Chicago and the Doobie Brothers Kick off Summer Tour in Phoenix

Chicago, Doobie Brothers Tour Rolls Out

Co-headlining Dates for Summer 2010 with the Tour

Kicking Off Right Here in Phoenix!

June 15 – Dodge Theatre

Tickets On Sale This Monday at 10am

(Phoenix – March 23) For yet another summer, classic rock staples Chicago and the Doobie Brothers will co-headline a tour of the United States.  Both bands will complete a 25-date circuit across the country, beginning Tuesday, June 15 at Dodge Theatre in Phoenix, AZ. The schedule currently wraps up with a July 22 show at the Verizon Wireless Music Center in Noblesville, IN.  The Phoenix show starts at 7:30pm.

Tickets priced at $38.50, $48.50, $85.00 and a limited number of $125 Golden Circle Tickets will be available starting This Monday, March 29^th at 10am. A Special Four Pack Ticket Offer will also be available while supplies last. Tickets are also available at the box office or to charge by phone call 1-800-745.3000. All dates, acts, and ticket prices are subject to change without notice. All tickets are subject to applicable taxes, and service and handling charges.

Exclusive Eisley Interview July 16, 2007

From The Crowd had the pleasure of meeting all of the members for Eisley for a fast-paced interview.  It was easy to tell that this was a family unit, as they often completed each other’s thoughts. The interview took place on their bus a few hours before their performance opening for The Fray on Monday July 16 at the Dodge Theater. 

From The Crowd: Thanks for having us today.  For our readers and those they might not yet know Eisley, go ahead and tell me your name and the instrument you play for Eisley. (From left to right in the photo)

Garron: I’m Garron, I play the Bass, and I’m the cousin

Chauntelle:  I’m Chauntelle, I’m the oldest sister and I play the guitar

Weston: Hi, I’m Weston, I play the Drums, and I’m the brother

Stacy: I’m Stacy and I play the piano, sing and write

Sherri:  I’m Sherri and I play the guitar, sing and write.

FTC: Your new CD, “Combinations” is being released on August 14th.  Why did you decide on this name for the CD?

Sherri:  We just wanted to embody what the CD sounded like.  The music was a combination and a collaboration of a lot of things.

FTC: Was there a vote, or who came up with the name?

Sherri:  I think Stacy did.  We were throwing out names and we couldn’t think of anything we liked and then we were thinking about song titles songs title, and we didn’t think one for a long time and then we were like ok that works because we were running out of time anyways.

FTC: On this record, you partnered with producer Richard Gibbs, Sherri was quoted as saying the “You wanted to work with someone that would have a fresh perspective on how to record your band.  Now that you have finished the record, looking back, how do you feel this impacted the final result?

Stacy: I think it went well.  Definitely better than the last record.  On the last record we had quite a few different producers.  It was nicer just having one person.

Sherri:  Yeah, someone who could concentrate on the whole project, not just one thing.  Rather than this person working on these three songs, and then this person working on these songs.  Richard Gibbs has worked on symphonies and he is a composer, so he was able to bring those aspects in and help our songs breathe more musically than on our last album

FTC:  If you could pick your favorite track off “Combinations”, what would it be and why?

Sherri:  Mine’s always changing.      

Weston:  There are like different favorite songs.

Garron:  Yeah, there are like different flavors. 

Weston: (Laughing) It’s not like choosing your favorite gummy bear flavor, they are so different so it’s like trying to choose your favorite candy.

Chauntelle:  That’s too hard of a question.

Stacy:  I like them all equally.

FTC: Is there any one song that you enjoy playing live more than the others?

Sherri: Invasion is really fun to play.

Weston:  Yeah.  We feel really confident playing that one live.  Some of the newer songs we’re still learning.

FTC: Forget what the media stereotypes say… how would you describe your music?

Sherri :  We always seems to fumble around on that question and answer like melodic, vintage pop and we just end up combining it into a bunch of words.  We’re a whole bunch of different things.  We do write catchy songs, so that’s pop in a sense, but it’s not bubble gum pop.

Garron: Melodic, Fairytale, Unicorn, Seahorse rock.

Weston:  I like Seahorse Rock.  (The group laughs)

FTC: Which of your songs, if any, from any of your releases, do feel is the most misinterpreted by the public or your fans?

Sherri:  I’m not sure; I mean most of our songs are pretty self-explanatory.  They aren’t super vague.  We try to write them so people can relate to them.  Like, Invasion is about the movie.

