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Diana Krall Thrills All @DPAC | Concert Review

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Grammy and Juno award winning jazz star Diana Krall performed at the DPAC last night during her North American Tour. Jazz lovers around the world have been enthralled with her unique delivery of jazz standards and original songs since the late 90’s.

Due to COVID, this is her first tour in almost 3 years. She performed to an almost sold out crowd as a quartet. Many singers these days need all sorts of bells and whistles so her stripped down set reinforced the fact that she is a jazz singer of the highest caliber. Her catalog of songs is so deep there was no way she could sing all of her hits. What she chose was more than satisfying. See Setlist here Diana Krall Average Setlists of year: 2022 | setlist.fm

She mentioned more than once how ecstatic she was to be back on stage and able to perform in front of audiences again. Every band member got a chance to highlight their instrument command to roaring audience approval!

TOUR INFORMATION

Diana Krall is more than a smoky voice and accomplished pianist. She is a force, a vibe and a mood. Below are the next couple of tour dates before she picks it up again on a European leg next spring.

10/16 TANGER CENTER GREENSBORO, NC

10/17 PEACE CENTER Greenvile, SC

As always, the DPAC is one of the best venues ever for seating and acoustics. It was a true pleasure to see a world class artist at a world class venue. To see who is coming to the DPAC next, check out their website at http://www.DPACNC.com

Concert Review |7 Fave Moments That Happened at #TheMillenniumTour #PNCArena #RaleighNC

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The Year 2000 was memorable for 2 reasons. Unfounded Y2K fears and awesome music. If indeed 1999 was going to be the end, it was going to end on a high musical note. R&B music had alot of fresh new artists who topped the charts over and over again. These artists have now joined forces for The Millennium Tour! All of my favorites from back in the day were on stage at the PNC Arena here in Raleigh,NC on Friday, 3/29/19.

B2K, Mario, Lloyd, The Ying Yang Twins, Pretty Ricky, Bobby Valentine and Chingy owned the music charts during that time. So many of us was excited to see them all and relive some good music memories. The arena was packed and the energy was on 10! Overall, I thought the concert was incredible and here are 7 Fave Moments That Happened At The Millennium Tour:

1. Doing The “Chickenhead” Dance When Chingy Performed ‘Right Thurr’


Chingy got the party started as the first act that hit the stage at The Millennium Tour. In addition to performing his classic hits like ‘One Call Away’, ‘Balla Baby’ and ‘Holidae Inn’, fans in the audience got a special visual treat when they showed thw videos from back in the day that go with the songs. What really got the crowd hyped was his hit “Right Thurr”. Raise your 🙋🏽‍♀️ if you used to do the ‘chickenhead’ dance!

2. Seeing The Romantic Side Of Bobby V

Bobby V or you may remember him as Bobby Valentino came ready to sing and remind us all to “Slow Down” and enjoy some good R&B music. You could tell he is still very passionate about performing and his voice, songwriting and piano skills is missed. The ladies got a special treat at the end of his set with a romantic gesture of roses given to some of the women in the audience. Awww 🌹🌹 so sweet of you Bobby V!

3. Singing A Duet Of ‘You’ With Lloyd From My Seat

Hi, my name is Leslie and I ❤ Lloyd.  Recently I watched him on the TV show “Unsung” and learned even more about this artist, so I was hyped to see him perform live! He made his appearance to the stage from the audience which made for a nice entrance! He not only sang his hits like  “Southside”, “Get It Shawty” but he also played the guitar while singing his latest song “Caramel”. But my favorite song to sing along with him as a duet (in my head) is “You”. So when that jam came on, me and everyone else was happy to sing right along with him.

4. Getting Crunk With The Ying Yang Twins

The Ying Yang Twins brought some energy (and laughter) to the stage. You can just tell they were ready to move the crowd and have a good time. Nobody was scared to “shake it like a salt shaker” and everybody kept the party going from “the windows to the wall”! The Ying Yang Twins surprised us with the remix version of “Right Thurr” and brought Chingy back out to the stage. They showed up and showed out and reminded us Ying Yang in this thang!

