rockband
The End for Power Balance Pavilion
(LR) Jason, Gavin, and Katie from The End’s morning show
For all you Sacramentans out there ““ Made you look!
107.9 The End held their annual EndFest at Power Balance Pavilion Friday night with Headliner and Disney alum Demi Lovato, American Idol runner up Adam Lambert, Owl City, and singing duo Karmin.
Karmin with Amy Heidemann and Nick Noonan were slightly delayed due to an interview on the east coast for ABC’s Good Morning America. Flying from New York to San Francisco, then driving to Sacramento on a Friday afternoon wasn’t the best of ideas, but luckily, for everyone involved, it all worked out.
True to form the kind folks from The End were selecting a number of lucky fans to come up and sit onstage during the performers set. In attendance from 107.9 The End were the Wake Up Call’s own Katie, Jason, and Gavin, along with Dan Mason, Ashley Nickels, and the very entertaining, very talented, and all around nice guy Chris K. (we’re Facebook friends so were like really close, right Chris? ““ Chris? He must not have time to read this, after all he is a very busy man).
Karmin – Click for more images
As Karmin kicked off their set with “Crash Your Party,” the audience erupted into screams as the mostly young female audience let loose some blood-curdling screams.
Karmin is a site to see as lead singer Heidemann came out with her pin-up girl looks, and pop-star attitude, sporting one hell of a hairdo. As she started belting out her Katy Perry sound, coupled with her blazing Nicki Manaj-like rapping, I could have sworn there were two people wrapped into this amazingly dynamic package.
Karmin went on to play “Hello,” from their new album of the same title. Of course their set wouldn’t be complete without the song that got them here, Chris Brown’s “Look at Me Now.” They wrapped it up with their hit single “Broken Hearted.”
Up next was Owl City, best known for their hit song “Fireflies,” they came out singing “Cave In.” I say “their” hit song, but Owl City is a one-man-band who goes by the name of Adam Young (lead vocals, programming, keyboards, piano, synthesizers, guitars, bass guitar, drums, percussion, vibraphone) – I know quite the list.
Adam Young – click for more images
Young does bring along a few friends to help him out while touring. Among them are Breanne Düren (keyboards, backing vocals), Daniel Jorgensen (guitar, vibraphone), Jasper Nephew (guitar), and Steve Goold (drums).
Owl City played a number of their newer songs including “Dementia” and “Meteor Showers.” Of course they also threw in their old standby “Fireflies.”
Adam Lambert sashayed out on stage wearing what appeared to be a lighted pair of pants, but my eyes were deceiving me. Turns out they were a very reflective and very shiny pair of pants with a tiger pattern in black and silver. I say sashayed, but he really strutted more than sashayed, but out of respect for his gayness, I thought I would say sashayed.
What? Where are you going? It was just a joke ““ Wonderful, I just lost half my readers.
Lambert kicked some major butt during the very short time he was onstage as he flawlessly performed songs from his new album including “Trespassing,” “Kickin “‘In,” and “Naked Love.”
I was quite surprised when Lambert didn’t end his set with “Whataya Want From Me,” which is clearly his biggest hit to date.
Lambert could easily have headlined this show, which may be why “they” kept him to only and handful of songs, leaving the audience wanting more. Many of the fans waited in anticipation for him to come back out and perform an encore.
Adam Lambert – Click for more images
After a brief set change, Demi Lovato arrived on stage as screaming fans greeted her. Many people around me had to plug their ears for fear of blowing out an ear drum or two. In fact, after a couple of songs into Lovato’s set you could see a number of audience members leaving the pavilion. Was it Lovato not being able to hold their attention, or simply the discomfort of all the screaming?
Lovato played several covers including Lil Waynes “How to Love” and Lady Antebellum’s “American Honey.” She also played her smash hit “Give Your Heart a Break.”
If you measured this concert purely on decibels, I would say the show belonged to Lovato as every girl under the roof screamed throughout her set, but I would have preferred to see more of Lamberts work, let’s face it those pants were hot!
While you’ll see a number of photos from the show, you will notice I’m lacking Lovato’s. It appears that Lovato has been so successful and in the media so much, that her management team didn’t think SacAndBeyond was worthy to shoot her portion of the show. I know ““ my therapists didn’t understand it either.
