|
|
The following is a schedule of concerts that will be taking place at Mardi Gras. After they happen, I'll post pictures and reviews of them (if possible). Just giving credit here... the thumb-nail pictures of the bands are not mine. They are from Universal Studios website.
I was plesantly suprized by the bands that Universal hired this year. Although there are a few repeats from last year, overall the bands are mostly new, and most of the artists aren't dead or senior citizens (nothing against seniors)...
This year the stage where the concerts are preformed have been moved. Instead of being on the end of Hollywood Blvd by the lake, the stage is now in the cleared out Boneyard. Universal says it's more room, but having a whole street to line people up and down seemed bigger to me.
|
Sugar Ray had their concert on Febuary 22, 2003. It was the first night of Mardi Gras, so who knows how that turned out. I wasn't there (I wanted to be!), so I wasn't able to write a review of the concert or get any pictures. If anyone has some that their willing to share, it would really be appreciated if you could email them to me so I could post them here. I'll give you credit for your reviews and your pictures. Thanks!!!
|
|
The Allman Brothers Band had their concert on March 1, 2003. This was the closest concert to Fat Tuesday, so this was the closest you could get to the right day. Again, I didn't get to see this concert, and pictures would be welcome. I did get a review of this one though. From what I understood, the Allman Brothers' show was very crouded, but having the concerts in the Boneyard helped out a lot. The show was about 2 hours long, but they didn't sing the song the guy reviewing it wanted to hear!
|
|
David Lee Roth
First Mardi Gras Concert that I was able to hear in person, and hopefully not the last. Originally, the concert on March 8th was supposed to be Lynyrd Skynyrd, but from what I understand one of their band members got sick, so they had to cancel. At the last minute, Universal hired David Lee Roth. David Lee Roth put on a good show. It was probably an hour and a half long, and was really crouded. I guess tourism has picked back up since last year (the year after 9-11) or Universal is doing a better advertizing job because last year the concerts didn't get packed until the nights later in Mardi Gras. Not the third concert. The show started on time at 8:30, and after 2 oncors, Roth had played many of his songs, as well as other peoples songs. Around 10:30, the show was over. Luckily, since I went, I was able to take lots and lots of pictures. Check the pictures out below...
|
|
|
|
Hootie & The Blowfish
Hootie & the Blowfish's Concert took place on March 15, 2003. So far, I've seen David Lee Roth and Hootie and the Blowfish. Out of the two, I liked Hootie & the Blowfish better. Not really knowing much about Hootie & The Blowfish, I thought they put on a better show than David Lee Roth. Unlike David Lee Roth, there was no cursing in the show, and the band kept it mostly rated G. Hootie & the Blowfish sang both their songs as well as other groups songs such as songs like Shining Star by Earth, Wind, and Fire and Hot in Here by Nelly. Hootie & the Blowfish came out for one oncore and during it golfer John Daily came out and sang a song as well as Hootie & the Blowfish singing a few more of their songs. Once again, I was able to get lots of pictures. Check out some pictures below:
|
|
|
|
Live
Live had their concert on March 22, 2003. I had never heard of Live before the concert, and lots of people that I asked had not heard of them either. Apparently, they have some hit singles out. Why has no one heard of the band? Maybe like the lead singer said, "theres just to much Britney Spears on the radio to play Live." It was a good concert. Nice and long. More cursing than Hootie and the Blowfish, but not as much as David Lee Roth. There was a big anti-war theme going on with the band. Every few songs the lead singer would mention something about how the war in Iraq isn't right. Again, I got pictures.
|
|
|
|
Brian McKnight
Originally, the concert that was going to take place on March 29th was Counting Crows, but that all changed a 2 weeks before the concert. Like Lynyrd Skynyrd, Counting Crows canceled their concert, making them the second band to cancel this year so far. Counting Crows replacement was Brian McKight. McKight's concert started about 15 minutes late, and had some new stuff that wasn't in any of the other Mardi Gra Concerts like 2 big video screens. When I saw them, I thought Universal got smart and decided to film the concert so the people in the back could see since the Boneyard slopes down to the disadvantage of the people in the back, but instead, the screens played Brian McKight's videos. The show started out with an introduction on the screens kind of making a parody of Sports Center. The screens were then used for a song "featuring" Justin Timberlake without him really being there. Then the screens were used one last time when the McKight sang the song that made me realize that I did know what he sang. Not sure what it's called but it's that song that goes... "one. your like a dream come true. two. I want to fall in love with you. etc." or something like that. There was one more song sung after that one, and the concert was over with the normal confetti coming out over the croud. Brian McKight was the only concert this year that I've seen that didn't do an oncore, but it's not like he got one. In the middle of the last song, he said some goodbyes like other bands did too, but when he said it, I'd say that half of the people there walked out.
Also, there was added security at this concert too. In the middle of the croud, there was a security guard standing on a bench watching over the croud during the whole concert. I also noticed that the croud was a lot younger at this concert too. Don't know if the younger croud and the security guard have any connection. Personally, I would have perfered to see Counting Crows in concert rather than Brian McKnight, mostly because I know more than one song done by Counting Crows (I have their CD).
Again, I got pictures below.
|
|
|
|
Disco Party
Lets just say you had to have had lived through the disco era to really enjoy this concert. For someone like me who never had experienced the 70s, it all seemed a little too weird!