5. Seeing The Freaky Side Of Pretty Ricky

Warning! Parental Discretion should be advised when Pretty Ricky hits the stage. Fellas get ready to take notes and Ladies make sure you have something cold to drink for this part of the concert because things are about to get hoooootttttt🔥!  When Pretty Ricky and their dancers came on stage and performed “Grind With Me” you knew this part of the show was for the Grown and Freaky and I loved every bit of it! Took me back to when I lived in Miami, Fl from 1996-2015 and every club, radio station would play “Your Body”, “On the Hotline” and of course “Grind On Me”.

*******SobeSavvy Tip: Pretty Ricky Fans can have the opportunity to enjoy a VIP Meet & Greet in select cities during the tour. Here are the dates:

6. Witnessing the Evolution of Mario

Like Mario, I was born and raised in Baltimore, so I am always routing for the hometeam! Moving to Miami at the age of 23 did not make me forget where I came from but just gave me two places to love. To hear Mario perform and see his career evolve from singer to being in the live production remake of “Rent” and his current acting role on the popular tv show, “Empire”  is a proud Baltimorean moment for me!
His sharp stage presence, and precise dance moves, along with his amazing dance moves gave his show a polished feel. He obviously hits the gym very often and it showed when he “lost” his shirt to the delight of all the women in attendance. When he sang his biggest hit “Let Me Love You”, so many of us women screamed to take him up on his offer to be more than “Just A Friend”.

7. The Reunion of B2K

What we all had been waiting for but never thought we would see….the reunion of all of the original B2K members! For a 3 year stretch, this popular boy band group was hot on the charts, they filmed a movie and won lots of awards. Their music videos, style and dance moves had millions of people on their journey to a successful and long career. After 15 years, Raz-B, (Lil)Fizz, (J)Boog, and Omarion came back to “Bump,Bump,Bump” like they never left!

Fans got served at The Millennium Tour with amazing vocals, and choreography from B2K as well as solo performance from Omarion, who had a string of hits like “Touch”, “Ice Box” and “Supposed to Be” as a solo artist.  I was not familiar with the song “Distance” by Omarion and have now added that tune to my Afro/ Tribal beats playlist. Nothing like going to a live concert and discovering new music to enjoy. If you haven’t heard it..get into it y’all! And definitely get your tickets to see history remade with the reunion of B2K!
*******SobeSavvy Tip: Fans can get a chance to enjoy #B2KVIPExperience during The Millennium Tour! Check it out>>> here!

*******đź‘€ WATCH my YouTube Video >>here
and check out #TheMillenniumTour hashtag to see more favorite moments from the concert!

Have you seen the tour or do you plan to go in your city? Let me know in the comments below what was your favorite moment of the concert or favorite memory of any of these performers and their music when you were growing up!

*******For more tour information, visit www.gsquaredevents.com

Concert Recap |@KidzBop Live Rocks Raleigh @RedHatAmp @LiveNationNCSC

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Disclosure: I received complimentary tickets to review this show and share our experience with you. The opinions are 100 percent my own!

Music has always been oxygen to me. It is apparent I have passed this trait on to my soon to be 7 yr old daughter!
She sings, she dances and she gets lost in the beats just like me. While I love this aspect, I am always concerned with some of the more “adult” lyrical content of today’s pop hits. A few years ago I found a great solution to this modern problem. It is called KIDZ BOP. Some of my child free followers may not know what that is. No worries, I am here to help!

KIDZ BOP is a musical group that takes all the current top 40 hits and remixes some of the lyrical content within the songs to make it more kid-friendly. They use very similar music and most of the lyrics are the same.The most important difference is any cursing and sexual innuendo are replaced seamlessly with more kid appropriate lyrics. Young talent with amazing vocals do the cover songs. They also come up with dance moves to go with the dance tunes that will sure to get any kiddie party started! So when I learned that this group was touring and stopping in Raleigh,NC at Red Hat Amphitheatre, I wanted to surprise my soon to be birthday girl with her very first concert experience! It actually was our first mother and daughter concert date and we had so much fun!

KIDZ BOP has been Billboard Magazine’s #1 Kids’ Artist for eight consecutive years (2010 – 2017).
What works so well is the fact that each song they produce could stand on it’s own as an original. Most of our Friday Family Fun Nights at home consist of my daughter and I having our own dance or lip sync battle to any of the songs from the latest Kidz Bop Album. My husband will even play it in the car to just jam out during road trips. Parents, kids, girls and even boys enjoy rocking out to KIDZ BOP which is why the Kidz Bop Live 2018 Summer Tour is a must see!

