Cause That’s My Favorite Part

I know it’s been almost a month, but I spent 3 of the last 4 weeks traveling, adventuring, and working. August has been my favorite month of 2018 so far, and I feel so grateful for all the great times and experiences that came with it. So now that I’ve been home for almost a week and rested up, it’s back to blog business. I know I’d feel like a total failure if I didn’t write about this artist this year, because his song “NUMB” ft. GRAACE is one of my top two favorite songs of the summer and probably the year (even though it was released in late 2017).

Hayden James is an electronic music DJ and producer from Australia. He entered the music scene in 2013 with his single “Permission to Love”. He released his self-titled debut EP in August that year as well. Since then James has toured with Disclosure and Odesza, co-wrote songs with Katy Perry for her 2017 album Witness, and toured Europe and North America in addition to releasing new music consistently. Some of his singles include “Something About You”, “NUMB”, and most recently “Just Friends”. He is currently signed to Australian indie record label Future Classic, whose clients include the likes of electronic artists Flume and Flight Facilities. In 2015 and 2016 he received two ARIA nominations for Best Dance Recording for his tracks “Something About You” and “Just a Lover”, respectively. He has yet to release his debut album, but rumor has it that it’s in the works and releasing soon!

Hayden James plays a house style of electronic music. His downtempo style of sound gives his tracks an R&B type feel. It gives off a very sensual/sexual vibe. I would compare it to fellow Future Classic artist Flume, but it’s not quite as deep house as his style. At times, the sound does give off a Flume-ish energy though.

I first listened to Hayden James while working EDC Las Vegas. My best friend played “NUMB” for me while we were both hanging out in our team’s trailer. I loved it right away and encouraged her to keep playing the song on repeat. She did and we had a continuous impromptu dance party until I had to run an errand for our team. The song has since reminded me of EDC and some things that happened while I was out in Vegas. Despite the fact that Vegas wasn’t always the happiest of times, the song always gives me a good feeling, even if the memories associated with it aren’t the best and I love the song regardless.

Since May, I’ve been playing the song on repeat whenever I get the chance. “NUMB” also got me to check out more of Hayden James’ music and I’ve since become a fan. I was able to see Hayden James perform at Electric Forest where he played sets both weekends and played a DJ set during Weekend 2. I saw the entirety of his Weekend 1 set and was able to hear my favorite song live. I then heard it at both of his sets Weekend 2. I just happened to be exploring the Forest towards the end of both of those sets and went to listen to him purely just to hear my jam. It was dope.

I’m definitely looking forward to the release of Hayden James’ debut album. No official release date has been announced yet, but word is that it’s coming soon enough. If you’re into electronic music or house music in general, he’s definitely an artist to check out. His live set was a lot of fun too. He kept everyone moving the entire time. I guarantee you’ll feel the same way if you give his music a listen and who knows maybe you’ll be playing “NUMB” on repeat just as much as I have this summer.

Warped

For 7 years from age 16 to age 22, I attended the Vans Warped Tour every summer. I remember finding out about Warped Tour when I was 15 from a friend in high school. It was at the time when I first discovered alternative music. Every year Warped Tour also releases a compilation album containing one song from every artist on that year’s tour. I became super interested in a few songs on the 2003 compilation that my friend had. That’s when she explained to me what the Vans Warped Tour was. I decided to purchase the 2003 compilation for myself and I was stoked to get the 2004 album upon its release (this was in the spring of 2004). More importantly I was extremely interested in going to Warped Tour that summer. Much to my dismay though, the tour wasn’t coming to my hometown. The closest venue that hosted the tour was 1 hour and 40 minutes away. At age 15, without a driver’s license and a car, it just wasn’t happening for me that summer. When the 2005 dates were announced a few months after the 2004 tour finished, I was pumped. The Vans Warped Tour was coming to my local concert venue and there was no way I was missing it.

Warped Tour began in 1995 as a skate punk/ska festival. It was founded by Kevin Lyman. In 1996, the skate shoe manufacturer and clothing brand, Vans, became the tour’s main sponsor. The Vans Warped Tour is the longest running touring festival in North America and the largest touring festival in the United States. In the late 90’s, the tour even went overseas to play dates in Australia, Japan, New Zealand, and Europe. It returned overseas to play a date in London in 2012 and again in 2015. Through the years, Warped Tour expanded on its music genres to include pop-punk, hardcore, emo, screamo, metalcore, and even some hip-hop and pop bands and artists. Many bands like Fall Out Boy, Blink-182, and Paramore, got their start on the Warped Tour. There’s even one notable pop artist who got her start on Warped Tour, but I’ll tell you more about it as you read on. It’s been said that Warped Tour is an initiation of sorts for bands because its a non-stop, all day touring event with many other bands that goes across the country over the entire summer. It’s intense to say the least, but from what I hear, tons of fun too. From the perspective of an attendee, it’s also fun for the festival-goers.

