Grease: The High School Musical
Yesterday, Saturday March 28th, 2009.
I took my brother and went to Franklin High School, in the Riesterstown/Owings Mills area, to watch their rendition of “Grease”. It was defiantly entertaining.
The live band was AWESOME, that really impressed me. I was kind of worried it would be one of those “play a CD on cue” type thing. But it wasn’t. The band themselves were absolutely great.
The stage was VERY cool, I loved how it was designed, I hear that our very own Java Mammas’ Troy built it. Great job buddy! =).
The tech crew were very much on point, they knew what to move, where, and when. So the transition between the acts went very smoothly, and I love the Garage/Car, brilliant.
Now for some constructive criticism.
I honestly don’t think the Casting Director, and the Vocal coach were doing their job. The acting was really good, but not from everybody. The singing, well, very few actually did it well. My issue is, this is a musical, so you should at least train the lead characters a little more than. It was still enjoyable, but when your about to tackle such a famous play/movie, then you should expect it to be compared, at times, with the original thing.
I’m not blaming the actors/actresses at all, they did very well. If the Director/Vocal coach says “that’s good!” then they will do it exactly that way. They were all very talented, and I can see their potential, I just hope that the next time they are in a musical, that they would be coached by someone who could tap into that talent that’s waiting to come out.
Good job guys, it was a very nice production, and we totally enjoyed our selves.
Keep it up, and I wish you all the best in the future.
Salaam.
A night with the Demon Barber of Fleet Street + more
Ah yes, Sweeney Todd.
Friday night was amazing, I picked up my awesome friend Teporah, and we went to Spotlighter’s Theater in Mt. Vernon for the opening night of “Sweeney Todd”. It was kind of odd when the Ticket Man asked for my name, I was a bit confused, but I noticed that there was list of names on a list, so I assumed those were the people who bought the tickets online or something. But luckily, even thought they were almost sold out, I was able to get us 2 tickets.
I must say it was odd, funny, and freakin awesome, all at the same time. Its my 1st time to see ANYthing of Sweeney Todd, so I didn’t know the story or what to expect. Teporah, who knows the the story almost by heart, and has seen a bigger production of the play, totally loved it, and said that she enjoyed this one better. They stayed true to the story, and it was amazing. I loved it, wholly crap it was awesome. I had NO idea that Torie made the costumes for the play, that’s awesome. I knew Brennan was part of the 3 man music/sound effects team, and I got to see him and say hi to most of the talented actors and actresses after the show. Awesome.
Afterwards we strolled down to XS and had us some sushi, then we drove up to her place, and we jammed for a little bit, then I drove home.
It was an AWESOME night.
Today I was super lazy and woke up around 3:40-iesh, to Meezo bringing me lunch. We watched “Supersize Me” on Hulu, then we headed off to Silver Spring for the benefit show we were playing.
The show was fun, it was a big gallery with things on auction, as well as the several magazines on sale. Those are the magazines that have all art work (either lyrical or visual ) from students. Since only 4 main performers were there, we all ended up facing the mic twice, which was awesome. Rob, The Honest Mistake, a high school duo, & Aowtar Duo (Meezo & I). It was fun.
Now I’m here, still in Oxon Hill. I’m actually happy and surprised that I’m home before 2am, for once =)
My PDA is filled almost every week, with events, shows, and activities in general. Its great, I love being so active, I honestly can’t wait to play more.
Alright ya’ll, have a good weekend.
Salaam.
Acoustic Baltimore: The Hon Bar
Last night’s show was really nice. I got to meet a whole bunch of new people, including the lads from Umbrella Radio. Who will be airing last night’s show tonight at 9pm.
They also took my contact information, saying that I will be contacted for an interview / debut of my CD on their show. Sweet. I’m really looking forward to that, and I will defiantly keep you all updated on when that happens.
I personally hold VERY high standards to my performances, and last night was no exception, in fact, it was essential, because it was my 1st time to play this event. So when my non-folk self got in front of the mic I had to put my best leg forward, but that didn’t happen =(.
The place was PACKED, so naturally it was loud, mostly due to the fact that the awesome act that was before me Sahffi & Sharon totally energized the crowd. Also there were no monitors, so I couldn’t actually hear myself, which means I was terrified that I was singing out of key, add to that I forgot lyrics to the song “Melisa Undone”, I played it off but still it pissed me off.
