Concerts are great. You get to see the act that you’ve listened to on your ghettoblaster or have seen on television and you get to see them share their craft live on stage. With plenty of silver smoke and white fog, pyrotechnics, exhilarating music and costume changes for beautification, what else could you ask for accept for gift wrapped performances? It’s like they are holding a show just for you in your backyard… with several hundred other people in the audience. And these are some of the people; you’re more likely to see:

1.

Women who bring newborns in their strollers

What is the point you ask? No one wanted to watch the hell spawn, so she brought the child to see one of her favorite artists of all-time. She figures, the child will rest and be good-natured. Then, disaster! No doubt, she starts to plow people over with the baby stroller in order to leave the grounds of the concert. All the while, we’re hoping she doesn’t try to mow over an obese mongoloid that may keel over on to the baby if she does.

2.

People who say the titles of the songs before they play

iPods are great, aren’t they? They give you a track listing of you favorite songs and sometimes, they even show you the album cover. So, when you are at a concert. Why does one feel it is okay to shout out the name of the song? Granted, one may not be familiar with the title of the song that the artist is playing, but isn’t there a better way to express your joy?

3.

The Obnoxious Drunk

“For the umpteenth time, we get it! You’re drunk, and quite honestly, its not adorable.” Ever hear these thoughts ring out of your skull? Well, it’s more likely to happen again at the concert. These dingbats, whose cups runneth over, are noted for spilling beer and other spirits on music lovers, groping anyone in their sights and loudly shouting at the performers and set crew. Why? Who knows? But the party in their heads does.

4.

The Push and Shove Reject

More than likely, the cause for most fights in a stand-up event is the supposed rock’em sock’em push-and-shove bad-ass who feels that a little “light touch” will move the crowd of people to opposite sides and make a clear way to the first row. The problem is—quoting Heath Ledger as The Joker in The Dark Knight—what happens when an unstoppable force meets an unmovable object?

5.

The Social Butterfly

It’s not so bad when you are in a seated area, but if you are a stand-up concert hall or a mosh pit in an outdoor musical affair, this can be rather jarring. Imagine if you will, a person standing in front of you, and a long-lost friend spots them. Now, imagine if that friend had five other long-lost friends. It’s noisy and there are too many people around to really concentrate on the concert, and one may consider leaving. Now, imagine if the social butterfly and their one friend knew an additional ten friends between them…

6.

The Super-fan

Maybe it’s acceptable if you’re one of Lady Gaga’s “little monsters,” or Beyoncé’s rambunctious “[insert name] Fierce” friends, but anywhere else its probably just as annoying as watching a bunch of tween girls get a makeover at Claire’s. The Super-fan brings bigger, brighter and better cardboard signs than a paranoid post-apocalyptic paparazzo. They dress up like the star they have paid their lifesavings to see live in concert and are louder than the entertainer on stage. Have you seen them before? Like Highlander, there’s always one.

7.

The Talker

Seriously, this annoying stand alone chatterbox confessional ranks among Oprah Winfrey, Larry King, Howard Stern, Tyra Banks and any other talk show ham. They will talk, talk, talk the entire time… and often, not in relation to the concert. When they do, it’s all critique or all data, factoids and statistics. Who wants that? Maybe their friend, the Richard Roeper wannabe.

8.

The Gadget Whore

It’s never nice to call a person, regardless of gender, a whore. But quite honestly, what do you call a person who uses more technology than a streetwalker uses come-ons in a red light district? Like The Talker, these people are notorious for intense conversation, however, it’s usually communication on a hyper-advanced, future-xenophobic sci-fi technological device. If you think talking on your BlueTooth is annoying, imagine loaded conversations on blue screen soapbox pocket computers or obnoxious talking on the newest hand-held cellular device! You start to wonder, “with all the devices, why don’t you buy the concert DVD?”

9.

The Choreographer

You know what we’re talking about. This classically-trained dancer is not your average Alvin Ailey or Wade Robson wannabe. Oh, no… they transcend them. They know all the moves, all the grooves, all the snaps and all the twists, and they can outdo any backup dancer or backup singer on stage or music video. How do they get your attention, they are all elbows. Watch your solar plexus!

10.

The Luv Couple

Isn’t love grand? Not when you’re watching one of favorite acts and the Siamese star-crossed shotgun wedding bells couple is making out in front of you, smacking to the back beat of your favorite jam. Why are they there? Are they there to make you jealous? Probably not. Are they there for the concert? Intentionally yes, but practically no. Are they there to conceive their first born? Now, that’s more probable.