Weston:  Yeah, I think most people know that.

Sherri:  Yeah, but sometimes people still wonder what it’s about.

Stacy:  Sometimes people think it’s political and it’s about body snatchers.

Sherri: (Laughing) Yeah, we’re not that deep.

FTC:  Do you ever run into any difficult audiences? Do you sometimes have to coerce the people in the crowd into interacting with your music?  How do you handle those situations?

Weston:  That never happens to us… (The others laughing).

FTC: That seems to be a problem here with Phoenix audiences for some reason…

Sherri:  It could be because it is so hot here!

Chauntelle:  Well, we try to say something.

Garron:  We just keep it real

Sherri:  Usually, I have to do most the talking.

Chauntelle:  Well, my mic is off, usually.

Weston:  We just try to stay positive and have a positive attitude

Sherri: We just keep smiling and be real with them.  We don’t want to be like oh were cool, because were the band.

Stacy:  We just try to be ourselves on stage and people respond to that.  Because, we’re not trying to force anything onto them.

Weston.  Yeah, when you’re like “Come on everybody Woo Hoo” and people aren’t into it, it’s just stupid

Chauntelle:  When people see us for the first time, they’re kind of taking it all in and they have to think about it.

Weston:  Its great in out headlining shows because we’ll have all of these kids come to our shows and then they’ll just sort of stare at us, but they come to every show and their really big fans.  They just aren’t jumping all around, but that’s not really our type of music.

Garron:  We’ll play and think that absolutely no one gets it, but then we’ll be signing or outside for like two hours straight after a show.

FTC:  What are some of the tricks of the trade you have developed for survival while touring and some of the aspects of daily life that you sorely miss that we all too often take for granted?

Sherri:  I don’t know…  We all get along well, so it makes touring great.  We’re all really good friends; otherwise it wouldn’t be worth it.

FTC:  In that case, what simple pleasures do you miss the most from home?

Sherri: My own shower!

Chauntelle:  For me its family, I really miss seeing my daughter.

Stacy:  Yeah, family.  I mean we all still live at home, so it’s not really that much different, except there is a little more room in a house the on the bus.

Weston:  Mine would be family and Tae Kwon Do. 

Garron: Family

Weston:  (Laughing) Maybe Tae Kwon Do more than family!

Sherri:  My husband and my house.

FTC:  Which type of venue do you prefer to play in, a large arena, festival or an intimate club?

Garron:  I like theaters, like this is cool.

Stacy:  I like classy.

Weston:  Yeah, this is pretty big.

Chauntelle:  Smaller than this is good.  This is nice because this is indoors.  Amphitheaters, I just feel are so big.

Garron:  Yeah, I don’t like them

Chauntelle:  With Amphitheaters, you just don’t know what’s really going on with them because there are so big and you have people out on the grass.  It just feels weird.

Weston:  Ever since we became a band we’ve played all over the place.  We’ve done the punk rock clubs, where everyone is standing, and we’re not really a standing band.  We’re more of a sit down band.

Sherri:  I really like sitting down watching a band.

Garron:  Yeah my favorite concerts have been sitting down

FTC:  You guy started when you were all so young, now that you’re all older, how have the family dynamics influenced the music.  Are you still as close as when you first started, has touring made you closer?

Sherri:  Closer.

Stacy: Definitely closer.

Sherri:  We have to live in such a small space.

Garron:  Yeah, usually smaller than this.

Sherri:  Yeah, this is our first bus tour, so there is a lot of room.

Chauntelle:  This is just so normal for us.  We don’t even think, oh it’s kind of crowded.  You just keep your junk in your bunk.  (The others laugh)

Sherri:  I don’t really think the family aspect has changed out music.  I mean we’ve all grown older and started listening to other bands and been exposed to new things.  Just growing older has changed our music.

FTC:  We asked a few of your fans from Myspace what question they would like to have you answer and many of them would like to know how you (Chauntelle) feels singing on the record for the first time?

Chauntelle:  It was a really big step for me.  It was a really big challenge.  I had to build up the courage to do it.  So it was scary, but I really enjoyed it.  I really didn’t sing that much on the record, but gosh, I look back now and I wish I would have pushed myself a little harder to do more. 

Weston:  Richard heard her singing and told her “We’ve got to have you on this record”, so that was helpful.

