Tag > example
Event Review – Wireless Festival 2011 (Friday)
Chiino proved he had good reason to escape musicovered HQ on Friday when he returned raving about this.
Currently in its sixth year, Wireless Festival recently returned to Hyde Park once again for its annual three-day music showcase. Spanning a full weekend, I opted just to attend the Friday event and was thrown aback by just how much they were able to pack into the 4pm-10pm slot they were allowed to clog the Central London park up for. As ever, it featured an array of massive global stars and managed to draw masses from across the country, many of which only turned up to sit outside the boundary and listen to what was being boomed from the mighty main stage.
Doors open at 2.30pm, massive rushes to the front of the queue ensue. Once through, the main stage hypnotised the thousands who gathered until Kiss FM’s Ricky and Melvin introduced Example as the party starter. As with every show he does, we’re subject to bounce overload as we’re all made to act like we’re on a trampoline as his songs thump away relentlessly. The recent chart-topper made it difficult for anyone at the other stages to have a chance of garnering much attention (as we found when we wondered into a 30-person audience when Natalia Kills was on at the stage behind his). Notably, during Example’s set he yelled “That was all my s**t songs out the way. This one’s a new one, it’s just like the rest so listen and bounce” before starting a new game of ‘Who Can Bounce the Highest?’ and it was entertaining all-round, as anything he does tends to be. Soon after, we caught the end of a colourful performance from StooShe, who held their own on the Unwind stage before Parade. However, it was all just filling out the time before we’d see Bruno Mars.
Joined by The Smeezington’s, the LA native was a clear favourite at the event. He’d leached much of the attendees to gather around the main stage (as Example before him). Before long, he’d won everyone over by showing just how productive he and he production outfit have been over the past couple of years, when it comes to owning the charts. “The Lazy Song”, “Billionaire”, “Just the Way You Are”, “Grenade” and the smash hits didn’t end. With a flawless vocal performance and funky choreography put into action from the rest of the band, it was a very complete set. His stage presence had an air of the past megastars he’s clearly influenced by in it – Elvis, James Brown and Michael Jackson – the latter even being given a nod when he performed “Dirty Diana”. Bruno Mars was incredible and easily the best of the lot on the day.
Surprisingly, the same praise can’t be said of the act who followed him up. Tinie Tempah (who’s been made a go-to-guy for big stages since this time last year) was pretty underwhelming, in all honesty. Initially he wasn’t helped by his microphone not working, but following those complications, there was a sense as though his big stage performances have been templated. He sent people crazy with the big songs, but he lacked the energy to make him particularly memorable. Afterwards came the opportunity to prove Plan B could hang with those who are comfortable in that grand stage setting. All his notable tracks, plus a few Motown hits (and a little help from Faith SFX) proved he could – and that he wasn’t just a bit of filler before The Black Eyed Peas.
In the meantime, however, the Unwind stage got lively once more when Wretch 32 took to it. He may have annoyed a few when a couple of sound problems extended the wait before he came out, but that was all soon forgotten. He’d amassed the biggest crowd (at that stage) for the day and begged questions why he couldn’t be listed with the heavyweights, but humbly got on with what he had to do. First came a reminder of his initial break with a quick run-through of “Be Cool”, following which he had a chance to show off the tunes which earned him a place at Wireless this year and why Rap shouldn’t be dismissed at these large-scale concerts. He kept people going right through until Chipmunk followed him up, but by that time a fair proportion had other ideas of where they need to be when some House thuds echoed from the main stage – signalling The BEPs were in the house.
The act known to divide opinions (having migrated from the year 3008) began their futuristic madness with style. The full outfit had everyone bouncing again and were set to close things in a huge way from the very minute they stepped onstage. After a couple of tunes, the frontman of the band, went solo on the stage, after allegedly evacuating a burning Hilton hotel an hour or so prior. From there, will.i.am then proceeded to freestyle and remind everyone that they originated as a Hip Hop outfit, as many seem to have forgot. The very same people were then made to feel slightly uneasy by the fact a BEP song they weren’t familiar with was suddenly being sung only by a select few in attendance – the early underground hit by the name of “Joints & Jams”. They didn’t stay in that mode for long though as they soon shifted gears once more, booming with infectious Electro bangers to close Wireless 2011 off the right way.
