Blogs

The Web site bigchampagne.com publishes a list of the top downloaded tracks in America. The cool thing about this list is that, unlike iTunes, it takes into account illegal downlaods. Here are the top ten downloaded songs from July 17 to July 24, 2007:

Fergie - Big Girls Don't Cry
Rihanna - Umbrella
Fabolous - Make Me Better
Maroon 5 - Makes Me Wonder
Shop Boyz - Party Like a Rockstar
R. Kelly - Double Up
T-pain - Bartender
Mario - How Can I Breathe
Ne-Yo - Do You
Sean Kingston - Beautiful Girls

The Format
July 24, 2007
Culture Room
Better Than: Watching a clip of The Format on My Super Sweet Sixteen.

After arriving at the show moments before the door opened, I surveyed my surroundings to see if it met my expectations. Pimped out tour bus, a symbol of budding rock stars: check. A line of eager teenagers sprawled around the corner: check. It was blatantly obvious headliners The Format had finally made it.

The show opened with an act unknown to me prior to the show, Ollie Jason. Having been too preoccupied with checking out the band merch, I arrived late in front of the stage expecting to hear an unfamiliar band when, instead, I was met with um … something else. To my surprise, there stood a teenager in a batman mask, white shirt, yellow basket ball shorts, and matching cape. To say I was confused would be putting it mildly. A few seconds passed before I realized I had stumbled upon a magic show at a concert.

Following Batman's performance, a member of Limbeck laid his head comfortably between the blade of a guillotine and a block of wood. Would Limbeck become one member short? Some of my fear subsided as I saw movement after the blade was dropped. Too bad I had to watch the rest of the magic show. Ladies and Gentlemen, the utterly un-amazing, Ollie Jason!

Willy Chirino
July 21, 2007
Dolphin Stadum

A downpour and several rounds of lightning three hours before the first pitch did nothing to deter a large contingent of Willy Chirino’s most loyal fans from heading out to Dolphin Stadium.

Whether they are Cuban exiles that arrived in Miami 40 years ago or yesterday, most of them have adopted Chirino as a uniting voice for his socially conscious songs. He says what most of them want to hear.

The singer didn’t disappoint Saturday night as he rewarded a predominately Cuban audience that gathered around the infield – after the Marlins victory over the Reds –with a heartfelt, energetic performance (and a handful of his emotionally charged anthems).

Appearing vibrant and relaxed, Chirino smoothly made his way through a medley of songs, including "Soy," "Medias Negras" and "Castigala," with the assistance of a blistering orchestra directed by Juan Carlos Valladares.

Several minutes later he showed off his versatility by doing solos on bass, timbal and the keyboard.

Halfway through the show Chirino granted the wishes of a woman in the front row pleading with him to sing "Porque Tu Eres Mejor" (Because You’re Better). Chirino sang several verses of the song over a light piano as the woman frantically screamed into a cell phone. But obviously she wasn’t the only one who walked away feeling a sense of pride on this night.

He capped it off with a captivating rendition of “Nuestro Dia Ya Viene Llegando" (Our day is Arriving) that drew plenty of loud cheers and even a few tears. Leave it to Chirino to sing what everybody wants to hear. -- Fernando Ruano Jr.

Photo by Santiago Felipe

Beyonce
July 22, 2007
BankAtlantic Center

Better Than: Hating. You gotta love it.

The Review:
Blue-eyed soulster Robin Thicke was just finishing up his set when I walked into the BankAtlantic Center. So like any good girl on a Sunday night, I head straight to the bar for a little Jesus Juice. Unfortunately, that umpteenth toll en route to the BankAtlantic Center had left my wallet cashless so I settled for a bottled water and hopped on the escalator to my seat high in the rafters. A little irked by my sobriety and even more annoyed by the loong ride out to Sunrise, I sat back and waited for the Beyonce Experience.

First things first, I am a Beyonce fan. Not a rabid groupie, but I do love her music and I admit to being just a little excited to be at the show. Okay, okay. I was very excited. And from the time she rose from underneath the stage in an explosion of lights and glitter to the time she exited stage left two hours later, I was completely entranced. In the nosebleeds, we had to rely on the Jumbotrons but even on screen, the energy of the show was staggering.

Wu-Tang and LOUD.com offer fans a chance to open for The Wu in Hawaii!

From July 16th to August 20th, 2007, Wu-Tang fans have the chance of lifetime. They can log on to LOUD.com, where they will be able to use a unique online recording studio to make and submit their own track using beats produced by The RZA himself. LOUD.com¹s A & R staff will then judge these tracks, narrowing it down to 10 finalists. Then RZA himself will make the final pick, announcing a winner on August 27, 2007. The winner getting an out-of-this-world prize package, including:

* Travel and accommodations for him/herself and a guest to Hawaii.

* An opening spot for Wu Tang at the Rock the Bells festival in Oahu, Hawaii
on September 1, 2007.

Tegan & Sara
The Con (Vapor/Sire)

The musical output of Canadian twins inevitably carries with it a vaguely alien air. One can just imagine Tegan & Sara in Montreal and Vancouver, respectively, engaging in some seizure-like sibling communication and spontaneously birthing The Con.

Nothing so medievally weird happened, of course, although it would make a good episode of Behind the Music. The sisters wrote their new material apart from one another, then fine-tuned everything into nuanced pop capsules. A 14-song affair where no track lasts much longer than three minutes, The Con is terse and colorful. "Relief Next to Me" starts out with playful pop hijinks before reeling into some Stevie Nicks-style drama awash in emotionally confrontational lyrics. Immediately afterward, "The Con" launches into more instrumentally dense pop, where any remnant of precious vocals is abandoned for raw delivery. "Back in Your Head" has some of the catchiness that defined "Walking With a Ghost" off So Jealous, while "Hop a Plane" channels bittersweet '90s power pop. "Dark Come Soon" stands out as one of the more polished and beautiful songs on the album, and the lyrics dissect conflicting feelings about love and isolation.

Even as Tegan & Sara become more restrained stylistically, they remain open as a band, maintaining an air of exploration throughout the new record. For this alone, they're forgiven the occasional lapse into questionable, Madonna-like British accents on The Con. -- Evan James

Mary J. Blige
July 19, 2007
Hard Rock Live

Better Than: Any lip-synching factory-made pop tart we can think of

The Review: Last night Mary J. Blige turned the Seminole Hard Rock into the Seminole Hard Soul. Rockin a one-piece black jumpsuit and some killer heels, she started the show with a mix of her older stuff, performing hit after hit after hit - she has 40 total, but blessed us with less than a dozen. Then MJB moved onto her latest album, The Breakthrough, which isn’t quite My Life or Share My World in terms of hit singles and gut-wrenching emotion, but any true fan can appreciate its vibe. Because a true fan would know that Mary has survived drug addiction, physical abuse, sexual assault and only God knows what else she hasn’t revealed. So when Mary quiets her 4-piece band and the crowd, and explains the reasons behind her song “You Can’t Hold a Good Woman Down” you forget how much you loved the 1992, tortured Mary J. and embrace this woman who declares “No More Drama” and “Enough Cryin’.” The show was amazing and showed Mary in her truest form, soul-filled vocals and undeniable swagger. Our only complaint, the show was way too short. -- Raina McLeod