Saturday, November 17, 2012: a special day not only for the people of Perth, Australia, but also the animals. Angus Stone performed a one-of-a-kind event at the Perth Zoo, and with the magical atmosphere of the Perth zoo and the great music Gurrumul, the day sure was special.

It was almost sun down when the grass in front of the stage that was set up for the event was filled with people sitting and waiting; most were couples and families who prepared a nice picnic that suited the atmosphere.

The first line up was from Gurrumul. Gurrumul is an enigma in the Australian music industry. A musician born blind, this unique aboriginal man sings songs about identity, spirit and connection with the land, its elements and the ancestral beings he is related to. His high tenor voice and aura-like persona creates emotion, compassion and a feeling of peacefulness and longing with audiences in Australia and around the world.

Gurrumul started with a beautiful song for the sunset. He continued to surprise the audience one song after another, each with a different and a meaningful topic and lyrics, even though a majority of it was in an aboriginal language that most did not understand.

After almost an hour of Gurrumul performing, Angus Stone and his band members stepped onto the stage. Angus Stone is a 26-year-old singer and songwriter, born and raised along the coasts of Sydney where the beautiful beaches influenced his music. He played music since he was young, but was first discovered in 2006 along with his sibling sister Julia Stone. Both used to perform at open mic nights, where they used to do back up vocals for one another. When they started releasing albums, Angus and Julia tend to alternate tracks in the album, meaning if Angus plays the first song Julia will play the second.

It wasn’t for long till Angus and Julia each made their own solo albums in 2012 with an accompanying tour, which split the beauty of the siblings into two different halves.

During the concert, Angus played songs from his new album ‘Broken Brights’, which was very successful, and favorite tracks like “Bird on the Buffalo.”

Angus also performed a handful of his old songs as well, which sometimes feature him only on his guitars. His old songs are well known and liked by everyone, songs such “Big Jet Plane” from the album ‘Down the Way’.

What makes Angus Stone music special, especially on that night, is the purity of his songs and the special atmosphere they create, which gives the listener the same feeling the singer has. Most felt as if the animals at the zoo are listening and enjoying as well, especially because Angus dedicated one or two songs to the Animals.

Its the first year now where Angus has parted his older sister Julia to seek more in his music. One can only wonder if they will continue on different roads or that one day they will have a family reunion.

Image Courtesy : Angus and Julia Stone

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On Friday, August 31, 2012 three of the industry’s most respected drummers shared one stage At Drumscene 2012 at the Australian city of Perth. Dom Famularo, Dave Weckl, and  are currently three of the top drummers in the music scene. They helped make a successful inspiring event for the upcoming music generation. The event was organized by Australia’s number one magazine “Drumscene” and thanks to Musictek, the official publisher, and Frank Corniola with his crew, Toonari Post had a close view into the event and exclusive talks with the all performing artists.

At nearly 7:30 pm the anticipating crowd settled down for this one of its kind event, where they later welcomed the 59-year-old drummer, Dom Famularo, who comes from New York city’s Long Island. His opening act was an appealing joke about how Long Island is called that just because its long. A few laughs later Dom spoke to the audience that had a majority of drummers about his life and career and how he became a professional drummer at the age of 12. Bringing up the days when the great Buddy Rich still lived, he told the audience about the first time he saw Buddy Rich at a jazz club and commented on the reasons for why Buddy was, and still is, one of the most unique drummers ever known.

Image Credit: Sam Pettit

Famularo said that he only got good by watching drummers like him and “stealing” their techniques. It’s another smart way of improving and learning more techniques, he said. It was not long after that when Dom started playing his set on the drums. Then he started by saying hello to the drums and how he missed not playing it since yesterday. Showing an outstanding performance that absolutely made the drums speak for themselves, Dom has proved to the audience that he really did steal all those techniques from many other great drummers. It was possible to see the many drummers that lived before Dom combined into one and playing for him on the drums.

Without any further ado, Dom left the stage with a great applause from the audience, welcoming the next drummer on the set: Thomas Lang. Lang is an Austrian drummer born in 1967 . Thomas is much loved by the younger generation of drummers due to his incredible speed when playing on the drums. He is known for his multi-pedal techniques and powerful accented strokes. Lang began his set playing along with a back track that he had recorded with one of his bands that heavily featured the genre of Rock music.