I attended my first Warped Tour in 2005.  I went with two friends and my mom because of course at age 16 I clearly wasn’t old enough to attend a music event with a chaperone (*sarcasm*). I also didn’t have my driver’s license by then so it worked out to have her as a ride. One thing different about Warped Tour compared to other music festivals is that you never know the lineup until the day of the festival. When you arrive you have to locate the giant board of set times and make a list of when and where your favorite bands are playing. It was always the craziest part of the day because everyone goes to that board upon entry. It gets so crowded on the way to there. At least I knew about the board in advance in 2005 despite being a Warped Tour rookie. That year I saw Fall Out Boy (only some of their set because Relient K overlapped), Relient K, The Offspring, and The Starting Line. I also planned to see Something Corporate, but they cancelled all their dates. It was the year their lead singer, Andrew McMahon (now of Andrew McMahon and the Wilderness and formerly of Jack’s Mannequin too), was diagnosed with cancer and was undergoing treatment. I still had the best time and knew from then on I would be making Warped Tour an annual event in my life.

I had some amazing times throughout 7 Warped Tours. I saw tons of my favorite bands play, sang my lungs out, skanked in skanking circles (ska music), considered crowd-surfing (although I never actually did), drank overpriced water and gatorade (hydration was always important), was involved in a torrential downpour, and even saw Katy Perry play. Yeah that’s right Katy Perry played Warped Tour in 2008! Told you I’d tell you more about that pop star who got her start on Warped Tour. Well, it was Katy Perry. It was while she had the “I Kissed a Girl” single out. My friends and I were resting and talking in the amphitheater a decent length away from the stage where a performance was happening and all of sudden I heard the “I Kissed a Girl” song. We realized we were relaxing during Katy Perry’s set. We watched the rest of the song, which happened to be her last one. Thinking back on it now, it’s kind of crazy to be able to say I saw Katy Perry play Warped Tour given the level of popularity she’s reached, but I did. It happened.

I could go on about Warped Tour. My memories of the festival are countless. I could tell you about the time I skipped The Bouncing Souls set for Four Year Strong and missed the first words to “Lean On Sheena” getting screamed in my friends’ faces (it was our song), or watching Hellogoodbye and all their friends parade around in costumes during their set, or skanking to my favorite Less Than Jake song in a giant skanking circle. One year a friend who I attended with asked me if I thought we would still attend Warped Tour as we got into our 20’s and 30’s like some of the older people we would see at the festival. My response was something along the lines of, “Hell yeah! Why wouldn’t we?” At the time, I never thought I’d stop liking Warped Tour style music or wanting to attend the festival. I guess I was wrong about that though.

I attended yearly through 2011. I almost went in 2012 as well but decided against it because I didn’t feel like getting rained on again in the festival like I did in 2008 (plus I would have been going alone). That ended my 7 year Warped Tour run and I haven’t been back since. The reason being is that I stopped listening to the type of bands that play Warped Tour. I grew and so did my music interests. The last year I attended I could tell it was already happening. There were less and less bands I was interested in seeing. My focus instead became attending festivals like Coachella, Lollapalooza, or Bonnaroo, ones that played the kind of music I was listening to. Warped Tour was my first festival though (“you never forget your first”). It was also my second, third, fourth, and so on. It prepped me for future festivals and gave me plenty of amazing music experiences a long the way. It also gave me many memories with friends who I attended with and met up with at the festival throughout my years of attending. It was the summer event to attend while I was in high school and college. For all those reasons, it will always hold a special place in my heart.

If you’re interested in attending Warped Tour this year or checking out some bands playing the festival, head to the Vans Warped Tour website. Since this isn’t one specific band that plays the Warped Tour and therefore I can’t leave you a list of songs to check out, here’s a few links to some of my favorite Warped Tour performances and some pictures I took during my years attending the event.

“Rooftops” by Mest, Warped Tour 2003 (Also one of my all-time favorite songs.)

