Ledisi came to entertain, and so she did.

From the moment she stepped on stage in her black blouse and hot pants Friday night at Symphony Hall, the songstress bopped around the stage dancing as if she were alone in her living room.

With a shout out to music icon Michael Jackson, Ledisi asked the quiet audience to get up, move and return the energy she was exuding. She scolded folks for tweeting, saying she could see their faces from their cellphone lights.

“It’s so rude,” the singer said. “But it’s cool, as long as you’re tweeting about me.”

Even with constant audience interaction, it wasn’t until the second wardrobe change that fans began to respond.

Ear-numbing screams and a standing ovation greeted the singer before she even began to sing “In the Morning,” which she blended with “I Gotta Get to You.” Opening act Timothy Bloom, an R&B newcomer with a Prince-like vibe, joined her on the duo “Stay Together.”

A cape-clad Ledisi even …

Continue reading Ledisi brings high energy tour to Atlanta »

It threatened to turn ugly before it even started.

At 8:58 p.m., when a deep voice off-stage announced “two minutes” until showtime, boos, not cheers, filled Philips Arena.

You can’t blame fans for voicing their crankiness when a show with a 7:30 p.m. ticket (a ludicrous possibility for any rap or rock show) still hasn’t started by 9 p.m. And with the PR machine behind the “Watch the Throne” tour keeping any information about opening acts, start times, show setup or anything relevant on the kind of lockdown reserved for the C.I.A., all that the crowd could do was share frustrated eye rolls and sighs.

But Announcer Voice wasn’t lying this time, as the lights dropped at 9 p.m. sharp and red laser beams shot down on two spots – one on a square in front of the main stage and the other on a secondary square by the soundboard.

As the thumping backbeat to “H.A.M.” reverberated through the three-fourths full arena, the two titanic stars of this tour – Jay-Z and …

Continue reading Jay-Z/Kanye West exhaust and entertain at tour kickoff »

Umphrey's McGee – from left, Andy Farag, Jake Cinninger, Joel Cummins, Brendan Bayliss, Kris Myers, Ryan Stasik – will play a two-night stand at the Tabernacle this weekend. Photo: Chad Smith

TODAY
Battles
The June-issued “Gloss Drop” is the second album by these former members of Don Caballero and Helmet. Tyondai Braxton, son of avant-garde jazz man Anthony Braxton, left after the post-rock outfit’s 2007 debut album “Mirrored,” which means the heavily processed vocals he provided are absent, too. Instead, the band brings in guest vocalists such as Gary Numan and Blonde Redhead’s Kazu Makino, providing some welcome variety without losing the essence of Battles. The vocals were never the focus of Battles music, anyway, which still makes strange hairpin turns and gets stretched into odd sonic shapes. Despite its weird, avant-garde nature, “Gloss Drop” isn’t inaccessible. You can even dance to it, but you might twist yourself into a pretzel.
8 p.m. Oct. 28. $18 …

Continue reading Live music picks: Oct. 28-Nov. 2 »

It seems the GMA Dove Awards are getting comfortable at the Fox Theatre.

 The awards show – the biggest in Christian/gospel music – will return to Atlanta’s historic theater for the second year on April 19.

 Last year’s ceremony marked the first time the Doves were held outside of Nashville in more than four decades and the show garnered its highest ratings to date when it aired on GMC on Easter Sunday.

 The 2012 production will again be televised nationally on GMC and air on April 22. Tickets to the show will go on sale early next year.

 Dove Awards will be presented in 43 categories; nominations will go to recordings released during the eligibility year from Nov. 1, 2010 to Oct. 31, 2011 and are voted on by members of the Gospel Music Association.

By Melissa Ruggieri, AJC Music Blog

Follow me on Twitter: @ajclifestyle

Continue reading Dove Awards will celebrate Christian music in Atlanta again »

Blake Shelton, country hit-maker and star of TV singing competition "The Voice," comes to Gwinnett Arena in January. Tickets for the show go on sale Friday, Oct. 28.

ON SALE NOW
The Daylights, Andy Davis. 8 p.m. Nov. 8. Vinyl. $10; $6 in advance. TA.
Canon Blue. 8 p.m. Nov. 11. Vinyl. $10; $8 in advance. TA.
Parachute, the Well Red. 8 p.m. Nov 18. The Loft. $17; $15 in advance. TA.
Kevin Rowe, Stefan Cashwell. 9 p.m. Dec. 2. Vinyl. $10; $6 in advance. TA.
Star 94’s Jingle Jam: Daughtry, Big Time Rush, Matt Nathanson, Parachute. 7 p.m. Dec. 13. Gwinnett Arena. $27-$57. TM.
Sean Hannity’s Holiday Concert Salute To the Troops. 7 p.m. Dec. 18. Cobb Energy Performing Arts Centre. $44-$150. TM.
Futurebirds, Washed Out. 9 p.m. Dec. 30. Buckhead Theatre. $14. TM.

