Music.Entertainment.Made For You.As Told By Me.

2. Well Now - Camm Hunter

This song is crazy good! Saying I'm a bit obsessed with it is probably an understatement. This Toronto native just oozes charisma and I can't get enough of his music. This song especially has a contagious beat that you can't seem to get out of your head. I'm looking forward to so much more from Camm because I honestly can see him going so far in this industry. He seems to be in the right mindset about what his sound is and raw talent like this is hard to found nowadays. Be sure to check out Camm's links below to download this single as well as his mixtape.

Links..

3. Sunshine - Zac Mann

I've seen some mixed reviews on this song so I thought I'd just throw my opinion in for good measure. I was really looking forward to this single and the first time I listened to it I was a bit ambivalent. However, the more I listened to it, the more I really got into it. It's pretty catchy overall but what I really like is the chill sort of summer vibe that goes along with the song. Zac's singing style reminds me a bit of Trey Songz mixed with that laid-back Cali vibe we all love *especially during summer*. Maybe sharing the same hometown makes me biased but I really believe this guy has talent. He's gained quite a loyal following and I feel like this single is definitely just a taste of what's to come from this artist.

Links..

Twitter

4. Somebody To You - The Vamps feat. Demi Lovato

I absolutely love this song! The Vamps are one of my favorite up-and-coming artists in the US. I used to have a Youtube playlist of all of their covers and I felt like I was waiting forever for original songs to be released. When "Can We Dance" came out I literally fell in love with this band all over again. All of their singles have been different from one another but equally amazing. Also, this song features Demi Lovato which naturally means I have it on repeat ALL. THE. TIME. It's just a fun song from one of the most raw and talented bands I know which makes it perfect for summer.

Links..

Twitter: The Vamps, Tristan, Brad,

Connor, James, Demi

Facebook: The Vamps, Demi

Youtube: The Vamps, Demi

5. Don't - Ed Sheeran

Pretty sure I speak for many when I say…it's about time. Is it just me or have we been waiting for Ed Sheeran's second album for about 93 years? Hmm. Might be exaggerating a bit. But it's finally here and there are a lot of reasons to be excited about it. This song is one of my favorites off the album *if it's possible to even like one song over another*. It's one of those songs that makes me so focused on anything I'm doing. I just get that weird head bob motion going on and I can basically take on the world. What else do you really need, honestly? You can purchase the album here.

Links..

SUMMER MUSIC MUST-HAVES~AS TOLD BY MADS

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Let me know what songs YOU are loving this summer!

Friday, June 13, 2014

Hanging With Hoodie Tour Review feat. Hoodie Allen and Down With Webster

Aaaaaaand the summer has begun. Finally. I fortunately got to kick off this summer on quite a high note when I went to St. Louis to see Hoodie Allen this past week. Now since I've been home for the summer I had to drive a few hours back to St. Louis to go to the show but it was completely worth it! This was my second time seeing Hoodie in St. Louis so I knew that it would be fantastic. This time the show was at the Ready Room which is a recently opened venue in St. Louis. This venue was great! It had quite a bit of space while still managing to maintain an intimate vibe. It didn't necessarily matter where you stood because you were able to feel close to the artist. If you want to relive this awesome sold out tour with me then keep on reading…

DOWN WITH WEBSTER:

This opening act is probably one I will never forget. I was completely ready to just be standing there tapping my foot waiting for the main act to take the stage but that was definitely not the case. Down With Webster is a six-piece group that is possibly the most surprising act I've ever seen. When they all came out onstage I had to question if all six of them were actually together in one group. I had no idea how this group managed to pull it off but aside from having crazy good and catchy songs, they seem to have taken influence from all sorts of music genres from hip hop to rock to alternative…the list goes on. I literally felt like I was at a party instead of an actual concert. I wouldn't doubt that Down With Webster was having just as much fun as us either. These guys are incredible! I literally CANNOT get enough of their music. If you don't check out this group sometime in your life then you are definitely missing out on something huge. I can't wait to see them in the future because you can bet I'll be front and center at their next STL show.