Chauntelle:  Richard was really helpful, because he encouraged me.  Well, everyone did, but it helped hearing it from our producer.  It was nice to have him encourage me instead of hearing it from my family. I do look back and wish I had sang more, but…

Sherri and Stacy:  Ha there were times we had to force her into the vocal box.  She’d say “No… I don’t want to”

Sherri:  There were definitely areas on the record that needed a fresh voice.

FTC:  Do you think you’ll be singing more on tour now?

Chauntelle:  Well, I’ll be singing the parts I sang on the record.  Which will be a different type of challenge, because I have never sang on stage before and it’s really hard.  I mean its fun and after every show I do it, I think ok I can do this.

FTC:  July 24th beginning your headlining tour, why did you decide for it to be an acoustic tour?

Sherri and Stacy:  I don’t know! (Laughing)

Sherri: It’s something different and intimate for our fans.  We’re really looking forward to it.

FTC:  Another question that your Myspace fans wanted to know, was who inspired Vintage People, one thought it might have been your husband?

Sherri:  Oh no.

Weston:  Old People. (Laughing)

Sherri:  Wow, that song is so old.  No, the first verse of that song is actually from my younger sister.  When she was little she had a drawing book and had written this crazy quote in there and that is the first verse of that song.  I just thought it was amazing and used it to start the song and then the rest of the lyrics.  Sorry to disappoint anyone!

Stacy:  I really like that song, it’s really fun.  I think for a while we just wanted to write songs that were fun and happy.

FTC:  Is there any question that you wished that I had asked today or something that you’d like to share with our readers?

Sherri:  Just that I hope that they buy the record and give it a chance.  It is less adolescent than our first one, and I know some people might have thought that one was too young and girly.  This record (Combinations) is definitely more mature so I hope they give it a chance.

Stacy:  Yeah, otherwise we might be living under a bridge. (Laughing).

FTC:  Well that is all of my questions, thanks for taking the time to speak to us today and we look forward to your sophomore records release on August 14.

Eisley:  Thanks!

Brand New Concert Review 11.10.2007

By Adam Scott, FromTheCrowd.com Contributor

Visually Brand New’s stage setup had the makings of nothing less than an explosive in your face show. Duel drum sets, a giant almost African style bass drum, and shiny instruments galore made me feel like I had A.D.D. in a Guitar Center. The show opened with a storm of beats and epic guitar riffs blindsiding concert goers with the octet we now faced due to all the excess instruments. After tumultuously bombarding our eardrums with an opening second to none, the show had just climaxed. Not saying that the show wasn’t great and musically radio quality, I just believe the crowd was looking for more of a rollercoaster ride of their past discography.

Being quite a fan of Brand New after the release of Deja Entrendu in 2003, I heard only one song I was familiar with and the rest of the show seemed to be a song by song journey through their newest album, The Devil and God are Raging Inside my Head. By the standards of hardcore fans this was probably a great thing and an insight into the freshest music recorded. However, for the rest of us I believe we were a bit confused and left a bit empty.

On the flip side, guitarist Vincent Accardi was extremely impressive with his outlandish devices he used to strum his guitar. Using what looked like a tool to vibrate his strings and a cello bow made the most original sounds come from his musical axe. Nearing the end of the set lead singer Jesse Lacey was left on stage to play an acoustic melody with a guest accordion player. Throwing everyone off with the very polka friendly instrument, the band returned to end the show with a wordless eruption of talent, musical genius, and an incredible display of Long Island rock & roll.

Although I felt a bit cheated by the song selection, the show was exactly what I was looking forward to and Brand New delivered on every aspect.  

The Fray Dodge Theatre 07.16.2007 Review II

From the Crowd will have two staff reviews of this show. One, from a long time Fray concert follower and another from someone who saw The Fray for the first time with last nights show.   If you’d like to contribute a fan review of the show, please visit our contribute page.

By K. Mac, FromTheCrowd.com Contributor

 

The lights go out and the crowd starts making noise in anticipation of the headlining act. A green line jets across the stage’s digital backdrop. One by one, the silhouettes of the band members can be seen walking onto the stage. The traveling green line transforms into a heart monitor, showing a pulse right at center stage and the crowd erupts.  The Fray begin to play their set with the only the lighting from the digital screen illuminating their silhouettes.  As they continue to play “She Is”, the stage begins to be lit.

After their stellar entrance, their light show proved to be a slightly overwhelming.  The strobe lights being used were a bit blinding and the fan on my left, Carrie, commented that, “You almost needed sunglasses just to watch.” The early light show was a little excessive, and took attention away from the true talent of the band. However, the colors on the digital backdrop did work very well as the show progressed.  The production utilized colors that created excitement, such as red, yellow, a barcode pattern that moved horizontally compressing and decompressing in such a fashion that it was interesting to glance at but did not steal notice away from the performers.

