Obsession of the Week - Pentatonix

One night after an exceptionally long day at work, I was watching some music videos on NickMusic. After one forgettable pop song after the next, my mind was drifting elsewhere until one line caught my attention...

"I've heard there was a secret chord, that David played and it pleased the Lord..."

"Hallelujah" has always been one of my favorite songs since I first heard it in Shrek as a kid. Over the years, endless people have covered it, but this version by the acapella band, Pentatonix, was different.

I always enjoyed listening to Pentatonix around the holidays, and that was it...until this song. The video is simple but captivating. It starts off with one of the lead vocalists, Scott Hoying, singing the first verse and staring into your soul through the camera. Each member then follows suit and crushes each of their own solos. Meanwhile, Kevin Olusola makes it sound like there's an entire drum section behind the band using only his voice and body.

Hands down, the best part of the song is Mitch Grassi's solo towards the end. His voice is absolutely beautiful and managed to give me goosebumps the higher he sang.



Over the next week, I listened to the song any chance I got - before work, before bed, before going out. etc. My dad quickly jumped on the Pentatonix train as well, and also had the video on repeat. One night, inspiration struck - the band was going to be in Philly on Sunday, Nov 13th, so I offered to take him as an early Christmas present. After the shock of my offer wore off, he was all for it and I purchased tickets within the hour.

Pentatonix was quite possibly one of the best groups I've seen live. It was easy to forget that there wasn't a live band behind them because you still felt that thump in your chest from Kevin's percussions and Avi's insanely deep voice. They sang everything from Michael Jackson to Justin Bieber, and threw in a few original songs like "Sing."

Pentatonix live at Liacouras Center in Philadelphia Nov 13th
From L to R - Kirstin Maldonado, Kevin Olusola, Scott Hoying, Avi Kaplan, Mitch Grassi

Towards the end of the show, they mentioned the great Leonard Cohen, and the entire crowd went nuts because "Hallelujah" was finally next. It sounded even better than the record and tiny Mitch with his enormous voice managed to bring out the goosebumps once again.

As part of their encore, they sang the eerie "Light in the Hallway" but took it a step further. The entire arena was asked to not make a sound, while Pentatonix huddled in the center of the stage and performed the song without microphones. They sounded exceptionally beautiful, and managed to keep hundreds of people engaged with just pure, raw talent. 

Their Christmas album, A Pentatonix Christmas, is out now and they'll also have their own NBC special on December 14th. Only 29 days away?? Let the countdown begin. 

Niall's New Direction

When Zayn quit One Direction, I was (for lack of a better term) a mess. Yes, I was in college at the time and not some hormonal teenager. But when the band whose music got me through endless hours of commuting, calmed my nerves before my very first job interview, and made me crack up after a long day with their stupid video diaries on YouTube, I was bound to take it pretty hard.

To my surprise, the remaining four kept going. I got to see them in concert yet again, and openly fan-girl over their album Made in the A.M., which was just as good and possibly even more creative than any of their previous albums.

However, all good things must come to an end, and Harry, Liam, Louis, and Niall went on a hiatus for an unspecified amount of time. While most fans panicked, I was okay with the whole thing - just look at bands like Green Day. They can go five years without touring, recording, or having fans knowing what they're up to, then come back with music that's better than ever.

So far during the break, each member has started to branch out and work on his own project. Louis and his son Freddie are cuter than ever. Liam just signed a recording contract with Republic Records. Harry is doing random photo shoots and embracing his inner sixties hippie with a brand new hair cut. And finally, in the midst of various golf sessions, Niall just dropped a new single out of NOWHERE that is pure perfection.

"This Town" suits Niall to a tee. While he was never the 1D member to belt out high notes and falsettos, he held his own with a strong but sweet voice. The song has a simple melody and a catchy guitar rhythm, which is what always showcased him on the band's albums in songs like "Don't Forget Where You Belong" and "Change My Mind."



In a recent interview with Ryan Seacrest, Niall talked about how he's working on a FULL album, that will have a very similar vibe to "This Town" with more soft melodies and acoustics. Even though the album is not quite finished, I'll be camping outside my local Target waiting for it to be released if anyone needs me...

Green Day - Even Better With Age

Every morning before going to middle school, I would eat my Frosted Flakes and watch music videos on MTV. One particular morning, I stopped dead in my tracks, spoon in one hand, backpack in the other. There was this dark haired, tattooed man on my television screen singing something about walking alone and a boulevard. I was immediately drawn in to this band, who looked so unlike anything that I was listening to at the time *insert cute, blonde boy band members here.* Thus began my love of Green Day.

