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| Boston, MA 04/03/2007; Avalon | |
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| Tweet Topic Started: Sep 5 2008, 01:13 PM (400 Views) | |
| mouser | Sep 5 2008, 01:13 PM Post #1 |
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The sun comes up to meet the dawn, And there's a day that must go on. There's another night that's gone... In Massachusetts. - Arlo Guthrie April 3 Tuesday 7:30 CLUB AVALON 15 Lansdowne St. Boston, Massachusetts 617-262-2424 TAYLOR'S ANGELS' DONATIONS: one ticket donated to a Soul Patrol fan. TICKETS: $35.00 Gross Receipts: 1783/1960 $49,354 SEATING CAPACITY: 2,000 (General Admission) HOTELS AND RESTAURANTS: Hotel Commonwealth 500 Commonwealth Ave. The Eliot Suite Hotel/ Boston 370 Commonwealth Ave. Boston Hotel Buckminster 645 Beacon Streetj http://www.clubzone.com/company/index_type5.html CLUB AVALON: The Modern, Avalon is Boston's largest nightclub. This is Boston's premier 'trendy" club where the "beautiful people" go to hang out. The lighting and sound at Avalon is second to no other club in Boston. The venue boasts artists and DJs such as Oakenfold, Cox and Digweed. The building at 15 Lansdowne Street has been called AVALON since 1992. Now the home of AVALAND, AVALON underwent a major multimillion-dollar renovation in 1999. The new AVALON includes and additional 7,000 square feet of space created by annexing the MAMA KIN MUSIC HALL, a 600-person club, which was located next door. AVALON is now a 2,000 plus capacity multi-purpose venue OPENING ACT: Toby Lightman ![]() Once opening for Prince, the dimunitive young singer/songwriter Toby Lightman, will take the stage for the Modern Whomp Tour as it visits nine Northeastern cities in April. “Toby Lightman studied violin growing up in New Jersey, but it wasn't until college that she began to seriously consider a career in music. She studied radio and television at the University of Wisconsin, learning guitar in her spare time and singing with cover bands. After school Lightman moved to New York, where a fortuitous meeting with Wyclef Jean led to him producing her demo. The tape caught the attention of producer Peter Zizzo, who helped the young songwriter develop a light, marketable mix of subtle drum programs with plenty of acoustic guitar and Lightman's own expressive vocals…” (tobylightman.com) Her first full length album “Little Things” was released in 2004 with “Devils and Angels,” the hit single which played well on the Hot AC radio formats. Her second album, “Bird on a Wire” released in 2006, presented a shift in production sound from synthesized to live instrumentation. (Wikipedia) “After being on the road for a year and a half,” the petite artist explains, ‘I fell in love with the live aspect of performing, and relying on humans rather than programmed computers. It was then I decided I wanted my music to become more organic.’ Inspired, Lightman immersed herself in the records of great soul singers like Donny Hathaway, Bill Withers and Aretha Franklin, and this listening provided her with the equivalent of an advanced degree in her lifetime of musical studies. ‘Now I’ve become a real snob about it,’ she says. ‘These artists are the crux of everything that’s come after them; it’s so genuine and pure. They helped me see that if the song and the vibe are there, you don’t really need much more than that.’” (myspace.com/tobylightman) Lightman has toured and performed with bands such as OAR, Rob Thomas, Jewel, Gavin DeGraw, Train and Prince. For more information visit: www.tobylightman.com/ www.myspace.com/tobylightman Toby Lightman - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (Sources: Above websites) FOR THOSE OF YOU WHO WOULD LIKE TO PATRONIZE TOBY LIGHTMAN, PLEASE CHECK OUT THIS SITE TO FIND HER TOUR DATES. http://www.tobylightman.com/tour/ SET LIST:[/b] Heaven Knows -Ain’t That Peculiar ( Marvin Gaye) Maze -Want Ads ( Honey Cone ) - Rough God Goes Riding ( Van Morrison ) -Let’s Get It On ( Marvin Gaye) Give Me Tonight Compared To What -Goin’ Up the Country ( Canned Heat) Wherever I Lay My Hat -Nightshift ( The Commodores ) - Chain Gang ( Sam Cooke) Just To Feel That Way Heart and Soul -Brown Eyed Handsome Man ( Chuck Berry ) - Can’t Trust Your Neighbor ( Johnnie Taylor ) Dream Myself Awake Young Turks ( Rod Stewart ) Somehow Naked in the Jungle Soul Thing -Shotgun Man ( Jerry Lee Lewis ) - Night Life ( Willie Nelson) The Right Place The Runaround -Big Boss Man ( Jimmy Reed)) Encore: Badge ( Cream ) MEDIA:[/b] For the Boston Globe, Taylor is interviewed in Texas: Hicks stays true to his creative soul By Sarah Rodman, Globe Staff | March 30, 2007 