CMA Awards 2012

Today are the 2012 CMA Awards, one of the best nights to be a Country music fan. It’s the Grammy’s of Country music and it will surely be jam-packed with musical performances by the genre’s most popular artists. It’s been quite the year for Country music and I’ve enjoyed plenty of music from my favorite acts.

I attended Brad Paisley’s Virtual Reality Tour down at Jones Beach over the summer and almost made it out to Jason Aldean/Luke Bryan’s concert at PNC Bank Arts Center. In addition, I’ve been spinning Carrie Underwood’s “Blown Away,” Erich Church’s “Chief,” Luke Bryan’s “Lailgates & Tanlines,” and Zac Brown Band’s “Uncaged” albums all year round, so you can already notice my bias for the rest of the post.

Here are my brief thoughts about the nominees:

The post is UPDATED as of 11:05 p.m.

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Entertainer of the Year

Jason Aldean
Kenny Chesney
Brad Paisley
WINNER: Blake Shelton
Taylor Swift

It’s hard to imagine the only female in the category to not walk away with the Entertainer of the Year award. While Chesney always has the numbers from his huge tours, and Paisley and Aldean touring non-stop for their fans, it’s impossible to ignore the popularity of Taylor Swift when looking at the figures for her record and concert sales. If it were me, I’d say Paisley would win hands down, but I’m predicting Taylor Swift wins the big award.

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Male Vocalist of the Year

Jason Aldean
Luke Bryan
Eric Church
WINNER: Blake Shelton
Keith Urban

Usually my pick would be for Brad Paisley to win this award, but he wasn’t nominated this year. I’m not complaining about the group that was because they’re all very talented. I really want Eric Church to win, but something is telling me that Jason Aldean is going to take the award this year.

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Female Vocalist of the Year

Kelly Clarkson
WINNER: Miranda Lambert
Martina McBride
Taylor Swift
Carrie Underwood

Wait, Kelly Clarkson is nominated for a CMA award and it doesn’t involve being featured in a duet with an actual Country artist? She can’t win. Since I believe Taylor Swift is winning the Entertainer of the Year award, she won’t win this (plus she’s a terrible vocalist). It’s going to be between Miranda and Carrie like usual. Recently, Miranda has been winning these awards over Carrie, but I think with the success of “Blown Away,” Carrie is going to take the award.

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Vocal Group of the Year

Eli Young Band
Lady Antebellum
WINNER: Little Big Town
The Band Perry
Zac Brown Band

Has Zac Brown Band ever won this award? They definitely deserve it, but if it’s a popularity contest then Lady Antebellum will win. I also wouldn’t mind seeing The Band Perry win this award, but they’re on the second tier of these bands.

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Vocal Duo of the Year

Big & Rich
Love and Theft
Sugarland
The Civil Wars
WINNER: Thompson Square

While I do love The Civil Wars, I can’t remember the last time Sugarland lost.

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New Artist of the Year

Lee Brice
Brantley Gilbert
WINNER: Hunter Hayes
Love and Theft
Thompson Square

As catchy as “Angel Eyes” is by Love and Theft, the new kid on the block and multi-talented musician is Hunter Hayes. Expect him to win.

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Album of the Year

WINNER: Chief – Eric Church
Four the Record – Miranda Lambert
Home – Dierks Bentley
Own the Night – Lady Antebellum
Tailgates & Tanlines – Luke Bryan

I’m sticking to what I know, and that is how “Chief” is a great album. That being said, I’m expecting the CMA to agree with me and award Eric Church this prestigious award for an outstanding job well done.

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Single of the Year

“Dirt Road Anthem” – Jason Aldean
“God Gave Me You” – Blake Shelton
“Home” – Dierks Bentley
WINNER: “Pontoon” – Little Big Town
“Springsteen” – Eric Church

On the same page, “Springsteen” is the best song off of Chief and I expect it to win either Single or Song of the Year.