The light show did become softer for the gentler songs. Lanterns lowered from the ceiling and hung at various levels, the white lights inside blinking intermittently. The lightshow switched to the cooler colors of purple and blue, fitting of the sound being generated on the stage. With the song, “Vienna” the lanterns turned into 3-D screens, and reverted back to the red and yellow color scheme with a varying pattern this time.

The Fray introduced one of their new songs, called “Dixie” with a light-hearted warning that it was “country.” Not being a fan of country music, I was apprehensive. However, “Dixie” is just The Fray with a bit of a country influence. As the song played, a semi-blurred view of blue skies, puffy white clouds and greenery displayed on the digital backdrop, emulating a car as it travels down the highway, adding to the charm of this track and getting smiles out of the audience.

Isaac Slade, the lead singer, then treated the crowd to an anecdote of his childhood, and then threw a bunch of Polaroid pictures into the pit, accidentally hitting a girl in the face with one of the pictures.  Apologizing, he dedicated the next song to her and the band began playing the mega hit, “How to Save a Life.” Old family videos played on the digital backdrop once again adding to the performance as the lanterns were lowered adding even more ambiance to the performance.

On a side note, I’ve always been saddened by the way; the drummer of band is tucked away, hard to see behind the percussion instruments of his choice.  It was a treat when Fray drummer Ben Wysocki came to the front of the stage with conga drums. Isaac rallied all of the audience members to their feet, stating he had to introduce a special guest to the crowd.  He then announced that Ben was going to treat them with some vocals.   The crowd applauded and the band began to play a cover song, as they traditionally do in concert, however, rather than the typical Beetle song; it was Shakira “Hips Don’t Lie”. The crowd ate up the spoofed cover, singing, smiling and laughing hysterically.

Having never seen The Fray in concert before today, I cannot say how it compares to the other shows they have put on here in the Valley. However, I can say that these guys know how to perform and please a crowd. As was heard backstage, they have “flawlessly balanced sound.” They have stage presence and charisma. These four guys put on a show that should not be missed for anything

The Fray ‘How to Save a Life” Tour 07.16.2007

From the Crowd will have two staff reviews of this show. One, from a long time Fray concert follower and another from someone who saw The Fray for the first time with last nights show.   If you’d like to contribute a fan review of the show, please visit our contribute page.

By Stephanie Baldwin

As an obvious ode to their association with medical shows… ha just kidding.  The Fray show, at the Dodge Theater on July 16, demonstrated that The Fray do not take themselves too seriously, poking fun at their own success of their insanely popular “How to Save a Life”, in relation to medical shows, but more importantly showed their fans that they have completely matured into their role as a headlining act.  Ladies and gentleman, The Fray have learned to entertain.

Armed with fabulous lighting, improved set list and stage production such as film clips to accompany their songs, The Fray, skyrocketed their entertainment value and performed one of the best shows Phoenix has seen, not only from them, but all artists in some time.    If you have been a long time Fray fan and been to any number of their shows, you have known in the past that, you would always hear great live music, however, the stage presence and performance factor might be on… or off and this often had to do with the crowd themselves. 

Last night, while the pit and selected areas, stood for the entire show and really seemed to be “in” to the performance, a great deal of people remained seated for a good deal of the performance.  I know that this can be interpreted as the crowd, not being “into it” (which was not the case), and this is when, from prior experience, the performance aspect of The Fray would retreat, however, this was not the case last night.  The Fray entertained the entire 90 minutes of their set, often yelling out to the crowd to encourage them to stand up… in some cases, it was effective; however, it didn’t deter The Fray, it only enhanced their performance.  Isaac Slade, the lead singer of The Fray, who is usually seated at his piano for an entire performance, was up and active, walking around the stage, playing to the crowd.  Trust me, the crowd was soaking it up, but they I am certain they appeared a bit lifeless to the stage. 

One of the highlights of the night came from a lighthearted cover performance.  The Fray typically features a cover song every performance, and for this show, they performed “Shakira Shakira”, which had Ben Wysocki, their drummer performing many of the vocals.  It was perhaps one of the most entertaining moments that the Dodge Theater has seen.  Everyone was standing as Isaac had requested, calling our sections that had not stood.  Walla, the crowd became active participants, laughing, singing along and enjoying the moment, that countless fans ensured would be on YouTube by midnight as they filmed the performance.  After it was over, well, the crowd all sat down again… what is with Arizona crowds?

