HIM to Headline 20th Anniversary Tuska Festival

HIM by Ville Juurikkala

Iconic Finnish metal band HIM have been announced as a headliner for the 20th anniversary of the Tuska Festival. The festival runs from June 30 – July 2, 2017 in Helsinki, Finland. American punk band, now turned thrasher metal, Suicidal Tendencies, along with Mexican American extreme metal band Brujeria have been announced so far.

This will mark the first time that HIM has played the long running Tuska Festival and their first outdoor gig in their hometown of Helsinki. “Early-crow” tickets are now on sale for the festival. You can visit Ticketmaster Finland to grab the 3-day tickets. Additional ticketing options and other artists will be announced soon.

It looks like 2017 will see the return of HIM to the live stage after the band went on a long, well deserved break at the end of 2014. During that break, drummer Gas Lipstick decided to leave HIM and pursue other musical interests. Singer Ville Valo appeared on the track “Knowing Me Knowing You”, an ABBA cover he did with guitarist Mark Gemini Thwaite. The rest of HIM have been busy in their on again side project, Daniel Lioneye, and will do a small tour of Germany and England this December in support of their latest release, Volume III.

We here at Life On The Scene eagerly await the return of the Finnish metals gods to the world’s stage! Who’s up for a trip to Helsinki at the end of June 2017? Global HIM fans, check in and tell us where you’re from, where you’ve seen HIM perform or where you’ve traveled to see HIM perform.

Carousel Live Presents Sammy Wilk and the Solutions at the Troubadour

Sammy Wilk at the Troubadour in West Hollywood, CA

Sammy Wilk at the Troubadour in West Hollywood, CA

Social media star and pop/reggae singer, Sammy Wilk, kicked of the Halloween weekend Friday night at the Troubadour in West Hollywood as part of the Carousel Live series which also included South Korean indie-pop band the Solutions, Sophia Kameron and Found Vegas. The Solutions have been playing clubs around southern California during October promoting their latest release, “Ticket to the Moon”, including gigs at the Wayfarer in Costa Mesa and Hotel Cafe in Los Angeles to the delight of area K-POP fans. The Solutions will wrap up the Carousel Live series later this week on November 3rd at the Roxy opening the show for EDM phenomenon, PROXIMITY. Grab your tickets while you can by visiting ticketfly

Wilk performed songs from his debut album, Ready For War, to an enthusiastic crowd of mostly female teenage fans. The audience also included Wilk’s family, friends like fellow social media stars Nash Grier, Mahogany Lox, DJ Rupp and Jake Miller. Wilk also brought special guests on stage including Mac Marley to perform their song “That’s Wild” along with high school friends and fellow social media sensations, best friends Jack Johnson and Jack Gilinsky who perform as Jack & Jack to tear it up on their hit, “Throw Signs”. Jack & Jack are currently putting the finishing touches on their own album which is expected to be released in the new year.

Carousel Live is a new live music event brand bringing up & coming Asian and Asian American musical artists to the global stage by pairing them up with more established US-based artists creating a unique entertainment atmosphere that exposes each artists fans to a variety of incredible new music. Keep your finger on the refresh button and watch the social media spaces for Carousel Live to see what’s next on their music discovery platform.

If you attended the show, we’d love to hear your thoughts, see photos or videos from the night in the comments below!

To purchase music from these artists, please visit:

https://itunes.apple.com/us/artist/sammy-wilk/id900129226

http://happyrobot.co.kr/release/ticket-to-the-moon/

https://itunes.apple.com/us/artist/jack-jack/id944171951

https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/connected-single/id1115233688

#SammyWilk #JackandJack #CarouselLive #theSolutions

Jack & Jack and Melanie Martinez Pump Up the Wango Tango Village

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by Cindy Robinson along with Contributor Sydney Robinson

102.7 KIIS FM in Los Angeles held their annual Wango Tango concert last weekend at the Stubhub Center in Carson, CA. So let’s do a little wrap up from the weekend! Life On The Scene attended the Wango Tango Village, the FREE daytime festival and concert featuring up & coming artists such as Jack & Jack, Melanie Martinez (from season 3 of The Voice), Daya, Laura Marano and more. There was a ferris wheel, food & beverage tents from Coca-Cola, Sprite, Guerrero Tacos, Magnolia ice cream and a fabulous pink primping tent from Soap & Glory.

