DECEMBER 15, 2011

DURHAM PERFORMING ARTS CENTER IN DURHAM, NC

WRITTEN BY MARTIN FRIED

As the crowd filled the Durham Performing Arts Center it was very noticeable that they were much older than any previous crowd I have seen been to but none the less very excited to see Kenny G. The Multi platinum-selling artist started off his performance on the stage with a Christmas tune. At the end of the first song, Kenny G walked off the stage.  The band began the second song of the set and when it was time for him to start playing, Kenny G appeared at the back of the theater where he continued to play as he walked through the hall giving his fans a chance to see and hear him up close. He ended up on a platform still in the crowd and he where he continued to play.  He then gave an example of a breathing technique called circular breathing, which allows him to hold a note continuously almost indefinitely. Kenny G is the Guinness books record holder for holding a note on a saxophone. He held an E-flat for 45 minutes and 47 seconds at J&R Music World in New York City. Kenny G’s third song of the show was his 1997 classic “Songbird” which he used to make his way back on to the stage.

All photos: Martin Fried/Rhythmscene.com

DURHAM PERFORMING ARTS CENTER IN DURHAM, NC

WRITTEN BY MARTIN FRIED

As John Oates and Daryl Hall appeared on stage, the sold out DPAC crowd took to their feet and gave the duo a standing ovation that their over 40 years of making great music together deserved. I was immediately transported back to my youth and started remembering all the times I heard Hall and Oates on the radio or watched their videos on MTV (Yes, younger fans, MTV used to play videos!).

The very few issues noted while watching this excellent concert were that age may be setting in and Hall’s voical range may not be what it once was.  It seems he may no longer be able to reach the high notes he once did and uses the method of backing away from the mic to hide it and Oates’ moustache has migrated south and become a gray soul patch.  One fan reported that their only complaint was that it was over way too soon, as you can see from the set list Hall and Oates only performed 13 songs in total, for many this was not nearly enough.

Set list:

Maneater

Family Man

Out Of Touch

How Does it feel to Be Back

Say it Isn’t So

Las Vegas Turnaround

She’s Gone

Sara Smile

I Can’t Go For That (No Can Do)

Encore:

Rich Girl

You Make My Dreams

Encore 2:

Kiss on My List

Private Eyes

All photos: Martin Fried/Rhythmscene.com

BankAtlantic Center, Sunrise, FL

Written by Kate Dingle

Taylor Swift is one of those artists that no one seems to hate. When it comes to her music, age, sex, race, and religion seem to not matter. Everyone can relate in one way or another to her songs of love and heartache.

Sunday night, Swift brought her “Speak Now” tour back to the Sunshine State for one final night of enchantment.

As 12,500 fans packed themselves into the American Airlines Arena in Miami, the country cross-over cutie did what she does best. She told her stories. And although Taylor’s stories were the main act of the night, also front and center were the hundreds of homemade t-shirts and handwritten signs with the number 13 and “T Swizzle” written on them. Throughout the two hour set, fans sung along with every word the 21-year-old singer sang; often times drowning out the very artist they paid to see.

Regardless, it was quite clear that fans are at the top of the list for Miss Swift. Cameras were constantly pointed at the screaming fans to display their images on the huge video screen onstage, and at one point, the mega-star exited the stage and walked through the crowd. She seemed to stop and say “hi” to everyone who stuck their hands out to get a piece of her.

Now, when superstars of Swift’s magnitude are presented with unexpected situations it can very quickly become clear what kind of person they truly are. Well, during her walk through the crowd an unexpected situation occurred: one of the barricades keeping fans at a safe distance gave way from the amount of weight on it when she walked by. In an instant, her security team surrounded her and tried to shield her from whatever was going to come her way. Instead of rushing away to the next portion of the set, the only thing that was happening was Taylor Swift repeatedly asking fans “Are you OK?” In that moment, Taylor Swift the celebrity gave way to Taylor Swift the human being. Well done.

Highlights of the set included: “Sparks Fly”, “Mean”, “Back To December/Apologize” (OneRepublic cover), “Better Than Revenge”, “Haunted”, “Ours”, “Love Story”, and “Right Round” (including Flo Rida himself joining her onstage).

Although it was a night of lots of screaming fans and, at times, absolute chaos, it was also a night for moms and dads to give the experience of a lifetime to their children. Throughout the night, plenty of parents were seen sporting “Taylor Swift” T-shirts and singing along and dancing with the younger crowd.