It was a few minutes until Thomas started talking to the audience, speaking about his career, current projects, and equipment. Thomas is known for using Meinl manfactured cymbals with a DW drum kit and using his signature drum sticks to play with. Lang demonstrates all sorts of sounds on his kit by playing a variety of drum solos that were indeed impressive, considering his controls over the drum pedals. There were 7 of them that almost sounded as if he played them all at once.

Image Credit: Sam Pettit

After Thomas was done with his set, Toonari Post had an exclusive interview with him at the back stage. We asked Thomas about his opinion of electronic and computerized drumming and how it may reduce the number of actual drummers that exist. He confidently commented, “they are not, it is impossible,” briefly explaining that computerized music is commonly used in producing music and that its a pathetic situation, considering the fact that music needs an emotional factor for it to be complete. He also mentioned that it affects the younger generation, and how they soon will not be able to differentiate between what is good and what is bad.

After a short break, they saved the best for last. The stage was all set for the long awaited Dave Weckl. Born in 1960, he is well-known for being one of the highest quality jazz drummers, along with Steve Gad and Vinnie Colaiuta. Dave Weckl is best described as a very technical and most creative drummer, one who does not just play a beat in time but makes absolute music with his instrument. Dave welcomed his audience and talked a bit about the technical aspects of drumming to his audience, pointing out the ways of music and how one should deal with the instrument.

He started his first set with a back up track that he had recorded with his band, a great blend of Latin jazz that was demonstrated on the drums with perfection that most definitely secured his title of being one of the best at Latin jazz style drumming. Dave then moved on to playing some drum solos right after advising the audience who shared the same interest in the instrument, to occasionally drop the sticks and experiment on the instrument with your hands and feet to feel it and let it speak for you. It was indeed an indescribable performance set by Dave Weckl.

Image Credit: Sam Pettit

Just before the end, the three renowned drummers had set up a surprise for the audience. Dave called upon Dom Famularo and Thomas Lang to have a trio drum performance that is best described as the ultimate drum scene. The three drummers went on for ten minutes in perfect sync and a gradual flow of dynamics that gave the audience something to remember.

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The Council for Responsible College Financing presents Jay Cameron’s stage play, College Fever LIVE! “College Fever! What’s The Real Price of College?” returns April 29, 2012. The play explores the hot topic of college financing in an entertaining theatrical production which includes an incredible light show, live music, poetry, singing and dance.

“College Fever!” was created to bring awareness to the student loan and credit card debt crisis millions of college students are battling. This production offers steps to avoiding and overcoming student debt while illustrating the struggle many families face when confronted with financing college.

Millions of unsuspecting American families fall for the college financing trap that awaits those who want to further their education. According to FinAid.org, as of 2008, “more than $100 billion in federal education loans and $10 billion in private student loans are originated each year.” In 2012, student loan debt has surpassed one trillion dollars in the U.S.

What can conscientious students do? A college education is thought to be required to obtain a better job, but college costs are too expensive for most. Student loan debt seems to be the only way to pay for college and the job market continues to remain inconsistent. And since student loan debt is not subject to bankruptcy, the result of a default can be catastrophic to borrowers, their families and the health of the U.S. economy.

Woven together in an unforgettable yet familiar story, “College Fever!” offers solutions for the student debt crisis in this thought provoking stage-play. As a follow up to “College Fever” Debt Free College Degree – The Seminar digs even deeper to offer a systematic approach to paying for college, debt free. Both events educate and entertain.

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This past Tuesday, British group Florence + the Machine took to the stage at London’s iconic Royal Albert Hall in aid of Teenage Cancer Trust. Led by front-woman Florence Welch, the BRIT Award-winning and Grammy-nominated performed a selection of tracks during the 60 minute show, incorporating fan favourites from debut LP ‘Lungs’ as well as new music from 2011′s follow-up LP ‘Ceremonials’.

The concert was streamed live on YouTube in partnership with HP Live, attracting a worldwide audience on top of the thousands present in the Hall. Welch commenced with the band’s well-known cover of The Source and Candi Staton’s ‘You Got the Love’ and then moved into ‘Only If for a Night’, the first track from ‘Ceremonials’.

Despite Welch and her bandmates being known for soaring sounds and anthemic beats, every track was performed with a certain degree of restrained understatement, fitting for the venue and for the melancholic nature of the charity of which they were supporting. Welch, however, kept things light and was happy to engage with the audience.

