Daily Reverb

N*E*R*D, Big Boi Amp'd It Up in New York

(photo from Billionaire Boys Club Blog)

Advertising Week V in New York City kicked off Monday (Sept. 22) with an AOL/Amp'd-UP-sponsored night concert at the Nokia Theater featuring N*E*R*D and OutKast's Big Boi. Daily Reverb was lucky enough to nab an invite to the corporate event (with an open bar) as marketing reps, ad sellers and media buyers were encouraged to loosen up their ties and have some fun.

Pharrell & Co. had the most entertaining show of the night and threw in some political rhetoric along the way. Skateboard P and his partner, "Shae" Haley (Chad Hugo was mysteriously absent), rocked out to a bevy of tunes from their latest disc, Seeing Sounds, like "Spaz," "Sooner or Later" and "Everyone Nose." They also performed a few of their older songs like "Rock Star," "Lap Dance" and the set closer "She Wants To Move." During N*E*R*D's performance, Pharrell announced that he fully supports Barack Obama and jokingly called Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin a "hot MILF."

Big Boi looked like a military baseball player during his fun set that featured a mixture of OutKast songs (disappointingly without André 3000) and selections from his upcoming release, Sir Luscious Left Foot . . . Son of Chico Dusty. Backed by a 9-piece band, Big Boi was dressed in all-black army fatigues, red baseball socks and all-red Nike Air Force 1s sneakers as he cranked out more hits than New York Yankees' slugger Alex Rodriguez. He went through most of 'Kast's catalogue including "Bombs Over Baghdad," "Rosa Parks," "Miss Jackson" and classic jams like "Elevators (Me and You)" and "Player's Ball" (from their 1994 debut album Southernplayalisticadillacmuzik). Boi also previewed tracks from his new disc, Sir Luscious Left Foot, like "Something's Gotta Give," "Back Up Plan" and "Royal Flush," but they fell on deaf ears mostly because the cuts are relatively new. By the end of the night, Big Boi had drunken concertgoers gyrating back-and-forth to his groovy rendition of "I Like the Way You Move."

Unlike Pharrell, Big Boi gave a quick nonpartisan message about the upcoming elections. He simply told the crowd, "I don't care who you vote for in November, just go out and vote, damn it."

Check out a video and more pics from the show after the jump . . .

Lovin', Touchin', Squeezin'!

"Doing this tour is like being swept around on a creamy bed of bubbles!" Squeeze frontman Glenn Tilbrook cooed in his charming Cockney accent during our recent phone interview. Not being fluent in Britishish, I wasn't quite sure what this meant, but after attending the new wave explosion that was Squeeze's show at New York's Radio City Music Hall last Friday, it makes perfect sense.

Confession: I hold Paul Carrack's uber-poppy pipes, the producers of Reality Bites and the gods of advertising responsible for the overshadowing popularity of Squeeze's "Tempted." While one can't deny that it's a pop-rock masterpiece of biblical proportions and perhaps the best thing to happen to men's jeans since the button fly, the band boasts an awesome back catalogue of doo-woppin' synthy singles and that deserve just as much attention as the fruit of another. For the final stop on Squeeze's Five Live tour, the ying/yang twosome of Tilbrook and co-singer-songwriter Chris Difford tore through a career-spanning set that included every track from their best-selling 1982 set, Singles 45's and Under, a must-have collection favored by my namesake and personal hero.

Buckcherry Singer: Never Too Drunk To Shill

Thanks to Blabbermouth, we find out the guys in Buckcherry aren't really seeking a Viagra endorsement deal. In an interview with music magazine Penthouse, singer Josh Todd champions Cialis for his male enhancement -- although he's still searching for a pill with the correct dosage. Read his ribald, NSFW comments after the jump.

Katy Perry Hasn't Kept Grandma in the Dark

Katy Perry has posted a video of her grandma reading the lyrics to "I Kissed a Girl." Will she like it?

gma. she's the truth. from Katy Perry on Vimeo.

Lifehouse Witness Kanye's Paparazzi Brawl

From Lifehouse bassist Bryce Soderberg on the band's MySpace blog:

This is amazing....As we were checking in at LAX yesterday to come here, Rick taps me on the shoulder and says "Hey check it out, there's Kanye West." As soon as we turn to look a fight breaks out and he grabs a paparazzi guy's camera and smashes it on the ground. We were so close that a piece actually flew right by our sound engineer's face. Crazy huh? There is video of it online but i couldn't find us in it. Hilarious.