And even though everything about Taylor Swift is sweet and fun and innocent and fairytales, the fact that she could call anyone “mean” just seems like it would sting a little more.

Photos by Christina Mendenhall

Culture Room, Ft. Lauderdale, FL

Written by Brennan Forsyth

Montreal’s Stars’ last visit to South Florida was more than 9 years and 10 releases ago so perhaps they wanted to make up for lost time by playing an astounding 21 song set at Fort Lauderdale’s Culture Room this past Sunday.

The soggy weather kept the club’s patio entrance closed and the front door stood open, gusts of wind making fog and smoke swirl in the stage lights as Miami vets Astari Nite played before a stony yet attentive crowd who barely nodded to their spectral, driving set but applauded enthusiastically between songs. They were followed by Plains, also from Miami, whose upbeat rock and roll served as a good transition to Stars who took the stage just after 10 p.m., the five members of the band walking very casually onto the stage and lead vocalist Torquil Campbell cheerfully welcoming the crowd: “This is our music, we hope you enjoy.”

There are few bands that are truly without comparison and the theatrical grandeur of Stars’ music, their unpretentious stage presence and the genuine affection they show for the audience puts them far removed from other so-called indie-rock bands. “Fixed” from 2010’s The Five Ghosts was the first song of the evening with bassist Amy Millan on vocals, a shimmering, rarified song that seemed to make the temperature in the room drop appreciably and the steady autumn rain outside become all the more fitting. Stars’ music is unquestionably a product of the north. Lead vocalist Campbell shared the next song “The Passenger” with Amy, an intense but danceable synth-backed track from Chris Seligman’s keyboards and followed it up with “Take Me to the Riot”, the crowd joyfully singing along with the chorus.

“This is an outrageous show,” Amy Millan said between songs.

“It’s you, it’s kids,” Torq’ said to the crowd. “Kids make everything beautiful, that’s for sure.”

For the first time in years I witnessed someone weeping openly concert, a girl with her hands over her face and her down during the coda of “Set Yourself On Fire,” sobbing reservedly in the arms of her friend yet coming up with a tight smile and grateful applause when it was over.

The band’s easygoing nature and the joy they exuded was contagious, whether tossing plumes of rose petals into the crowd or at one another from arrangements lashed to their mic stands or describing plans to move to South Florida in a red convertible to listen to Steely Dan records and “write a novel about dissolute people doing terrible things under the Florida sun.”

They heaped praise on the crowd throughout the nearly 90-minute set, Torquil also giving shout-outs to the people in South Florida who support the Occupy Wall Street movement and finally forgiving us for the 2000 election that gave us George Bush.

Amy and Torquil became more and more caught up in the experience that they were creating as they plowed through the marathon set, pouring sweat, with cords standing out on his neck as they traded verses on another cut from the new album “How Much More.”

A five song encore followed, Torq’ jokingly encouraging the few children in attendance to “cover your ears. Take a break,” before playing “B*****s In Tokyo” and wrapping up the set with “Elevator Love Letter,” a song that indeed rose like a summer updraft, fed by the grateful energy of the crowd and the tireless, passionate performance of Stars. It was close to midnight when they said goodnight, leaving the crowd to file out of the club and into the tropical downpour that had gripped South Florida all weekend. “Its a nuclear show, and the stars are gone,” they sang on their last song. For now, perhaps. But hopefully not for another 9 years.

Set List

Fixed
The Passenger
Take Me To The Riot
Wasted Daylight
Set Yourself On Fire
To The Better Ones
Dead Hearts
Ageless Beauty
Soft Revolution
New Song (Piers)
Your Ex-Lover Is Dead
Window Bird
We Don’t Want Your Body
How Much More
Reunion
Calendar Girl

Encore

One More Night
B******s In Tokyo
The Ghost of Genova Heights
Changes
Elevator Love Letter

Photo via: thesilvertongueonline.com

Grand Central, Miami, FL

Written by Brennan Forsyth

Ladytron’s Miami show was the last stop on their tour in support of their latest albumGravity the Seducer, but they showed no sign of fatigue after nearly 20 North American shows since September. The crowd of about 500 packed into Miami’s Grand Central was first treated to New York’s VHS or Beta, who despite their electro-rock leanings have echoes of The Cure in lead guitarist Craig Pfunder’s vocals as well as other post-punk influences heard throughout their 50-minute set.