Bob Marley’s Master Recordings Destroyed In Ghana Fire

Aretha Franklin Performs With Condoleezza Rice In Philadelphia

Fans Around The World Honor The Late King Of Pop

Summer is officially over. With concert tours by MIA, Kelis & Robyn, Rihanna, Maxell and Jill Scott among the big go-to “urban” cool radio monsters to sell-out concert halls and arenas, it’s cool to see that the autumn may also have its share of luster. Among the various tours that have been announced, there are two concerts we can not wait to attend:

Mary J. Blige, the undisputed queen of hip-hop soul, recently announced her ninth consecutive tour (the cheese-fest fromage titled Music Saved My Life). Why are we so excited in the first place? Well, “Bust Your Windows” princess Jazmine Sullivan and up-and-comer soulman Miguel (who crooned “All I Want Is You” aside J. Cole) will tour in her native United States. That’s why! Mobo-winner and Briton R&B scribe Lemar and the iconic El DeBarge will also make appearances…and with Mary J. Blige celebrating her 18 years of fabulosity, its easy to fall head-over-heels in love with the great expectations we know that she will fulfill on stage.

10/01/10: Mobile, Ala. (BayFest Mobile Music Festival)
10/02/10: Atlanta, Ga.
10/03/10: Virginia Beach, Va.
10/05/10: Raleigh, N.C.
10/07/10: Washington, D.C.
10/08/10: Atlantic City, N.J.
10/10/10: Mashantucket, Conn. (Fox Theatre at Foxwoods)
10/11/10: New York, N.Y. (Radio City Music Hall)
10/12/10: New York, N.Y. (Radio City Music Hall)
10/15/10: Detroit, Mich.
10/16/10: Chicago, Ill.
10/19/10: Los Angeles, Calif. (Gibson Amphitheatre)
10/20/10: Los Angeles, Calif. (Gibson Amphitheatre)
10/22/10: Las Vegas, Nev.
10/23/10: Oakland, Calif.

Then there’s the ultimate WTF, I mean, “OMG” zeitgeist; R&B dance-pop prince Usher—who abandoned his crunk and quiet storm ponderings for a Europop electro sound—tapped crooner heartthrob Trey Songz for his 25-date OMG Tour. Songz, who just wrapped up his Passion, Pain & Pleasure Tour in New York City with Monica, will embark on his third tour of the year after a guest appearance on Jay-Z’s Blueprint 3 Tour.

There will be mayhem, bedlam and absolute pandemonium as sultry-and-sexy ladies go hoarse after bloodcurdling screams reverberate in the atmosphere and the smell of pheromones ooze from the arena walls. Get ready for all the shirtless and tightrope choreography of lifetime! And make sure to bring water. Fellas, be on your best behavior. Wink. Let the murderball began. The tour kick starts  November 10th at Seattle’s Key Arena!

11/10/10: KeyArena Seattle, WA
11/12/10: ORACLE Arena Oakland, CA
11/13/10: Mandalay Bay Events Center Las Vegas, Nevada
11/14/10: Honda Center Anaheim, CA
11/17/10: San Diego Sports Arena San Diego, CA
11/18/10: STAPLES Center Los Angeles, CA
11/19/10: Jobing.com Arena Glendale, AZ
11/23/10: Toyota Center Houston, TX
11/24/10: American Airlines Center Dallas, TX
11/26/10: Scottrade Center St. Louis, MO
11/27/10: Sprint Center Kansas City, MO
11/29/10: Air Canada Centre Toronto, ON
11/30/10: Centre Bell Montreal, QC
12/02/10: TBD Detroit, MI
12/03/10: Allstate Arena Chicago, IL
12/05/10: Phillips Arena Atlanta, GA
12/07/10: Greensboro Coliseum Greensboro, NC
12/08/10: 1st Mariner Arena Baltimore, MD
12/10/10: Prudential Center Newark, NJ
12/11/10: Scope Arena Norfolk, VA
12/13/10: Madison Square Garden New York, NY
12/14/10: TD Garden Boston, MA
12/16/10: Wells Fargo Center Philadelphia, PA
12/17/10: Verizon Center Washington DC
12/18/10: XL Center Hartford, CT

Rihanna Kicks It Poolside With Katy Perry [PHOTOS]

Drake Still Doesn’t Feel Completely Successful [VIDEO]

Superstardom is ultramodern. Define superstardom today and textbook examples would be long lost Motown songstress Alicia Keys, world pop phenomenon Beyoncé Knowles and post-Warhol shock art fashionista Lady Gaga. All of those women have changed views of feminism, sex appeal and physical lyricism in one way or another. Alicia Keys encourages women to be superwomen. Superwoman Beyoncé is the biggest sex symbol since Farrah Fawcett and Janet Jackson. Lady Gaga has reinvigorated the meaning of life imitating art.  Amidst their peers, Barbadian chanteuse Rihanna is a hard sell.