The guys can't get enough of "Broken" stuff. See below.

Lifehouse - Whatever It Takes -

Now that Kanye is out of jail, he says on his blog: "We back in the lab!!! I'm cool with the paparazzi. This guy wasn't cool. I gotta work now... I'll rant later!" We're counting on it.

Kanye Facing "Lockdown" for Real?

Kanye West was arrested Thursday morning after being caught on tape proving he was stronger than a photographer's camera at LAX.

The arrest comes mere hours after he leaked the song "Love Lockdown" on his blog. The song, which he performed to close the MTV Video Music Awards Sunday night, could very well be the first new track to emerge from his fourth album, titled 808's & Heartbreak (if you believe Amazon.com).

Puppet Love: 'Ye, Jigga Get The Puppet Treatment - No Strings Attached

Kanye West -- "Champion" (Music Video)

Kanye West may not be the fastest man on Earth, but he certainly deserves a gold medal for making some of the most creative videos in pop music. Just in time for the 2008 Beijing Olympic games, K-Weezy unveiled a new video for "Champion," his anthemic ode to being the best of the best.

In the clip, a rangy puppet version of the rhyme-spitter is allowed to compete in the fictional United Games. "I don't see why I need a stylist, when I shop so much I can speak Italian," spits 'Ye as his sunglasses-wearing alter ego air-boxes, dances, jogs and lift weights while training for a big sprint race. Not surprising, the puppet wins the competition and the glory.

Entertainment company P-Dash Media used puppets in their heee-larious video for Jay-Z's "Jocking Jay-Z." A puppet resembling Jigga and his bespectacled, cigarette-holding sidekick twirl their heads endlessly to the Kanye-produced track, which is expected to appear on Jay's Blueprint III album. Also peep the Beyoncé cameo. Classic YouTube clip!


**BONUS**:

If you want to watch some more puppet tomfoolery, check out this brief clip of Bert and Ernie reciting "stick-em-up" lyrics from M.O.P.'s hardcore track "Ante Up." Sesame Street never looked so gangsta before.

Brian Eno's Best Collaboration of the Year Doesn't Involve Coldplay

The new David Byrne/Brian Eno album is burnin' down the house! Stream Everything That Happens Will Happen Today all in this handy thing that is embedded below (props to Steve C.). Our six-word reviews of each track coming soon.

Judas Priest: Hot Rockin' at the Hard Rock Cafe

Did I mention that I really like my job? On Monday, my gig as an online music journalist got me an invite to a special concert at New York's Hard Rock Cafe celebrating New York-area DJ and VH1 Classic host Eddie Trunk's 25 years in radio. The featured entertainment at the bash was none other than the Metal Gods themselves -- Judas Priest. The rock icons didn't play too long (eight songs) and frontman Rob Halford left his leather and studs at home, but the Priest absolutely were on fire, delivering an all-killer, no-filler set of classics ("Breaking the Law," "You've Got Another Thing Comin'") and fan favorites ("Electric Eye," "Green Manalishi [With the Two-Pronged Crown"]). Halford's ear-piercing shriek and the twin-guitar attack of Glenn Tipton and K.K. Downing blew the roof off the joint. To kick the festivities off, a few of Trunk's buddies hit the stage to toast him on his milestone, including one-time Mets/Dodgers star Mike Piazza and comics Jim Breuer and Jim Norton. There was also a video featuring a bunch of heavy-metal artists -- the Priest, members of Heaven and Hell, Anthrax, Queensrÿche, Twisted Sister, Night Ranger and Triumph -- playfully ribbing Trunk, thanking him for supporting them over the years and congratulating him. By the way, Breuer was standing a few feet away from me furiously playing air guitar during most of Priest's performance. Yeah, it was kind of a rocking good time! Check out some pics from the big event here.

Daily Reverb Still Gives a Crap About Blake Lewis

We'll make exactly one more joke about American Idol's Blake Lewis sitting on his ass after being dropped from his label. The guy obviously has kept his sense of (toilet) humor about the whole thing. (NSFW, thx MTV's Buzzworthy Blog)