ON SALE OCT. 28
Radio One Family Comedy Tour: Marcus Wiley, Griff, Channitta, Veda Howard. 8 p.m. Dec. 10. Center Stage. $25. TM.
Zac Brown Band. 8:30 p.m. Dec. 31. Philips Arena. $37-$74. LN.
Against Me. 8 p.m. Dec. 31. …

Continue reading Hot tickets: Oct. 25 »

There’s a reason they call it the Scream Tour. At every imaginable moment, thousands of girls from about  6 to 16 years old are screaming their young heads off.

A name is announced. Scream. A photo or video is shown. Scream. Act 1 comes on. Scream. Act 1 performs. Scream. Act 1 leaves. Scream. And so the night screams on….

About 10 minutes into Sunday night’s sold-out show in Atlanta, this writer felt like an overstimulated infant. The constant, piercing shrieks, the flashing, neon souvenir necklaces and headbands, the flailing arms and the jumping bodies, all created more boisterous energy than the Fabulous Fox Theater has probably seen in some time.

The Scream Tour: The Next Generation has been selling out across the country since it made its first stop in Augusta two months ago. With a fan base that’s easily 90 percent tween girl, 9 percent adult chaperone and 1 percent brave boy, the tour has a winning formula: cute teenage boys who are decent singers/rappers and …

Continue reading Scream Tour at the Fox was just that »

Who says you can’t go home? Atlanta’s own country music duo Sugarland did just that Saturday night before a nearly sold out crowd at Philips Arena.

For a little under an hour and a half, Jennifer Nettles of Atlanta and Kristian Bush of Decatur delivered a crowd-pleasing show that mingled tunes from 2010’s “Incredible Machine” (“All We Are,” “Stuck Like Glue,” “Settlin In”) with older material such as “Baby Girl” and “Something More,” which garnered the band its first Grammy nomination for best new artist in 2006.

Nettles and Bush are a joy to watch on stage, particularly when they’re doing animated back-and-forth gestures and playful dancing. Even with Nettle’s commanding presence and voice, Bush certainly gets to have his say with impressive performances on guitar during numbers that included “Incredible Machine.” Perhaps Nettles described it best, saying “Kristian will break it down like a guitar hero at the prom in 1989.”

There’s …

Continue reading Sugarland brings it home to Philips »

Wanna see Sugarland and Sara Bareilles Saturday night at Philips Arena? Well, you might be in luck.

You have the chance to win the Tone Backstage Pass Giveaway, which includes:

• Two tickets to the Oct. 22 Sara Bareilles & Sugarland concert at the Philips Arena
• A sample of Tone’s latest products, including a bottle of the new Tone® Vino Moisture Body Wash with Crushed Grape and Shea Butter, a Tone® Bar Soap pack, and a Tone® T-Shirt

Just leave a comment here on this blog post and we’ll choose a winner at random at 5 p.m. today, Oct. 21.

Continue reading A chance to win tickets to see Sugarland and Sara Bareilles »

Swedish electronic pop outfit Little Dragon – from left, Erik Bodin, Fredrik Wallin, Yukimi Nagano and Håkan Wirenstrand – plays the Masquerade Friday, Oct. 21. Photo courtesy Life and Death PR

TODAY
Little Dragon
Swedes. When it comes to great pop music, what can’t they do? Little Dragon add a new wrinkle to the history of Swedish pop with a soulful yet melancholy take on synth-pop, underpinned by newfangled, new-millennial beats. The real star of the show is the warm coo of vocalist Yukimi Nagano, which shines even brighter on the band’s third and latest album, “Ritual Union.”
8 p.m. Oct. 21. $16. The Masquerade, 695 North Ave. N.E., Atlanta. 404- 577-8178.

TODAY
Bret Michaels
You know, Tommy Lee wasn’t Pamela Anderson’s only co-star in an illicit video. Former Poison vocalist Michaels displayed his, um, talents opposite Anderson, too, after spending much of the ’80s filling the airwaves with power balladry such as “Every Rose Has Its Thorn” and silliness …

Continue reading Live music picks: Oct. 21-27 »

T.I. visits Howard Stern's Sirius XM radio show. Photo credit: HowardStern.com

T.I. is really pressing his new status as an “author.”

The rapper made the publicity rounds in New York Tuesday to hawk his new work of fiction, “Power & Beauty: A Love Story of Life on the Streets,” and stopped by Howard Stern’s morning show on Sirius XM to talk about the book, his own literary pursuits and his recent prison stint.

In case you had any inkling of pity for the guy, consider this: T.I. told Stern that before heading to prison on weapons charges, he was making $225,000 per concert and another $75,000 to $100,000 for an after party appearance. So yep, in one night he could have conceivably pulled in $300k.

While in prison, T.I. said he got into one fight, admitting that he it started because “I wanted to fight.” He also mentioned that while incarcerated he “ran a little crew” and was generally respected by his prison mates.

When talk turned to “Power & Beauty,” …

Continue reading T.I. talks to Howard Stern about new book, Atlanta »