Finalizing her first headlining world tour, Rihanna had some thing to prove: that Miss Sunshine could let her freak flag fly high. With Travis “Travie” McCoy nowhere insight to open for her and with glitter brat Ke$ha also M.I.A., there was no warm up for her tour kiss-off on Saturday, August 28. She was also at the Great New York State Fair in Syracuse, which meant a lot of distraction, considering the buzzing lights of Ferris wheels in the backdrop.

Opening instead was DJ Ross Rosco who played the grand-slam list of 80s and 90s Top 40 club anthems who kept the place jumping, while up-and-comer J Brazil sang a 10-minute set of three songs, drawing a mix of cheers and jeers for scream-belting like an Adam Lambert hopeful.

With face-melting guitar licks, lipstick lez-ploitation strappado swinging, and some kinetic chick-chick-kaboom pyrotechnics, Ri Ri kicked off the show with moxie. Introduced by a sci-fi silver screens and a dream machine motif, the dreamscape nirvana and nightmare underbelly of Rihanna’s world is perplexing and at the same time, visually stunning presentation.

Wearing a cascading, floor-length black ball gown, she preformed “Russian Roulette,” the first single of her recent Rated R album, to the images of nude, burning mannequins. Gunned down by pink rifles held by her shirtless male backup dancers, she is lit up like a red Christmas tree, as a platform below her rose to the heavens. ‘Dead,’ she began to the first of six costume changes, stripping into a tiny pink leotard with padded shoulders.

There were many highlights: From her epic straddling of a florescent life-size pink tank in “Hard,” to her take-no-prisoners flouncing amidst outer space tarantulas on stilts in “Disturbia.” Her vandalizing a graffiti-ed car to hell with a slugger in “Shut Up and Drive” to her gas-masked backup dancers hitting their marks on “S.O.S.” to the pair of tightlacer aerial Cirque Du Soliel vixens dangling like autumn leaves from two colossal machine guns in “Te Amo.” Ri Ri produced the goods. Even more surprising, she actually sang most of her songs—with few signs of miming—belting out notes yet experienced via recording on a shrink’s chair, adorned with sham disembodied limbs.

The tour highlighted why Rihanna is cherished today. She’s not a dancer per se and with contagious earwigs like “Rude Boy” and “Don’t Stop the Music,” she let the backup handle it. Which is wise: she played to her strengths. The only weakness in the nigh two-hour spectacle was the awful air guitar “solo” she did on “Rockstar 101.” Couldn’t they have given her a few cords to play? But at last, all was forgiven when she actually did some awesome banging on the drums when she covered Sheila E.’s “Glamourous Life.” She even performed the cameo performances that built her celebrity such as “Love the Way You Lie” and “Live Your Life.”

Finishing up with her signature “Umbrella,” red confetti blasted into the crowd, as a grungy distorted guitar howled, she left a barrage of images in one’s head by the end of the show: crash test dummies, mushroom clouds, creepy claws crushing a heart. She may not be playing with the big girls, but this girl knows how to leave a lasting impression.

Rihanna Set List:
“Russian Roulette”
“Hard”
“Shut Up and Drive”
“Fire Bomb”
“Disturbia”
“Rockstar 101″
“Rude Boy”
“Hate That I Love You”
“Rehab”
“Unfaithful”
“Stupid in Love”
“Te Amo”
“Pon de Replay”
“Don’t Stop the Music”
“Breakin’ Dishes”/”The Glamorous Life”
“Let Me”
“SOS”
“Take a Bow”
“Love the Way You Lie”
“Wait Your Turn”
“Live Your Life”
“Run This Town”
“Umbrella”

Rihanna’s Got A New Hairstyle [PHOTOS]

Rihanna’s Wax Figure Finally Unveiled [PHOTOS]

For his I Am Music tour, Lil’ Wayne made a stop at the Gibson Amphitheatre in California this past weekend. Though the Gym Class Heroes, Gorilla Zoe, and T-Pain are all listed on the bill as well, it was Keri Hilson, fresh off a cycle of debut album release parties, who stole the show. During a performance of the duo’s hit single, “Turnin’ Me On,” the two engaged in some PDA more appropriate for a bedroom. A mere 10 seconds into it, the two dip it low while dancing, and once the song ends (at the 2:40 mark), Hilson takes a breather to announce a personal confession: that the MC is doing to her just what the song title claims. Quoting a line from the track, she applauds Wayne for knowing how to “recognize a real woman.” She then turns around, clad in yellow tights, and gives the audience a good look at her backside. Afterwards, she stands behind the rapper, reaching over his shoulder and lifting up his shirt, to proclaim to the audience: “Ain’t a damn thing lil’ about this Wayne.” Booty tap’s and affectionate name-calling ensue.