Fast forward 12 years and a few albums later, I'm driving in torrential rain after working from 4:00am on a Saturday to pick up their newest release in several years, Revolution Radio. Did I feel like getting drenched? No. Did I know it would be completely worth it? Yup.

Revolution Radio is everything that I could've asked and more for new Green Day music. It has that 21st Century Breakdown political, angsty vibe, but with a more punk feel, much like their early work on Dookie.

While the whole album is freaking amazing, there's a select few songs that I've been listening to about 20 times a day since the release on October 7th:

"Bouncing Off The Wall"
This song......SO CATCHY! It's been a little while since I've gotten so excited over a song, but when I heard the first verse, I literally squealed like a teen girl because it was just SO good. While the lyrics talk about Satan, bombs, and idle threats, the melody makes you want to blast it in your car on a sunny day with the windows down, which is simply genius on their part.

"Ordinary World"
Two weeks ago, I saw Green Day live at the Tower Theater in Philadelphia as part of their small venue tour. After the supposed encore of "American Idiot," only Billie Joe walked back on stage with his acoustic guitar. With no introduction, he starts singing this song, and it was such a perfect and intimate moment with the crowd. Fans were screaming and carrying on around me, but I was so entranced by his performance and delivery of the lyrics, it was like they weren't even there. "What would you wish if you saw a shooting star in an ordinary world?" Ugh, perfect.

"Still Breathing"
This is one of the few songs that I heard before the full album when they released a lyric video for it. Much like "Ordinary World," the lyrics are extremely inspiring and something that I can relate to at this point in my life. "Just shine a light into the wreckage, so far away..." Even though we may be going through some difficult times and hardships, we're still alive and there's always a light trying to break through the darkness. When it comes to life struggles, Green Day gets it.



As if this wonderful masterpiece of an album wasn't enough of a treat, Billie Joe is starring in a movie called "Ordinary World" (I'm going to assume the song is in the soundtrack...) which hits theaters Friday, October 14th. Unlike his extremely cool and still attractive true self, Billie Joe will be playing a washed up rocker trying to get his life back together. If his acting is even 1/5 as good as his musical talent, we're in for a treat.

How I Found Myself at Warped Tour 2016

Let's rewind to a few ago in the awkward high school days. I had braces and was primping my side bangs to be juuuust right to meet Justin Bieber at a Jingle Ball concert. Never in a million years did I see myself in the middle of a moshing crowd at Warped Tour. But that's just where I ended up yesterday and I had the time of my life.

Ever since I can remember, I've loved all the pop stars - N*Sync, Jesse McCartney, Bieber. Yet in 6th grade, I discovered Green Day. My dad bought me "American Idiot" as long as I promised I'd stay away from drugs and not turn into a gothic weirdo. I continued to obsess over all the pretty boys, but behind the scenes, my love for heavier music (and tattooed men) grew stronger.

Over the years, I discovered bands like All Time Low and We the Kings, and felt more at home with music than I ever did before. About a year ago, some friends introduced me to Sleeping With Sirens and Pierce the Veil, and I instantly related to songs like "Go Go Go" and "King for a Day." History was made when I randomly clicked on a YouTube video of a song called "The Drug in Me Is You."

Falling in Reverse? Ronnie who? Oh, I like his voice. Bad Girls Club? OH this is catchy......

Summer of 2015 was consumed by the task of finding a post-grad job, all the while watching FIR videos in between cover letters. "F*** the Rest" soon became my life anthem - "and I know in my heart if you reach for the stars, all the things that you dream will indeed get you far" - and surprisingly, I learned a lot about life from Ronnie Radke, like how you can get your life together and make dreams happen no matter what you've been through and where you're coming from.

Fast forward one year, and Ronnie's picture is proudly hanging in my cubicle (much to the concern of my middle-aged coworkers) at my first big girl job. Still just as inspired by him as 12 months ago, I knew I had to attend Vans Warped Tour this year when I saw that FIR would be there. After some planning, my friends and I decided that we would adventure from Philly to Long Island, NY to go.

After almost 3 hours driving, my 1st official NJ bagel, and only getting slightly lost once, we arrived. I knew the day was going to be different and exciting just from the line to get in, with some guy selling sunglasses so fans wouldn't get "face f**ked" by the sun.

We immediately found the giant wall schedule to plan our day and figure out when/where each band was performing. Ronnie wouldn't be on until 5PM so there was plenty of time to work around that.

Kellin Quinn - Sleeping With Sirens

Throughout the day, I got to see We The Kings, Against The Current, and another of my top bands, Sleeping With Sirens. SWS was my 1st experience of the day dodging crowd surfers and enduring screaming fans. I'm used to One Direction and Bieber fans, but this was a whole new level. One girl next to me was SCREAMING at the top of her lungs how much of a "sexy beast" Kellin Quinn is. And while I completely agree with her, the ear drums of everyone around her begged to differ. Though when he sang "Go Go Go," I may just have been louder than her.