It’s so amazing to be here tonight. Thank you so much … It’s just this space and the people and for this cause, it really means so much to me, so thank you. I’ve never been so nervous in my life! Even while I’m singing, it’s just looking up and seeing thing, and then it’s like, ‘Oh! I’ve got to remember the words and keep singing! Don’t get distracted by the beautiful arches!’.

As the show went on, Welch switched seamlessly between her back catalogue, from the ethereal ‘Between Two Lungs’ to piercingly vivid ‘Cosmic Love’. She joked repeatedly that she was ‘trying to practise being poised and … orchestral’, but from the audience’s perspective she was doing just fine.

With her tall, lean frame, and her simple, elegant dress, Welch fit right in with the classical aura, and might very well find herself fielding offers from the BBC Proms next year, considering how well she adapted to the evening’s proceedings while in the middle of an arena-filling world tour.

For her encore, Welch returned to the stage and belted out ‘Shake It Out’, the lead single from ‘Ceremonials’. This was an incredibly apt track on which to end to concert, as it speaks about new beginnings, letting go of the past, and looking to the future – a message suited well to the teenagers benefiting directly from the proceeds of this event. The organisation’s mission statement is:

We don’t believe that teenagers should have to stop being teenagers, just because they have cancer. So we fund and build specialist units for young people in NHS hospitals. Our units bring teenagers with cancer together with loads of new friends of their own age so they can support each other … Teenage Cancer Trust aims to ensure that every young person with cancer and their family receive the best possible care and professional support throughout their cancer journey.

For more information, visit their website. Meanwhile, ‘Florence + the Machine”s full concert can be viewed on HP Live’s YouTube channel.

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P!nk has announced that she has began recording on her sixth studio album, the follow-up to 2008′s ‘Funhouse’. The 32-year old singer/songwriter has taken a brief hiatus from the music scene while she started a family with her husband Carey Hart.

The couple, whose on/off relationship has been the subject of some of P!nk’s biggest hits, welcomed a daughter last June and have stayed largely out of the limelight in the months since. However, P!nk now appears to be focusing on her career and on reclaiming her title as one of the world’s biggest touring artists with the release of her first studio album in 4 years.

Her return to the music studio has been eagerly anticipated by her fans, as the four-year period since the release of ‘Funhouse’ marks the longest gap between studio albums in P!nk’s 12-year career. Few details are known about the album, expected to be released later this year, although hit maker Dan Wilson confirmed on Twitter that he has been in the studio writing songs with P!nk in recent weeks.

Wilson most notably collaborated with Adele on her multi-platinum LP ’21′, co-writing two tracks – including the Grammy-winning ‘Someone Like You – and has also written songs for such artists as Keith Urban and The Dixie Chicks.

For P!nk, a partnership with Wilson would mark a departure from her last two studio albums, on which she collaborated primarily with pop guru Max Martin (Britney Spears, Kelly Clarkson, and Katy Perry), country songwriter Billy Mann (Mary J. Blige, Sting, and Celine Dion), and rocker Butch Walker (Fall Out Boy, Avril Lavigne, and The Donnas).

Since releasing her first studio album, ‘Can’t Take Me Home’, P!nk has sold over 40 million albums worldwide and has made a name for herself as a a must-see live performer. ‘The Funhouse Tour’ spanned 10 months and broke several records in Australia, and was then followed up with P!nk’s first ever stadium tour, playing at over 30 outdoor venues across Europe in the summer of 2010.

Following the success of the ‘Funhouse’ era, P!nk was ranked #27 on Forbes’ 2010 Celebrity 100 List with earnings of $44 million from the previous 12 months. She capitalised on this career momentum by releasing a compilation CD, titled ‘Greatest Hits … So Far!!!” to mark the 10th anniversary of the release of her debut album.

The compilation featured all of her major hits from the previous decade, as well as three new songs, the first of which – ‘Raise Your Glass’ – topped the Billboard Hot 100 chart, while the second – ‘Perfect’ – garnered P!nk her 11th Grammy nomination.

Despite a brief hiatus from the entertainment industry during her pregnancy, P!nk kept her name in the headlines with a starring role in the 2011 animated feature ‘Happy Feet Two,’ for which she also provided the soundtrack single ‘Bridge of Light’.