Did I mention ice cream? Magnolia had amazing flavors like avocado, purple yam, lychee, guava, coconut and mango. Super delicious and well worth the wait in line for a free ice cream cone of your choice. Right now it looks like their ice cream is only available at Ralph’s locations across Southern California (as far as the West Coast is concerned anyway) so make sure you stop by and pick some up this summer.

 

Soap & Glory’s Body Butter and Pillow Plump Lip Gloss

Then there was the Soap & Glory pink primping tent. They provided a great little break from the hot sun where you could sit & relax for a few minutes while primping ladies touched up your make up, applied fake tattoos and gave out some great cosmetic samples like The Righteous Butter Body Butter and their Pillow Plump Lip Gloss. The body butter leaves my skin soft and I’ve received compliments on the nice fresh scent. The Pillow Plump lip gloss leaves your lips tingling as it gently plumps them up while providing a super shine with a hint of color. Recommended for those age 15+! Soap & Glory is availble at a variety of your favorite retailers like Walgreens, Target and Ulta. This hot UK brand is set to take over the USA this summer so go grab some of their fun products to try on your next shopping trip.

The highlight of the day was for sure the music! The day kicked off with internet superstars Jack & Jack and judging by the screams and mayhem their adoring fans loved hearing fan favorites like How We Livin’, Like That, Wrong One, Shallow Love and California. These guys put on a fun concert and it’s great to see how their stage show is growing and evolving. Their 2nd album is expected to be ready for a fall release so check back for more information on that. They also have some additional shows coming up this summer including Milwaukee’s Summerfest on June 30th, a special performance at BeautyCon LA on July 9th, the Show of the Summer in Hershey, PA on August 20th with Shawn Mendes and tons more to come from these adorable guys!

Melanie Martinez sent her legions of fans into a frenzy performing hits like Crybaby, PityParty, Dollhouse, and Carousel with lots of look-a-likes dressed like her in the crowd. Melanie will be on tour for all of June & July across the United States so the Wango Tango Village was just a warm up for her. Check out all of her dates on her website.

It was great to see the power of Jonas is still strong as Joe Jonas stopped by the Wango Tango Village with his new band DNCE to host a quick meet & greet with a lucky handful of fans and took to the stage to pump up the crowd. Sadly, they didn’t treat us to their massive hit Cake By The Ocean but judging the by the throng of girls following Joe’s every move during the brief appearance DNCE is headed destined to become a smashing success.

There were also fun performances from Laura Marano, Shawn Hook and Daya. Friends of ours who attended the evening Wango Tango concert with artists like Zayn, Ariana Grande, DNCE, Demi Lovato and Gwen Stefani said it was an amazing concert and Gwen rocked the house.

If you’ve never attended a big iHeart Radio event like Wango Tango, the iHeart Radio Festival or a Jingle Ball concert – do yourself a favor and go to one of these fun events! It’s a long, long, day (or weekend depending which one you go to) but it’s such a great opportunity to see your favorite artists in a festival setting and check out some new emerging artists. All in one day you get to see more than a dozen acts and it’s just an incredible experience.

 

Troye Sivan Taking Over The World

Blue Neighbourhood is the debut full-length album from international chart-topping Australian artist Troye Sivan. “It’s all autobiographical,” says Sivan. “It takes place in both the suburbs of Perth where I’ve grown up, which I consider to be my blue neighbourhood, but then also in this fast-paced, crazy, whirlwind life that I’m now living in hotel rooms and planes.”

For fans of the South African-born Troye Sivan it’s just the next amazing step in all the success he’s had to date. With more than 4 million fans on his YouTube channel and another 4 million on Twitter he’s set to explode worldwide in 2016 as his fan base just keeps growing at a phenomenal pace.

Troye has a packed schedule ahead of him as he has a performance at the 2016 Billboard Music Awards in Las Vegas this Sunday, May 22. Last week the young artist was announced as the recipient of “Kia’s One to Watch,” an honor established last year to support and highlight emerging artists. You can visit the Billboard site daily to see new clips of Troye preparing for the performance and talking about what it means to have this opportunity.

Troye will also be stopping by The GRAMMY Museum’s Clive Davis Theater in Los Angeles on May 24th for an intimate conversation surrounding his debut album, and rising career, moderated by Scott Goldman, Vice President of the GRAMMY Foundation and MusiCares. The conversation will be followed by a special performance.