AUSTIN, Texas -- The epicenter of cool in Austin is approximately 40 minutes from where Taylor Hicks is currently sitting. Cries of "whoo!" can be heard in the distance, but they are coming from riders on the attractions at the Star of Texas Fair and Rodeo camped at the Travis County Expo on the outskirts of town, not from the music industry confab South by Southwest taking place downtown on 6th Street. Inside the tidy interior of Taylor Hicks's tour bus, parked behind the stage amid some distinctly rodeo-esque fragrances, there is nary a "whoo" to be heard, and cool is being emitted solely by the air conditioner. But killing time before a headlining slot at the fair, the 2006 "American Idol" champ is legitimately unconcerned with industry parameters of cool. "I'm a happy kid. The phone is ringing. I am like Mary Poppins," he says -- he's doing a job he loves. Having shed 22 pounds since the "Idol" finale, the prematurely gray Alabama native is also looking closer to his 30 years than he did when he was drawing scorn from judge Simon Cowell and love from viewers by hooting and bending his way through well-sung if occasionally physically distracting renditions of songs by the Doobie Brothers and Ray LaMontagne. Seeming both more subdued and engaged than he did on television, Hicks reclines on the front bench of the bus with one eye occasionally straying to the basketball game silently playing on the big - screen TV. "It's almost like I reserve my energy for the stage just being a regular guy," he says. Hicks may not be pumping his fist and nattering on about the "Soul Patrol" -- the legion of protective fans currently packing his tour, which comes to Avalon on Tuesday -- but he is definitely content with how things have gone since his "Idol" journey ended. "I've been trying to put together this vision for a long time, and it just happened and I got to implement some of my plans," he says. But unlike Mary Poppins, he wasn't willing to sugarcoat his songs to make them more marketable for his record company. His plans did not include following the blueprint of previous "Idols" who, in a rush between dates on the summer "Idol" tour, made scattershot, trying-to-please-all-the-people-type records that felt engineered by a committee of handlers. Instead there was, Hicks says, "one producer, one A&R guy, and an artist." That artist dug in his heels about staying true to the blue-eyed soul he'd made his living with since the age of 19 -- the music he has loved since he was a child getting a musical education from "AM Gold" radio and parents who introduced him to his idols Ray Charles and Otis Redding. The recording process, he says, was all about "being stubborn and not putting up with anything that you can't sing for the rest of your life." Instead, Hicks and producer Matt Serletic, the former chairman of Virgin Records and longtime go-to guy for Matchbox Twenty , wrote, solicited, and recorded a mix of solid, middle-of-the-road pop-soul tunes with fillips of jazz, blues, and contemporary pop. Songs like the peppy, horn-laced opener "The Runaround" ; the bluesy closing ballad, "The Right Place," originally penned by Bryan Adams and Jim Vallance for Ray Charles; and two solid tracks that Hicks wrote himself may not be hip. But they are in the same ballpark as any recent original by artists such as Hall and Oates or Michael McDonald. Kara DioGuardi , who knows from hit songs, having co-penned Christina Aguilera's "Ain't No Other Man" and Gwen Stefani's "Rich Girl," was brought in to polish two tracks on " Taylor Hicks." She says he reminded her a bit of previous "Idol" champ Kelly Clarkson , with whom she co-wrote "Walk Away." "They believe the public voted for them because of who they are, and to go then and be something else doesn't make sense to them." Of course, the irony of Hicks's sticking to his guns and making a record that creatively fulfilled him is that he isn't selling as many records as some of his carefully groomed forebears. Much has been made of fourth-place finisher Chris Daughtry's debut crossing the 2 million sales threshold, while Hicks is still working toward single platinum status with 661,000 units shifted, according to Nielsen SoundScan . One factor is that Hicks's target radio market, adult contemporary, is not interested in hopping on new music in general. He is a new act experiencing the problem of the classic MOR artists he evokes. "Our slogan is 'songs you know by artists you've heard of,' " says Mark Laurence, longtime music director of Magic 106.7 , where airplay for single "Just to Feel That Way" would make the most sense locally. "While people have heard of Taylor Hicks, a new song that he's