Around the same time, P!nk filmed a role in the upcoming drama/comedy film ‘Thanks For Sharing’, co-starring Mark Ruffalo and Academy Award winner Gwyneth Paltrow, and paid $5,000 to fund life-saving surgery for a stray dog after learning of the story in late last December.

Image Courtesy of   http://www.pinkspage.com

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Snow Patrol made a triumphant return to Belfast on the first of the band’s three-night, sold-out engagement at the city’s Odyssey Arena. After two dates in Dublin, the British rock band brought their Fallen Empires tour to Belfast’s Odyssey Arena on Monday January 23rd for the first of three consecutive dates to be played at the venue.

These dates mark Snow Patrol’s first appearance in Belfast since the 2011 MTV Europe Music Awards which were held last November, and it was clear from the words of frontman Gary Lightbody that this homecoming was an important one as the band’s promotion of their sixth studio album, Fallen Empires, gets underway.

Supporting Snow Patrol on this night was Everything Everything, a British indie band whose embryonic sound set the stage aptly for the headlining act’s stadium-friendly setlist.

While this tour is primarily in support of Fallen Empires, the band made sure to play plenty of fan favourites, ranging from the soft rock tones of “Run” to their classic hit “Chasing Cars.” In between, Lightbody proved himself to be quite the personable star as he entertained the audience at one point with anecdotes of failing to meet Justin Bieber before segueing seamlessly into a more poignant moment during which he paid tribute to his 72-year old father.

In spite of Lightbody’s vibrant engagement with the crowd, the band as a whole had plenty of moments to come together as a collective unit and deliver the type of uplifting anthems for which they are most commonly known. They were at their strongest during a performance of new single “This Isn’t Everything You Are”, a track which allows Lightbody to harmonise with his fellow band members during the rousing chorus section.

Given Snow Patrol’s habit of allowing their music to be used in film and television soundtracks, it was unsurprising to see their back catalogue consisting of so many well-known, yet probably forgotten hits; this, however, is what makes the band all that bit more accessible to the casual listener and why they remain one of the few British bands from the last decade to achieve success in the North American music market, with Fallen Empires in fact continuing the band’s trend of increasingly-higher debuts on the US Billboard Album Chart.

Their gratitude and lack of ego were consistently evident throughout the concert and explain why the band will enjoy two further sold-out dates at this venue over the coming days. Without question, the best-received tracks of the night were “Chasing Cars”, “Open Your Eyes”, “Run” and “Just Say Yes” – the latter of which served as the final performance of the evening.

Lightbody encouraged the crowd into participating in a sing-along during “Run”, a song which has enjoyed a second life since being covered by Leona Lewis in 2008. Bringing the concert to a close with “Just Say Yes” was an appropriate choice given the song’s infectious positivity and simple message about taking a leap of faith and not being paralysed by fear.

Snow Patrol certainly demonstrated through the cohesion of their sound the charisma of their frontman that they have no fear once they step onto the stage and do what they do best.

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Summertime is a perfect moment to enjoy the whether and with it, music.

Music festivals are trendy, cool and are an inducement for people to visit a new city and listen to their favorite artists.
So, why don’t we take our baggage and go out this summer to a mediterranean city?

‘From Madrid, to heaven”. That’s a typical spanish saying, And it is quite true, specially for artists and culture.
The spanish capital is know as a hotspot to those who looks forward all kind of arts.

A few days ago, in this beautiful city I live in, we had the pleasure of visiting the “Music Day” (Día de la música), and assist to live show in several stages around the city. It was a thriller experience!

We also had the chance to listen to new artists and see how everybody danced, jumped and enjoyed their music.

The ‘Madrid’s Music day” is a huge music festival organized by Heineken, divided in 3 different days and stages in the city. It took place on June 18th and June 19th in the “Matadero de Madrid” getting several artists together in order to perform to a massive audience.

Vetusta Morla, Lykke Li, The Pains of being, Pure at heart, Glasvefas, Janelle Monaé, Russian Red… this are a little example of some guest of this music festival. It also includes workshops and a film premiere named “Heineken’s music day film”.

Vetusta Morla – Pucho (Singer)

Russian Red – Lourdes Hernández (Singer)

Do you want to hear a pice of it? Join Heneken’s Club at heineken.es/ and download, free of charge, the ‘Heineken’s Music Day disc’.

VIDEO: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6PQJBB1idAg

Image Courtesy of http://www.flickr.com/photos/feiticeira_org/

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