So on Wednesday of this week, thanks to my new boyfriend KJ Sawka’s myspace,
I found out that Blake had been added to the line-up of 107.5 The River’s Acoustic Christmas concert. At first I thought my chances of being able to attend were slim to none, because the only way to get tickets to the show was to win them off the radio. And I just don’t have that kind of luck, so I spent some time pouting about not being able to go until an infinitely awesome friend of mine directed me to Craigslist. I managed to find a pair of tix on there for a very reasonable price, and so it was on. Or was it? Friday afternoon came and I actually wasn’t sure I was going to be able to make it (long story) but the planets aligned and StarSis and I arrived at the venue exactly twenty minutes before showtime.
The concert was held at the Gibson Showcase at Opry Mills. I’ve been shopping there before but I had no idea there was a little theater in the Gibson store. It was a cool place! There are tables spread all over the room, so people can sit and have dinner and watch a show on the stage down front. Unfortunately since we got there a little late all the seats were taken so we had to stand. The place was pretty crowded! I guessed there were 500 people there but I noticed one of the photo albums on the station’s website mentioned 700, so this was good exposure for Blake! We found a nice spot like one level off the floor to stand, stage right.
I’ll skip right to the Blake portion of the evening. Matt Kearny opened the show and his set was pretty chill, so the crowd sat down during his performance. After he was done, some of The River’s on-air personalities came out to get everyone pumped up for Blake. I had flashbacks to the Cake section of the AI tour as they divided the room into two sides to see who could make the most noise and prove that they were the most ready for Blake to take the stage. My side won. :) The whole audience was loud and definitely enthusiastic about Blake being there!
I’m going to admit to being a bad Blaker Girl here. KJ came onstage first and I seriously thought he was Blake. I was all taken aback at how tall his hair was because I didn’t know Blake’s hair had grown out so much. But oops, I realized my mistake when an equally wee and adorable boy wearing a black bandana around his neck appeared. Heh. I didn’t feel so bad though when later Blake himself introduced KJ and remarked about their resemblance. Maybe I don’t need my eyes checked after all. Anyway, he talked up KJ’s drumming skills and called him his “brotha from anotha motha.” At one point they paused and smushed their faces together so KJ could snap a picture of the two of them together. Coming soon to KJ’s myspace probably!
Blake started off by chatting up the crowd a little bit…he had his Kaoss Pad strapped on and fooled around with it a little bit, showing us what it could do. He said, “Moms and dads, get your kids a Kaoss Pad for Christmas!” Hee. Then he was ready to sing. He explained that “Break Anotha” is his new single, and went on to say that he wrote and produced it with “Ryan Tedder from OneRepublic” and Sam Watters. The intro started (it was a backing track I guess since only KJ was there) and Blake told the audience to get up on their feet to make it feel like a real concert! Everyone obeyed him. The people standing up against the stage went nuts and lurved them some Bshorty! They kept reaching out to him so he’d touch their hands and stuff. Back to the performance - Blake sounds damn good singing it live, and he gave an energetic performance as always. He was charismatic and bouncy and hyper and all over the stage. In the first verse, when the lyrics start to delve into the dark side of the character (I think on the “he’s got no shame, he’s got no name…”) Blake pulled the hood of his jacket up over his head to be more sinister and for some reason that made the crowd squee. Bottom line, “Break Anotha” was really excellent in concert so I think it will go over well when he performs it on all of his TV appearances! I’m sure it will sound even better with his full band playing it instead of him just singing along to a track.
After “Break Anotha” some DJs from The River came back out onstage to conduct a little Q & A session with Blake. I’m thinking, “Oh yeah! This is gonna be good!!” but well…not so much. I mean, it was amusing but it could’ve been interesting, you know? Basically, the DJs picked the teenyboppiest of the teenyboppers to ask the questions. The first girl wanted to know if she could have a picture with Blake. He of course said yeah and she hopped up onstage to pose with him. Very sweet. She sort of didn’t want to leave, haha! Next question, no lie: “How did you get so damn sexy?” and Blake’s answer was that he showers. Bwah! Then the DJ wanted another question but he picked a girl that just said, “Thank your mom and dad for us.” LOL. Then Blake was like, “Do any guys have a question?” Aww! I saw some guys around me raising their hands but instead they went for another teeny. Hers was a softball: “Where are you from?” Blake of course proudly responded that both he and KJ were from Seattle. And that was it for the Q & A, but the DJs came back to talk to Blake more. They mentioned that Blake’s album comes out this Tuesday. Yay!! Pimp! Pimp! PIMP!! Then one of the other DJs brought up the fact that he and Blake had battled each other on Dance Dance Revolution earlier that day in the mall and Blake lost, prompting Blake to bemoan coming in second AGAIN! ;) Then he said he didn’t know the DJ was not a novice at DDR like himself. Too bad they didn’t play Guitar Hero instead!