doing is not a song you know. So you're probably not going to hear it first on Magic." But as Hicks's trend-averse sound is unlikely to catch fire at Top 40, he's stuck between rock radio and a hard place. "This album is sort of between the cracks; it's not a blue-eyed soul album, it's not a Kelly Clarkson all-ages contemporary-sounding pop record, it's sort of in that netherworld between," says Sean Ross , VP of music and programming at Edison Media Research , which conducts research for the communications industry. That middle ground is difficult to navigate in a world of pop tarts , hip-hop soul, indie rock, and post-grunge. "Which brings up the question, do you go with the guy you saw on TV, or do you go with what sounds contemporary and try to shoehorn him into it? You don't want to start him out in retiree world right away, and you're also not going to credibly have him make 'Fergalicious.' " Like many in the industry, DioGuardi, who also worked with last year's runner-up, Katharine McPhee , thinks the built-in record-buying audience for "Idol" contestants is limited. The rest is up to the almighty radio hit. "Radio becomes a huge function," she says, pointing to the crossover success of Clarkson's "Since U Been Gone." "That wasn't just the 'Idol' audience buying, now we're talking about the public at large. So why is Daughtry maybe selling more records? I think it's because for whatever reason the public is interested in that kind of stuff more than it is the blue-eyed soul. . . . That doesn't mean that what Taylor did wasn't great." But all of that is a concern for others. Hicks is emphatic, without protesting too much, that the Daughtry sales comparisons aren't an issue. "None. At all. I'm a whole different monster." On his bus in Texas, staring down an itinerary of clubs, many of which are sold out, this particular salt-and-pepper-haired monster has achieved more than he dreamed of as a struggling 19-year-old singer-songwriter who taught himself to play harmonica by blowing along to the hum of air conditioners. Sure, he'd like to enlist more foot soldiers into the Soul Patrol. And he's been pleased hearing from converts who, like Cowell, initially wrote him off as that wacky wedding reception dad. But he's also not worried about anyone else's definition of who he is supposed to be. "You gotta be you and not worry about it." And that is perhaps a lesson some of those "cool" kids jamming at the clubs with their painstakingly sculpted bedhead s and ironic detachment could stand to learn. From The Boston Herald: Beyond ‘Idol’ limits, Hicks’ shtick clicks with well-picked covers By Christopher John Treacy Wednesday, April 4, 2007 - Updated: 06:30 PM EST Taylor Hicks is finally in his own element. It’s all about context. The further the “American Idol” season five upset winner distances himself from the show that crowned him, the better off he’ll be. Somewhere underneath that salt-and-pepper dome of his, Hicks knows it’s true. It’s never been clearer than during his sold-out Boston debut at Avalon last night: Taylor Hicks had no business being on “Idol” to begin with. It’s just not his aesthetic. And that’s not necessarily a bad thing. The proof lies in the difference between last night’s fantastic “Showtime at the Apollo”-style shakedown and the way he came across last summer during the Idols Live tour. Against the “Idol” backdrop, he looked a little silly and his stage shenanigans reeked of Vegas contrivance. But on his own, with a powerhouse seven-piece band behind him (including 2 keyboardists, a sax player and a backup gal), Hicks presented himself as a blue-eyed soul belter along the lines of Michael McDonald - no small compliment. Beginning with the “Ain’t That Peculiar” sample-built “Heaven Knows,” into “The Maze” (featuring the first of several ferocious sax solos) and the slick urban r & b of “Give Me Tonight,” Hicks projected the image that he’s definitely sticking around. And with a house mix tailored to his voice (as opposed to Idol’s televised sound mix), his singing has never sounded stronger. All that, and he played guitar and harmonica. Looking vibrant, healthy and considerably thinner than this time last year, Hicks strutted in his jeans and suit jacket, joyously buckling over in nonstop animation. And he wasn’t the least bit awkward or goofy. Rather, he seemed just as he should - like an enthused performer delivering the goods to his devotees. His cover choices - including a blues-hijacked spin on Rod Stewart’s “Young Turks,” a rousing encore of Cream’s “Badge,” Van Morrison’s “Naked in the Jungle” and Gene McDaniels’ “Compared to What?” - all spoke to where Hicks really lives