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Song of the Year

“Even if It Breaks Your Heart – Eli Young Band
“God Gave Me You” – Blake Shelton
“Home” – Dierks Bentley
WINNER: “Over You” – Miranda Lambert
“Springsteen” – Eric Church

Miranda’s hit is the only song I feel that has a shot at beating Church’s “Springsteen.”

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RECAP:

That’s a wrap! I just knew it was going to be an entertaining night after Brad Paisley and Carrie Underwood danced Gangnam Style during their opening monologue. But the big winners of the night were Country’s happy couple of Blake Shelton and Miranda Lambert. Starting with their emotional acceptance speech for “Over You” and continuing with the Male Vocalist and Female Vocalist of the year, everyone thought their reign was going to end there, but Blake Shelton shocked the Country world winning Entertainer of the Year! What a surprise! I admit that when Tim Allen said Blake’s name, I thought he was joking (and what a cruel joke that would’ve been). But then Reba and Tim Allen repeated Blake’s name and that concluded the three-hour awards ceremony.

Highlights:

• Little Big Town – winning Single of the Year and Vocal Group was great for this hard-working, veteran group. Oh, and their performance of “Pontoon” was one of the best of the night.
• The gorgeous Carrie Underwood with her charisma as co-host and her strong vocal performance during her hit “Blown Away.”
• Eric Church didn’t win for Single or Song of the Year, but his incredible album “Chief” was the winner for Album of the Year. Very well deserved.
• Hunter Hayes played his pop-ballad hit “Wanted” and then won New Artist of the Year. Surely this isn’t the last we’re going to hear from this young man.
• The tribute to Willie Nelson featuring Willie himself along with Lady Antebellum, Keith Urban, Blake Shelton, Faith Hill and Tim McGraw. What a legend.

My Favorite Concerts of 2010 (Part 1: 20-11)

I’ve attended a number of concerts in the year of 2010. Most were memorable, but some were more legendary than others. Here are my favorite shows of the past year:

20.  Matt & Kim @ Webster Hall

October 27, 2010

This was the first time seeing these power-pop duo. I’ve never seen a band smile as much as Matt & Kim did. Their happiness was contagious and the whole floor was a dance-fest. They might not be the best musicians, best singers, or best duo… but they sure have a hell of a lot of fun and so did I.

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19.  Everytime I Die @ Studio at Webster Hall

November 3, 2010

These hardcore rock-stars crashed the intimate Studio at Webster Hall and tore the house down. I’ve only seen this band one time before and at a bigger venue, so it was special to attend such a small show. Their music is one of the most aggressive that I enjoy listening to. I wouldn’t mind getting my ass kicked in the crowd again for Everytime I Die.

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18.  Sugarland w/ Jake Owen @ PNC Bank Arts Center

May 22, 2010

Every time I go back to PNC Bank Arts Center in Holmdel, I tell myself how awesome the venue is (though I’ve never attended a show with lawn seats). This Country concert was one of my favorites of the year. Country super-duo Sugarland really put on a spectacular show, opening with a new track off of The Incredible Machine, and then hitting on a number of hits, such as “Stay” shown above.

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17.  Two Door Cinema Club @ Webster Hall

October 21, 2010

Two Door Cinema Club knows how to throw an awesome dance-party. Even though they only have one album of about thirty minutes, I was dancing my feet off at Webster Hall that night. They are one of the more polished pop-punk-dance bands around right now. If you want to have fun throwing your arms in the air and moving to the music, this band is for you. I’m trying to get tickets to their tour with Tokyo Police Club that’s stopping at Terminal 5 next month.

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16.  Sleigh Bells @ Studio at Webster Hall

September 20, 2010

So I first heard of this group when they opened up for Yeasayer in New York City. Months later my friend and I heard about Sleigh Bells playing the tiny Studio at Webster Hall. Only once we got there did we realize it was a show being recorded and streamed live on mtv.com. Needless to say, the show freakin’ rocked!

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15.  Modest Mouse @ The Wellmont Theater

July 22, 2010

The first time seeing Modest Mouse was a fantastic experience. It was also the first time I stepped foot in The Wellmont Theater in Montclair, NJ. The venue was incredible and Modest Mouse put on a great show. They opened with “Spitting Venom” for crying out loud! These guys are highly underrated.