Wireless Festival’s Friday event gets a musicovered score of 8/10.
Event Review – Capital FM Summertime Ball 2011
Sunday night’s the new Thursday night… or Monday night… or Wednesday night… Well we’ve lost track of when the big music night of the week is now, but know that last week ended with the following, as explained by Chiino.
Having seen Capital FM effectively take over the country in the past few months, the musicovered crew made the reluctant decision to find out what exactly the hype was about. While none of us (other than Sophie) could stomach listening to their station, the massive live annual music event they now put on made for a great substitute. The place: Wembley Stadium. The show: The Capital FM Summertime Ball. Line-up: fantasy. The weather: wet, very, very wet. What’s wrong with the people who decide when the roof goes on, I’m not sure, but it was decided that all 75,000 people who attended the massive Captial FM gig (which lasted from 4pm until 9.30pm) were to endure hours of downpours. (As astmospheric as it gets!)
From my understanding of Capital FM, it’s a station which doesn’t stray from Top 40s tunes. In fact, it’s scared of what proper music sounds like. Having said this, you have to take your hats off to them for getting selection of the finest global artist together for a grand all-dayer. It was like they brought their radio to life, just without Rihanna and Lady Gaga, as (other than them) you find all the huge names. Running quickly down the list (in order of appearance), it included individual sets from: JLS, Cee-Lo Green, Katy B, Mann, Mike Posner, Far East Movement, Nicole Scherzinger, Example, Enrique Iglasias, Jennifer Lopez, LMFAO, The Wanted, Jessie J and Ne-Yo. (Boom!)
After a few scuffles through the doors and security (which involved a few stray shoes left behind from umbrella-wielding teeny-boppers) Wembley’s grand stadium was literally filled to the brim with a surprising mixture of attendees – very young, to …fairly older. A number of them got pumped-up to the House thumps, which echoed from the fierce speakers, while some preferred to wait until the live music kicked-in and it was acceptable to get loose. No worries, as it wasn’t long befre JLS emerged from the ground in their action hero positions to launch themselves into “The Club is Alive”. It was all very energetic, immediate, and they took the courtesy to actually sing (which can’t be said for Jennifer Lopez) as they began what would be an action-packed event. A handful of JLS songs later, the giant screens announced Cee-Lo Green to be their follow up. Assisted by an all-girl band, he succeeded in injecting the day with a little Soul. He had everyone screaming “F**k/Forget You”, reminded everyone that he was the voice on “Crazy”. Good times. It was, unfortunately, when the brunt of the rainfall came in, and it ran through into Katy B’s funky little section with a guy rocking a Rinse FM t-shirt (props to him for the bravery).
Next came what we’ll call the ‘second tier American section’. In it, they gave a limited amount of time for Mann, Mike Posner and Far East Movement to do the songs they’re known for and absolutely nothing else. They were a little on the predictable side, but held their own considering they’re not you’re typical Captial FM listener’s choice in music. A notable highlight was seeing Dev (who’d performed earlier with JLS in much the same way) just mime on the stage for the chorus of “Like a G6” and leave… impressive. They merely stretched the day out and were to fill out the space before Nicole Scherzinger took over. The Pussycat Doll, known now more as a talent show judge, made clear she’s far more and one was surprisingly good – both vocally and at combining it with lots of provocative dancing.
Switching things right up afterwards was the current chart-topper, Example. His section involved a lot of bouncing and saw a welcomed Wretch 32 appearance too. He kept the energy high, and maintained the energy which was still lingering on from Nicole. Next up… Enrique. As much as you’d like to ignore him, everyone fell for his charm after he’d done all the dancey songs and then closed it off by inviting a young girl onto the stage to smooch as he sang “Hero” to her. They filled out this space afterwards with a bit of a dance from Flawless, but it was nothing we haven’t seen before… everyone was anticipating Jennifer Lopez’s return, after not performing live in the UK for six long years… and, boy, was it underwhelming.