The night started out being as packed as it could be. This had to be the biggest turn out for any of the concerts so far. I didn't get to ride the new Jimmy Neutron ride because of it's very long line due to the crouds, but thats off topic. The concert started out with Deney Terric introducing the Disco Party, and then the Village people came out and sung 4 songs including YMCA, Macho Man, and In the Navy. After they were done with their 4 songs, they went in and there was probably a 5 minute intermission before KC and the Sunshine Band came out. They took up most of the concert playing for over an hour. They played some really famous Disco songs as well, but I can't tell you the names. I also found it amazing that KC must own more cequenced jackets than my 75 year old Grandma. He changed them almost every song!
But the audience was the part that was a little too weird for me! At all of the other concerts, people danced, but mostly standing in one spot and bouncing around a bit. For the Disco Party, people were dancing much more than at all of the other concerts, and I wouldn't call how they were dancing in one place either. A couple in front of me was practiceing their swing dancing (go figure? I thought it was Disco). I kept on getting bumpt from behind from a large group of people dancing. I heard that over by where Kongfrontation used to be there was a large croud doing the electric slide, and I heard that there was a long conga line going through the parts of the park that was open. Like I said, I didn't get it, but I didn't live through the Disco Era either.
While Brian McKight had extra security from the securty guard standing in the middle of the bone yard, The Disco Party had much more than that. No one was standing in the croud for this one, but there was securty on the roofs of the soundstages watching the croud. Lots and Lots of them too!
I got lots of pictures, like I always try to do. I can't post as many for all of the concerts because I've been noticeing that if I bunch of people are trying to get onto this page at once it exceeds my sever allowment and geocities shuts down my site for a while. Hope you don't mind!
|
|
|
|
|
|
Willie Nelson
I wasn't able to go to Willie Nelson's concert. I wanted to, but the people I go with decided that they'd rather go to an Al Kooper concert in Lake Worth, so I wasn't able to see Willie's concert. Sorry to dissapoint you. If you've seen the concert, and you would like to write a little review of the concert or send some pictures of the concert, please let me know by emailing me (I'll give you credit).
|
|
Smash Mouth
Was the second to last concert during Mardi Gras. Like the Brian McKnight concert, Universal got out it's video screens, but not to play the music videos that go along with the songs in the background. For Smash Mouth, they had cameramen going around filming the concert for those in the back, which they should have done for all of the concerts. Smash Mouth was the croudedest the park had been for mardi gras though. Everything in the park had at least a half hour wait which could have been because of a combination of everyone wanting to hear "Walking on the Sun" and it being a day before Easter. The concert started before the parade, so everyone was there for the start of the concert and not waiting for the parade to finish. Smash Mouth finally came out and sang a lot of the songs that made them famous as well as some new stuff (the old stuff is better). After they sang Walking on the Sun, they went backstage, got an oncore, and came out with Joey Fatone from NSync. They sang a few songs together including NSync's "Gone" and the concert finished with "All Star." Then the parade started at 10:00, going the opposite way and enableing everyone to get a lot more beads because lots of people left after the concert, and then the park closed. I got plenty of pictures.
|
|
|
|
Chris Issak
The last Mardi Gras concert at Universal Studios for 2003. Chris Issak had his concert to close the Mardi Gras Concert Series on April 26, 2003. I was unfamilar with his music before I heard him at his concert and I did expect something different. I was thinking maybe a bit more rock, but he turned out to be country. His concert had an introduction while all of the band members were coming out with a bunch of strobe lights on the stage and swing music, and I think that made the suprize bigger, because that didn't have much to do with country, but then Chris Issak came out in a sequenced western cowboy suit and started playing some of his songs that were country and then started turning a bit more like rock at the end of the show. Since I really don't know much about his songs (I'm not a fan of country), I can't really tell you what songs he played. Sorry about that. Once again, like at the Smash Mouth concert from the previous week, Universal had camera men out filming the concert and it was projected on two large screens on each side of the stage. To tell you the truth, Chris Issak's concert really didn't need them. It was really empty and you could have probably walked right up to the stage if you wanted too. Soon, the confetii was shot out from the stage and Chris Issak and his band went backstage. I don't know if he was planning to do an oncore or not, but normally, if the confetii is shot out, it means that the band wasn't coming out. The only problem with this that everyone wasn't leaving and Chris Issak was getting an oncore like it or not. He finally came back out this time wearing a mirrored suit. Kind of reminded me of the wardrobe changes of KC from KC and the Sunshine band concert. He sang a few more songs, and then sang a song where he brought people up on the stage to be his background dancers. And he got off of the stage. He walked through the croud, surrounded by police officers and middle aged women until he reached a spot where a security guard normally stands and contuined singing that same song from that spot, and then he walked back to the stage, still being followed by his security and fans. He actually walked right in front of me and then right behind me so I got some close ups on the video of filmed that were actually close ups and not using 700x Digital Zoom. Soon, Chris Issak went backstage again, and recieved a third oncore. He sang one or two more songs. A while later, after 10:00, the concert ended with the Islands of Adventure Fireworks going off behind the stage. Overall, I wasn't crazy about the music, but I got to admit that Chris Issak put on a pretty good show from everything from his jokes to him coming out into the audience. The last parade of the year then started with Universal emptying their bead and coin supply and many of the stilt walkers taking a bow at the end of the parade (which normally doesn't happen). Of course, I got plenty of pictures of the concert...
|
|
|
RETURN TO HOME
|