Next, Blake told the DJs he was going to do another song now if they didn’t mind. It was almost like he was shooing them offstage, LMAO! He talked about how he performed in Seattle all his life before being on American Idol and said he was going to do a song he wrote pre-AI, “She Loves The Way.” I’ll be honest, I’ve lost a lot of my love for “She Loves The Way” since I first heard it around this time last year. But after hearing him perform it live, I kind of love the song again. I thought it sounded really, really good. He performed it without any type of accompaniment from KJ, who stepped away from his drumkit, off to the side with his hood pulled up. KJ bounced along to the beat and it was so cute. He kinda looked like Kenny from South Park back there.
After “She loves The Way,” Blake asked us if we wanted to learn some beatboxing tricks or if we wanted to see a battle. He was like, “The girls want the tricks, and the guys want the battle.” I can’t even remember which one he decided to do first…but I do remember that both were pretty cool. He really did a good job getting people to participate in the beatboxing lesson. One of the sounds he was teaching us about was kind of like a “pfffft” and he said something like, “All you girls should know what I’m talking about it…you do it all the time when you’re like ‘pffffffft whatever!’ ” Imagine him saying that like Amber in the movie Clueless. It was so funny and cute. The battle of the beats between Bshorty and KJ was fun to watch too! I have no idea who won. I’ll say it was a tie.
Finally, Blake ended his set with some freestyle beatboxing. Truthfully, I wish he’d beatboxed a little less and sang a little more, but I can’t complain too much. I was just happy to be there! Before he left the stage he reminded everyone about Audio Daydream coming out this Tuesday. And after a nice round of applause from the audience, he and KJ were gone! StarSis and I stuck around long enough to hear Colbie Callait sing “Bubbly” and then we were gone too. We were hungry and dying of thirst. Every time a waitress walked by with a tray of drinks, we got thirstier and thirstier. We totally missed Nicole Richie’s baby daddy’s band Good Charlotte…but oh well, I downloaded their new single off iTunes to make up for it. All in all, a fun Friday night!
Oh, I forgot to mention Haley! (Story of her life…) They brought her out onstage before they intro’d Blake. One of the DJs said, “We’ve got another American Idol here who calls Nashville home!” And I’m thinking, Melinda? Phil? But no, it was Haley! When she came out the first time hardly anyone reacted, so the DJs told her to go back and come out again. People cheered the second time, heh. They had her sing “Silent Night” and she sounded nice. One of the DJs sang with her and he was really good!! They said Haley would be joining them on the radio for some type of American Idol commentary when the new season begins.
And oh yeah, one more thing…I’m pretty sure Blake kept “She Loves The Way” PG13 last night. I don’t remember hearing the F-bomb.
Sorry I have no pics or video. I just didn’t want to fool with lugging my camera around. Maybe something will show up on YouTube; I saw lots of people with cameras.
Thank you so much, Star!
Yay!!!! Thank you, Star!!! Did you get to meet Blake or Haley?
No I didn’t meet anyone.
Thanks so mush STAR! Im so glad you got to make it to the amazing show!
Star, thanks so much for the recap. I was wondering how B was going to do BA without the full band. So glad you could go and you had fun.
Hey Star,
I’m seeking advice. See, KJ’s myspace has that him and Blake will be performing in Austin on Dec. 8, however, the website of the radio station and event has nothing about them being there. They keep saying on the radio that there will be a surprise guest. My problem is, I don’t care for anyone else who is playing, so it will be a total waste of money if they (blake and kj) aren’t there. I guess anyone can give me some feedback on this. Do I trust the myspace and buy the tickets? At this time, I’m listening to the station in attempt to win some tickets, and let me tell you, If I hear “Bubbly” one more time I’m slitting my wrists.