If you haven’t been to a concert put on by The End, it’s well worth it, and you never know, you could End up with some really great onstage seating!
Jingle Balls Rock
Hey it’s almost Christmas! How do I know? Well they just had their umpteenth annual Jingle Ball concert out at Power Balance Pavilion on Thursday, signaling the start of the Christmas season. In fact, I believe it’s their fourteenth annual Jingle Ball.
107.9 The End hosted the party with performances by JoJo, Breathe Carolina, Cobra Starship, Gym Class Heroes, and headliner Selena Gomez.
Due to the number of artists the first few were held to three songs. In between performances The End’s own Christopher K, working with many of the other on-air talent, were upgrading attendees from the nose bleed section to front row seats. These were some serious front row seats too. They were onstage and to the side within in a few feet of the actual performance.
Click for more images of JoJo
Opening the show was JoJo who played to a less than enthusiastic crowd. She wore her standard midriff top and jeans ““ the better to show off her fine physique. Singing a few of her hits including “A Little too Late,” she was able to engage the crowd and get most of them on their feet. However, the audience didn’t seem overly enthusiastic.
The lack of audience feedback and enthusiasm was somewhat disappointing. In between performances host Christopher K. and crew continued to work the crowd and at times was successful in getting their juices flowing. As each artist took the stage, the crowd would bounce back up on their feet to dance and sing to their favorite songs, but the crowd still appeared to be less enthusiastic than from past shows.
Click for more images of Breathe Carolina
David Schmitt and Kyle Even who make up Breathe Carolina got off to a rocky start and never completely recovered. Schmitt, known for his use of the auto-tune and vocoder to compliment his voice, sounded flat and off-key. While their performance was entertaining to watch, with Schmitt rocking every inch of the stage, it was also disappointing to listen to. Hopefully next time they remember to bring all their gear and double check that it’s plugged in and ready to rock. Either that, or try not to schedule a gig when mercury is in retrograde (hey it’s an astrology thing).
Click for more images Cobra Starship
Next up was synthpop sensation Cobra Starship with Gabe Saporta (lead singer), Ryland Blackinton (guitar), Victoria Asher (keyboards), Nate Novarro (drums), and Alex Suarez (bass). They sang a number of their hit songs including “You Make Me Feel.” Saporta had great stage presence and paid quite a bit of attention to keyboardist Asher. They played off of each other quite well and it made for a great set. Oh ““ and they sounded great too.
Click for more images of Gym Class Heroes with Neon Hitch
Following Cobra Starship was New York’s hip-hop band Gym Class Heroes with Travie McCoy leading the charge. Singing a number of their hits including “Stereo Hearts,” featuring Adam Lavine in the background, lead singer Travie McCoy was constantly playing to the crowd.
Just prior to their third song McCoy invited the amazing Neon Hitch onstage to sing their song “Ass Back Home.” Hitch was amazing and dazzled the audience with her over the top costume complete with an Indian style headdress.
Click for more images of Selena Gomez
Nineteen year old Selena Gomez made her way up on stage in a red sequined top and short white skirt singing “Year Without Rain.” Her singing was flawless with a solid stage presence. She interacted with members of the band throughout her performance adding to her charm.
Gomez sang a long list of hits ending her set with “Naturally” and “Who Says.”
While I believe the enthusiasm of some was lacking, there were a few fans that brought more than enough enthusiasm for everyone. One such girl won the chance to take a seat on stage and she wouldn’t stop screaming, obviously excited to be there. Another young lady, Megan Ray, won tickets and decided to write an article for her school paper at Vacaville High, and was given access to the pit area to take pictures, along with all the other photographers. Armed with her point and shoot and a whole lotta love for the bands, she was rocking all night long. She screamed on several occasions when one of the performers got close, or glanced her way.
It was quite a show packed with a lot of talent. Now that it’s over I can start planning my Christmas ““ bah humbug!
Selena’s Setlist:
A Year Without Rain
Hit the Lights
Round and Round
Bang Bang Bang
Whiplash
Love You Like a Love Song
The One That Got Away
Tell Me Something I Don’t Know
Naturally
Who Says