Around 1PM, we heard that Falling in Reverse was doing a photo op at their tent at 1:30PM. That's all I needed to hear. My friends and I booked it to the tent, only to find out you needed some sort of minuscule red ticket to meet them. We were kind of bummed, but decided to hang around. Even if we couldn't get a picture with Ronnie, we could get some sick shots of him from two feet away, which is exactly what we did.

I think my love for him grew even more yesterday. While waiting in line, I see Ronnie flying through the parking lot on a bicycle. He stops by the fence near his tent (he was on the other side), gets off the bike, then spends a solid few minutes looking completely lost, trying to figure out how to get through the fence with said bike. Finally he gives up and rides away, leaving the poor guy at the merch table to let us know he'll be "fashionably late".....get it??

Ronnie Radke - Falling in Reverse

About 10 minutes later, Ronnie arrives, and I got some amazing pictures of him in between meeting those lucky fans with the stupid red tickets. All the while, my friends and I are still in line, hoping against hope that we can just float through and meet him anyway. Sadly with about 3 people in front of us, the time for the meet and greet was over and Ronnie was out. But I couldn't even be mad...just look at him!!

Even though FIR wasn't performing until 5PM, we were at the stage and ready to go by 4PM, We stood in the back while Yellowcard performed, and the second they were done their set, we powered though the crowd, almost making it to the front barrier.

Despite getting kicked about 20 times and aching shoulders from lifting crowd surfers, I had the time of my life watching Ronnie. He is one of the best live performers I've ever seen, and being that close was an extra bonus. He sang all FIR's hits, including "Alone," "Rolling Stone" (and yes, I belted out the rap part), "Bad Girls Club," and "The Drug in Me is You."

By 5:30PM, I was ready for an Advil and shower, but was so content with life. I saw in person the guy who I'd been listening to non-stop for the past year, and who had inspired me during a pretty difficult and confusing time. Warped Tour wouldn't have been the same without Falling in Reverse, but even if they're not there next year, I'd do it all over again.

Ronnie Radke at Vans Warped Tour - Nikon Theater at Jones Beach
(and a security guard who was not having anymore of the crowd's sh*t)

Freeform Summer Premieres - Hooked Already

June is my favorite time of the year. Summer is here and Freeform (previously ABC Family) has officially begun to stress me out with all of their summer premieres. WARNING - lots of spoiler alerts below as I freak out about how suspenseful every show has been so far.

Lets start with the newest show, Guilt. I'll be honest, I wasn't too sure what to expect. It looked interesting from the commercials, and it did not let me down. It's your typical Freeform show - a brutal murder, attractive men, and about 20 possible suspects. Guilt kicks off with the murder of a young girl named Molly after a wild party while abroad in England. Now everybody from her jealous roommate, to Molly's beautiful Irish brother, to a perverted old professor is on the watch list as possible suspects. Only two weeks since the premiere, and I'm hooked. Also, Cal from "Titanic" plays a creepy lawyer in it, which is pretty awesome. Guilt airs each Monday at 9pm EST.

Next we have my personal Freeform favorite, Pretty Little Liars. I've been a die-hard fan since day one, and as crazy as the show has gotten, I still need to find out what happens week after week. Right now, we're in part two of the fast forward season, in which we see the girls several years after revealing that Charlotte, Aly's brother turned sister, is "A." They thought the whole nightmare was behind them but SURPRISE, it's not. The girls are now dealing with "A" 2.0, Hanna got herself trapped in a deserted shed in the middle of the woods, Aly's fiance is trying to kill her, and Aria and Ezra are sneaking around together (which I'm pretty hype about.) PLL airs every Tuesday at 8pm EST.

Finally, lets talk about The Fosters. This was always the Freeform show to cover heavier topics, like coming out as gay at a young age, death, and issues in the foster care system. However, the premiere last Monday was beyond anything they've ever done. I sat there for the full hour hugging a pillow for dear life. The topic of the premiere was gun violence in schools, and with everything going on in the world today, it just really hit home.

To summarize, Nick got extremely jealous because he saw Mariana kissing her ex, and went crazy by burning down his dad's warehouse and bringing a gun to school. The entire school was on lockdown, and I had such a nervous stomach watching the terror on their faces, and the relief Steph and Lena expressed when finally reunited with all of their kids. Next week seems to be a similar situation, because Nick is now lurking in the Foster's house with the gun. The episode will air on Monday at 8pm EST.