Yay for the recap…so glad you got to go! I agree that Break Anotha is awesome live. Oh…and I told you guys that KJ and Blake are freakin hard to tell apart from a bit of a distance!…someone needs to shave stripes into the side of his head again… ;-)
I am so glad you got to go and enjoyed it.
Star how much do you think a caos pad would cost? (hey Blake said my parents should get me one) I really want to know so I cna get one!!!
Break Anotha commercial!
Dani.
http://www.samedaymusic.com/prodsearch?form=search/ppc&cat=2461&cat2=3556
Star! I love the recap! Thank you! Sounds like it was a blast. I wish I coulda been there.
And I totally love how you even got a “Clueless” reference in there. LMAO. ;)
Midge thanks… yikes thats expensive.. my parents don’t have that type of dough the have 5 kids…. I’ll ask for next christmas or save up my money…
Great review Star. I hate to brag, but it’s so close to record release that I gotta give it to ya all…..
I picked up the twins at SeaTac today and I mentioned to them that the fans are having a hard time picking them apart…They love it.. The show was a test and it worked. Those boys will have some fun….Most the upcoming TV shots will be with the band… And in Seattle we wil get the Jingle Bell Bash, which I am told sold out, to see how well they do as a new group in a big show setting. I don’t think it will be anything but good, do you?
Oh, one last note with which to leave you. My son gave me a cd tonight and I am listening to it now. If you don’t like it, take a hike. It is very clean, mixed well and a real variety of songs. I read today in an interview that he said he wrote about what he loved, women… It is a respectful album about women.. gotta love that boy… taught him well.
d
About the “twins” - when we were meeting Blake and the band after the LG event it was Kevin I saw across the lobby and thought it was Blake. I think they will have real fun with the doppelganger effect.
Star - glad one of us went Friday night. Thanks for the summary.
Roy and I will be in Seattle on Tuesday night - know it will be great. Our challenge is to memorize all the song lyrics between midnight Monday and Tuesday night!
OMG the Family! Thanks for posting, Big Daddy and Aunt Marcia. Love the idea of the “twins.”
Thank you for the updates Mr. Lewis and aunt Marcia. I totally agree with you Mr. Lewis that you and your wife did use good parenting skills with Blake. The boy knows how to respect people.
About the album. I personally am so curious and excited to listen to the entire album. The clips of ADD sounded fantastic. I was raised in 80’s so and I loved that musical era. Blake’s music is reviving this passion for music.
awwww, gotta love Big D when he drops by! I love the twins reference too how sweet! :D
They definetly resemble twins and I should know since I am a Identical twin. You should be proud Big D He has impressed me all along with his repect and talent.
Vid up, of Break Anotha, and two short clips from SLTW.
sorry, link here.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M1HJTdqdWUE
Thank you, Kilroy!
Star - thanks for the great recap! And thanks to Kilroy for the link. Sounds like you had fun! It would have been nice if they’d have let some guys ask questions! I can just imagine how happy parents would be for their kids to have a KAOSS Pad. LOL, I bet it would get banished to the attic in short order!
I can envision “the twins” getting up to all sorts of hijinks now. Throw a bandana on Kevin (or not), and he’d make a great decoy. Glad to see Big D and Aunt Marcia checking in. It’s funny to think that even Aunt Marcia was fooled!
Big D, I bet you cried tears of joy when you got the CD? I can’t imagine how proud you must be to finally see this dream coming true. And, I have to agree with others, that you did raise a gentleman. I’ve been impressed with his respect and caring for others, and the self-confidence he has to put others first even when the spotlight is on him.
I’m right there with you Midge! I’m almost glad that I screwed up my Tuner/Receiver in my LR.
Thanks for the videos, Kilroy! So it was on the “he’s a gentleman lover, get you undercover” part that he pulled his hood up to be all sinister and stuff. Haha.
midge, have you tried messaging KJ on myspace? I don’t know if he answers messages or not but it probably wouldn’t hurt to try. I bet they are the surprise guests. The date on KJ’s myspace is the same as the date of the “Anniversary Bash” on the radio station’s website so that’s gotta be what they’re appearing at. If I were in your shoes, I’d probably go ahead and buy tickets!
