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| | Arts Calendar / October 27 / Concerts |
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20:00 | HP Connected Music: Rita Ora (UK) |
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 If there is a sense when Rita Ora walks into a room that a star has already been ordained from above then nobody appears to have told the young Londoner and future pop princess herself. She has not an air or a grace about her. She greets the bar staff dotted in the hostelries of her neighborhood like old friends, mostly because they are. She bumps knuckles with the coat check chicks and management with the same egalitarian smile. Friends stop by for a brief "Hi". Strangers look on with a discernible, barely contained "wow". There is no mistaking the fact that Saturday night in Notting Hill is brightened by a touch of Rita’s special aura. She might not have been born this way, but she was recognizably named it. Buzz acts come and go, but the pertinent feeling amongst those that have heard the results of her knockout first round in the recording studio as a bona fide solo star, accompanied by a blue chip roster of production hands, is that the effect Rita Ora has locally is about to translate to the upper terrains of the global pop market. A composite of street-smarts of the metropolitan life she was schooled in and pure, urgent, otherworldly star quality, she makes for a brilliantly contradictory mix. Rita is one of the few British female singers that has emerged singing the opening bars of her career ready for world star status. So why is she so palpably shy of celebrating herself? "Because, you know what? I might seem confident about all this. It might be all I've ever wanted. It might even be all I'm ever any good at. But I am still really, really nervous about it all." The fact that she has already made British chart history as the vocalist on one of the first ever drum and bass number one singles here, DJ Fresh's "Hot Right Now", is almost brushed aside. "That was Fresh's triumph", she gifts the producer, though it's clear her soaring vocals lend the propulsive tune a hefty portion of its personality. "He started a tiny drum and bass record label back in the day, now here he is with its first number one? That's incredible for him. He owns that." Regardless, the breakout smash success of her first number one looks very much like the dress rehearsal, the overture or prelude to the main act: Rita Ora solo. If "Hot Right Now" has temporarily rocked the British pop chart, her solo material is about to blow its mind. Rita Ora began singing as at age six. This is where the magic started: "What drew me most to singing was the fact that I could make a noise that made me feel good about myself. I used to sing poems. It was just about doing something that inspired a reaction. It was about self-esteem, even back then, at a young age. I made a noise, the reaction was positive. Simple as that. I could sing my feelings. It was a new, exciting way of expressing myself. This brand new communication device. I understood the power of it straight away." Rita was born the second of two girls in war-torn Kosovo at the start of the 90s. Her mother, father and elder sister decamped to London before her first birthday. "I wasn't made to feel aware of what we had come from," she says, "but obviously when you grow up you get to learn something of what your parents went through to get you where you are today. I owe them everything." Guided by her innate performance instinct, as well as her developing and hugely impressive powerhouse vocal range, she began dipping her toes into the local music industry in West London as an early teen. She managed to keep one step ahead of the stop-starts and false alarms of anyone treading tentatively into the shark pond of the London creative elite, enjoying notable highs. Rita has a natural propensity toward mixing street-beats with pop. Her music is the contents of her young brain spilling out into song. The sounds she heard on the streets of Notting Hill, the brassy calypso and raga of Carnival mingling with the ringtone pop emanating from fast food joints; the splash and funk of the locale's black music history engaging with the elegant noise of gentrification. If she sounds black and white, hard and soft, rich and poor, it is because her world is full of those competing factions too. She just learned to set it all to song. "My first record," she says, "had to sound exactly like my life." Equally, her brilliantly developing sense of style is a dynamic and deliberate mismatch of high and low fashion. A ball-gown, Louis Vuitton shoes and a biker jacket make perfect sense to Rita’s unique fashion instinct. Costume jewelry is interchangeable with opulent bling. She says working with a stylist "is just like playing dressing up with your friends before you go for a night out, with a few more contacts." Rita love to rock platinum blonde hair. At the prospect of going brunette, she recalls: "I tried a wig on in Top Shop recently and just thought, never again." She also loves her signature red lipstick, and was delighted to see young fans at her recent London showcase who had already caught on to her signature red smackers. "They were all rocking red lipstick on the front row! Yes. Fierce." Though Rita is signed to a modeling agency, it is clearly in music where she is about to shine. Her debut UK single "R.I.P." is a thrusting, compelling ode to lost love. Sitting around the peripheral borders of pop, R&B, rock, rave and dusted off with a