Local Bands and Venues

In my very first post on here I talked a little bit about local bands.  In the last year or so I began to get really into local shows.  I meet a few kids at my high school who were in a band called Operation 13 and I loved to go see them play!  They play some older covers with some of their own original songs mixed in as well as some newer alternative hits. They always put on a great show when I’ve seen them and they look like they are always having a good time.  They have a show coming up this weekend on the 11^th in Carrolton if you’re interested go like them on Facebook to get the details.

                Another local band I have been following for a while is Forest Green.  A friend of mine showed me a song and immediately I was hooked.  The band has what it takes and everyone knew that right from their first show at Pop’s Skate Shop.  Just last weekend I went to hear the band at Counter Culture and I swear every time I like them more and more. 

                While at Forest Green’s show I experienced love at first sight when I heard The Backpacks play. I had heard they had a few good songs but I wasn’t prepared for what I heard.  It was like Fireworks were going off in the room even though I was just standing in front of a dimly lit stage.  They have a 2 original E.P.’s and they are even on Spotify. 

                I would just like to talk about how great Counter Culture is as a venue in Saginaw.  It just opened and if I was in a band I would love to play here! It’s in a good part of town and the sound is great.  The setting is small but intimate and the extra room is great for in between artist.  Love this place and I will definitely go back.

Grey's Anatomy The Musical?

So, I have been binge watching Grey’s Anatomy for a while now.  I just recently reached the “Musical” episode in season seven.  It’s called “The song beneath the song”.  This episode is a little bit different than the rest because the surgeons all are singing while doing their jobs at the hospital.  It’s a very strange episode to say the least. 

                It starts out with two main characters on the show getting into a terrible car crash and one of them ends up being ejected from the vehicle.  Callie Torres is fighting for her life as well as the life of her unborn baby.  But, this part is pretty normal for the show. It’s the singing that’s strange. 

                The show features Chasing Cars by Snow Patrol in the very beginning and ends with the whole cast singing How to Save a Life by The Fray.  In the middle a few characters sing songs that go with what is happening in the operating room and in other parts of the hospital.  One girl sings Breathe by Anna Nalick while she is trying to console the father of the unborn child.  Later on the cast comes together to sing How We Operate by Gomez which unites the group back together during their tough times.  

                Now, my summary sounds like it’s a pretty great episode, but it isn’t. The episode is annoying and uncalled for.  I was 5 episodes deep, feeling very emotionally vulnerable, and the writers threw this (in my opinion) TRASH at me.   These people are actors and actresses not singers.  They didn’t sign up for this show to preform sad songs in sterile clothing.  I was unimpressed by their pitchy notes.  A few had decent voices, like Callie and Miranda Bailey but others feel flat. 

                Those would include Owen, who sounded like a walrus with vocal damage and Meredith Grey who was given the smallest part and still managed to scar my ears with her high pitched screeching.  It was a hard episode to watch but I definitely couldn’t skip it because I had to know what was going to happen to Callie at the end of the episode.  In the end I persevered and made it to the next episode.  But I was deaf for a few days…

Tis the Season

Everyone has something that makes them the happiest.  Something that can dramatically change your mood.  In American slang I mean going 0 to 100 real quick because of this thing.   This is something that you embrace no matter what is going in your life or the time of year.  For me this would be Christmas, but more directly Christmas Music.

                Since I can remember, I have loved Christmas music.  It started when I was young at my grandparents’ house.  They had a little electronic Santa Clause that sang “Santa Clause is coming to Town.” My family would hit the button at least 20 times on Christmas Eve and it was magical every time.  I would dance and sing and in that moment everything was great.

                The first time I saw White Christmas I was in love.  That year I must have re-watched the show enough to be considered an expert.   The lead female’s voice was one of the best I had ever heard.  I would listen to the songs from the show throughout the whole year just to feel good.  I dreamed to be one of these girls, singing these songs and being idolized by young girls, like myself. 

