Don’t forget about your homework for the weekend — keeping up on the latest music news.
Jay-Z announced the second leg of his tour for his new album, Blueprint 3. (No Florida stops are included.) The record may just be a “blueprint,” but no doubt it’s a plan to lay the foundation of yet another successful project for Jigga.
A few music-themed conversation pieces to use during this weekend’s Halloween festivities.
Photo by Tracy May.
They saved the not-a-dry-eye-in-the-house part for the very end. As the Michael Jackson memorial stretched just past two hours this afternoon, after a series of speeches and several emotional music performances, Jackson’s daughter approached the microphone, aunt Janet steadying her. Choking back sobs, 11-year-old Paris said, “Ever since I was born, Daddy has been the best father you could ever imagine. I just want to say I love him so much.”
If that didn’t get to your tear ducts at least a little, you’ve got a pretty chilly heart.
The second-most famous Jackson, Janet, clad in a black dress and beret, was sad- or stone-faced every time on camera. She neither spoke nor performed. Michael’s brothers Jermaine and Marlon offered tributes, and Jermaine sang a teary rendition of what speaker Brooke Shields said was Michael’s favorite song: the Charlie Chaplin chestnut “Smile.”
Maybe I’ve reached Michael Jackson overload, but I stayed dry-eyed until Paris’ comments at the end.
No TV at the job? No worries. We’re streaming the Michael Jackson memorial here via Hulu. The stream starts at 12:55 p.m., so leave the window open or check back with us. Comment, comment, comment. I’ll be watching and weighing in.
Go to the music blog, tampacalling.com, to get the feed.
Now that latest wave of rock legends from the ’60s has passed that used-to-be retirement age of 65, a new crop of important artists is closing in on 60. Over the last few months, it surprised me to discover just how many prominent rockers were 59. Bruce Springsteen, Tom Petty, Tom Waits, Stevie Wonder, to name a handful.
I got curious if this was a particularly good age for rockers. Rather than telling you how many rock artists are 59 at this very moment, I did a search and unearthed which ones were born in 1950, the height of the post-WWII baby boom. Quite a few, as it turns out. Here’s a chronological list of pop artists born in 1950. A pretty good year. The list is extensive but not all-inclusive:
January 9, 1950, David Johanson (New York Dolls, Buster Poindexter)
January 5, 1950, Chris Stein, (Blondie)
January 21, 1950, Billy Ocean
January 23, 1950, Danny Federici (E Street Band)
January 23, 1950, Pat Simmons (Doobie Brothers)
February 6, 1950, Natalie Cole
February 12, 1950, Steve Hackett (Genesis)
February 20, 1950, Walter Becker (Steely Dan)
March 2, 1950, Karen Carpenter (The Carpenters)
March 4, 1950, Billy Gibbons (ZZ Top)
March 21, 1950, Roger Hodgson (Supertramp)
March 26, 1950, Teddy Pendergrass
So, admittedly, I’ve been slacking in bringing you updates about my week up in D.C., which I promised to do as recently as this past Monday. Been too busy standing around in uncomfortable shoes, I guess. I don’t have great photos from either “An Evening with Jay-Z,” a one-off unofficial celebration show Jay put on at an intimate theater Monday night — no cameras allowed, d’oh! — or from the swearing-in ceremony itself, which turned out to be a total shitshow for our ticketed section. We just barely made it inside the Capitol grounds, and even though could hardly see much except for a video screen (partially obscured by a couple trees to boot).
But Tuesday night, we made it to the Neighborhood Ball, which was televised live on ABC and featured performances by Jay-Z (again), Mariah Carey, Will.i.am, Mary J Blige, etc., and appearances by Diddy, Leonardo Dicaprio, Jamie Foxx, etc. The highlight of the entire night, though, had to be the First Couple, and the First Dance, a romantic twirl to a special live performance of “At Last” by Beyoncé. You can scope tons of photos from Monday and Tuesday here, thanks to my wife, Rachel.
And then, there was last night: a private ball for ex-Obama staffers only, with speeches by the President and Vice President, and hour-long shows from both The Arcade Fire and Jay-Z (again, again). To say this event was sweet would be a drastic understatement.
“We Are One” was the concert’s optimistic theme, but — inadvertently or not — the performances and speeches in yesterday’s pre-inaugural bash featured more than a little oneupsmanship, and even a little upstaging. Favorite faceoffs:
Steve Carell vs. Jamie Foxx: How could Carell not come off as the whitest man in America when paired with Jamie Foxx, who roused everyone to stand up for Chi-town, then capped it off with an imitation of the prez-elect that even had the man himself laughing?
Shakira vs. Stevie Wonder vs. Usher: Wonder and Usher grooved together joyfully. Shakira played catch-up.
James Taylor vs. John Legend vs. Jennifer Nettles: James, wake up! There are people around you who are actually singing!
The Eagles vs. Obama: What a wondrous display of American freedom: Two big birds trying to fly, but tethered to their masters’ wrists. And what a lousy lead-in for the president-elect’s speech.
Garth Brooks vs. our patience: OK, he got the crowd going with “Shout” — but several switches back and forth to the football game later, and he’s still on?
There were other awkward faceoffs, too (Tom Hanks vs. Aaron Copland, a draw) but also plenty of teamwork that paid off (Bettye LaVette and Jon Bon Jovi, who woulda thunk). And a shout-out to the Gay Men’s Chorus of Washington — I didn’t see them credited on screen, but that was them singing with “My Country ‘Tis of Thee” with Josh Groban and Heather Headley (who lost that faceoff, by the way), and their presence was a heartening sign of inclusion.
Plus Mary J. Blige, Beyoncé (both giving impassioned performances), and Bruce, Bono, Pete Seeger… No matter the occasional glitches and ponderousness, this was a pretty damn cool concert. And nice of HBO to broadcast it for free.
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