The show was concluded with a three song encore, in which Isaac paid tribute to their humble beginnings with shows here in Phoenix, six in total, and thanked the fans that been there from the start. He let the crowd know that The Fray would be taking a year off, and hopefully recording a new CD in that time frame, which of course, the audience roared with delight.  At the conclusion of the show, the fans were abuzz with the entertaining performance, many proclaiming it was the best show they’d seen in a long time in the Valley.

Eisley at the Dodge 07.16.2007

By K. Mac,  www.FromTheCrowd.com Contributer

Eisley, currently on tour with The Fray, is a family affair. The band is composed of the Dupree siblings Chauntelle, Sherri, Stacy and Weston and their cousin Garron.  Eisley, like most bands had the difficult task of finding the perfect combination of musicians. Their earlier bass players were friends of theirs, first Amy Whittaker and then Jonathan Wilson. However, with Garron now filling the bassist position, the onstage chemistry cannot be denied.

The band opened with “Memories,” one of the two songs of the evening from their 2005 debut album “Room Noises.” Someone new to their music might not know quite what to make of their eclectic sound. It catches the listener a little off-guard at first, because it is so different. However, if that listener paused for a moment and truly listened, they would realize that this difference they hear is the key to Eisley’s success.

Categorized by most people as Indie Rock, Eisley’s songs show a wide variety of beats and vocals. There are some songs which have gentler background sounds and there are also those that have strong drum beats and energetic guitar parts. In short, there is something to be found for everyone among Eisley’s works.

Perfectly at home on the stage, Eisley’s touring experience showed. They  played well, kept the show going at a good pace and interacted with the audience. About halfway through the set, the lead singer started singing a different song than the rest of her band-mates started playing. Laughing, apologizing and staring over, Eisley proved that they’re just in it to have fun.

Just before leaving the stage, Eisley played their new single “Invasion.” Recently released on iTunes®, it is by far the most popular selection of the 38 items that Eisley has available to consumers. For the first time since they hit the stage, there were a few voices around me that joined in with the lyrics. All in all, the crowd seemed to respond positively to the songs that were played in their thirty minute set, be they new songs or older tracks. If you are looking for a change of pace musically, check out their sophomore record “Combinations,” due to be released the 14th of August 2007.

The Killlers Bring Vegas to Phoenix 04.11.2007

The glitz, theatrics and drama of the Vegas Experience was presented to over 5,000 concertgoers last night, April 11,2007 at the Dodge Theater.  That’s right, The Killers were in town and played to a sold out show of die-hard fans.  It has been over two year since the last time the Killers visited the Valley.   A sold at show of the Marquee was their venue of choice that time around, which holds, 1000 people.  My, how having two hit releases can change things!

Brandon Flowers (vocals/keyboards), the front man for the Killers, was appropriately decked out in a costume that seemed suitable for ‘The Gambler” or a card dealer at the 4 Queens, playing homage to the home and inspiration for their, sophomore album (Sam’s Town), Las Vegas.  David Keuning (guitar), Mark Stoermer (bass), and Ronnie Vannucci (drums) were alo decked out in their own personal style ranging from a glimmering jacket to a plain white Tshirt.

The first three songs followed the order of their Sam’s Town cd, “Sam’s Town”, a few brief lines from “Enterlude” and the colossal hit “When you were young”. The fourth song revisited “Hot Fuss”, their debut cd with “Somebody Told Me”.  The concert was a fantastic mixture of their top hits from Sam’s Town with a delightful mixture of the top hits from their “Hot Fuss” debut album.  The audience was on their feet for the entire performance and joined in singing with the songs.  However, the energy of the room hit a peak when everyone exploded into chorus as The Killer played “Mr. Brightside” for their final song of the set.  A few minutes later, The Killers returned for their encore and preceded play an additional four songs.

The phenomenal performance of The Killer was also greatly enhanced by their amazing staging and light displays.  Never lacking in theatrics, The Killers were able to transform the Dodge Theater into what looked like a supporting act to the Freemont Experience in Vegas.  The lighting was absolutely amazing with set ups that changed with every song.  Confetti exploded from the sky on multiple occasions, creating an even higher level of excitement within the Theater. 

Overall, the concert was an excellent experience and many people left wanting more and looking forward to the next visit from the Killers!