Freeform will be airing another new series called Dead of Summer on Tuesday, June 28th. Just from the title, I think it will fit in perfectly and provide more heart palpitations for the next few months.

Star Wars: The Force Awakened Me

Whenever people used to mention "Star Wars," I automatically went "OH the movie with the little green guy right??" *insert shocked/judgmental face here*

I have to admit, I never understood the hype. Friends always had to explain the difference between Star Wars vs Star Trek, and I used to look at the light saber club on my college's campus like they were aliens from a strange planet.

But when "Star Wars: The Force Awakens" was released, I decided to suck it up and watch the first six movies. As I currently sit here next to my stuffed Yoda and C3-PO pen, it's safe to say I've had a change of heart.

I started out with the original trilogy after wrapping my head around how Episode 4 was technically the first movie. I absolutely loved C3-PO and R2D2 from the start. Through the more complicated plots in the storyline, they provide some comic relief and interact like an old, robotic married couple.

The original trilogy was enjoyable - Luke's obsession with Princess Leia, the sarcasm of Han Solo, and the many intelligent words of Chewbacca. However, I enjoyed the prequels (Episodes 1-3) MUCH better.

First off, I am absolutely obsessed with Yoda. He's such a little bad*ss for being only 2 feet tall! In one scene, he comes swooping in with an entire army of stormtroopers behind him and it is the most epic thing in the whole series. He's also full of words of wisdom, and I've become a fan of the quote "Do or do not, there is no try."

I also enjoyed the main characters in the prequels. Feel free to judge, but Anakin Skywalker aka pre-Darth Vader is pretty darn attractive.

It was also interesting to see how everything from Episodes 4-6 came to be. Spoiler alert - we see how Anakin becomes Darth Vader to protect the love of his life, we have some context as to why Yoda is in exile in a hidden forest, and we gain some insight into the situation that Luke and Leia were born into.

I have to admit - I never understood Star Wars, and thought it was about robots and space battles. And while this is true, it's more so about family, love, support, and adventure.

May the force be with you.

American Idol Finale: Best Moments

"We say goodbye...for now."

Ryan Seacrest closed the finale of American Idol with those few simple words, causing every household in the country to question what the heck he meant. After months of build up of how this was the last season EVER, he left us hanging just like before every commercial break for 15 years.

As an avid fan since day one, I was thrilled this might not be the end. January just wouldn't be the same without the enjoyment of horrible auditions. But whether the show comes back in one year or ten, they ended this season with a bang.

First off, this was a better final two than they've had in years. Trent Harmon and LaPorsha could sing circles around some contestants from recent seasons. I have to say, I was pretty bitter that Dalton Rapattoni finished third. His elimination was happening just as I walked in the door last Wednesday, so it took about 10 minutes of screaming at the TV before I even took my jacket off. Hands down, he was best performer of the season, and not bad to look at either.

Days before the finale, I was telling anyone who would listen that they should bring back as many past contestants as they could. Idol must have heard me because they didn't disappoint. This was the first season where they didn't do corny weekly group numbers, but they made up for this in one night. And I loved every second of it.

Past winners and Top 12 contestants all came together to create some interesting yet unforgettable performances. Guests included everyone from Justin Guarini and Ruben Studdard to David Cook and Jordan Sparks. William Hung even ran out on stage, much to the surprise of Ryan Seacrest, to sing his anthem "She Bangs."

One of the highlights of the show was a medley by the Idol who inspired all the rest, Kelly Clarkson. Her segment was filmed a few weeks earlier when she guest judged, since she was set to have her baby at the time of the finale. She sang hit after hit, and ended the performance with the Idol classic, "A Moment Like This." Absolute chills.

The dream team of the original three judges also made an appearance. If you've followed the show since the beginning, it was exciting and even emotional to see Simon Cowell, Paula Abdul, and Randy Jackson together again on the Idol stage. Apparently, they weren't expecting Simon to make it, so that was a much welcomed surprise for everyone. Looking back, it's crazy to hear some of the harsh comments he said to contestants, but Idol would not be the same with him and his brutal honesty.

After 15 years of memories jam packed into two hours, Trent Harmon was crowned as the final American Idol (for now!). I think most people, including the judges, assumed that LaPorsha would win. She received constant positive feedback and her would-be single "Battles" had a much more Idol finale sound to it than Trent's "Falling." But Trent deserved it. He battled mono all through Hollywood week and improved his voice and performance every single round.

After Ryan's infamous "We say goodbye, for now," the Dolby Theater went pitch black. As someone who has so many childhood memories from the show - meeting the Season 10 contestants with my dad, screaming at the television when Chris Daughtry went home instead of Taylor Hicks - I hope Idol comes back soon, revamped and stronger than ever.