Fifth Harmony - 08.02.16

Show/Venue: The 727 Tour at the Ford Amphitheatre at Coney Island

Date: Tuesday, August 2nd, 2016 @ 7pm

Starring: Fifth Harmony, Jojo

Website: http://www.fifthharmony.com

Ever since I watched Camilla, Normani, Lauren, Ally Brooke and Dinah Jane come together as Fifth Harmony on the US Version of The X-Factor, I was hooked. As my roommate at the time can attest to, I listened to Reflection all the time, with several songs on repeat. Through the hooks of “Worth It” and “BO$$” and the samples from some of my favorite 90’s artists, I couldn’t get enough of this girl group. When 7/27 got delayed, I was a bit disappointed, but “Work From Home” was that ear worm, always stuck in my head when heading into work (Rihanna, who?)!

I decided it was worth the one hour and some change trek to Coney Island to see the girls perform, plus Jojo was the opening act! The newly refurbished Ford Amphitheatre is right on the Coney Island Boardwalk and next to the ocean. I was worried about getting sunburnt in the heat, but luckily the venue is covered and the breeze from the ocean keeps everything nice and cool.

My usual concert routine involves scoping out food options, merchandise and then finding my seat. Since I went to this show alone, I figured I could take my time getting settled. I thought there was only one merchandise stand near the entrance, but someone on the staff pulled those of us in the back of the line to another booth on the other side. The bonus? A shorter line and some of the Fifth Harmony parents were out on that side, taking photos with fans (a.k.a. Harmonizers).

Jojo opened the show, and most of this crowd was too young to remember her teenage hit, “Leave (Get Out)” but I remember it fondly. She came out in a sheer black maxi dress with a blue & green sequined varsity jacket, that I immediately coveted, and helped wind the crowd up. Followed by “Too Little, Too Late” and a few other of her older hits, she then went into some new songs, as she was finally released from her old contract and can finally put out new music! She ended her set with “Fuck Apologies,” her new single, and it’s damn catchy.

Finally, the girls came out in black bodysuits and knee-high black boots to “That’s My Girl,” and the crowd went wild. I immediately wanted to be friends with the teenage boy a few rows infront of me who was dancing and singing along to every lyric. (I love that this song was later used in a USA Gymnastics video during the Olympics, showing the girls training at camp.) Followed by “Miss Movin’ On” and “Sledgehammer,” I was impressed with how fast the words came back to me, as I was singing along, but had not listened to either of these albums in some time. The girls did a great job of dancing and really belting live during “Reflection,” although it always feels awkward to me when Lauren is dressed up too sexy. I just remember her being a bit nerdy on The X-Factor, but she manages to pull it off.

In the next set, “This Is How We Roll,” “Scared of Happy,” “Write On Me” and “I Lied,” the girls took the opportunity to focus less on dancing and more on vocals. For one of my favorites from 7/27, “Write On Me,” they sat down on the bleachers and sang. I love the lyrics in this song and all the clever ways various versions of writing are alluded to in it. There were a couple times when Camilla seemed to be disconnected from the rest of the group, physically and mentally. She recovered later, but I bet this is what sparks rumors that she’s leaving the group.

For the next costume and set change, the girls put on bright red bodysuits and brought out red metal chairs to match. I didn’t know “Big Bad Wolf,” but lots of the other fans did! That led right into “BO$$” and got the crowd moving before “Not That Kinda Girl” and “All In My Head (Flex)”. I put up a short video of the chorus dance sequence from “Not That Kinda Girl” and it quickly had over 3,000 views on Instagram. I tried to capture a moment where they did almost a tribute to New Kids on the Block with their pendulum dance from “The Right Stuff.”

The show ended on a high note with “Worth It” and “Work From Home.” They brought out all the stops and any nervousness from Camilla was completely gone by the encores. Assuming that they don’t break up, I would easily go to another Fifth Harmony show! Even going by myself, I had a great time! Everyone’s dancing was on point and I was really impressed with their live performance. This just proves that we need more girl groups around again!