sugar-coating of immaculate heartbreak, "R.I.P." thunders upon the very first listen. It was written by the current master-craftsman of relationship drama, hip hop connoisseur, Drake: "I had the hugest crush on Drake," she gushes. "Then I met him, sweetest guy ever and it evolved into a great friendship. I can't believe he gave me such a great song!" The song was produced by the titans of underground/overground crossover British dance, Chase and Status and also features a guest rap from that pocket dynamo, Tinie Tempah. "I wanted to keep it British," Rita explains. "I need to rep for the UK!" Yet for all its invincible, diamond-plated credentials, this is very much Rita Ora's opening shot, and she really does own it. Rita's debut U.S. single, "How We Do (Party)", is an infectious pop-rock party anthem paired with her stunning vocals. The single first premiered on New York's Z100 on March 23rd and quickly became Just Jared & KIIS FM's Pick of the Week. Lyrically, "How We Do (Party)" celebrates being young and having fun, as Rita sings, "We're tearing up the town, "cause that's just how we do" over production duo The Runners' irresistible guitar and drum driven beats. Rita and The Runners have created one of the most addictive tunes of 2012, and "How We Do (Party)" is sure to be an essential on every playlist this summer. "I had to learn my pop instinct," she says. "The lyrics had to be tough because the song is so immediate. I wanted that twist. This is about the feeling of waking up in the morning and wanting to take another whiskey shot," she says, looking embarrassed for all of five seconds, "We've all been there. Haven't we?" There's plenty more where that came from. Rita Ora has fashioned a debut album that is ready to stake its claim on the world stage. She has become a huge priority for JAY Z's Roc Nation. The music icon introduced her personally to the American public with a surprise visit to one of the US’s premier radio stations Z100 earlier this year. "I was so nervous!’ she enthuses "but so excited too!" The superstar cast of artists that have lined up to work with her reads like an award ceremony of modern urban musical excellence, from the left-field margins right to the heart of mainstream, including Diplo, Switch, Stargate, and The-Dream, in addition to Chase & Status and Drake. The result is a monopoly stronghold on future pop supremacy. "I can’t believe how lucky I’ve been," she says, "that these people have even given me the time of day, let alone clicked with me in making my album." She name drops "Rock The Life" - a ridiculously catchy, mid-tempo R&B growler - and the beautifully delivered ballad, "Love and War" as her other album favorites, before the world picks its own. It's time for Rita Ora to dive in headfirst and see how her unique talent plays out. With support slots on the DJ Fresh and Coldplay tours this year she's ready. "I am so nervous," she repeats. "Now is when I'm put to the test. I don't even know what to expect. I have to dive in. I've just got to do it." 2014 is primed to be the year of Rita Ora. She was unstoppable and dominated the UK charts with the release of her #1 certified platinum debut album, "ORA." The Roc Nation/Columbia signing is now readying to release her newest single, "I Will Never Let You Down." Produced by chart-topping, Grammy nominated, multi-platinum producer Calvin Harris, the new song is a fitting introduction into her sophmore album scheduled for a Summer 2014 international release. Rita had a phenomenal rise in 2012, which continued in 2013. She was the only artist to have three #1 singles in a row and proved herself as a force to be reckoned with on the stage, from her European tour with rock giants Coldplay, supporting Drake and playing every major UK music festival, along with her headline "Radioactive" tour across the UK. The multi-Brit nominee is not only reaching to new levels musically, she is also building a fashion and business acumen with her collaborations with brands such as DKNY, Rimmel and Adidas. More info
YotaSpace  |
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19:00 | Stephen Triffitt: Frank Sinatra Tribute (UK) |
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 Stephen Triffitt's story reads like a Hollywood film script. It's one of rags-to-riches and lucky breaks. It's about a photocopier salesman from Weston who became Sinatra. Today, Stephen Triffitt is arguably the number one Frank Sinatra tribute act on the planet. His voice, his moves, his style, even his looks – Stephen has made the great man his own. Stephen first discovered his uncanny vocal resemblance to Sinatra after singing karaoke on holiday in Tenerife. Disillusioned by his job as a salesman, he decided to take a risk and headed out on the road as Sinatra, singing in pubs and clubs across the South West. In 2000, and several hundred caravan parks later, Stephen applied for the ITV talent show Stars In Their Eyes. Stephen made it to the final, but lost out to "Freddie Mercury". But despite missing out on the winner's spot, the public response was overwhelming and the phone started ringing with offers of work. Since then, Stephen has played Frank in the hit show The Rat Pack in the West End, toured throughout the UK, Europe, the Far East and America, and regularly appeared on TV on both sides of the pond. He's even played a seven-week stint at the Sands Hotel Las Vegas, where Sinatra and his Rat Pack buddies partied. In addition, there have been five solo tours of Stephen Triffitt Celebrates Frank Sinatra and the Sinatra Birthday Gala Concerts, and he has gone on to sell out both the Palladium (twice) and the Royal Festival Hall. Stephen Triffitt's live show highlights all the different guises Frank had at his disposal and features some of his best loved hits such as Under My Skin, Come Fly with Me and My Kind of Town, some of his most famous saloon ballads and some of his most exciting if lesser-known songs such as Get Me to the Church on Time. Backed by a full size 17 piece Big Band Orchestra, Stephen Triffitt recreates all this with warmth, style, good humour and above all, an exquisite transformation into Sinatra. "As Sinatra, Triffitt's strength is in his faithful re-creation of Old Blue Eyes' mannerisms, voice and phrasing... you'd swear you're listening to the original," (Pittsburgh Tribune). More info