On top of that, he also announced plans The Suburbia Tour of the United States with dates running through October and November. Go visit Troye’s site for a full list of concert dates and links to buy tickets. Grab them quickly, they will be gone in a flash! Life On The Scene looks forward to covering Troye’s events and watching his star explode globally! #TroyeSivan #BlueNeighbourhood #GrammyMuseum #BillboardMusicAwards

Wango Tango Village 2016 Lineup Announced

Wango Tango recently announced the lineup for their 2016 daytime village concert. The lineup includes Daya, Jack & Jack, Melanie Martinez and more!

Here at Life On The Scene we’re a little perplexed as to why KIIS FM has Jack & Jack and Melanie Martinez kicking the day off. I don’t think KIIS is familiar enough with their teenage audience to realize the frenzy these artists will cause. A brief 40-second appearance by Jack & Jack at last year’s iHeart Radio Festival in Las Vegas drowned out the DJ announcing their arrival and clearly overshadowed George Ezra’s set. We were really surprised they haven’t been confirmed as performers for this year’s iHeart Radio Festival! They have millions of rabid followers and their debut album is on the way.

KIIS FM’s Wango Tango Village stage lineup has been announced! You can see Daya, Shawn Hook, Laura Marano, Jack & Jack and Melanie Martinez live outside StubHub Center on May 14th at the StubHub Center in Carson, CA.

The Village will be open from 10 a.m. – 3 p.m. and it’s FREE to the public! Don’t miss your chance to see them all live. And who knows… Maybe you’ll have a chance to win tickets to Wango Tango.

You can read more here and enter for chances to win tickets to Wango Tango, backstage passes for both the daytime village and the nighttime concert: http://www.kiisfm.com/features/wangotango-2021/articles/15/497484/wango-tango-village-lineup-14646175/#ixzz47XHRsywt

Who are you most excited to see at this year’s show? Life On The Scene can’t wait to bring you coverage from the event! #Jack&Jack #WangoTango #KIISFM

The Huntsman: Winter’s War

Chris Hemsworth and Oscar® winner Charlize Theron return to their roles in The Huntsman: Winter’s War, an epic action-adventure in which they are joined by Emily Blunt and Jessica Chastain in this pre-quel to Snow White and the Huntsman.

Long before the evil Queen Ravenna (Theron) was thought vanquished by Snow White’s blade, she watched silently as her sister, Freya (Blunt), suffered a heartbreaking betrayal and fled their kingdom. With Freya’s ability to freeze any enemy, the young ice queen has spent decades in a remote wintry palace raising a legion of deadly huntsmen—including Eric (Hemsworth) and warrior Sara (Chastain)—only to find that her prized two defied her one demand: Forever harden your hearts to love. When Freya learns of her sister’s demise, she summons her remaining soldiers to bring the Magic Mirror home to the only sorceress left who can harness its power. But once she discovers Ravenna can be resurrected from its golden depths, the wicked sisters threaten this enchanted land with twice the darkest force it’s ever seen. Now, their amassing army shall prove undefeatable…unless the banished huntsmen who broke their queen’s cardinal rule can fight their way back to one another.

Universal Pictures presents THE HUNTSMAN: WINTER’S WAR arrives in theaters nationwide on April 22, 2016. 

The cast of the film is currently making the promotional rounds for the film with a busy week of Los Angeles activities next week including the Los Angeles premiere of the film on Monday, April 11, 2016 at the Regency Village Theatre, 961 Broxton Ave., Los Angeles, CA along with appearances on the Late Late Show with James Corden on Tuesday, April 12, 2016 and Jimmy Kimmel Live! on Thursday, April 14, 2016

 

March Movie Madness with Tom Hiddleston and Henry Cavill

What movies are on your list in the upcoming weeks? Here at Life On The Scene we are stoked for the imminent release of Sony Pictures Classics, Hank Williams biopic, I Saw The Light starring Tom Hiddleston and Elizabeth Olsen. While I am not a fan of country music, the lure of Tom Hiddleston taking on yet another varied role is too much of a draw to miss out on!