Musical Numbers:

1.       That’s My Girl

2.       Miss Movin’ On

3.       Sledgehammer

4.       Reflection

5.       This Is How We Roll

6.       Scared of Happy

7.       Write on Me

8.       I Lied

9.       No Way

10.   We Know

11.   Dope

12.   Squeeze

13.   Big Bad Wolf

14.   BO$$

15.   Not That Kinda Girl

16.   All In My Head (Flex)

17.   Brave, Honest, Beautiful (Acoustic Version)

18.   Gonna Get Better

19.   Voicemail

20.   Worth It

21.   Work From Home

"Taylor Swift: The 1989 World Tour" - 07.11.15

Show/Venue: The 1989 World Tour at MetLife Stadium

Date: Saturday, July 11th, 2015

Starring: Taylor Swift, Vance Joy, HAIM, Shawn Mendes

Website: http://www.taylorswift.com

I’d always been a casual Taylor Swift fan, but as her music grew progressively more pop and less country, more of my pop culture fandom developed. So, I shelled out a lot of money to get tickets to her 1989 World Tour and went along with my friend, Emily (one of the biggest Swifties that I know). We made a nice day out of it and grabbed a ZipCar, had lunch at Chili’s, stopped by Target and picked up my friends, Jonelle & Erin for the drive to New Jersey. (Yes, it’s a bit ironic as the New York State Welcome Ambassador, Tay-Tay did not have a tour date in NYC.)

Having only been to the old IZOD Center in East Rutherford for Watch the Throne with Jay Z and Kanye, years ago, I was not ready for the sheer size of the MetLife Stadium. We setup camp with a few of Jonelle’s friends in the parking lot for a little T. Swift tailgating before the show. (Just like the college days, we threw around a football and grilled some hot dogs & burgers.)

Then, Em and I went in to catch the opening acts, of which I really only knew HAIM’s music. Shawn Mendes wasn’t bad and his music was pretty catchy. The Haim sisters put on a great show, with several of their hits from their last album and their new track with Calvin Harris (Taylor’s boyfriend). I knew I must be getting old based on the crowd’s reaction to Vance Joy and I didn’t even recognize his big “hit.” Oops.

Finally, the lights went down & the plastic bracelets we were given upon entering the stadium started to light up; changing colors when you moved & a bit synchronized to the beats of the music. Taylor entered in an amazing, sparkly green sequined jacket, sporting her now almost-signature crop top and flippy skirt to “Welcome to New York.” Of course the crowd went wild, because even though we were in New Jersey, so many of the audience members made the trek from NYC.

As a dance fan, I quickly scanned her dancers to see if I recognized any of them from So You Think You Can Dance, Dancing with the Stars or America’s Best Dance Crew, but didn’t. I was surprised that she only had male dancers on this tour, since it seems like most pop stars tend to have a variety for the various songs and performances. However, I really liked that she had b-boys on this tour that were able to throw some amazing tricks throughout the concert.

“New Romantics” was up next, and even though it was a bonus track on her album, the crowd really loved it. It had also been consistently praised by the music media as a great track, so that’s probably why she added it to the show. “Blank Space” brought out sassy Taylor with a killer black sequined jacket, as she flipped her hair and stayed everyone’s best friend by talking about her past relationships and being a women scorned. The audio team did a great job of delaying Taylor saying “Jersey” over the breakdown in the song (“Boys only want love, if it’s torture…Jersey! Don’t say I didn’t warn you…Jersey!); which was really cool and probably a chance for her to catch her breath.

A little remix of “I Knew You Were Trouble” was next; which kept the song a bit fresh, but made me long for the original version just a bit. Something about that dub-step beat might have mixed better with the 1989 tracks, instead of the rock version. “I Wish You Would” was up next and wasn’t one of my favorite songs until I heard her perform it live. The driving beat and drums made me really appreciate it and it somehow, creeped onto my current playlist. I guess I could say that I went through a similar experience with the next few tracks; on my playlists for July and August.