To compensate for her notoriously-poor live vocals, J-Lo made a thing of dancing as much as could, and lip-syncing absolutely everything. It was impressive to find her packing “Get Right” and “Jenny from the Block” in there, but no one was too happy about seeing her make little effort to put her vocals to the test. The only times she did make a sound, it was an unbearable grating screech, which made us question whether it was even worth her showing up. Madly enough, the lively pairing of LMFAO completely erased any memory of her presence. Their euphoric performance – along with the Quest Crew – got just about everyone doing the Running Man. They also helped solidify their position in the music world with a hyped rendition of their big follow-up single to the “Party Rock Anthem”. Afterwards, in the lead-up to the big ending came the perfect opportunity to go back inside to dry off – a few songs from The Wanted.
We returned to see, seated in a throne, the phenomenon that is Jessie J. She was easily the best on the night, and trooped on in spite of ankle injury. With her foot wrapped up, she emotively broke out with all of her big hits from the album. When it was time for “Price Tag”, however, it was frustrating to see how the technicians allowed Devlin’s mic to be silent until the moment his verse finished (remind you of the way Capital FM – when forced to play Roll Deep’s song, because of their chart positions – only played the bits with the female vocalist?). Ignoring that, Jessie ripped it. The weather came in handy when Jessie J, perched on a single foot, wailed the chorus to “Who You Are” out too. Its lyrics that the extra bit epic and that, but the rain did no favours for the rest of the show. The final act, Ne-Yo, began with the revelation that Wembley was the largest crowd he’s ever performed to, and then smashed his lengthy set. Lots of girls, much like his tour was, and wasn’t plagued by the fact you wouldn’t here half of what he sang during their usual scheduling.
Essentially, the Capital FM Summertime Ball was all you’d have expected it to be. The event was epic, and did suit the tastes for your typical ‘hit radio station’ listener perfectly. Taking it from a standpoint that Capital FM listeners are your one-gig-a-year concert-goers, it was a very entertaining day, but was dampened by what was pouring from the grey skies all day. You couldn’t really have asked for much more and (with prices being your average large-scale concert price, from £40-upwards) was well worth the expense. J-to-the-L-O, we’re not impressed, but the rest sort of made up for your lip-syncing disaster.
Excuse the review’s monstrous size; it was as full-on as this.
The Capital FM Summertime Ball is awarded a musicovered score of 8/10.
Thursday November 04th – Track of the Day
Track Of The Day – Tinchy Stryder, Giggs, Devlin, Example, Professor Green, Tinie Tempah, Chipmunk – Game Over
Hey! It’s Chiino here with the Track of the Day. No time to play. Let’s get into it!.
From day, posse cuts have been used in Hip Hop to gain exposure for lesser-known artists. Having a huge rapper to carry things grabs the listener’s attention and then introduces them to artists they may not be familiar with. An early example would be how Busta Rhymes first received a solo break through his verse on A Tribe Called Quest’s “Scenario” remix. However, in more recent times, it’s been used to show where bonds are found amongst the top artists in the game. “Swagger Like Us” (with Kanye West, Jay-Z, T.I. and Lil Wayne) and “Forever” (Drake, Kanye West, Lil Wayne and Eminem) are massive examples of this sort of thing. But where’s the UK in all this?
With it being rare that UK Rap has had any sustained exposure in the mainstream, 2010 found that it’s now as strong as it’s ever been. A number of artists from Grime, Rap, and Hip Hop in the UK have had chart smashes in recent times and what better way to celebrate than to bring a load of them together??? After being hinted at by Pro Green, and performed with missing sections at both 1Xtra Live and the 2010 MOBOs, they had the whole country watching and waiting to see when the complete seven-man track would have an official video… here it is.
Tinchy Stryder featuring Giggs, Professor Green, Tinie Tempah, Devlin, Example and Chipmunk on “Game Over”.
Order them. Who’s verse was the best?
Get back at us on musicovered tomorrow people.