Ladytron took the stage just after midnight; Helen Marnie dressed in a sheer white blouse with a short black skirt and a black bow in her hair and an apparently pregnant Mira Aroyo wearing a black and red summer dress. As with most Ladytron shows keyboardist Ruben Wu and band founder/guitarist/keyboardist Daniel Hunt took up positions near the back of the stage, leaving Helen and Mira front and center.

The normally reserved Helen told the crowd “This is the last show of our tour, let’s have some fun tonight!” before starting off the show with the intense and soaring “Soft Power” off of Witching Hour and following it up with “International Dateline” from the same album. “Mirage”, a track from the new album that Berlin’s Terri Nunn could have stepped seamlessly into vocal duties on, was up third.

Ladytron’s music is electronic in the organic sense — they use no digital synthesizers, backtracking or sampling on stage and each song is played via a variety of vintage analog keyboards that are occasionally treated with standard guitar effects pedals and a live drummer. None of them move around much, even during instrumental breaks where one of them isn’t playing a keyboard, the level of animation usually gets no more involved than swaying gently to the music against a mic stand or rocking in place and with hands tapping against hips.

Helen wears every bit of each song on her face, often staring off towards the back of the room or making cursory eye contact with people in the crowd nearest her. Perhaps the reason for Ladytron’s often minimal stage presence can be partially attributed to having to manually adjust the pitch, tone and modulation of each instrument between songs, though what they lack in presence is more than made up for by their sound which is as captivating and striking as its two lead vocalists.

Ladytron masterfully shape and bend the inherent warmth of the analog synthesizer into sounds that can be as chilling as they are uplifting, exemplified by following up seriousness of a track such as “High Rise” with the electroclash tinged “True Mathematics” with Mira Aroyo singing the vocals in her native Bulgarian.

Miami received Ladytron warmly and though a lot of the crowd had progressed into their late 20s after perhaps having heard 604 for the first time on college radio or at a warehouse party in the early part of the last decade, the entire crowd was living the moment, cheering loudly between songs and dancing as much as the people to either side would allow. Noticeably absent from the set were earlier songs such as “Playgirl” and “He Took Her to a Movie” but the crowd still got to hear 1999’s “Discotraxx” and the dance floor staple “Seventeen” from their signature album Light & Magic.

Their entire discography was well represented, showcasing their ever evolving sound and the way it has progressed in the last decade and even included their stunning cover of the Death in June song “Little Black Angel.” They closed out the night with the driving “Destroy Everything You Touch”, bringing the musician Sonio on the stage to help out on keyboards before applauding the crowd as they left the stage while the throng returned their gratitude tenfold.

Despite a couple of minor problems with Helen’s keyboard that required the intervention of a tech just before they played the haunting “White Gold” off the new album Ladytron’s performance was as strong as their last few visits to South Florida and hopefully not too far into the future they will be gracious enough to pay Miami another call and show us once again why Brian Eno considers them to be “the best of English pop music.” Here, here!

Set list:
Soft Power
International Dateline
Mirage
Ghost
High Rise
True Mathematics
White Gold
Runaway
Ace of Hz
Little Black Angel (Death In June cover)
Discotraxx
Fighting In Built Up Areas
Seventeen

ENCORE
White Elephany
Destroy Everything You Touch

Photos by Christina Mendenhall

Bardot, Miami, FL

Written by Brennan Forsyth

The concert season in South Florida is more often than not a feast-or-famine affair and Stockholm, Sweden’s Peter, Bjorn and John may be the harbinger of what could be the most amazing series of live touring acts we’ve seen here in quite some time.

There was nearly a full-on crunch at the intimate Bardot in Miami’s Design District with dozens of 20- and 30-somethings dressed in everything from skinny jeans and Converse shoes to designer shirts and black dresses crammed in between the bar and floor space allocated for the band, trying desperately to hold on to the precious few inches of space they staked out and not lose it to someone who was just trying to get to the door.

Though movement was at the very least treacherous the upscale venue, which is more like the tastefully decorated, 1960s-era living room of an art enthusiast than a club, proved to have amazing acoustics and was the perfect setting for PB&J’s brand of indie rock.