musically. Turns out it’s a more historically aware place than where most of his “Idol” peers hail from. Not enough good things can be said of opener Toby Lightman, whose blues-pop chanteuse chops have become mighty well honed since her moderate 2004 chart success with the single “Devils and Angels.” Backed by a tight trio featuring slap-happy bassist Kenny Harris, Lightman showcased dynamite material from her latest, “Bird on a Wire.” From The Boston Globe: By Joan Anderman, Globe Staff | April 5, 2007 Taylor Hicks didn't mention "American Idol" at his concert on Tuesday, and while the urge to move beyond the televised talent show that launched his career is understandable, the truth is Hicks wouldn't have been onstage at Avalon performing for nearly 2,000 adoring fans without it. That's not to say the 30-year-old singer isn't a hard-working and talented musician. But "Idol" is the only way a graying blue-eyed soul belter plying a style that was in vogue two decades ago -- a man who says "sock it to me" with conviction -- could ever have connected with a vast, mainstream audience. That audience -- a broad and underserved swath of older music lovers, young children, curious college students, and screaming female professionals still in their workday suits -- were treated to 90 minutes of rousing and affectionate cover tunes and sturdy originals from Hicks's self-titled major-label debut. There were exceptions. In and among the Marvin Gaye, Van Morrison, and surprisingly powerful encore performance of Cream's "Badge" was a baffling dip into mid-career Rod Stewart. No amount of slap-bass could make Hicks's sleek, bluesy take on "Young Turks" anything but drab. Snappy, soulful new songs like "Heaven Knows," "The Maze," and "Runaround" were interrupted with forays into midtempo schmaltz. Hicks's voice just isn't lovely enough to sell Bryan Adams's gospel-inflected ballad "The Right Place," and despite his gritty delivery, Hicks's current single, "Dream Myself Awake," gleamed a bit too brightly with pop-factory polish. His own "Soul Thing" was the funkiest original on the bill, so here's hoping Hicks's handlers dispense with the pro-songwriter safety net on the next project. Backed by an exuberant seven-piece band and his longtime companion (a statue of Ray Charles placed, as always, prominently on an amplifier), Hicks was an endlessly animated but oddly remote frontman. He bounded around and buckled at the waist, pounded his chest with a tambourine, and sweated through his sport jacket. Yet his passionate embrace of music didn't extend to the audience; Hicks's effort to connect began and ended with several tepid shouts of "soul patrol!" He is so ready to leave that behind. The question is, without a prime-time TV slot to ply his charming wares, what comes next for this old-school, unfashionable, and unlikeliest of pop idols? Joan Anderman can be reached at anderman@globe.com. For more on music visit boston.com/ae/music/blog. © Copyright 2007 Globe Newspaper Company. SOUL PATROL MEMORIES:[/b] 1. Went to the concert with reservations, came away a full fledged "SoulPatroller". GREAT SHOW! courtesy of luvntayinma.2. Because of the rather small stage at the Avalon, I thought this show might not quite live up to expectations (based on previous show reviews.) Well, I couldn't have been more wrong! Taylor owned this stage from the minute he walked on. His band is fabulous, and the chemistry between them and Taylor is appaent. He's the consummate entertainer, and I'm so happy that I get see him again in CT in just a couple of days. ![]() courtesy of amynebo 3. The show was amazing - really exceeded my expectations and it reminded me that Avalon is great place to see a concert. Taylor started off with 4 songs that really got the place rockin’ and his voice sounded so good. ITA with the Boston Herald review - what difference from the AI concert (with the exception of Taylor sweating through his shirt again - which I totally enjoy seeing!). Never heard Somehow before - very nice - and he did a very good version of Wherever I Lay my Hat. The song that surprised me the most was the Maze - didn’t care for on the CD but it was perfect to follow Heaven Knows, which would also be a good encore song. Not crazy about Young Turks - not sure why out of all the covers he would choose that one to sing, but everything else was great. Would’ve liked a second encore song - I wasn’t ready to go home yet! courtesy of empreLoungecredit to : lowcostgoods credit to: Dana Wikens credit to carlyjoan Somehow: credit to : taygirl / EJ |
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courtesy of luvntayinma.
courtesy of empreLounge



8:22 AM Jul 11