Tickets for an Alicia Keys 2013 Summer tour of Europe and England have gone on pre-sale this week, all in support of her latest and fifth studio album, Girl On Fire, which went on sale this week. The Grammy Award-winning artist will play more than 20 arenas during this 2013 European tour, which will launch on May 18 in Liverpool, United Kingdom. [Read more…]
New Wave revolutionary? Prince?? Pirate??? Adam Ant has adopted a multitude of roles spanning many decades… but as an icon of post-punk and early 80s music and pop culture, he still knows how to kill it on stage, which is what he did for the sold out crowd at The Regency Ballroom in San Francisco last night, tearing through a massive 28+ song set list that still left out some fan favorites. Who would have imagined when he came on the scene in the mid to late 70s that not only would he still be selling out shows, but he’d still be relevant (and, looking backward, prescient) well into his late 50’s. Truly an artist musician, Adam Ant has created a culture and world all his own, and it is definitely a fun place to visit.
This is part of a continuing series of my impressions and experiences staying at various hotels and resorts while traveling to attend concerts worldwide. This review is for the Hilton London Tower Bridge Hotel in London, England for a stay in August 2012. It definitely has earned my highest recommendation. [Read more…]
This is my personal account as a passenger on United Flight 959 on Monday, August 27, 2012, scheduled for travel from London at Heathrow Airport (LHR) to Chicago at O’Hare Airport (ORD), where I would have boarded a connecting flight back home to Sacramento (SMF). After departing from London, the plane experienced equipment malfunctions related to engine problems, and returned to Heathrow for an emergency landing, utilizing just one of two engines, after which the landing gear reportedly caught fire (though there are conflicting accounts on this) on the runway and the landing gear and overheated engines were extinguished by ground crew. A harrowing experience, and one of the only news stories that I could find about this specific incident lacked details, included one photo, and had a one line statement from a United spokesperson (“United Airlines’ flight UA959 bound for Chicago returned to Heathrow on Monday after experiencing an unexpected engine surge; [t]he aircraft landed safely and without incident“). I thought it would be appropriate to memorialize the experience from the point of view of a passenger on the aircraft. According to international news reports, this flight was the third in ten days that had engine problems resulting in emergency landings for the carrier. [Read more…]
This is part of my ongoing series of hotel and resort reviews made while traveling for concerts around the world. This review is for base2stay Kensington in London, England during a recent visit to London, England. This is the second review of this property, having stayed at the same hotel in December 2011 (see first review). [Read more…]
During a visit to England this month, I had a chance to drop in and visit the Hard Rock Cafe London, and took photos of some of the stage and studio used instruments, wardrobe, and other rock and roll memorabilia on display in the restaurant, gift shop, and underground vault.
Last night was a really historic and wonderful event by a little band called Ash. And I mean “little” in the most complimentary sense… a band that has stayed true to its roots and its fans. The group from Ireland celebrated their 20th anniversary in style, by really creating an event that celebrated their fans as much as themselves. This was most appropriately illustrated by their second of three (yes three!) sets, which transformed from an acoustic concert in a very small setting (which made the typical MTV Unplugged show look like a stadium gig by comparison) to a session of “Asheokie” (i.e. karoke, but with fans fronting for the band themselves). It was really unlike any show I’ve ever been to, and demonstrated a lot of class and, well, tremendous fan service. [Read more…]
Because I do travel for some concert events, I thought it might be helpful to share my impressions and experiences staying at various hotels and resorts, and doing so will build on the “travel for concerts” theme of this website. This review is for base2stay Kensington in London, England during my recent England/France Trip (December 2011). [Read more…]
This is the seventh and last in a series of photojournals covering concerts during my trip to England and France. Tonight I attended a Rihanna concert at the O2 Arena in London, England on December 20th, 2011. [Read more…]
This is the fourth in a series of photojournals covering concerts during my trip to England and France. Tonight I attended a Duran Duran concert at the O2 Arena in London, England on December 12th, 2011. [Read more…]