They took the stage just after 10:40, walking onto the floor to the disjointed, synthed-out strains of Also Sprach Zarathustra against a Swedish flag projected on the wall behind them. With little candor Peter, Bjorn and John started the set with the deliberate, percussive “Tomorrow Has To Wait” off of 2011’sGimme Some as the projector flipped through pictures of football matches and expressionist photography. The projector would serve as an outlet for their wry and ironic humor throughout the evening, displaying a message between songs reading “This is the default ‘between song’ screen. While they talk and say funny stuff.”

It can take a lot to warm up a Miami crowd but Peter, Bjorn and John pressed on past the initially tepid response and launched into the second song of the night, the garage-tinged “Eyes” from the new album before going into “Let’s Call It Off” from Writer’s Block. Footage of police chases, tennis matches and the film Animal House flickered on the screen as Peter, Bjorn and John worked every bit of the postage stamp sized area that was their stage as though they were in a venue four times as large.

“Okay, that was only half the room,” Peter Morén teased as he coached the crowd on the harmony to “Dig A Little Deeper” and the call and response of their theme to the evening: “Loud! Enthusiastic! Slightly Drunk!” The crowd now fully engaged, Peter stepped out into the throng to play a down and dirty harmonica accompaniment on a brooding version of “Nothing To Worry About.”

They owned the crowd and every square foot of the ‘stage’ for the remainder of their 12-song set, later delivering a stripped-down version of their 2006 song “Young Folks,” a song that has been remixed a dozen different ways but is just as compelling and righteous on its own. The highlight of the set was the soaring “Objects of My Affection” where Peter again ventured into the crowd during a pounding, tribal breakdown from John Eriksson’s drums before wrapping up the 1 hour and 7 minute set with a furious rendering of “Down Like Me.”

As the feedback from the final chord rang and screeched through the applause and cheers in the intimate venue PB&J thanked the crowd before walking briskly to the exit and to their waiting bus. The projection screen then faded from the Swedish flag to a black screen with white text reading ‘Not Bad. Nice one, Miami, Florida.’ Likewise, fellas.

Klipsch Amphitheater at Bayfront Park, Miami, FL

Written by Patty Canedo 

The July release of If Not Now, When? marked Incubus’ first album since 2006’s Light Grenades. After their extended hiatus, a revitalized and noticeably evolved Incubus has emerged on tour. Last night, rolling off the gentle breeze of the surf on a warm Miami night, the neo-metal sound of Incubus blasted through the city’s Bayfront area. The intimate audience size (more so than previous tours) swarmed the stage of the Bayfront Park Amphitheatre, pleased that the hard rock crew hadn’t lost their edge.

The band began their re-acquaintance with fans with a single off A Crow Left Of The Murder, “Megalomaniac”. Brandon Boyd’s energetic delivery was an immediate confirmation of the long-awaited return of Incubus, and was followed up by the crowd-provoking “Wish You Were Here”.

With an elated audience compelled to its feet Boyd enticed the audience with the first single off their latest LP, “Adolescents”. That began a purposeful set list to remind the fan of the band’s neo-rock, eclectic discography while slowly revealing their new direction.

The momentum of this lean and mean Incubus machine did not falter. A sharp and energetic delivery of “Anna Molly”, the lead single off Light Grenades, was quickly followed by “Promises, Promises”. The evening continued with a trickle of If Not Now, When? intertwined with the bands’ lengthy rock discography. Amped by the reaction to “If Not Now, When”, Boyd feverishly pitched in with a little drumming during “Circles”.

After a powerful “A Certain Shade of Green”, Boyd slowed the ferocious pace with “In The Company Of Wolves” and an acoustic rendition of “Defiance” and “Love Hurts”. The lull of his haunting echo in the park didn’t last. A forceful performance of “Out From Under”, “Nice To Know You” and “Drive”, left Boyd scantily clad and tempting their hefty fan base.

In an appropriately plotted encore, Incubus elated fans with one their earliest hits, “Pardon Me”, then quickly followed up with something off the latest album, “Tomorrow’s Food”. The band gripped the audience with nostalgia followed by a swift propel into the next era of Incubus.

Young The Giant warmed the stage for Incubus. Another crew of Cali rock boys, they are riding the cuff of their self-titled album released earlier this year. Overcoming line-up and name changes from earlier years, the band’s first single peaked at number five on Billboard‘s Alternative Songs chart. The Giants enticed fans with “My Body” and “Street Walker”.