Down With Webster-"Chills":

And check out MY current favorite DWW song:

Stay updated on everything Down With Webster:

Twitter: DWW, Tyler, Camm, Andrew, Bucky Buck, Pat, Diggy

Youtube, Vevo

HOODIE ALLEN:

I. LOVE. THIS. GUY. I could literally watch Hoodie Allen perform forever. His shows are some of the most fun I've ever had. He delivers his own dose of "Hoodie-Hop" with every verse and there's a bit of something for everyone to love. Whether you're trying to get over an ex, wanting to hang out with friends, or just looking to party, you HAVE to see Hoodie Allen. First of all, the guy is not only crazy talented, he's so down to earth. He literally wants to be friends with anyone and everyone who comes to his shows. He's so chill and down for just about anything. Something he did during the show that really stuck with me was when he asked people in the audience what some of their favorite songs were off of his old mix tapes that he came out with way back when and then he performed those songs right there on the spot. Talk about audience participation. We were literally creating a setlist ourselves. I mean who doesn't want to go see your favorite artist perform and get to tell them exactly which songs really connect with you…? He purposely wanted the shows on this tour to be more intimate so only around 500 tickets were sold for each date. The thing is Hoodie is the kind of artist who is genuinely thankful for everything that has been given to him throughout the years *not without a lot of hard work though*. He just gets it. Fans are the reason why he is able to do what he does and without all of those people buying his music and lining up to see him at shows, he would not be able to do a fraction of what he has been doing. Part of the Hanging With Hoodie Tour was automatic VIP. If you bought a ticket, you were VIP. He personally met every single person that walked into each venue just to show his appreciation. Lots of artists don't really take the time to even give their fans a second look. They become caught up in the success of it all and forget the very reason why they're able to do what they do. Artists like Hoodie Allen are hard to find these days but he really sets an example for up-and-coming performers. Know your skills. Know your roots. Keep the goal in mind. As long as he keeps doing his thing there's really no stopping him. Keep your eye out for his debut album set to drop this August!

Hoodie Allen--"Show Me What You're Made Of":

Check out Hoodie's latest track "Nolan Ryan":

Keep up with Hoodie!:

HANGING WITH HOODIE TOUR~AS TOLD BY MADS

Thanks for reading!

Saturday, May 24, 2014

Word of Mouth Tour Review Part Two feat. The Wanted

*Before you read this, if you would like to read part one of this review all about the opening acts, Midnight Red and Cassio Monroe, click here.*

If you didn't already know, this Word of Mouth Tour served as The Wanted's farewell for awhile as they have decided to take a break from being a band and pursue personal endeavors. I feel like this tour became so much more once it was revealed that it would be their farewell tour. Emotions were definitely running high when The Wanted closed out their final show in Shawnee, Oklahoma last weekend. There was basically a craze among TW fans trying to be as involved as possible in the band's goodbye. People attending the show were livestreaming it for people at home as Twitter basically blew up with all of the outpour from emotional fans.

The Wanted: (from left) Jay McGuiness, Max George, Tom Parker,
Siva Kaneswaran, Nathan Sykes

The Wanted is a band that I have a lot of personal respect for. They've been together for about four years and I've seen them do some of the unthinkable when it comes to success in the music industry. They started from nothing but talent and a bit of ambition (thrown in with great management) and were able to gain popularity relatively quickly in the UK with their debut single "All Time Low" hitting number one in the charts in 2010. Their success continued even further with their second single "Heart Vacancy" landing in the top ten later that year. Things seemed to be going great for The Wanted when they were able to break America *quite quickly and successfully might I add* with their single "Glad You Came." The band landed some TV appearances and performed many shows stateside before landing their own TV show on E! called The Wanted Life. The show documented the band's life while living in Los Angeles and recording their third album, Word of Mouth.

When The Wanted announced their break in January of this year, it was, to say the least, unexpected. There seemed to be no sign of animosity among the members. There have been many theories as to why this break has happened. Some sources have said that being apart of The Wanted Life brought up old issues and created tension among some of the members. Other sources have said the break was due to The Wanted being signed over to Scooter Braun when in the process of breaking America. Many fans blame the management for things such as poor album sales, lack of promotion, etc. There has not been an exact reason as to why the break is happening but The Wanted have made it clear on many occasions that they plan on getting back together in the future and putting out more music.

This has definitely given fans a bit of hope The Wanted aren't completely disappearing. The band has always had a really great relationship with their fans and have managed to stay quite personable and grounded throughout the years. I can personally say that they are some of the nicest people I have ever met and I am really looking forward to seeing them again in the future. This farewell tour was definitely bitter sweet and a great way for the band to go out with a bang. They performed several of their biggest hits like "Glad You Came," "Heart Vacancy," and "All Time Low" as well as a medley of songs from their 2010 self-titled debut album. They also kept things lively and fun with classic TW onstage banter and interaction with the crowd. If you weren't able to catch The Wanted on tour, there are plenty of videos online that fans have posted to keep the TW spirit alive while the band takes a break.