So as you see, I personally think I blew it, big time. But some people actually enjoyed it. One guy from Texas said that I reminded him of South by South West performances from his hometown, and Teporah tells me that there is House Concert with my name on it coming up soon. Soooo I’m kind of confused really, maybe they were able to see the potential in me, but I’m still pissed at my performance. I’ll try to redeem myself this Saturday at the Pyramid Atlantic Art Center in Downtown Silver Spring, MD. A whole bunch of local artiest are playing a benefit show, its 6-10pm, and $5 gets you in, where you get food and live entertainment. I’ll be bringing Meezo, so hopefully it’ll be a better performance, we shall see.
Alright, I’ll see you tonight at the Java Mammas people.
Salaam.
One Musical Week ends, & another begins
Alright, last week was INSANE for me.
Tuesday: I went to the Red House Tavern open mic with Rob to promote the show we were having there later on in the week.
Thursday: Took my brother and saw COMMON perform at Sonar in Baltimore. It was a FANTASTIC show, he is such a great performer. We got to meet the opening act “Salim & the music lovers” very cool guys, they signed the CDs for us =)
Friday: Had the show at Red House Tavern. Because of some booking issue we all ended up playing shorter sets than originally planned, but non the less my 4 song set kicked ass (because I had an awesome band behind me). Heather on backup Vox, Rob on bass, and my twin Rowen on Djembe. I had requests, and got major props from 1st time Ash viewers, sweet.
Sunday: took Meezo to the Four Letter Words show at The Recher in Towson. They did really well, I liked them better than the band that came up after them. Many of our Java crew were there to cheer and support, I love our Java crew, they totally rock =)
This coming week [Insha-allah (god willing)]
Monday: I’m having a jam session with my new friend Teporah, then going to a show in Friedrick MD
Tuesday: Is a toss up between the BSA Open mic in Baltimore, or the Cardinal’s Nest musical gathering in DC..I still haven’t decided yet.
Wednesday: I get to play a 30 minute slot during the Acoustic Baltimore event.
My set should start around 10pm, this will take place in Bar Hon in Hambden. The event starts at 8pm with a few other artiest playing as well.
Thursday: I’m hosting the Java Mammas open mic, with feature artiest Ira Gamerman. w00t!
Friday: Going to see “Sweeny Todd” the musical play, which some of my friends are a part off.
Saturday & Sunday: sleeeeeeep.
So there you have it..holy molly…I’m taking this “being active” really seriously. Good job Ash, show that Sudanese gene who’s boss =)
Have a great week everybody.
Salaam.
Indie Band Survival Guide
Oh my god, I love ReverbNation.
I just got an email from there, they now have a free PDF download called the Indie Band Survival Guide. Its tips on how to maximize promotion for your band and shows, its completely free to download, and they ask you to share it with your friends, so go a head,right click & safe as pdf, print it out, add it to your eReader, or just pass it along to your musical friends.
Last night’s open mic went well, I think we (Rob & I) have convinced a couple of people to come out to the show on Friday, the rest of the people were either drunk or cheering for the hockey game. I’m not a fan of the bar scene, but I promised Rob I would be there, and its usually better to have a friend with you at a new open mic (new to me at least)
Today is gloomy, and that always gets me down, when I get home I’m planning to re-string my guitar Insha Allah (god willing) for Friday’s show, its looooong over due.
Enjoy your Wednesday everyone, hopefully I’ll see some of you at the show.
Salaam.
A Full Weekend.
I must say, this weekend has been the absolute best weekend yet in my 2009.
Friday night I met up with my UB buddies, and went to a midnight showing of WATCHMEN at Muvico. We all enjoyed the movie very much, but didn’t really like their choice of music for the flick, yet we enjoyed it non the less. You should check it out if you can.
Saturday I got to hang with friends, eat food, and play music all evening long. Got to meet a few new friends, and hung out with friends I haven’t seen in a while. Great night.
Sunday I went into the City (oh how I love the city), saw a studio apartment, which I personally liked very much. The owner is a little concerned with the fact that I play guitar. The acoustics of the room is fantastic, but he’s worried that I may be an inconsiderate bastard and have metal muse sessions at 3:30 am. I assured him that its an acoustic guitar, and I don’t play metal =). I also pointed out that I do have a day job, so I’ll be at work in the morning, and sleeping at night. That seems to be the “only” point of concern, so we’ll see how that will play out.
After that meeting, I parked on the west side of the Washington Monument in Mt. Vernon. It was such a lovely day, I sat near the fountain, wrote about my day in my journal, then had me a light snack. While doing so, a classic guitar player came out and was sitting on a bench behind me and started to play a few peaceful classical pieces. Oh my god, I felt like I was in a scene from a movie, very beautiful.
