I spent the better part of high school going to Backstreet Boys concerts. I made posters, convinced my mom to buy me hideous and overpriced concert gear (including a shimmery jean jacket with a studded gold “Backstreet Boys” on the back that I just HAD to have… I kid you not). I was smitten. I would daydream in Algebra class that they would just swoop into my school and serenade me (never happened), or that I would sit front row at their concerts (happened a few times thanks to my knack for sneaking up).

And while I grew up, and my musical repertoire changed, I have always held a soft spot for the Backstreet Boys. Maybe it’s that sweet pang of nostalgia, but the Boys gave me an escape, they started my love affair with music, and it would only be fair to admit that they even, in a way, helped start me on my career path in music, journalism and TV. Oh and their music is undeniably catchy.

So while people still give them flack and mainstream U.S. media doesn’t cover them nearly at all, there is no denying that the Backstreet Boys make you want to sing in your car. I’ve seen you (yes, YOU) at the bar belting out ‘I Want It That Way’ at 2am on Friday nights.

Their concerts are still packed with screaming girls, from 8-68. And it doesn’t hurt that despite losing a member, these Boys have only gotten sexier with age. Sounds too good to be true? Check out some footage CC shot at a BSB concert this past summer in Detroit: Read More »

Most college students like to think that all the drugs and alcohol in the world are at their fingertips once they hit campus. But for us under-agers there are some off-limits places, such as certain bars and clubs. If you’re wondering about the secret world of the 21 and overs, you might start thinking about getting a fake ID. From personal experience, and the experiences of my friends who have fakes, there are a few things you need to ask yourself before coughing up enough cash for an ID.

What am I going to be using it for? If you’re buying a fake primarily just to buy your friends booze every once in awhile, it’s probably not worth it to go through the whole process of getting one. It would be easier to just find an older friend to buy for you. If you want one to get into concerts, bars, clubs, comedy clubs, etc., with friends who also have fakes or who are older, then it’s more beneficial for you to have one. This way you’re at least getting your money’s worth, and you know for sure you have others who can join you in your illegal adventures.

Who am I buying one off of? Some of my friends have gotten fakes from a random sketchy place down in Chinatown. Even though they only paid 60 bucks for it, the ID says that it’s not government issued and a lot of places haven’t accepted them. Needless to say, they got sh*tty fakes. Read More »

I can’t explain what it is about Dave Matthews, but millions of college boys fall in love with him year after year. And so, by default, do the girls they date. I’m even pretty sure at about 40% of the country’s universities, you can’t even apply unless you’ve been to or intend to attend a Dave Matthews show, because he’s so “f*ckin unbelievable live.” Right? Riiiight.

I admit, I’ve been. It’s an amazing live show, it really is. That and the contact high you can get on the walk from the parking lot to the amphitheater is sick. But no, boys definitely love the Dave, and when you date one, you learn to love (or tolerate, or pay to see) him too. The odds are not in your favor–you will learn to deal.

I personally was never into Dave Matthews until I dated his stalker, a guy who had been to over 30 shows around the country, owned every album, some memorabilia…you get the idea. He had a man-crush on Dave. So, I tried to appreciate instead of judging him as a little weird (error in judgment number one). I downloaded more Dave than my own iPod could handle, I think at one point a good sixth of my playlist was devoted to DMB. I took it even further and went to a few shows. Which were good, you know, until I attached memories of the guy to them. And then the relationship ended on an incredibly bad note. And I was left with the sappy croonings of Dave Matthews to remind me what a moron I’d been. Never again can I think about seeing him live (which is sooo fun if you tailgate) or throwing on a random mix to fall asleep to.

Dave had to go, and after removing him from my iPod (but not my iTunes, should I lapse), I was safe. Or so I thought. Read More »

When your summer internship has ceased to become a refreshing break from academia and you start feeling a little like Kerouac and begin to dream of the open road, perhaps it’s time to fold your power-suit for the weekend and hit up a summer music festival, not just any summer music festival, Bonnaroo in particular. Like most of you, missing Coachella broke my heart, but that gaping hole can be eased with a little sun, gas station snackage, and a weekend of dancing your little feet off until you can stuff them back into heels for the office.

Bonnaroo: June 14-17, Manchester, Tennessee

Do you ever wish you should stumble through makeshift tents erected out of multi-colored tapestries interspersed with North Face nylon numbers, reeking of red wine, special brownie crumbs on your dirty t-shirt, a blunt in one hand and a delicious vegan burrito in the other? Well you best get packing and head down to Tennessee to join the throngs of drug addled music lovers. Read More »

I’m not really one to enter contests. I’ve never won anything in my life—even at my senior high school post prom party where everyone wins something, I only got a small fan. Everyone else had TVs, and stereos. I won a fan that broke three weeks later. Didn’t really convince me that I should enter things in the future.

I am, however, really into music, and would give one of my limbs to have access to so many concerts this summer (does anyone need a leg, cause I REALLY want to go to Rock the Bells). Which is why I was inspired to suck it up, and enter this really awesome contest. It’s so cool, I almost don’t want to tell you guys about it cause as of right now, there aren’t that many entries…. My chances are looking good. So don’t enter. Please.

LG has paired up with Billboard to give 30 people new camera phones, access to some of the hottest shows of the summer, and the forum to share your thoughts with the massive world of the blogosphere. All you have to do is write a 100 word essay about why you would make a great blogger, send them a “photo mash up”— which I hope I did properly— and you could be selected to cover shows across the country this summer. You use your new phone to take pictures, write your blog, and it will be posted on your own personal Billboard webpage. I would seriously pay them to let me do this. Read More »

I have a confession to make. I may or may not have strong hipster inclinations. You really can’t blame me for this turn of events, the signs were there for years: obsession with knowing the newest bands, very experimental fashion, rolling my brown eyes at people who actually watch the music videos on MTV and think that the Pussycat Dolls actually fall under the category of “good music”.

Moving to New York for the term just made everything worse. Suddenly I was with my own kind, it was like coming home for a family reunion. Only the hipsters I saw, well they were way more hip than me. Read More »

I hate my brother. While I was holed up in my dorm this weekend studying for finals, my brother and his gal pal Jenn were hangin’ in the California desert with 100,000 hipsters listening to 100 of the hottest bands on the planet at the Coachella music festival. What an A#@hole.

Fortunately for me, Coachella is just the first of many insanely great music lineups hitting the spring / summer festival scene this year. And next week when finals are in the bag, there will be nothing stopping me from sitting in on the action. Rollingstone.com has pulled together a fantastic list of music fests, line-ups and the pros and cons of each. Here is a brief rundown of the ones that made the list and a few that didn’t.

The Bamboozle – May 5th – 6th (Meadowlands Sports Complex, New Jersey)

Lineup Highlights: My Chemical Romance, MC Hammer, The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus, Hellogoodbye

Sasquatch – May 26th – 27th (George, Washington)

Lineup Highlights: Bjork, Beastie Boys, Arcade Fire, Interpol, Spoon, M.I.A., Neko Case, The Blacks Angels

Bonnaroo – June 14th – 17th (Manchester, Tennesee)

Lineup Highlights: The Police, Widespread Panic, The White Stripes, The Flaming Lips, Wilco, Franz Ferdinand, Damien Rice, The Decembrists, The Roots, The Black Keys Read More »