t lack for adrenaline. Deon Rexroat (bass), Joseph Milligan (lead guitar) and Christian McAlhaney (rhythm guitar) round out the lineup. Together, they have created a a sound filled with whaling choruses and syncopated verses. The big question for me is, what does Anberlin sound like live? I looked them up on YouTube and found this video called “Paper This Hymn.” In it contained images of a girl in a hospital bed, a boy who appears to be in love with her and Anberlin tearing up an operating room in true WTFF! Unfortunately the video isn’t available for posting but here’s the link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2exE-td4F3k

What I know about Anberlin:

They’ve been together for over six years.
They’ve labored over four full-length CDs and an EP.
They are not down with typical genre limitations (that’s cool).
Their album Cities debuted in the Billboard Top 20 and sold 34,000 copies in the first week of release.
They’ve sold over 400,000 CDs.
Then they took everything they ever learned and turned it on it’s head and released New Surrender. I’m listing to it now and am digging the distortion, the screaming and the big drums!

One fan writes:

anybody know if/when a bonus tracks edition is going to be released?

i’m still preordering it, but would hate to have to buy the whole album again just for 3 more bonus tracks that itunes wont let you download individually

Hey, that’s a lot more love from a fan than I’ve ever received. Um, how did this topic get to be about ME anyway…well, anyway! Their fans already know way more about them then I ever will. It’s the new listener that I’m interested in speaking to. What do you think Anberlin? I’m just curious. I’ll get my chance when they perform live in Seattle at our ledendary El Corazon. Details here: http://culturemob.com/events/158677

Worth checking out.

Everyone I know is getting really excited about the upcoming 2008 Decibel Festival taking place on Capitol Hill from September 25-28 which brings pure electronic arts mayhem to Seattle with over one hundred artists performing in twenty-four showcases at almost a dozen venues.

So how do you figure out where to go and when? Ideally you could make duplicates of yourself and see every single performance; alas, I wish for this every freaking weekend and the technology isn’t quite there yet. Short of cloning yourself, make a plan or just take my recommendations!

Keep in mind that I love anything riddled with bass, particularly breaks, glitch-hop, crunked-out hyphyness and anything hip hop-infused; I am in an extended techno phase and really love to dance and to support my locals. I know my showcase picks will leave a lot of talented performers out but sometimes in life you just have to choose.

So with that in mind, here is my plan of attack for Decibel Festival 2008. True, to keep up with me on any night much less during a festival you need a supernatural amount of energy; my secret is plenty of hard living: drinking, smoking, dancing, and of course hella double espressos, straight up.

Your comments are more than appreciated below, please leave one and let me know what you think.

1. BUY A PASS. This is a festival by city kids for city kids, proper-like. With a festival pass you will be able to bounce around from venue to venue with your friends, checking out all the artists you are interested in and catching all the headliners who will be staggered throughout the night, just like outdoor festies. But you’re in the city, not BFE, so you can enjoy the beats all night long and then grab some Jack in the Crack and go home, take a sweet hot shower and curl up in your bed before doing all again the next day.

2. EXPOSE YOURSELF. To new artists, that is. The list of performers looks daunting and there are no doubt quite a few that you haven’t heard of yet. Decibel is the perfect opportunity to stick your ears in on some performances you normally wouldn’t, and since you bought a pass, why not?

3. BRING YOUR FRIENDS. Electronic music changed your life and it is your duty as a human being to share your love of this art with some of your friends who don’t quite get it yet. Are all your friends are already obsessed with the electronic music like you? Party parade down Broadway.

4. DON’T BE STOOPID and get wasted; festivals require party planning. You don’t want to be going on two hours of sleep when your favorite DJ hits the stage. Drinking water, eating, and sleeping do wonders for human beings. You should try it sometime.

5. WEAR EARPLUGS. Custom sound systems will be brought in to all the venues to make them louder and more ribcage-rattling. Life is good. But even speakerfreakers like me want to be able to hear past the age of 40.

SHILO’S SHOWCASE PICKS:

Please click on the showcase name for a description, venue information, and full artist listing. Each showcase has several performers and I am just listing the ones I am really interested in seeing. My number one choice for each day of the festival gets a ***.

THURSDAY

dB DJ Lounge with Oi Vay: D’Jeronimo, Struggle, & Eddie (Grey Gallery) - These friends keep the Seattle scene sweaty and thriving.

Peloton Release Party: [a]pendics shuffle, Stewart Walker, and INCITE! aka Nordic Soul (Sole Repair) - Dance-centric CD release party for those with the Fever5000. Wear comfy shoes.

