Concert Review: Lionel Richie Heats Up A Cold December Night

A few months off can make a performer reflect on his past accomplishments and failures. It also allows the performer time to perfect his talents and find a vision for his performances. Following a brief hiatus, Lionel Richie’s accomplishments were on full display at the MGM Grand Theatre at Foxwoods.

After a 50 minute delay, Lionel Richie took the stage and transported the audience back to the ‘70’s. Even though Lionel Richie released a new album back in May of this year, it was his time with The Commodores that became the main focus of the evening. His performances of The Commodores’ classics “Easy”, “Still”, “Sail On”, “Fancy Dancer” and ”Three Times A Lady” easily made the audience forget that he was late on arrival. On occasion, he took up residence at his grand piano located center stage for the ballads, but is seemed as more of an escape from the numerous fans approaching the stage to shake his hand or hug his leg. Lionel Richie was very accommodating to his fans by even posing for pictures mid-song. He made the sold-out theatre feel very comfortable with the occasional story between songs. Big applauses were well-deserved for his performance and crowd interaction of the songs “Stuck On You” and “Endless Love”. The latter song featured all the females in the audience singing Diana Ross’ parts of the duet. Lionel Richie had no trouble getting people on their feet dancing, turning the theatre in a club-type atmosphere with the songs “Running With The Night”, “Dancing On The Ceiling” and the set-closer “Brick House”.

Richie returned for the encore singing his 1984 number one hit “Hello”. The singing of the audience drowned out the singer’s own vocals. The night’s closer was another of Lionel Richie’s number one hit from a year earlier, “All Night Long”. With an all-too quick finish to his 90-minute performance, the audience was still singing as his songs that played through the speakers in the casino as they exited the MGM Grand Theatre.

Setlist:
Just For You
Penny Lover
Easy
Ballerina Girl
Running With The Night
Still
Oh No
Stuck On You
Dancing On The Ceiling
Three Times A Lady
You Are
Sail On
Fancy Dancer
Sweet Love
Lady
Endless Love
Brick House
Hello
All Night Long

It's An Honor Just To Be Nominated

The nominees for the 52nd Annual Grammy Awards were announced on December 2nd and it seems like the ladies are leading the way with the most nominations. Beyonce, Taylor Swift, Lady Gaga and Colby Caillat combined for 27 nominations. While the guys ended up spreading the wealth around.

The competition that I'm mainly interested in are the rock and hard rock categories. Like the Solo Rock Vocal Performance, it features Bob Dylan, John Fogerty, Bruce Springsteen, Neil Young and Prince. Now all five of these nominees are great artists, but there is one that does not belong . . . sorry Prince. Now on to the Best Hard Rock Performance category, I'm glad to see that Alice In Chains was nominated, but I think the battle will be between Metallica and AC/DC. Although Nickelback could come and steal that Grammy award.

Two can't lose categories are the Best Rock Song, which features Pearl Jam, Kings of Leon, U2, Green Day and Bruce Springsteen and Best Rock Album which has U2, Green Day, Eric Clapton & Steve Winwood, Dave Matthews Band and AC/DC. I would like to see AC/DC win at least one Grammy for their hard work on Black Ice, but Green Day has been a Grammy favorite since their American Idiot album.

Now these are only a handful of the 109 categories that the Recording Academy has for awards, so to see the full list, visit www.grammys.com. Don't forget to tune in to the telecast on Januray 31st to see if you favorites bring home a Grammy this year.

New Sounds Of The Season

Now that Thanksgiving has come and gone, it's time to get down to some serious shopping for Christmas. Of course, when you're out driving from store to store or even clicking from website to website, you will need some tunes to get you into the holiday spirit. Plus, if you're sick of hearing the same ol'songs year after year, here are some new Christmas albums for you to pick up.

There are two new Christmas albums that have a very similar title, but that's about all they have in common. The first is by American Idol Finalist David Archuleta entitled "Christmas From The Heart". He covers most of the holiday classic and even includes an original song, "Melodies of Christmas". If you're a fan of American Idol then I'm sure you'll love this album. Now, the other album with a similar title is by the one and only Bob Dylan. His first Christmas album is called "Christmas In The Heart". If you're looking for something a little different, then this album is for you. Bob lends his ruff, grizzly voice to some holiday classics, but Bob is also donating all proceeds from the sale of this album to charity. So even if you purchase the album and only play it once, at least you can feel go knowing that the money you spent on it went to a good cause.