MMDM Svetlanov Hall |
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20:00 | White Skull (Italy) |
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 Sharp voice, screaming guitars, hammering rhythms, a stunning mixture of power and melody: the result is a high incendiary gradation sound, coming from the heart of five musicians - all this is White Skull. In 1991, after the recording of their first demo-tape, the band was noticed by the audience and the specialized Italian metal press. In May 1994, the band released their second demo entitled "Save the Planet", which received excellent reviews. White Skull also contributed to two Heavy Metal compilation: Nightpieces 4 (January, 1995) and Area Sismica (June, 1995). Finally, a few months later, the Italian indie Underground Symphony gave them the chance to record their debut CD entitled I Won't Burn Alone. The album received a lot of positive responses from the press and local audiences and White Skull started to play in pubs, local festivals and biker meetings. The excellent results pushed the band to write down immediately new songs. Those caught again the interest of Underground Symphony which released in March 1997 the new album titled Embittered. The "Embittered Tour" started soon after the distribution of the album and kept the band busy until 1998. The guys played also with the likes of Overkill, at the Italian "Gods of Metal" festival and in Berlin with UDO and DORO. In the meantime the band kept rehearsing and writing new songs which ultimately brought to the release of the EP Asgard and the CD Tales from the North, a concept album about the myths of the North (Vikings and Nibelungs) with Chris Boltendahl, singer of Grave Digger, as special guest. The album was released in 1999 by Nuclear Blast worldwide. White Skull then played in support of Grave Digger in the "Excalibur Millenium 2000 Tour" in Germany and Switzerland and in March 2000 in Italy. The following album Public Glory, Secret Agony was released in August 2000 on Breaker Records (Udo Dirkschneider's record company), with worldwide distribution by Nuclear Blast. The first line up change happened in February 2001 when original singer Federica "Sister" De Boni left the band due to personal problems. She was replaced with the male voice of Gustavo Gabarro "Gus", a metal singer from Argentina. Finally the band came back into the studio at the end of 2001 in order to produce another concept album entitled The Dark Age based on the Middle Age and on the crimes of the Inquisition. The album was released by Frontiers Records in August 2002. After the good critical and public acclaims who followed the release of The Dark Age the band played a lot of shows and festivals in Europe (Blind Guardian Open Air, Metal Dayz, Badia Rock Festival, Tradate Iron Festival, Valpolicella Metal Festival). Two line-up changes brought fresh new air in the Band, axeman Danilo Bar and bassist Steve Balocco joined White Skull in different times during 2003 and 2004. Notwithstanding the band line-up change, White Skull released in May 2004 the sixth full length titled The XIII Skull for Frontiers Records. After the album release the band had cancelled a lot of shows due to health problem of a band member. During this stop the band wrote a lot of new songs and they came back into the studio at the end of 2005 to record a concept album entitled The Ring of the Ancients based on the Celtic's stories. This CD arose the interest of Dragonheart Records which signed the band to a multi-album deal. In October 2006 Dragonheart/Spv published The Ring of the Ancients. After the album release, the singer Gus Gabarro' left the band due to personal reasons. The Skulls decided to go back to their roots, looking for a new female singer. The new vocalist is Elisa "Over" De Palma, a strong and powerful singer, who is excited and proud to sing in White Skull and brings. The band started to play live shows to promote the new album and to introduce two other new members: Alessio Lucatti (Keyboards) and Jo Raddi (Bass). During the tour, the group started to compose new songs for the album Forever Fight, a real comeback to the original sound of White Skull, which will be out on March 2009 on Dragonheart/Spv. While on tour, on July 2010, Elisa De Palma leaves the band due to personal differences. December 2010: Federica Sister De Boni joins the Skulls and starts right on to work on the new songs and shows. The new album titled Under This Flag is in perfect line with the music proposed by White Skull, is more heavy than ever and will go straight to the hearts and souls of Metal Bangers. Many shows have already been scheduled in support of the new album and the Skulls are ready to kick ass! More info
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