After being serenaded, I drove up to Bowie, where my good friend Dena was having a cookout. I arrived there, got to hang with Dena & Ola, then later that night Ateek came over. We then proceed to play Wii and have us a good time.
Then around 10pm I drove back home, and slept with a big smile on my face.
It was great, al-hamdulillah =)
Hopefully I’ll be able to have more of these wonderful weekends, with MORE of you guys.
I hope your weekend went well peeps, have a great week everyone.
Salaam.
Play our 24 hour game =)
So Dan & RobTom were able to fix some of the bugs, the game still has some glitches, but its a much more playable version of the game.
Its a flash game, so I think you might need the application to play it. You can download the zip file here, I haven’t tried it yet, so make sure to let me know what you think if you get a chance to play it =)
Awesomeness.
The past couple of days have been GREAT! Al-hamdulillah (thank God).
Last night’s Open Micness was great, it was PACKED, we go to not only do the challenge but also have a feature, all the way from Boston, their name was Gretel (sp?), and they were cool, the drummer girl played a bucket at one point, as well as a musical saw, nice.
The topic for next month’s challenge, which will be hosted by yours truly, is “Sad Little Bells”. Hmm, I’m trying to see if I could actually write something for it.
ALSO! our Java buddies “Four Letter Word” are playing at the Rhecher in Towson, on Sunday March 15th @ 6pm, its only $5, so if you can make it, make sure to go support them, I’ll be there most defiantly.
I have a new fan, yay, which I am a fan off my self. Her name is Teporah, she’s a member of the Baltimore Songwriter’s Association. I’m completely obsessed with one her songs called “Love Isn’t Enough”, oh my god its so memorizing.
She’s half Armenian, and she totally digs my music, we are even talking about a possible collaboration in the near future, which would be freakin AWESOME!
Also I’m kind of leaning towards putting a band together, only I’m trying to be unconventional with it. So I’m thinking of having a percussionist, a cellist, and maybe a keyboardist. I even know a talented Harp player, she’s a really good friend of mine, and I’m thinking of featuring her in one of my songs.
So many ideas and inspirations, I honestly can’t wait to get this project rolling.
Also, I’ve posted the new song “Be With” on my MySpace & ReverbNation pages.
Tonight should be fun.
After work I want to go home, take a 2 hour nap, freshen up and go meet my UB partners of crime at Muvico for a midnight showing of Wathchmen, Insha Allah (God Willing).
I hope your weekends go well my friends, take care everyone =)
Salaam.
Hey Ash, what the heck has been going on?
Well let me tell you my good friend,
I have not picked up the guitar since my last show at the Bowie Town Grille, and its driving me nuts. I feel useless, and compressed. Luckily I’ll be able to let “some” of that steam out tomorrow when I hit the Java Mammas, I haven’t been there since Rob’s Birthday gathering last month. Holy Crap!
The job situation is frustrating. I really like the job, its exactly what I thought it would be, and the pay is good. The only problem is, its fickle, the university can cancel the contract with my employer at any time, then BAM! I’ll be jobless, again.
What I don’t understand is this, the university PAYS a crap load of money to the contractor, who then hire us, and send us to work here at Bowie. So now that we are here, why can’t the university just hire us directly? make us staff. It’ll be cheaper, I’m sure, than paying what I presume twice the amount to the contractor.
You see, I want to move back to my beloved city, but with such a fickle position, I can’t. I worry that after I move out there, and sign a lease, that for some reason the contract ends. All I need is a year’s commitment from the position, but that isn’t possible. So until it solidifies, I’m stuck at my family’s house. damn.
Some bright thoughts:
Today (Wednesday) should be a wonderful day, Insha Allah (god willing). I’m hoping the day would zoom by fast, I’m having dinner with my Lovely Lisa in the city (I’m thinking Sushi).
Tomorrow (Thursday) is pay day, w00t, which means I would FINALLY be able to buy the new U2 album, which was released yesterday, this is going to be good. Also I got to hear Chris Cornell’s new album on his MySpace Page yesterday, its pretty damn cool, so that’s definably next on my list.
Friday, “Watchmen” is released, a group of my SDE buddies are thinking of going to the 11pm showing (because there wasn’t a midnight one) at Muvico.
The Weekend, is also filled with cool events, so I should do my best to look at the bright side of things, until the job situation settles down.
And there you have it, that’s what’s been going on in AshLand =)
Salaam.
