Chris Kirkpatrick, O-Town, BBMAK, Ryan Cabrera, et LFO

In the heyday of 90s boy bands, MTV decided they wanted to be part of the action and started a show called Making the Band. The end result: O Town. The group consisted of Jacob Underwood, Ashley Parker Angel, Erik-Michael Estrada, Trevor Penick and Dan Miller and had really caught tremendous momentum in gaining popularity.
Not surprisingly, the audience was about ninety percent tweens and teen girls at their shows, with the scattered parent who had to drive and supervise a group of girls. The show itself didn’t have much live instrumentation but it did have a lot of flare. The choreography that was performed was just as entertaining as any of the other relevant boy bands at the time. You also better believe that almost all of the crowd knew and sung along to every single song, not to mention danced along as well.
One of the benefits of the band coming from a reality show was that all of the members did have actual vocal ability. When you saw them live, you got what you expected from their voices. Their shows never really reached the same level as the Backstreet Boys or N’Sync, but they had still given and energetic, fun show.

There are thousands and thousands of singer songwriters all doing the same thing. There is a singer songwriter on every street corner it seems. There are singer-songwriters who play the odd song at the odd gig here and there, and then there are the dedicated if a little decedent songwriters like Dallas Texas native, Ryan Cabrera who do tour after tour and album after album. He is a hard working musician, who over the last decade has achieved chart success, released four studio albums, and done countless tours. Not to mention a string of beautiful singers/actresses that he’s dated, of course this isn’t about that what so ever. This is all about the craft that Cabrera has worked so hard at, tailoring his distinct pop/country/rock songs, and keeping his loyal fan base happy. He takes to the stage, acoustic guitar – clad, to a chorus of cheers and screaming and launches into his mid tempo hit, ‘Photo’, it is as though the crowd know every single word, which clearly humbles Cabrera who pushes on through his hour long set. Another highlight is his song, “On the Way Down”, probably the loudest sing along of the evening.
There is a quieter moment when Cabrera takes to the piano for his song true, which the audience this time; are completely silent. You know that an audience appreciate an artist when they respond with such applause, you feel as though it would bring the roof down, but can be so quiet and appreciative that the only noise other than the voice and piano that you hear, is the ventilation system.

Sometimes there’s record labels that simply, by their own involvement with an artist, speak as a seal of quality for their music; the Sheffield-based imprint Warp Records is one such example, given that they’ve discovered and supported some of the most exciting and influential electronic musicians of the past three decades. It’s proved to be the case with LFO, too, who blended techno, IDM and acid house to stirring effect in the late eighties and early nineties; since the 2003 resurrection of the moniker, LFO is now Mark Bell alone with Gez Varley having left, but that’s done little to temper the excitement he’s provided as a live act over the past decade or so; you’d be forgiven for thinking that the sight of Bell perched behind a laptop and some decks might not be the most thrilling, but the sheer dexterity of his constantly-evolving sets, as well as the complexity of his smartly-designed live show, make him one of the dance world’s most enthralling performers, as he continues to tour to this day.