“The Words ‘Best Friend’ Becomes Redefined” by Chiodos, Warped Tour 2009

“I Kissed a Girl” by Katy Perry, Warped Tour 2008

“Sugar We’re Going Down” by Fall Out Boy, Warped Tour 2005

“Bada Bing! Wit’ a Pipe!” by Four Year Strong, Warped Tour 2010

“Devotion and Desire” by Bayside, Warped Tour 2009

Hellogoodbye covering Blink-182, Warped Tour 2006

From First to Last, Warped Tour 2008

The Briggs, Warped Tour 2008

A giant skanking circle!

Reel Big Fish, Warped Tour 2010

Streetlight Manifesto, Warped Tour 2010

The giant board of set times!

Big D And The Kids Table, Warped Tour 2009

Alkaline Trio, Warped Tour 2010

Bayside, Warped Tour 2009

The Bouncing Souls, Warped Tour 2010

Motion City Soundtrack, Warped Tour 2010

 

 

 

Super Bowl XLIX

I don’t think I’d be a good sports blogger if I didn’t write something about one of the biggest days in all of sports. So here it is. The NFL Championship game or the Super Bowl, as it’s most widely known, is the 2nd most watched sporting event in the world (bonus points if you can name the first). Within the last 10-15 years though, it’s become more like a show and less like a football game (until maybe the second half when things finally get settled down and the highly publicized halftime show is over). Then again there’s still the commercials. It’s probably the only time all year when anyone even pays attention to the commercials. So basically it’s become something that football fans and non-football fans alike watch every year.

Super Bowl Sunday is also one of the biggest party days of the year. Tons of pizza, wings, beer, chips, dip, pretzels, hoagies and more are consumed on Super Bowl Sunday. People get together with friends or go out to bars and restaurants to watch the game. It’s a day that really is so much more than football. But let’s face it. Without the actual sport, this day wouldn’t exist at all.

This year’s game took place at the University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale, Arizona (home of the Arizona Cardinals) and featured a matchup between the teams with the best regular season record in each conference the New England Patriots and the Seattle Seahawks. It was an even matchup throughout the entire game and could have went either way. The Patriots opened the scoring in the 2nd quarter with a TD pass from quarterback Tom Brady to wide receiver Brandon LaFell. Running back, Marshawn Lynch of the Seahawks put up 6 when he scored with a little over 2 minutes remaining in the half. Then in the last two minutes before the big Katy Perry halftime show both teams each scored touchdowns. Seattle’s came on a gutsy pass call with 6 seconds left (rather than just kicking a field goal that would have assured them 3 points) that if they hadn’t converted, would have left them going into the second half still down by 7.

Since this is a music blog too I guess I should mention the half time show. I don’t listen to pop music including Katy Perry, but it’s kind of impossible not to know her songs since I usually end up hearing these big deal pop songs in one way or another. Although, there was that time I happened to see her Warped Tour set in 2008 (yeah warped was weird that year). Anyway, she was joined by Lenny Kravitz and Missy Elliott in an elaborate half time show which is the standard for Super Bowl halftime shows these days. If there’s anything she did right though, it was sharks and palm trees.

The second half of the game saw a strong start by the Seahawks as they took the lead for the first time in the game with a 27 yard field goal by Steven Haushka in the 3rd quarter. They followed it up about 6 minutes later with another touchdown and extra point giving them a 24-14 edge over the Pats going into the 4th. But with a game so tight from the get-go, you knew the Patriots were going to push on and attempt to tie the game or take a lead. That’s just what happened. The Patriots scored two 4th quarter TD’s giving them a 28-24 lead with 2:02 on the clock. It was plenty of time for the Seahawks to try to score a touchdown and win the Super Bowl for the second consecutive year. During their final drive it seemed as though they might do it. They ended up on the NE 1 yard line on 2nd down as they let the seconds tick off the clock. Rather than letting Lynch try to run the ball in for what would have been the game winning touchdown, a questionable pass call lead to an interception thrown by quarterback Russell Wilson. Malcolm Butler of the Patriots was the guy who intercepted the ball and secured the fourth Super Bowl win in the last 15 years for the New England Patriots. Tom Brady won his fourth Super Bowl and third Super Bowl MVP award tying him with quarterback great Joe Montana and the rest is history until next year when the Super Bowl turns 50 and the game moves to the newly established Levi’s Stadium in San Francisco, California.