Holiday Inns

So I made it into the Arizona Idol Top 30, but I didn't make it any farther than that. I did get a chance to sing at the Dodge theater though, which is a gorgeous theater. We all got our 30 seconds of fame up there, on the big stage, which let me say is a wet dream for any techie out there. It has tons of fly space, and just about 100 different curtains and lifts and things that I wanted to just lift up and down and see what happens! But I wasn't in the crew and I don't think they would have liked that. But I did get to sing infront of a live audience, and be judged by some successful people in the music business. Of course I think I got the shaft on comments. The guy said, and I quote: "A great voice, but for Broadway... next stop New York." OK - thanks for the compliment - but what about THE THING I WAS AUDITIONING FOR?? Jesus... Anyway I had fun, and that was a chance of a lifetime being backstage for that show. By the way let me add that there were some VERY beautiful young ladies there, some that were much too young for me, but others... wow...

But I didn't win anything so that's over and I moved on since then. That night, I was gonna go home, but my brother Brian dragged me out for a celebratory drink at a local undergroud pub. This had to have been the funniest part of the night, as my brother is pimping me out to the random people in the bar on how great I am and that I was singing at the dodge theater that night. Some great quotes from him:

"Dude you were off your ass tonight!"
"Justin, I'm biased I know, but as someone who knows music as much as I do, that was an incredible performance."
"Justin, I'm telling you, you're gonna make fucking millions!"

And my favorite:

"I can't believe I just paid $13 to see you friggin' sing for 30 seconds!"

Anyway, I went home shortly after and that was it, my Arizona Idol days were over.

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Then Friday came - so many things happened last week I couldn't describe how busy I was, but I was really happy that I had so many great things to do. From Dodge Theater to Friday and my next MC event, it was time to shine in talents I actually got paid for.

This event didn't go as well as my first, in my opinion.. although - the guests and more importantly the bride and parents had a blast. Thank goodness, because I was WAY off on Friday night. I learned a few good lessons though. I need to work on my conversation with the guests, and my speech - it's hard when they're right infront of me. This is yet another reason why I'm considering the radio - no one in front of me! I also have to work on pre-planning a little better. So, next time should be a good time - we will see.

I went right to bed afterwards because Saturday was a big day.

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A day in LA

SO - I woke up early and got to Serena's house - we had a long drive ahead. On tuesday the good news came in that I had won tickets to go see DJ Tiësto in concert. I was stoked. Tiësto is the MAN and from what I heard his concerts were second to none. So we drove up, the drive is great, on the way from Phoenix to LA you bypass the Wind Farm, which is like 1,000 windmills scattered throughout the rolling hills of the Palm Springs area. It truley is a sight to see. It looks like something from a sci-fi movie. Once you're past those - the drive gets a little tougher - I had to turn on my "LA driving mentality," meaning I had to drive like a maniac on a winding, yet more congested road. The road also became like it was paved in the early 1800's because since then the traffic has been so bad they wouldn't dare set up a detour. So much like an indy car driver, I weave my way into the city. That's when things got even more confusing. I mean - I thought Phoenix was bad, but I got so used to the straight roads and simple numbering system... this was a big problem.

I get to where I'm supposed to be, the LA arena, but now we have to find a place to sleep. So I 'hooks a left' on Figueroa, thinking there's gotta be something down here. I was right - Compton was down here. I guess the Arena is approx. 5 miles north of the most-notoriously-dagerous-for-a-white-guy neighborhoods. I quickly turned around and went the other way.

Luckily I found something, a Holiday Inn that looked to me like a Westin and I think my words were, I don't care how much we're staying.

The concert was FUCKING INCREDIBLE. Tiësto pumped it out for about 4 hours, mixed with dancers, fire, and a spectacular light show. The whole floor was lit like a dancefloor, and it often looked like one, with about 7,000 dancers all bouncing to the same beat. Kirsty Hawkshaw was there. Who had any idea that she was hot? Damn she came out and I was like whoa...

It went on until about 1:30 and he ended with adagio for strings (a re-edit of that song is used as my website intro theme). Very powerful. Can you believe that at the end of every show this guy throws into the audience a $150 pair of Sony headphones? That's some major money right there. Tiësto is the #1 DJ in the world, rated by TheDJList.com, among others. His music is a powerful trance, often with a kickin' bassline that can rumble your spine. He likes using a lot of synth pads, giving him an industrial-techno sound. I believe he resides in Holland, although he is Greek, his most famous set being to the Parade of Athletes for the Athens 2004 Olympic games. Stand back Olympic Symphony and Choir, here comes techno!

After the show, it was time to rest up for the trip home, but we had to find a cab first. By the time we did we could have walked home, but oh well... it was a great time.

Anyway, I must go - there's more to this story but I will save it for another day.

Peace.