DC Comics, Batman v Superman flies into theaters on March 25th, and while I’m not completely sold on Ben Affleck as Batman, Henry Cavill’s Superman is stunning and the jury is still out on Gail Gadot as Wonder Woman. It promises to be a great thrill ride into the darker side of the series. Henry Cavill will be on Jimmy Kimmel Live! on March 17th and local Los Angeles area residents may still be able to grab a ticket to the taping by visiting 1iota

In May, comes the next movie from Marvel, Captain America: Civil War starring Chris Evans and Robert Downey Jr. Without a doubt, we’re #TeamIronMan and look forward to the battle amongst the Avengers in this film.

Remembering David Bowie

David Bowie performing in Los Angeles 2004

It’s taken me a long while to be able to put my thoughts into words since David Bowie’s death in early January.

I’ve tried to describe how I feel and the best explanation I can come up with is that I feel as though a martial arts master has come at me full force, kicked me in the chest with both feet and sent me flying through walls and crashing to the ground. My chest physically aches, the world, at times, seems to be moving in slow motion, my brain goes in and out of a foggy coherence as I process the loss of David Bowie, one of, if not, the greatest influence on my life.

Yes, I’ve long lived in that delusional camp that always believed he was so magical he had to be immortal. In life, one generally only meets a handful of people (famous or not) who exude such charm, humor and genuine talent that they seem to sparkle to those around them. You rarely come across a person who is so innovative and willing to constantly try new things just to see what they come up with. He touched so many facets of art – music, theater, acting, painting, and producing.

My first memory of David Bowie is hearing the song “Changes” when I was about 8 or 9, the year I lived in upstate New York with my biological father. I have an image in my brain of sitting in the living room of this big, old, white house and the song is playing. I think the ch-ch-changes bit along with the phrase “and these children that you spit on as they try to change their worlds…” stuck in my young mind. What? Spitting on children? That was it. I’ve loved him ever since.

He is literally a part of me as I had his initials tattooed on my ankle (as part of a bigger tattoo) nearly 20 years ago. I was “detained” once, a long time ago, so he is also part of my permanent, legal record, a means by which I can be identified. I take him with me everywhere I go.

As Carrie Brownstein (@Carrie_Rachel) mentioned on Twitter, “It feels like we lost something elemental, as if an entire color is gone.” As if suddenly helium or aluminum is no longer part of the periodic table, yellow doesn’t exist anymore – lemons, bananas or the sun are void of color.

David Bowie and I in Arizona 1995

I was fortunate enough to have a couple encounters with him over the years in addition to the times I saw him perform live. Once, when he was on tour a friend and I got to meet him and take photos with him. A couple years later in Los Angeles, another friend got us VIP access for The Tonight Show with Jay Leno when David was going to be a guest. For some reason I got the idea to try and take our 8×10 photos with him into the studio. They usually made you check everything at the door and retrieve it when filming was over. I decided to stick them inside a Vogue magazine hoping they’d let me take the magazine in as something to glance at during the downtime in between takes. It actually worked. We had been placed in the front, center seats. During the commercial break, when most TV hosts and guests usually pretend there is an invisible wall between them and the audience, Jay asked David something then turned to the audience and asked if we had any questions we’d like to ask them. I quickly grabbed our photos and held them up. Jay sent a stagehand to collect them. Then it became a bit humorous. In the photos with David, my friend has her natural red hair and I had my natural medium brown, mousy hair. But sitting in front of David and Jay in the audience there was now a platinum blonde (my friend) and a nearly platinum blonde (me). They looked at the photos, looked at us and looked at each other with quizzical expressions and asked if it was really us. They were quite surprised and it made for a funny interaction. David signed our photos and then had them returned to us. I also lifted up my pant leg in an attempt to show David his initials which had recently been branded upon my ankle. He obliged by turning his leg toward me, and lifting up his own pant leg to show me the tattoo he had on the back of his calf.

Oh, and the fact that I’d called in sick to work so I could go only added to the humor when the next day 3 coworkers told me they saw me on TV the night before. Oops!

For me, watching a band I adore perform live is one of the very few things in life that truly makes me happy. I thrive on the energy and chaos of a live show. I marvel in the bumps & bruises obtained through frenetic dancing and singing. A My Chemical Romance show where my ribs still hurt nearly a week later after being in the front of the happy mob counts among my favorite memories. But seeing David Bowie perform was simply on another level. It transcended me into a euphoric state unlike any other. He always surrounded himself with amazing musicians who were so well suited to his sound & style. He was so beautifully handsome with an amazing smile and fantastic sense of humor and so immensely talented.