                I have four copies of the Michael Buble Christmas Album stashed away both in my car and my room.  This is just in case I lose or scratch one.  I love the classics from Bing Crosby and the newer pop hits.  Even the Disney Channel hit from the Cheetah Girls, “This Christmas”.  I have five playlists on Spotify that contain my favorite seasonal songs.

                Now, I start listening to Christmas music the day after Halloween.  Why wait for Thanksgiving when I could embrace the Christmas spirit for a month long.  My family will yell and make fun of me for the whole year but I will never turn the Christmas music off.  And, I’m sorry but if Christmas music makes me happy then let me listen to it. 

List of my Favorite Christmas songs

·         It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas

·         White Christmas

·         Jingle Bell Rock

·         Blue Christmas

·         All I Want for Christmas is You

·         I’ll Be Home For Christmas

New in Music

Recently, The Weeknd released their new album.  The album “Beauty Behind the Badness” places in the top 50 on Billboard’s top 100 list the first week it debuted.  It has a total of 12 songs with special guest including, Ed Sheeran, Labrinth, and Lana Del Rey.  My personal pick for this album is a tie between “Angel” and the Collaboration with Ed called “Dark Times”.  The album, similar to the first two, has a darker tone but is one of my favorites to fall asleep listening to.

Another new album that took number one on the charts for three weeks straight is “Sounds Good, Feels Good” from 5 Seconds of Summer.  The album really does sound good and makes you feel good.  The bands second album release sold more than three thousand albums worldwide.  They just announced their next world tour dates and many of the concerts including one at the Palace in Michigan, are already sold out.  The band has taken the world by storm after opening for One Direction during one of their world tours.  My pick for the album is “Castaway”.

Adele has finally came back to the music industry after her 6 years break.  Her long awaited single “Hello” was released and managed to get 27.7 million views in its first 24 hours.  This now hold the new VEVO record for most views in its first day.  Critics are raving that Adele has hit the mark and has what it takes to stay relevant in the music industry for a lifetime. 

The new One Direction album is set to drop on November 13^th.  The album will be the boy last before they take a much needed break from touring and making music.  The album Titled “Made in the A.M.” will feature 17 tracks.  Will the album actually come out on the 13^th or will it be leaked like the last 3 have?  We will have to wait and see.  They have recently put out a few single to keep fans happy and they have done extremely well.  Some might call them perfect (one of the songs titles is “Perfect”)

Randi D

Song Association

Have you ever heard a song and it takes you back to a moment in your life that seems so real.  This has happened to me from time to time and sometimes it’s the most amazing feeling.  This happened to me just last week.   

When I was younger and I would have to spend the night at my grandparents’ house I always dreaded the mornings.  It was great because my grandpa would make a big breakfast but I had to also suffer through four hours of Polka music.  Because my family is polish my grandparents listen and enjoy the music.  I would have to wake up to the annoying accordion sounds filling the whole house.  As a little girl in elementary school this was my worst nightmare.  Even worse, they would play the same song at the end of the ten o’clock hour.  Who Stole The Keeshka by the Matys Brothers.  This song was so repetitive and my grandpa would whistle at the same part every time it played.  I hated this song. 

Recently, my grandfather passed away and when we were planning his funeral my family all sat down and we tried to figure out what flowers were needed and what music to play.  We sat for hours racking our brains and then it came to me.  That dreaded Keeshka song.  He knew all the words and I knew he loved that song.  So we finally agreed that would be the song to play at the end.  Now whenever I hear this song I remember him dancing around the kitchen making me and my sister breakfast and most importantly him being happy.  

-Randi D

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0V4EkaCeTas

The Craze

The first thing that comes to mind when someone asks what the best day of my life so far has been is August 29^th 2015.  This was the day I would meet my future husband and he would first notice me.  The day Harry Styles pointed and blew a kiss to me.  While this is a bit dramatic, it really did happen.

I’ve been to three One Direction concerts and each of them represent a different stage in my addiction to the band.

