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Halloween brings two distinctly different but equally talented artists to the area
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Cypress Hill is one of the artists ready to drive crowd wild on Halloween in the DC area
Looking for something to do tomorrow and don't want to do a simple party then a concert may be the way to go. With Halloween there are always many choices of interesting things to do and for the lucky people in major cities like NY and yes the DC area that includes big concerts. While yes pretty much every party will have a DJ or music going it is concerts that tend to be the most fun for those who are into music. In the past years bands like The Bravery, Coldplay and more have played to costume clad fans in the DC area. The former actually even dressed up in costume which is an added bonus to watching an artist perform on Halloween. This year there are two polar opposite concerts coming to town but both are sure to be a lot of fun one in a more uptempo hip hop kind of way and one in a more mellow, relaxed way but both artists are extremely talented and worth venturing out on Saturday.
Halloween Concert #1: Cypress Hill at 9:30 Club
Cypress Hill have been making CDs together since the 90s and held a lot of groundbreaking and impressive records. One of the most groundbreaking being that they were the first Latino group to have platinum and multi-platinum albums after selling over 18 million albums worldwide. The band makes a sure to be talked about stop at the 930 Club tomorrow night. While there debut was successful when it was released in 1993 the band's released their most famous CD: Black Sunday. Black Sunday debuted at number one on the Billboard charts, which was a record at the time for highest chart placement for a rap group. Their debut CD was also still in the charts when the 2nd CD was released so they became the first rap group to have 2 albums in the top 10 of the Billboard 200 at the same time. With the release of Black Sunday Cypress Hill founds themselves gaining crossover success, so much so it went triple platinum in the U.S. selling around 3.25 million. The band of course is most famous for the hit single that came from Black Sunday: "Insane in the Brain. " That song still gets clubgoers and concertgoers alike fired up and is just as fresh and modern as when it was released in the 90s.
But before Eminem or Kanye, Cypress Hill were the bad boys of rap of their time often getting in trouble for their open love of the recreational use of a certain leafy green drug. In fact the band was banned from Saturday Night Live when Cypress Hill member Muggs smoked the drug on air. They even got into a feud with another rapper, Ice Cube. No this wasn't an East Coast/West Coast thing but was due to Cypress Hill member B-Real accusing Ice Cube of stealing one of their songs. Cypress Hill and Ice Cube even went back and forth attacking each other in songs. but never fear they all eventually ended their feud and even worked together. So while Cypress Hill's bad boy image may have cooled a bit their music is just as hot. The band may not be in heavy rotation on MTV or the radio anymore but thythey still are producing unique rap music. On September 2009 the group announced on their official site a new studio album called "Rise Up" which contains contributions from “Slash, members of the Wu-Tang Clan, Snoop Dogg, Tom Morello and Mike Shinoda of Linkin Park. The band has 9 CDs worth of music to work with, so this is surely going to be one show at 930 Club that will have the crowd moshing and dancing all night in DC. Plus if you miss them you could be accused of seriously being "insane got no brain." The show starts at 8pm and tickets are $35 and can be bought by going HERE. For more info. on Cypress Hill check out: www.myspace.com/cypresshill
Halloween Concert #2: A Fine Frenzy at The Birchmere
A Fine Frenzy is the polar opposite of Cypress Hill, the songs are more along the line of Tori Amos or Sarah Mclachlan then the rap music that concert #1 will bring you. But what makes this show so noteworthy is the gorgeous voice of 24 year old chanteuse Alison Sudol who is A Fine Frenzy. Making a stop tomorrow night at The Birchmere in Alexandria, Virginia, this is suely going to be one performance that will leave people wondering why she isn't getting more radio exposure? Her songs are hauntingly beautiful and her voice is stunning. A Fine Frenzy gets its name from a line in Shakespeare's a Midsummer Night's Dream. This is not surprising since Sudol is highly educated having graduated highschool at 16. Intimidated by the prospect of attending college so young she instead focused on music and honed her craft. Instead of going to school at 18 as planned she instead found herself immersing herself completely in the arts. A Fine Frenzy is known mostly for their two biggest hit the lyrically brilliant "You Picked Me" from her debut CD released in 2007 called One Cell In The Sea. That song was the Itunes download of the week shortly after the CD's release and VH1 has featured A Fine Frenzy as their You Oughta Know Artist as well.
The first single from the CD, "Almost Lover", reached number 25 on Billboard's Hot Adult Contemporary Tracks chart. That same year she went on tour as the opener for The Stooges and shortly thereafter she went out on tour with Rufus Wainwright. Her name may not be familiar but most likely she has been seen by some or her songs heard due to great TV exposure for the angelic voiced singer. For CSI fans they may have seen her and not even realized it because Alison guest starred in the fourth season premiere of CSI: New York, playing the character 'Nova Kent'. Also her song "Whisper" was played in two different episodes of the show House. In 2009 she released her follow up CD: Bomb In A Birdcage with the first single being the stirring "Blow Away". But don't let the softer demeanor of the young red headed singer fool you because even her songs are on the mellower side she has an inner rocker inside. She has been known to break out cool covers of songs like the Beatles "Across The Universe" and The White Stripes "Seven Nation Army. " But don't miss A Fine Frenzy tomorrow, it's a good chance to substitute a little sweetness and a big treat in place of the tricks and darkness that often comes with Halloween night. The show starts at 7:30 and tickets are $25 and can be bought by going HERE. For more info. on A Fine Frenzy check out: www.afinefrenzy.com
So no matter the taste in music or what is being sought after in a concert there are two great choices coming to the DC area tomorrow night. So instead of attending a standard party try something new this Halloween and be adventurous because this is going to be the last time Halloween falls on a Saturday for a while so make the most of it. Plus there will be plenty parties to attend afterwards because with it being daylight's savings time Halloween partiers can keep it going for an extra hour this time around.
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