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14.  Something Corporate @ Roseland Ballroom

August 13, 2010

It was “A Night with Something Corporate.” For some reason I didn’t know that meant there would be no openers and it would literally be an entire night with Something Corporate. Well needless to say I was pleasantly surprised. The reunion tour was a memorable one for me. I saw their brief set at Bamboozle in May and seeing a full set that night was priceless. I love these guys.

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13.  Say Anything, Motion City Soundtrack, Saves the Day @ Starland Ballroom

November 5, 2010

It’s awesome to go see a concert when you love a band that’s playing. But it’s even better when you love more than one band! This was the case at this show when Saves the Day and Motion City Soundtrack rolled into Starland Ballroom in November. Say Anything headlined and they’re good too, but I was there for STD and MCS… and boy did they put on a rocking show. Maybe they’ll go on tour together again soon? Please???

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12.  Dashboard Confessional @ Webster Hall

December 7, 2010

Since I’m in my mid-twenties, there have been a lot of 10-year anniversary concerts in 2010 for me. One album that I had on repeat for quite some time was Dashboard Confessional’s Swiss Army Romance. Well, mister Chris Carrabba went on a solo tour playing the album in its entirety plus other hits and it was a blast. Ever since he formed a full band for Dashboard Confessional it’s been years since seeing him perform solo. This concert was definitely a blast from the past and I enjoyed every second of it.

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11.  Jimmy Eat World @ Terminal 5

October 14, 2010

Jimmy Eat World has been one of my favorite bands for a while now, yet I’ve never seen them live until this year. I managed to see them twice during their tour, first at Starland Ballroom and then a few weeks later at Terminal 5 in New York City. Any show in the city beats out a show at Starland Ballroom. I don’t know if it’s the atmosphere, the crowd, the venues, or maybe because they’re allowed to play past 11 p.m. But Jimmy Eat World played a great set hitting on a number of my favorite tracks such as “23” “Dizzy” “A Praise Chorus” “Lucky Denver Mint” “Goodbye Sky Harbour” and “Sweetness.” Such an awesome show.

Concert Review: Sugarland @ PNC Bank Arts Center

May 22, 2010
PNC Bank Arts Center

Line-up:  Sugarland, Jake Owen, Danny Gokey

It has been a while since my last visit to PNC Bank Arts Center in Holmdel, NJ but it all came back to me the moment I parked in the lot and had to walk through the woods to reach the ampitheatre. I was in section 302 row M and was more than content with my seats.

The first act was American Idol finalist Danny Gokey. To keep things short, I was not impressed by his set. Foruntely, he was only on for 20 minutes.

Next up was Jake Owen. He started off his 40 minute set with his energetic song “Yee Haw” that got some of the audience out of their seats. Owen showcased a very upbeat and energetic set. As his band-mates were shredding the guitar he was moving from side-to-side on stage, smiling and singing to the front rows of the ampitheatre. He slowed things down in the middle of his set and sang his emotional and moving “Startin’ with Me” only to pump up the tempo with his hard-rocking Country track “The Bad in Me” and his show-stopping finale “Eight Second Ride.” Jake Owen was everything an opening act should’ve been and more. At the end of his set list, everyone was on their feet, clapping to the music.

Finally, Sugarland took the stage after Michael Jackson’s “Black or White” was playing loudly over the theatre’s speakers. The set decoration was elaborate with huge machine gears in the background, a bridge to connect the two platforms on stage, and a large screen in the middle of everything. It looked awesome.

Sugarland sure knows how to start a party right as they opened up with plenty of their high-energy, positive songs: “It Happens,” “Settlin’,” “All I Want to Do,” and “Want To.” There wasn’t a moment to sit down during their back-to-back opening songs and the audience’s ovation kept getting louder. Sugarland played two new songs from their upcoming album “The Incredible Machine” that will be released in October. For the most part, they were catchy and front-woman Jennifer Nettles really enjoyed singing the songs.