The first concert was in July of 2013.  My best friends surprised me the day before the concert.  I hadn’t been to a concert at the Palace of Auburn Hills before so I had no idea what to expect.  While I like One Direction and knew all the songs off the album I wasn’t obsessed yet.  The three of us enjoyed the concert and that was the start of a long addiction.  After the concert we sat starring at the blank stage trying to process what we had just experienced.  This was my first dose and it was strong enough to get me hooked.

The second concert was in July of 2015.  A friend and I decided to get floor seats.  These would be the equivalent to a Grade A stash.  I was feeding my addiction.  But when my friend moved away my mom took the ticket and it was just the two of us.  The concert was exhilarating.  I was so close to the 5 boys and it was everything I had ever dreamed of.  I smiled through the whole concert and by the end my face hurt along with my strained calf muscles. This was as good as I thought it could get, But, I was wrong.

The third concert was in August of this past summer.  One of the member had left so it was now a four man group.  I was scared that maybe it wouldn’t be the same.  I had like usually gotten ready for the concert making sure my makeup was perfect in case I meet the boys, which was a long shot.  We got to Ford Field and I was ready for the time of my life.  I was a Rollercoaster of emotions.  We got to our seats and I cried.  The lights went off and I cried.  They came out on stage and I cried.  Then after the first song I pulled myself together and enjoyed the show, but by the forth song I was crying again.  Seventh song, still crying.  Once again I wiped my tears and I was ready.  And then they left the stage. That was it…..

ENCORE ENCORE ENCORE ENCORE

They run back out and play a few more songs.  The last song I’m so excited I am jumping up and down with a smile plastered to my face.  That when Harry Styles saw me and the rest is history. 

My family makes fun of my obsession with the band and I’m sure some people think I’m crazy or immature but I’m okay with that.  I could be addicted to many worse things than One Direction.

It’s Halloween! Drop me a scary beat.

                Halloween music can either but fun or scary.  I prefer fun because I don’t want to be listening to it in my room and getting scared.  But through the years new artist came along and changed the game. 

                First off, I’m going to start with my all-time favorite Halloween song, Ghostbuster.  My love for Bill Murray has also been a biased for my love for this song.  Because the song is so catchy everyone knows the words and who to call.  Obviously Ghostbuster!  The song taught us a life lesson and also gave listeners another more up-beat festive song.

                Spooky Scary Skeletons is one of the oldest Halloween songs I know of.  It started as just a song in a Disney cartoon short back in 1929 but the song was catchy and for some became a favorite.  The cartoon depicts dancing skeletons in a grave yard and was played for years on TV.  A little later down the road Dr. Seuss brought to the table a dark musical called Halloween is Grinch Night.  The 1977 show didn’t quit make a hit with audiences and was never aired after the first year.

                One Halloween Movie musical which has been popular since its release in 1993 is Nightmare before Christmas.  The movie has 21 songs throughout and in my house everyone knows the words to them all.  In the year 2008 the songs were remade by popular alternative artist.  They include Marilyn Manson, Korn, All American Rejects, and Amy Lee from Evanescence as well as many other artists.  The recent album as well as the original motion picture album are both in the top 5 Halloween albums of all time.

                Rock and Roll music also plays a large roll in Halloween music.  Some songs arnt considered to be only Halloween songs because of the genera tho.  Rob Zombies directing and music making are both known for their creepy and gruesome tone.  Alice Coopers song “He’s Back” was feature in “Friday the 13^th: Jason’s back” movie and became an anthem for Halloween at the time.  Alice Cooper is one of the faces of Halloween.  Some would say he is to Halloween what Santa is to Christmas.  Iggy Pop’s song “Why was I born” was also featured in “Freddy’s dead: the Final Nightmare” and sparked popularity to the not so popular song.  A few other memorable mentions of artist who had songs feature in Horror Movies are The Ramones, J. Geils Band, Donavan, and David Bowe.

                Halloween Rocks.