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Archive for the ‘Backstreet Boys’ Category

Daði Freyr: I’m Doing a Tour (Brooklyn Bowl, Philadelphia, PA, March 7, 2024)

Posted in Atomic Kitten, Backstreet Boys, Blusher, Brooklyn Bowl, Daði Freyr, Philadelphia, PA on March 8, 2024| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: March 7, 2024] Daði Freyr 

I saw Daði Freyr about a year and a half ago on his first tour of the United States.  So now I’ve seen ALL of his appearances in Philadelphia (two).  I enjoyed the first one so much I grabbed a ticket for my wife and daughter as well.  Turned out that my daughter had a school thing she couldn’t miss.  And had I looked up the details, I would have seen the the show was sold out and I probably could have sold my ticket.  I never would have guessed it had sold out, but look at that poster–sold out up and down the country.

To my knowledge, Daði Freyr was only known from his Eurovision songs.  I had no idea that he made any kind of inroads into the US.  When I saw him last time there were some die hard fans at the show.  But this was crazy. There was a woman in front of us who, when he sang “Sunshine” nearly passed out saying “I can’t believe he’s real.”

Fascinating.

I went last time as a lark.  I went this time because I enjoyed his show and thought my family might too.  It was quite eye opening.

Like last time, the band was a trio–Daði is on synths, guitar and bass, Ylva Øyen on drums and keys and Pétur Karl on guitars and synth.

Center stage was a giant inflatable head of Daði and there were two giant hands on either side of the stage.  There was an announcement before the show in which Daði thanked us for coming and told us to look into the eyes and the souls of the people around us and get ready to dance with them.

They came out on stage and the crowd went nuts.  Appropriately, they started with “Thank You,” a classic synth pop song.  His voice is surprisingly deep and yet very warm at the same time.

last time, he followed this up with the rather amusing “Shut Up” but this time he jumped right into an older Icelandic language song–and the crowd went even crazier. (more…)

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Vanilla Fudge (Wellmont Theater, Montclair, NJ, January 15, 2016 ) [BLUE ÖYSTER CULT]

Posted in Backstreet Boys, Blue Öyster Cult, Carmine Appice, Deep Purple, Led Zeppelin, Montclair, NJ, Set in New Jersey!, The Doors, The Monkees, Vanilla Fudge, Wellmont Theater on January 16, 2016| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: January 15, 2016] Vanilla Fudge

2016-01-16 20.13.10I had never seen Blue Öyster Cult even though I’ve been a pretty big fan since college.  So when I saw they were playing at the Wellmont, I had to go see them.  As it turns out Vanilla Fudge was going to be the opener.

I have known of Vanilla Fudge, but I realized that I had no idea what they sang.  And when I looked them up, their biggest hits were all covers.  It turns out, that’s what they are–the world’s most successful and unusual cover band (Led Zeppelin opened for them in 1969, and Deep Purple got their organ sound from Vanilla Fudge).

Although they do covers, their sound is very much their own.  They don’t so much cover songs as transform them into their own style.  And that style is psychedelic and very heavy.

The band released five albums from 1967-1969 and then broke up.  They reunited and recorded an album in 1984.  Then split up.  And reunited in 2002 (with a different singer) and released an album of rerecorded old Vanilla Fudge as well as a cover of a Backstreet Boys and an N’Sync song (!).

Then the original lineup reunited in 2007 for an album of all Led Zeppelin covers called Out Through the In Door.  And then last year they released a new album called Spirit of ’67 (a collection of songs from 1967).  This featured all of the original members except the bassist who has retired.

So, here it is almost 50 years later and the original lineup (sans bassist) is still touring.  And they sounded amazing.  (more…)

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