The crowd had already been buzzing about who Taylor’s special guest was going to be for the second night (the previous show, she had brought out The Weeknd) and some people were speculating that it might be The Boss himself, Bruce Springsteen. Taylor teased the crowd a little bit with “This is a person who is from Jersey. This is a person who I met when he was 15-years-old and guys, he’s definitely not 15 anymore!” I quickly figured it out and pretty much lost my shit. (In the video I have of this intro, you can hear me yell “OH MY GOD!!!”) “Give it up for Nick Jonas!” Then Nick came out and sang “Jealous” with Taylor, sporting his freshly shaved head for the second season of Kingdom, and they sounded great together! (Now, let’s be honest, I would have died more if Joe had come out, but he was probably in the crowd watching Taylor with Gigi Hadid and doesn’t have current material out to support.) They strutted down the runway, as the crowd went wild and I really enjoyed how Taylor’s voice sounded on this track with Nick. Right after Nick was done, I immediately texted all my best friends with “I HAVE NEVER SCREAMED SO LOUD IN MY LIFE!!!” Which might have been an overstatement, but it sure felt like it! This definitely beats when Joe came out to sing a Camp Rock 2 song with Demi Lovato at her show!

After all the Nick Jonas excitement, Taylor took it down a notch and got onto the light up runway, which then lifted and rotated over the floor audience while she sang “Clean” and “Love Story.” She was belted onto the platform, as it did rotate fairly quickly, and treated the crowd with one of Em’s favorites, “Mine” and another oldie, “Love Story.” (I kind of loved when she talked about how she wrote the song as a teenager and made it so Romeo & Juliet didn’t die, but got married. Pretty innocent and cute, which made for a great pop-country song.) Taylor really knows how to tell a great story and fill the space in between all the songs, costume changes, set changes; what a great distraction.

For the second night in Jersey, with “Style,” Taylor brought out some of her model friends; Karlie Kloss, Lily Aldredge, Behati Prinsloo, Gigi and a nice surprise, Uzo Aduba from Orange is the New Black, and as I know her, from Broadway’s revival of Godspell. They strutted down the runway before video footage of some of her friends talked about Taylor, interspersed with footage of her & her cats.

Speaking of cats, Taylor then came out in a black catsuit to rock out to a remixed version of “Bad Blood.” There was a group of girls in-front of us that had made their own band-aids with “band-aids don’t fix bullet holes” written on them, which I was a little bit jealous that I hadn’t thought of first; and they were really living for this song. The rock theme continued with an updated version of “We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together,” as Taylor brought out an electric guitar and more hair flips.

Then going back to some slower songs, the crew brought out a really fancy piano, which Taylor described as “an alien,” and she played “Wildest Dreams” in a nude, sparkly bodysuit. This was another track that wasn’t my favorite at first, but quickly grew on me and is a great way to feel calm on a crowded L train subway ride to and from work. “Out of the Woods” featured some great video of trees and some elements from the “Style” video that seemed better suited here.

After a brief costume change, into a sparkly, fringed emerald crop top and pants, Taylor was back to close the show with “Shake It Off” and for everyone to dance their assess off! There was definitely a state of Taylor euphoria as we made our way back to the car, but everyone was in great spirits as various Taylor hits were being blasted from all the surrounding cars. Overall, it was a great show and I had a great time and I hardly even thought about all the money I shelled out for the tickets.

Musical Numbers:

1.       Welcome to NewYork

2.       New Romantics

3.       Blank Space

4.       I Knew You Were Trouble

5.       I Wish You Would

6.       How You Get the Girl

7.       I Know Places

8.       All You Had to Do Was Stay

9.       Jealous with Nick Jonas

10.   You Belong with Me

11.   Clean

12.   Love Story

13.   Style

14.   This Love

15.   Bad Blood

16.   We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together

17.   Enchanted/Wildest Dreams

18.   Out of the Woods

19.   Shake It Off