In the middle of the set, Nettles and Kristian Bush slowed things down and played their show-stopping single, “Stay.” To no surprise, everyone in the venue was singing along with Nettles and you could barely hear the acoustic guitar accompanying her. After the song was over, the duo received the loudest ovation of the evening. Nettles admit that it was difficult to sing such a serious song because she was too cheery.

Sugarland then went into “Everyday America” and covered snippets to a few songs during their break-down. Nettles went into Beyonce’s “Single Ladies,” Jackson 5’s “ABC,” and finally Miley Cyrus’ “Party in the USA.” I love it when bands show their appreciation for other musical artists, especially outside of their own genre, by covering their songs during a performance. It just shows how open-minded some people are to all of the music that exists.

The band concluded their set with “Who Says You Can’t Go Home” and “Something More.” If there was any disappointment during the night, it was Sugarland’s selection for their encore. Kristian Bush came out and sang his solo version of Bruce Springsteen’s “Atlantic City” and then the rest of the band returned and sang Blondie’s “Heart of Glass.”

I felt a bit underwhelmed that Sugarland’s encore didn’t include one of their own songs, but all-in-all it was a very entertaining concert. They were very professional in their delivery and very grateful for all of their fortunes thus far in their lives. They have secured their position as Country’s top duo for, what I foresee, many years to come.

Concert Review – Keith Urban and Sugarland at Madison Square Garden (10/8/2009)

Thursday, Oct. 8, 2009
Madison Square Garden

Keith Urban with special guests Sugarland

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I can’t explain how excited I was to attend this arena concert featuring two Country music mega-stars.  I saw Keith Urban about two years ago in the same venue, Madison Square Garden, when he toured with Carrie Underwood and after that show I knew I had to witness his brilliance again.  I don’t know if it was because I’ve already seen Urban, but my excitement was matched for the Country duo of Jennifer Nettles and Kristian Bush, a.k.a. Sugarland.

I arrived at the concert about twelve minutes late.  I was hoping the show didn’t start on time, but unfortunately it did, which meant I missed the first couple songs of their set that included “Love,” “Settlin'” and “It Happens.”  That didn’t matter though because I was in store for an additional 60 minutes of pure Sugarland fun!

The raw power of Nettles’ voice blew me away during their set.  She is definitely one of a kind and without a doubt one of the stand-out frontwomen in the past decade.  Whether she’s singing with complete emotion during “Joey,” strumming the guitar with the rest of the band during “Genevieve,” or simply dancing around the stage and having a great time during “All I Want to Do,” she was simply captivating.

The show-stopping moment during their set was when they played three consecutive songs that was memorable in their own individual way.  First, they performed “Everyday America” which got the whole audience dancing and singing along.  The contagious smile from Nettles was having an effect with the crowd, especially during the breakdown of the song when she covered snippets of a few popular songs such as “Hot in Herre” by Nelly and “Rock with You” by Michael Jackson.  Afterwards, the lights went out and the mood went from super-energetic to super-mellow as Nettles and Bush stood in the middle of the stage with the spotlights shining only on them, and went right into their Grammy-winning ballad, “Stay.”  And just when it seemed Sugarland was going to keep the mood at a slow pace, they exploded into “Who Says You Can’t Go Home,” made famous by the duet vocals of Bon Jovi and Jennifer Nettles.

Sugarland was exceptional and there’s no reason why they couldn’t headline their own tour right now.  They proved from their sensational live performance that they’re definitely one of Country’s biggest and best acts.

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With the black curtain covering the entire stage, Keith Urban and his band set up in about 20 minutes until the house lights went off and the introduction of “Hit the Ground Runnin'” played over and over again.  It was a great way to start the setlist.  The beating drums and rock guitar riff had the crowd up on their feet in no time.  The stage had a huge screen behind the band which was broken up into five columns.  Off to the sides of the stage were two additional screens.  Needless to say, there wasn’t a bad seat in the house and nothing would go unnoticed from all the camera angles being displayed.