If Not Now, When? is the culmination of Incubus’ experiences during their hiatus. The album was released to fans as a different avenue than the band has ever ventured upon. It’s heavily influence by guitarist Mike Einziger, who studied music at Harvard during the hiatus. This seventh album is being received as mature and simple approach to the hard-edged, metal sound that the band built their foundation on.

Photos by Erin Marta

Incubus

Young The Giant

American Airlines Arena, Miami, FL

Written by Patty Canedo

The crowd chanted, “Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday to you,” trying to lure their salsero out on stage. After dispensing with the obligatory Goya Foods schpeal, whose 75th anniversary was the supposed purpose of the celebration, Marc Anthony descended to a sold-out American Airlines Arena. The crowd jumped to its feet where it remained the rest of the evening.

Anthony immediately grasped his hold on the audience by opening the evening with his biggest U.S. hit, “I Need To Know”. With the crowd swooning and ignited, Anthony’s charismatic energy led the crowd into a powerful performance of “Aquanile”. His haunting, soft opening flowed seamlessly into a high-energy salsa beat. His renowned, elegant passions were personified in a classic debonair black suit with a simple stage set with a few monitors and his (large) backup band.

Known for his ability to slide from powerhouse, high energy to big band salsa to enchanting ballad, Anthony moved the gyrating audience with “Hasta Ayer”. He portrayed the enchanting characteristics of a classic Latino entertainer — emotional, moving, forceful, and yelling at his keyboard player during a tantalizing exhibition.

The dazzled audience erupted with the enchanting title track from Anthony’s Grammy-winning albumValio La Pena. Infected by his own salsa rhythm of commanding percussion and exultant horn loops, Anthony was not only haunting with the mic but a compelling dancer.

Anthony delivered an emotional and softer moment of one of his favorites, the gripping ballad “Y Como Es El”. “Contra La Corriente” picked up the pace again with an outlandish percussion exhibition, which of course, was savored in the Miami arena.

Enticing the audience to dance, Anthony promised the crowd that he was going to “rock you”. So engaged in the performance, Anthony noticeably hurt himself when jumping off a speaker during “Nadie Como Ella”. Hobbling over to his percussion section to stretch and gauge the pain for the remainder of the dynamic performance, it turned into a perfect moment for a breather and birthday moment with his daughter as the entire band and arena wished him many more.

Comedian Joey Vega opened the show at the AAA last night. His bilingual mundane comments about relationships, sex and Latin culture were stale and monotonous. However, while Vega attempted to stall, the masses had merely trickled in, which included Anthony who took the stage at almost 9:30.

Anthony has risen to the top level of Latino music as one of the biggest-selling salsa artists of all time. He delivered an amazing performance for a sold-out audience with his sultry Latin flair and high energy salsa rhythm which is the very flavor of Miami.

Photos by Christina Mendenhall

Hard Rock Live, Hollywood, FL

Written by Patty Canedo

The nostalgic fabric of time spun back to an era clad in tie-dye, dashikis, and flower power with Hippiefest 2011 at the Hard Rock Live on Sunday night. It’s been more than 40 years since the days of Woodstock (and over 10 since my generation tarnished the name in ’99), but decades later we are still yearning for peace and love and protesting the war machine. The cast marching us through this portal to yesteryear included the legends that helped define a generation with their influence on music.

Felix Cavaliere, best known for his work with the Young Rascals in the ‘60s, pumped up the retro-hungry crowd. The Song Writing Hall of Famer spiritedly performed the hits that got the crowd flashing back (if that didn’t do it the psychedelic backdrop probably triggered some old trips). His best known hits like “I’ve Been Lonely Way Too Long”, “Midnight Owl (cover)”, “People Got To Be Free”, “Groovin’”, and Good Lovin’” were fitted with snippets of “Just My Imagination”, “My Girl”, “Everyday People”, and “Nowhere To Run”. The stage was flipped between artists within minutes as most of the lineup shared the house band.

Rick Derringer opened with what seemed to be the anthem for the evening, “Still Alive and Well”. In between lectures on politics and rock history, Derringer performed the McCoys’ No. 1 hit “Hang On Sloopy”, and paid tribute to our troops with the “Star Spangled Banner” that lead into “Real American”. Calling on his fellow Hippiefest mates, he closed with his solo signature “Rock ‘n’ Roll Hoochie Koo”.