The "A Very Special Christmas" series has released volume 7. This volume is loaded with new comers such as Kellie Pickler, Carrie Underwood and Ashley Tisdale performing updated versions of some old holiday favorites. The proceeds of this album will be going to Special Olympics.

Sugarland, arguable one of the hottest country bands of the last decade, will release their first holiday album entitled "Gold and Green". It showcases Jennifer Nettles' amazing voice on some Christmas classics as well as some originals. But if vocals are your thing, then "Christmas Cheers" by the acapella group Straight No Chaser is what you're looking for. Their newest holiday album features some fun songs like "You're A Mean On Mr. Grinch" and "The Christmas Can-Can" as well as their famous "12 Days of Christmas".

Now, with so many new arrivals on the holiday scene, we can't forget the classic artists that have been here before. First off is a new Christmas album by Neil Diamond entitled "A Cherry Cherry Christmas". It seems that the older he gets, the better his albums get and this is probably his best Christmas album to date. And let's not forget that other showman from the 70's Barry Manilow. He plays it safe on his newest Christmas album, "In The Swing Of Christmas". It features only 12 tracks and most of them are traditional holiday songs.

Two of this year's biggest selling Christmas albums come from an artist who has been around for over three decades and another artist who has arguable one of the best voices in the world. This year is their first attempts at a holiday album. The first one is by the former frontman for The Police and is titled "If On a Winter's Night". Many of the tracks on this album are more traditional "English" holiday songs, then American. But, Sting sings them in such a way that makes you feel like you've heard them all before. The year's other big seller belongs to Andrea Bocelli. His "My Christmas" album has already sold 500,000 copies in only three weeks. The album consists mainly of the traditional Christmas songs sung in English with a few of the songs sung in German and French.

As one who loves Christmas music, I'm glad that there isn't a bunch of rehashed albums that we've heard a thousand times before. So check out some of these new releases as your tooling around from shop to shop or decorating the Christmas tree during this most wonderful time of the year.

3rd Annual Blackout At Sunrise Sale!

Starting on Black Friday, Redscroll Records will be holding their third annual "Blackout At Sunrise" sale at their store in Wallingford, CT. The store will open a 6AM on Friday, November 27 in order for you to grab all the great bargains. Redscroll Records will have 25% off everything in the store. All $1 bins will be marked down to only 10 cents and there will also be FREE coffee and vegan chocolate (while supplies last). FREE t-shirts will be given to patrons spending $200 or more and let's not forget a visit by the big guy himself, Santa Claus.

The sale will run all weekend, but go early if you want the good stuff before it's sold out. Please visit www.redscrollrecords.com for more information.

CD Review: Oh My God Undoes "The Night"

After 10 years, 4 albums and 1 EP, the band Oh My God are hitting their stride. The band performs over 140 shows a year and it shows by how tight the band plays as a unit. Their new album "The Night Undoes The Work Of The Day" was produced by Jim Tullio (John Martyn, Rick Danko, Steve Goodman, Mavis Staples) and was released in September on Split Red Records.

Right from the album's lead off song, "My Prayer", you hear the wonderful harmonizing between the band members. The tempo shift for the chorus of "I Don't Think It's So Funny (How Time Slips Away)" and that is what makes this tune the stand-out song on the album. Oh My God performs an up-tempo, almost punk, cover of The Fixx's "One Thing Leads To Another". They also add some '80s style keyboards for good measure. The band shows their softer, gentler side on the ballad "My Juliet". "My Own Adventure" starts off with a 'Beat It' style drumbeat before lead singer Billy O'Neil's vocals and keyboardist ig makes the song an original. The chorus of "Baby, Dream" catches you off-guard with it's sing-along chorus. The song-writing really shines through on the album's closer "Strangers On A Train".

The band toured heavily in September and October. After a month-long break, the band will be back on the road performing a few dates in December. Their new album is available from itunes and from the band's website. For more information please visit the band's website www.ohmygodmusic.com.