-Danielle Cheesman

Peep the video:

Source.

Fact: I had absolutely no idea Hall & Oates were white until I was well into double digits. However, after seeing them live in concert at the Fillmore on Monday night, I realized that they actually… don’t sound that black at all. But the concert was totally awesome for a number of reasons.

Fact: I had absolutely no idea Hall & Oates were white until I was well into double digits. I just remembered hearing “I Can’t Go For That” on the local R&B station and, for some reason, assuming they were of the Negro persuasion. However, after seeing them live in concert at the Fillmore on Monday night, I realized that they actually… don’t sound that black at all. So I have no idea where that came from. But the concert was totally awesome for a number of reasons.

I guess I was rolling on rap concert time, as I was totally surprised that they started at 8:30 on the dot. So as a friend and I stroll into the Fillmore to the tunes of “Maneater” followed by “Out of Touch,” we scanned the crowd and quickly realized that we, too, were feeling both out of touch and out of time. The audience wasn’t exactly on the young side, to say the least, so it was both funny and awkward being two 20somethings walking into an older, tamer crowd opting to sit instead of standing up and dancing, save one lady with a mullet who stood up intermittently to groove, and a fun 50-something guy who yelled “ROCK STEADY!” after every set.

The evolution of Hall and Oates is a bit strange, yet delightful. Daryl and John went from smooth, jammin dudes to a guy much similar to the character Rufus on “Gossip Girl.” As in, he’s kind of like that uncle you have that used to be so badass in high school/college and had all the panties dropping to his band’s music, and then, 40 years later, when he’s retired and bored, he dusts off that old leather jacket, finds his old crew, and spends his days jamming in the garage and picking up security checks. You want to think it’s lame, but you’re actually impressed by these 8 dudes rocking out and not giving a fuck what you and your young friends think of them.

Daryl Hall is definitely that uncle. However, the best part about John Oates is that he’s your uncle’s friend, who can not and will not ever be convinced that he’s not the guy he used to be. He’s had a little work done on his face, but not enough to make too many judgment calls. He jams like his brain is constantly repeating the phrase, “I am John. Motherfucking. Oates.” He probably says that while he hits on young girls. He probably points at the gross girls and says “I can’t go for that” while his friends laugh and buy him another beer. But despite all this, you don’t feel negatively toward this behavior, because it’s too delightful to witness. So you’re like, whatever. You’re John Motherfucking Oates, dude. Rock on.

There’s a guy next to me with curly hair and a serious porn ‘stache. He’s really dancing in his seat, appearing as though he’s really glad this concert doesn’t fall on a night when “daaaa Bears!” are playing. I love him.

Though “ROCK STEADYYYY!” guy was annoying at first, he grew on me. I was on the edge of yelling a “ROCK STEADY!” myself, but I just couldn’t bring myself to doing such a silly thing.

There was a guy in their band playing what seemed like 72038974023 different instruments. However, when it came to the classic hand clap, I was surprised to discover that he actually has no rhythm whatsoever. And for that, I love him too.

That being said, a trip to a Hall and Oates concert is totally worth it, provided you are mentally prepared for being visually overwhelmed while audially pleased.

To check out the rest of the band’s tour dates, click here.

Watch Kanye West go BALLISTIC at a concertgoer in Australia in the video below. We here at GIANT are stunned that he got upset.

When Nas proclaimed the death of hip-hop, every artist from Lil’ Wayne to T.I. thought it was their duty to bring it back. Even with heavyweights like this going hard for the music they love and for the fans that adore it, the people still yearn for more; they still lust for that next sound. Well, people. lust no more: that cool and clever sound is coming to New York City.

Tonight, CMJ Music Festival is hosting “Never Not Fresh.” The concert will be held at Sullivan Hall at 9pm. This is a must- see, so come early and bear witness to hip-hop in its purest form.

The performance line-up includes LA rappers Evidence and Aceyalone, Kanye West’s protégé 88 Keys, and southern rapper Izza Kizza. If you’re a Madden ’09 junkie like I am then you’re more than likely familiar with Izza Kizza, who has a track on it.

Check out his sound here, and if you like what you hear, download his LP Kizzaland for FREE!

-Bilal Morris