Concert Reviews: Sister Rosetta Tharpe Tribute

Last Friday night Alan and I went to the KESWICK THEATRE in Glenside, PA to see a benefit concert held for the Memorial of SISTER ROSETTA THARPE. The list of fabulous, legendary entertainers is what initially drew me to the list. I knew that this is one that I could not miss! and boy was I right! On that evening I saw true legends take the stage to sing many, very familiar, gospel tunes that have been sung throughout the history of modern music. Maybe many of you haven't heard of a lot of the performers that were there that night, but for a true fan of old school, Black Gospel music I was floored by the whole experience. The concert was held to provide funds for the memorial of Sister Rosetta Tharpe. Would you believe that she is buried here in Philadelphia, beneath and unmarked grave!?! Hopefully this will be the resolution to that most unfortunate circumstance.

I hope you enjoy the video I made of the evening's festivities. It is pretty heavily edited, so if you see a performer that you are particularly interested in you can click on their name below to view other, more complete performances by them. I recommend watching Odetta's performance, time literally stood still when she was on stage. You may appreciate her as a one who Bob Dylan cites as one of his greatest inspirations.

We had a truly awesome time, clapping, shouting, stomping our feet and singing along. I hope you can feel a little bit of the spirit that moved us through the night!

Love, Josh



Here is the list of more complete performances!

Odetta
The Huff Singers
The Johnny Thompson Singers
The Dixie Hummingbirds
Wila Ward
Marie Knight

Concert Reviews: The Wearies @ Cafe Du Nord

Wednesday night Alan and I went to Cafe Du Nord to see our friend Pat's band, The Wearies, play. We met up with several other friends from Alan's lab. I was super excited to have the opportunity to check out Cafe Du Nord because it is a rather famous venue in San Francisco. It caters mostly to rock bands, so there haven't been many shows to play there that I have particularly wanted to see - until now! Back in the days of the prohibition Cafe Du Nord was actually a speakeasy, so the history of the place sparked my interest. The decor on the inside has maintained it's Victorian lounge feel with it's plush red walls and dark wood interior. I'm really glad I had a chance to check it out. The Wearies were awesome, as usual, I really think they could have the chance to make it big one day. You should check them out if you are into rock music - it's pretty easy on the ears, not that hard offensive kind of rock. You can sample and buy their albums on iTunes!

Here is a video I made of the show last night. Enjoy!

Love, Josh

Concert Reviews: Daft Punk

Ok, so when it came time for Daft Punk to finally take the stage the crowd went CRAZY! The curtain finally came up on this space age, pyramid contraption that had a window inside it. The two DJ's were situated inside the window, totally decked out in Robot garb! The music started and it was all uphill from there. Everyone was dancing and having an awesome time. One of the best parts of the show was the light effects. The pyramid also served as a video screen, which flashed images that got progressively more complicated as the show went on. Behind them was another huge screen and there were a million lights flashing out into the crowd, almost constantly. The light show was SPECTACULAR. There were times where I found myself totally mesmerized by the array of special effects that never stopped as the music pumped on! I had such a fantastic time. This had to be the best show of this kind that I have ever seen - it was HUGE.

Here is a mish mash of videos that I put together over the course of the night. There are two parts since I took so many. I think they came out pretty well, so you can get a good idea of what the show was like. Enjoy and have a great weekend!

Part One


Part Two

Concert Reviews: The Rapture

Last night I went with my friends, Matthew & Xa, to the Daft Punk show @ the Greek Theater in Berkeley. This show was a far cry from Loretta or Erykah Badu, but PHENOMENAL nonetheless. The Greek Theater (http://facilities.calperfs.berkeley.edu/greek/) is an outdoors venue that is modeled after an ancient greek theater - it's really beautiful and huge! I wasn't expecting such an enormous crowd, but they came in droves and brought such an excited energy. It kind of felt like a college party, but there was a wide variety of people there. I never knew Daft Punk had such a devoted following. The show was fantastic and I had one of the best experiences of my life! You must try to see this show if it comes to your area - fo' real!

Here is a video of the opening acts, The Rapture & DJ Sebastian. The first part of the video is us on the BART on the way to the venue, as you can see there were other Daft Punk fans riding with us! I have two other videos of Daft Punk that I will post in the coming hours, so stay tuned! Believe me, it is well worth the wait! I also have pictures that I will post as soon as I get some of the ones Matthew took, which may take a week or so.



P.S. I miss you Sugars!!! :)~