Urban played hit after hit in the beginning of his set and after he concluded “You’re My Better Half” he made his way through the crowd to a small solo stage in the middle of the arena and yelled, “Who’s got the good seats now?”  He then played a solo version of “Once in a Lifetime” and stayed there to dedicate “Making Memories of Us” and “Only You Can Love Me This Way” to his wife, Nicole Kidman, who was in attendance.

Then it was time for Urban to return to his band as they performed the energetic “Who Wouldn’t Want to Be Me.”  The adrenaline rush didn’t last long because the tone was settled down once again when Urban played “Til Summer Comes Around” off of his new album Defying Gravity.  Then, he asked if the crowd was ready for something special and explained that since his wife was here tonight, he was going to play a song he doesn’t normally play.  The song was “Thank You” and featured Urban on the keyboards.  It was arguably the most touching moment of the night.

He was able to get the audience clapping and singing along again with Country-rock songs “Kiss a Girl” and “I Told You So.”  But the moment that stood out the most, in my opinion, were the next two songs that were performed.  Beginning with a short montage of random people singing and playing the upcoming hate-ballad, Urban sat himself down on a stool with his acoustic guitar and played “You’ll Think of Me.”  Equivalent to Sugarland’s show-stopper “Stay,” this is Urban’s most powerful song on his resume and he didn’t hold any emotion back.  Immediately after, the recognizable guitar riff started to blare over the loudspeakers and “You Look Good in My Shirt” was performed.  Urban sported a guitar that blinked a colorful light show as he trekked up and down the aisles and even had a fun audience sing-a-long to the track.

Urban’s final song of his pre-encore set list was “Somebody Like You.”  Whe he came back on stage for his two-song encore, he played a heart-felt, acoustic version of “Tonight I Wanna Cry” and concluded his spectacular two-hour set with his anthem, “Better Life.”

I must say, this was an absolutely terrific show and Keith Urban keeps proving why he’s one of the top entertainers year in and year out.

Sugarland is here to “Stay”

Song Review:  “Stay” by Sugarland

I’m still new to the Country-music genre, but one song that has absolutely blown me away is “Stay” by the country duo, Sugarland.  If you ask any of my friends they would tell you that I’m not picky when it comes to music.  I usually like everything so would that make me a bad music critic, or a good one?  Anyway, if there is something I do particularly like about a band, it’s when they have a song that strays away from the sound they’re known for.  For example, I’m not an Evanescence fan, but I have to admit I love their power-ballad “My Immortal.”  This works the same way with “Stay,” Sugarland’s stripped down, acoustic ballad.  From a band who seems to be all about fun, this single takes a 180 degree turn to the emotionally charged side, and I couldn’t be more pleased that they did so.

“Stay” is a song about an affair, but sung in the perspective of the mistress, an angle that is quite unique and refreshing.  Jennifer Nettles pours her heart and soul into this almost acapella song, because of how quiet the acoustic guitar is playing in the background.  I cannot stress enough of the power this song possesses.  Just view some of these lyrics:

“What do I have to do to make you see she can’t love you like me?  Why don’t you stay?  I’m down on my knees.  I’m so tired of being lonely.  Don’t I give you what you need?”

Again, I’ll reiterate by saying the perspective of this song is what makes it stand out from all of the other love songs.  Nettles sings as the mistress in an affair that involves a man cheating on his wife, and her voice is haunting with pure rawness.  It’s impossible to listen to “Stay” and not feel anything for her.  And yes, I’ve youtubed some live performances of the song and it only strengthens the intensity of this single.

The song was an extremely risky move on the behalf of Nettles, but her boldness resulted in a outcry of praise by Country fans all over the world.  This undoubtedly set up the success of their new album, Love on the Inside (which I still haven’t picked up yet, but I will soon!).  One final note about “Stay,” I love how the last chorus of the song displays some chance that she understands the husband will never leave his wife for her, but then concludes that regardless she still loves him and will wait for him.  Absolutely brilliant.