Yes, I failed their test miserably…
I hope Blake & KJ enjoyed their trip to Nashville. It seemed like the radio station staff really liked Blake!
I just saw the commercial for Audio Daydream on MTV! I love how they refer to him as “Arista’s newest recording star”!
ETA one of The River’s DJs has a pic with Blake as his default on myspace! And he has “Break Anotha” as his profile song!
Star, I fogot to add that I LOVE the headline you selected for your recap. Perfect!
Big D your not bragging Blake is a magnifecint(spelling??) man (or at least to my 13 year old eyes he is) You and Mrs. Lewis did a great job raising him! We need more men in the world like him that respect women and aren’t mean and yell a lot (what yelling scares the hecks outa me and my mama got divorced when I was 4) Big D I told santa this year I wanted Blake for Christmas… you trhink my wish will come true???
You’re right, Star. I think I’ll just chance it.
Hahaha, I can’t stand that “Bubbly” song either, Crystal knows what I’m talking about ;).
Hi Big D and Marcia! Yep, Blake and Kevin definitely are rocking the twins look with the hairdos (tho Kev’s looks a little higher, heh.).
D,
don’t worry, I think it’s safe to assume that all of us here will love the CD. Like Kasia, I also grew up during the 80’s and I said from very early on during last season of Idol that Blake reminded me so much of those 80’s electro-new wavers or rockers like Sting, Bono, Morrissey, The Cure, Depeche Mode, etc. when it comes to his vocal tone and style. I know he’s got a little hip hop too, but his voice is perfectly suited for that electro-pop-rock stuff. If you want, you can tell B that “Here’s My Hello” seems to have gotten a GREAT response from the fans and even people who weren’t fans of his on Idol.
Thanks BigD and Aunt Marcia. Love the comment about the “twins”, I don’t think many people will be disappointed with the album.
That commercial was SWEET. I wonder if they took some parts of the music video and used that as the commercial.
only a day and a half left.
nic I didn’t grow u p in the 80’s (thats cua I was born in 1994) but when I was little I mainly listen to 80’s music my mom had and dad did…
Thanks to Big D and Aunt Marcia for dropping by! I can definitely see those two (KJ and Blake) coming up with some mischevious adventures to pull now that they know they really do look a lot alike. Ah well…knowing the two of them, we’ll all get a good laugh out of whatever they decide to pull!
Did anybody else notice on that radio DJ’s MySpace page (the one from The River), the intern is wearing a bandana! I think Blake may be starting another trend. First the plaid, then the argyle…and hats…now bandanas!
Yeah Laura, I noticed Adam the Intern’s bandanna straight-away! I wonder if there is a hip meaning to that, or if it’s just a cool look. Adam’s young enough to be going for it either way!
Thanks BigD and Aunt Marcia for checking in–you know we love it when you do.(even if you were bragging about having the new album out first, you bad thing! ;-)
I really liked the commercial for the album, with the purply sky and elements of the album cover. I’m intrigued to see what all the inside artwork is! Tuesday isn’t long to wait now.
Don’t forget to check back at theRiver’s site for the vids and stuff tomorrow! I’ve enjoyed the stuff seen so far.
I think bandanas are part of Ashton Michael’s current fashion line. Check out his MySpace–he’s sporting a bandana in some pics. It will be interesting if this trend will take hold like plaid. If it does, will the mods here rename this blog “Team Bandana”?, lol.
I love wearing bandanas!!! ut I’m not aloud to to school or hats but I can wear plaid pants I just need to buy some…
If you must say Bandanna, please use your best Antonio Banderas voice…it works better like that, in my mind! heh!
Bully who’s Antonio Banderas ?
Fab recap, Star! I am so jellus! Glad you and StarSis had fun! :)
Antonio is the voice for Puss In Boots, of Shrek fame.
(”Shrek The Halls” is a great thing,btw)
Am I the only person in the world that doesn’t find Shrek funny. I find it repulsive.
Hello webmaster…Man i love reading your blog, interesting posts ! it was a great Saturday . Nicole Ritchie