***Deconstructing Pop Showcase: Jahcoozi (Neumos) - JAHCOOZI IS THE SHIT. Everyone from the Glitch Mob to Modeselektor samples this Berlin trio with the outspoken frontwoman du jour. Their live shows are insane and this is Jahcoozi’s first time on the West Coast. Heaps of people are looking forward to this performance as the highlight of the festival. 

FRIDAY:

Dirty Dancing Showcase: Deadmau5 and Let’s Go Outside (Neumos) -Deadmau5 is only the hottest producer in the universe right now, and I met Let’s Go Outside a few weeks ago at Hengst where he really tore it up and then actually did go outside.

Sensory Effect Showcase: novaTRON (Lo-Fi) - Hello! novaTRON kills it, always, and repeatedly. 

***Native State Label Showcase: KiloWatts, Welder, Nalepa, Shen (Baltic) - All four performers at this showcase have mad skills; Native State is Bluetech’s label and this is the big show for bass sluts who will have the best night ever because right after this showcase is the…

dB Afterhours Subsequence: Eskmo, Phidelity, Kris Moon, Rob Noble, Skoi Sirius (Church of Bass) - Starborne is putting on this afterhours which will shake and destroy you from your dancing toes to your mind melting out of your ears. And we all know the Church of Bass is the perfect spot for 4AM dancing!

SATURDAY

***dB in the PARK: Noisemaker, Manahan, Jacob London, Truckasauras, and edIT and Boreta of the Glitch Mob (Volunteer Park) - If you go to one performance the whole week of Decibel, this should be it. It is FREE, it is OUTSIDE, there will be lots of FREAKS, and it features artists who are pushing forward the leading edge of the sounds of electronic music. I wish I could make every single person I know experience this event, and I truly want to see all of your faces and bodies on the dance floor beside me going nuts.

dB DJ Lounge with Sweatbox and Knight Riders: Ctrl_Alt_Del, pantycontrol, Dr. Mr. M. and Travis Baron (Grey Gallery) - These cats will be slinging techno or “techno sex” as we like to call it on the dance floor, when the words come out right, anyway.

Detroit Techno: Past, Present, and Future: Carl Craig (Neumos) - The Legend! And by Detroit Techno, I mean Real Techno, of course. 

db Afterhours Saturday: Cheap Sunglasses (Church of Bass) - Over on nwtekno.org, people are straight freaking out about this showcase; I am not familiar with all the performers but it sounds like one hell of a party and I will be there.

SUNDAY:

dB BBQ: Jeremy Ellis, Kid Hops, SunTzu Sound (Havana’s) - We all know Kid Hops’ sweet reggae does wonders for the body and soul on Saturday morning after a long Friday night; come chill and relax or even chillax with friends, good music, and brisket. If you don’t know what brisket is, then you really need to be at this BBQ stuffing your face beside me. Hint: They are flying it in from Texas. 

Innerflight Showcase: m.0, Kadeejah Streets, J-Sun (Sole Repair) - So Innerflight took a big plane to Burning Man, but do they have big plans? What is next for the collective? I don’t know but I really love these guys.

***Decibel Finale: Supermayer, The Bug feat. Warrior Queen, and Flying Lotus (Neumos) - OMFG. For real? Can we handle this? I am going to LOVE finding out.

These are the showcases I am going to try to hit at the Decibel Festival. I will probably miss a couple and wind up seeing a few others, somehow get lost on Capitol Hill at least once, find several unofficial afterparties, drink a lot of orange juice and gang up with to a roving band of marauders in the city seeking our next transcendent dance floor experience, find it, and continue on in quest of more.

I love electronic music. 

If you have any questions about the 2008 Decibel Festival, visit the festival’s website here or hit me up at shilo@culturemob.com or the next time you see me out, which will always be tonight.

Candian pop supersongstress Celine Dion is the top-selling female vocalists in the universe. The epic sound structure of her voice combined with a dazzling personality create a story for her fans, a tale played out in giant concert halls all over the world. Celine Dion’s tickets always sell out just as her lyrics speak to the very heart of human consciousness. Who can ever forget (or get out of their head) the strands of musical genius made famous by that big boat story: “Near, far, wherever you are/I believe that the heart does go on”. Makes you want to throw a multi-million dollar diamond into the depths of the ocean, right?

La Chanteuse has begun an expansive tour and the former “retiree” will be slinging her diamond-voice at a number of giant venues including the Seattle-area Tacoma Dome, where she will perform in the same space as such illustrious acts as New Kids on the Block and the awe-inspiring Monster Truck Races. Catch the live music event and share an unforgettable evening with Celine Dion.