Up next was Gary Wright, lead singer and keyboardist of Spooky Tooth (a band formed from other defunct English rock bands of the late ‘60s). He kicked off his set with the song Judas Priest helped make famous, “Better By You, Better Than Me”. On Wright’s solo hit “Dream Weaver”, it may have appeared that he had lost some vocal range over the years but the crowd was enchanted by the performance. He was accompanied by Rick Derringer to close his set with “Love Is Alive”.

Mark Farner was the man to keep this lovefest going. The ex-Grand Funk’er took the stage with a greater force and presence (and most hair) than his predecessors. The Contemporary Christian musician was plagued with some distortion and feedback during his rock revival, but he still gave a tight performance, highlighted by “Locomotion”, “Bad Time”, and “Some Kind of Wonderful”. Farner seemed to be running on empty by the time he paid his tribute to the troops. A noticeably exhausted Farner barely belted out “I’m Your Captain (Closer to Home)” then declared “God bless what’s left of America.”

Hippiefest wound down with a stiff performance by Dave Mason. The climax of this set was his opening number (and most recognizable) song “We Just Disagree”. Mason’s only movement was when he stepped out of the spot light and backed up his band on guitar during a blues number. Finally showing signs of life, Mason reminisced about his contribution in Jimi Hendrix’s legendary cover of “All Along The Watch Tower”. Mason’s closed the show with a joyous “Feelin’ Alright”, joined by Farner on vocals and Derringer on guitar.

These voices of classic rock may packed on some mileage since their glory days but they graced the stage with nothing but their matured voices and tattered instruments (the way it should be!). While they belted out music that helped shape a generation a simple screen backdrop played footage from their heyday behind them. Peace, Love and Flower Power, Man!

American Airlines Arena, Miami, FL

Written by Patty Canedo

I’ll admit that my personal agenda of the evening was mainly to see Nicki Minaj, but having to sit through the anticlimactic Britney Spears set was a heavy price to pay. As I uttered when the countdown to Brit’s performance dwindled on the big screen and the lights went down in the AmericanAirlines Arena on Friday, “Let’s just get through this.”

The show was an overblown and underwhelming spectacle with all the generic elements and story lines you can throw on one stage. Spears opened with “Hold It Against Me” to find the Femme Fatale eluding authorities (assumingly for ticket gouging). But attempts to entrance the audience with the obligatory (and overused) rise above the audience routine, along fireworks and Brit’s stiff dancing, were contrived and blasé. Even the “…Baby One More Time” lead into Rihanna’s “S&M” fell short, probably because it was performed in the never sexy and quite tired dominatrix garb. We get it Brit, you are trying to shed the pop tart image.

Random Marilyn Monroe and Cleopatra references, along with cartoonish Japanese skits and design sets, were more self-indulgent than engaging. Relying heavily on mechanical props, moving platforms and an army of dancers to propel this performance to the level her fans wish it would be instead faltered. Perhaps now that the theatrics have become stale it’s time to do better than 40 percent live?

Before Brit Brit even pretended to sing a note, she may have left a bad taste in some of her fans’ mouths, when floor seats are at an outlandish $350 – and merchandise everywhere down to commemorative Britney sodas at $8. But then that’s how the Britney machine rolls.

For such heinous acts against music lovers the pop diva should deliver more than an evening with one of her CDs blasting at high volume. But the near sell-out crowd didn’t seem to bat a fake eyelash or flip a neon pink wig. By the time Britney performed “Toxic” and “Till The World Ends”, the crowd was into it and all was forgiven between Britney and her fans. I just hope those who had floor seats weren’t amongst the dozens walking to their car uttering, “She wasn’t lip-syncing the whole time.”

Of course, on this particular Pink Friday the effervescent Nicki Minaj was the energetic, hip-hop delight I was hoping for. With a bedazzled mic in fist and a small accompaniment of dancers, Nicki romped and gyrated, getting things jumping with “Roman’s Revenge”.

The show also featured Sean Kingston making his first appearance since his near-fatal watercraft accident over the Memorial Day weekend. Kingston joined Minaj for “Letting Go (Dutty Love)” in a set heavy with “featuring Nicki Minaj” tracks. I’d love to see her remove the unnecessary story line, Enya sequences and hype up the production value, so hip hop’s royalty won’t have to open for the likes of Britney Spears any more.

Jessie and the Toy Boys opened the entire evening, entertaining the arriving crowd who were trying to locate seats and situate cocktails with their quick set of dance pop songs.