The concert was 90 mins long with a 15 min intermission and featured 20 hit songs. Our favorite moments were dancing along to the Kidz Bop Shuffle, singing along to Havana, and other latin hits like Despacito / Mi Gente. We also liked all the Bruno Mars songs: Uptown Funk/ That’s What I Like/ Finesse / 24K Magic and the 90’s Dance Off featuring adults from the audience was EPIC! They showed us their best dance moves to Whoomp There It is / Jump / Poison / U Can’t Touch This and we the audience got to choose the winner by giving the loudest applause.

WATCH MY FUN VIDEO RECAP OF THE SHOW ⤵️

I had alot of Friday Night fun with my little one at #KidzBopLive 2018 at Red Hat Amphitheater in Downtown Raleigh. Those KIDZ BOP kids are so talented and put on an amazing show! Catch some of their singing [and our dancing] via my @sobesavvy u instatories and be sure to check out LiveNation.com to see what other concerts are coming to the the Triangle!

Concert Review | The Great Xscape Tour @ThegroupXscape @MonicaBrown @TamarBraxtonHer #pncarena 

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Last night the PNC Arena in Raleigh, NC was packed with fans ready to escape back to the 90’s with the iconic group Xscape. By now you know that all the members have reunited for “The Great Xscape Tour” and let me tell you the platinum selling R&B quartet have not lost their amazing singing skills. As a matter of fact, all the ladies on this tour put on a great performance! 

Opening the show was the all female group June’s Diary, who shared their vocal skills and news about their partnership with The Fresh Dolls. At every tour stop, you can purchase a doll of your favorite group member (or all of them), just in time for the holidays! Also for available for purchase was Bedroom Kandi for ladies and BK for men!

Up next was Zonnique, who did her thing along with her dancers and proved that she is staking her claim in the R&B game! You heard the phrase ..”shake what ya mama gave ya”? Well she did that and then some. How cool is that to be on the same tour with her mother,  Tameka ‘Tiny’ Harris!

Adding to the excitement of this reunion tour were special guests, R&B legend Monica and the ever so talented Tamar Braxton. Tamar came out looking beautiful and performed with the energy, realness and powerful vocals that she is known for. She also took time to spill some tea and speak about her impending divorce that is being played on reality television for all to see. With all that is going on in her life she left it all on the stage in last night’s performance and saaaaannng her heart out ! {as seen on my IG instastories}

This group Xscape, along with Monica were two of my favorites in the 90’s. In fact, those classic R&B hits that those female artists sung for us back then still move us fans, old and new, to this day! Monica, graced the stage with her unique style and singing that touches your soul. She talked about her influences like Whitney Houston, Mary J. Blige and surprised us with her cover of Lauryn Hill’s ‘Lost One‘, which I shared a teaser on my Snapchat. 

The time had come for all of us to see the anticipated reunion of Xscape for ourselves. Some people in the audience were wondering if it was going to be all the members of the 4 girl group that broke up suddenly after 3 straight platinum albums. Myself and all of their fans who were saddened by their sudden demise at the height of their popularity, could not wait for them to hit the stage and give us what we have been asking for all these years! And then these letters came across the screen and all you could hear were screams and cheers for ..X S C A P E! 

 

Kandi Burruss-Tucker, Tameka “Tiny” Harris and sisters Latocha and Tameka Scott came ready to party and perform all of their memorable hits. They even got their dance on last night! Check ’em out …

LaTocha, Tamika, Kandi and Tiny started off dressed in jumpsuits but changed into church robes as well as sexy attire as the evening went on. You could feel the energy in the arena as thousands of fans sang along with every song. 

Their concert set list featured all the favorites like, Feels So Good, Who Can I Run To, Is My Living In Vain, Just Kickin’ It, and Understanding. One song that I could not wait to hear them sing was “Tonight” because of how it showcases their beautiful harmonies and vocal ranges.

The crowd also enjoyed the video journey of Xscape’s career that played along in two huge jumbotron screens. We all agreed that this reunion was long overdue and how they delivered! Memory lane was in full effect and it was magical. They are hitting up Miami next on Dec.5 and other cities on their 21 city North American tour. The tour wraps up on Sat Jan 6, 2018 in Los Angeles.  So grab your girls, your guy and get tickets to see this fantastic show and get ready to have fun! For more tour info go to https://www.thegreatxscapetour.com

  

See more video clips from the concert here ⤵