An artistic shot of David Bowie and I in 2004

 

For one show, my friend Kim and I spent an entire cold, rainy, February day waiting in a line to see him perform a rare general admission show in Los Angeles on a tour that was mostly seated venues. I recall us being woefully under dressed for the weather while we huddled together under one umbrella for about 9 hours until they let us into the venue where it all paid off and we managed a coveted spot in the front row. The frozen toes & fingers are long forgotten. I don’t recall much of the set list, only that I was able to play with the strings coming off his purposefully frayed jeans; touch his beat up black Converse while he sang on the high stage above us. My friend Alison took this “artistic” photo of David & I because that’s all we could manage due to the height of the stage. We were close enough that when he held a long note I could actually see the texture in the roof of his mouth. It was magical & memorizing and one of my favorite nights.

To some degree I have been able to share him with my kids. When my son was about 8 I was able to take him to a few shows on the Earthling tour. At the time, he actually liked the seats that were farther away because he could better see when David launched this giant eyeball balloon into the audience where it was instantly pulled to pieces. My daughter is much younger and never had the honor to see him perform live but Labyrinth has always been one of her favorite movies and she understands how magical he was.

On January 8^th, I happily downloaded Blackstar when I got into work and made my annual Happy Birthday post about David on my Facebook then gleefully plugged an ear bud into my ear to absorb the new music without any clue he was about to leave us shattered and heartbroken.

I’m blessed to have many international friends who graciously gathered up newspapers from around the world to send to me.

I’ve always been so biased in my opinion of great admiration and love for David Bowie, that I never really stopped to think about how many other people might also feel that way in varying degrees so it was mind blowing to the senses when he died to see the world react the way they did. My own life has been in flux the past couple years and the majority of my belongings currently reside in two storage units. I’m hoping soon I will be unpacking everything and perhaps, then I’ll have a Bowie fest and create a gallery of cherished items to come back and share with you.

My heart goes out to his family and friends. I thank them for sharing the public version of him with the rest of us. I’m grateful my time on this planet coincided with his.

I will always love David Bowie. He will always be my hero and one of the greatest influences and inspirations in my life that shaped who I am as a person.

Wrap Up From The iHeart Radio Music Festival

By Cindy Robinson

Last weekend the iHeart Radio Music Festival once again took over the MGM Grand Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas. Two nights & a day of live music.It was an amazing weekend filled with such a variety of music that there had to be something there for everyone! Young artists like Sam Smith and Demi Lovato took the stage inbetween veteran acts like Coldplay, the Killers and Duran Duran. Jason Derulo glistened under the spotlight after losing his shirt and revealing his six pack abs. Lil Wayne even had the grannies in the audience hopping around. Newer acts like James Bay, Shawn Mendes, George Ezra and Walk the Moon made it worth a day outside in the Las Vegas heat. There was a country crooner each night for those who like that sort of music (or might enjoy a bathroom or beverage break).

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Heading Downtown With Macklemore and Ryan Lewis

Today, Vanity Fair unleashed an exclusive set of behind the scenes and candid images of Macklemore and Ryan Lewis filming their latest video, Downtown. The images were shot by longtime Macklemore and Ryan Lewis photographer, Zoe Rain.

The exclusive photos show a fantastic range of moments including Macklemore enjoying time in between takes with new wife Tricia Davis and baby daughter Sloane, Ryan Lewis giving directorial guidance to the film crew and great shots of the ensemble cast in action. Click on the link below to visit Vanity Fair’s website for the slideshow.

Macklemore & Ryan Lewis by Zoe Rain for Vanity Fair

Downtown is the first new official single from the hip hop duo as a follow-up to their smash album The Heist. Downtown is available now on iTunes . The single is racing up the charts with appearances by old school rappers Eric Nally, Melle Mel, Kool Moe Dee, Grandmaster Caz, & Big Daddy Kane. The video has had nearly 11 million views since it’s release at the end of August. The next album (title not yet revealed) is expected later this year. Life on the Scene is looking forward to some more fun, live shows from Macklemore & Ryan Lewis in 2016! You can check out the video below.

 

 

#AppleEvent