This show was easily one of the best I've been to and I'm looking forward to seeing what's up next for the band. Each member seems to be working towards something during this break. Siva Kaneswaran has even mentioned that he will be appearing in movies and coming out with an album of his own in the coming year. Of course there are rumors of how long this break will last but it has not been confirmed. I can only hope that we will be hearing from The Wanted very soon. I've really enjoyed watching this band evolve over the last four years and I will keep all of you updated on their break as well as their individual projects.

Some days stay gold forever.

The Wanted's latest single Glow In The Dark:

Stay updated on The Wanted!:

Twitter: The Wanted, Siva, Nathan, Max, Tom, Jay

*Click here to check out the World Music Awards and vote for The Wanted in categories like World's Best Song, World's Best Album, and World's Best Group!*

WORD OF MOUTH TOUR REVIEW~AS TOLD BY MADS

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Word Of Mouth Tour Review Part One feat. Cassio Monroe and Midnight Red

So. Finals are done. School is out. I'm free to blog, blog, blog. I was planning on writing this post last week but I was way too caught up in this show to focus on basically anything else. Last Thursday I traveled to Indianapolis to see The Wanted's Word of Mouth Tour. I haven't been to a good old-fashioned pop boyband show in a long while so it was actually a bit of a treat and completely exceeded my expectations. In fact it was so good that I'm splitting the review up into two parts. This first part will be all about the opening acts so enjoy!

MIDNIGHT RED:

Midnight Red: (clockwise from left) Colton
Rudloff, Thomas Augusto, Anthony Ladao,
Eric Secharia, Joey Diggs Jr.

Midnight Red was my Pick of the Week way back when. Still love them. Still amazing. If you want to check out that post and learn more about who the heck Midnight Red is then click here. Now, I knew what Midnight Red was all about and I had a pretty good idea of what I could expect to see from them at the show. But let me just say this, you think you know Midnight Red…until you see them live. Sure they're crazy talented and hilarious guys through a computer screen or television but when you see them onstage or even face to face, it's surreal. It's so hard to understand how so much talent and charisma can go into one group of guys. They performed in front of tons of screaming girls and I would feel safe betting that they were having an even more fun time than the crowd. They clearly love what they do and they are so passionate and hard working. I mean, you don't get that good just by sitting around and saying you're in a band. Their vocals were some of the best I've heard and they didn't miss a beat when it came to choreography. They kept the crowd going with some of their fan favorites like "Body Talk" and "Hell Yeah." They also gave the crowd a chance to check out their impeccable vocals through performances of "Nothing Lasts Forever" as well as their covers of "Diamonds" and "Hold On, We're Going Home." I'm constantly amazed by these guys and hope to meet them again sometime soon. Midnight Red will be performing at Digifest July 7 in New York and July 14 in Toronto. Also, don't forget to check them out on Good Morning America on June 5th!

Midnight Red have recently teamed up with Sweety High to film a 5-part video series documenting their recent projects like the MTV Artist To Watch Tour and the Word of Mouth Tour. You can check out the most recent episode below:

Midnight Red's latest cover:

Keep up with Midnight Red!

Twitter: Midnight Red, Eric, Anthony, Colton, Thomas, Joey

CASSIO MONROE:

Cassio Monroe: (from left) Tripp Weir, Jeff Garrison

I'll be honest and say that I had no clue who these guys were before the show. They had a handful of dedicated fans ready to tell everyone what made this duo so amazing and I know that after seeing them perform I'm not the only one who's jumped on the Cassio Monroe train. This pop/rap duo made up of Tripp Weir and Jeff Garrison are Nashville natives signed to HitShop Records/Warner Music
Nashville. I was so impressed by the dynamic between these two. They seem at first glance to be on two completely opposite ends of the spectrum but their unique styles somehow mesh together perfectly. I don't know how it happens. I don't understand it but I love it. At first I thought Tripp's vocals were decent but something was missing. It turns out he's a pretty insane rapper. He didn't look much like a rapper but it is definitely clear to see that he was born to do just that. Paired with Jeff's indie/pop/folk (if that's a thing) sound, Cassio Monroe are a breath of fresh air. They remind me a bit of old school hip-hop meets modern feel-good singer/songwriter. Along with MKTO, Cassio Monroe might just be leading the way for a whole slew of up and coming rap/pop groups. This style of music seems to be picking up steam and I can definitely see these guys at the top of the game.

*You can vote for Cassio Monroe in Macy's iHeartRadio Rising Star Talent Search here.*

Cassio Monroe-"Under The Lights":

Check out Cassio Monroe!

Twitter: Cassio Monroe, Jeff, Tripp