Tag Archives: omar lyefook

It’s Essensual That You See Omar in Concert

23 Thursday Apr 2009

Posted by in Feeding The Music Jones, Let's Rock: Concert Reviews

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me_omar

You know it ain’t nothing but a thang for me to travel up and down the East Coast to see Omar perform. When the “godfather of British soul,” comes stateside, I come a-running. I was hanging with some people before the show and one asked, “Do you really have to go to this show?” After my head stopped spinning around on my neck I basically said, “Nothing but death can keep me from it.”

It was my first time actually seeing him perform in DC. I’ve driven to Philly and even down to Raleigh, NC. DC shows Omar major love. The venue was packed and people were pressed to be as close as they could to absorb the energy from Omar and the band.

You can see from my cheese-eating grin up there that the set was outstanding as usual.He performed about ten songs, a few of them from his latest album, Sing If You Want It. However, most of the sets featured classic tunes like “There’s Nothing Like This,” “Little Boy,” “Essensual,”  “This Is Not a Love Song,” the Roy Ayers cover, “Everybody Loves the Sunshine,” and the William Devaughn cover of “Be Thankful (For What You Got). He would have been up there all night if he would have performed the tracks folks were calling out from the crowd. His repertoire is just that deep.

Here are a few videos from the show. As always, the entire show is on the You Tube channel for your viewing pleasure.

My theme song, “Music,” (I live for the music too, Omar)

Little Boy

Essensual

No word on when Omar will release a follow up to Sing If You Want It, but if you’re feenin for new flavor, head over to his official website and listen to a snippet of a new track, “When You Touch.” Love it. I can see the crowd dancing with wild abandon when he starts performing this one at shows.

Meeting him afterwards, I told him how I had traveled far and wide to see him perform and that he needed to come stateside more often. He was genuinely grateful for the support and promised to do so. So if and when he comes to your area, it’s essensual that you have your face in the place.

Sing If You Want It: Review of Omar, Fertile Ground & Yazarah Show

17 Monday Mar 2008

Posted by in Feeding The Music Jones, Let's Rock: Concert Reviews

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by vivrant thang on feeding the music jones

omar_fg_yaz1.jpg

This review is LONG overdue. I attended this show over SuperBowl weekend but some technical difficulties kept me from uploading the video…namely that I have lost 95% of the 150 or so videos I have posted on my You Tube channel. I think I’m still in shock.  Please pray for me.

Seriously.

Moving on.

It’s nothing but a thing for me to hop in the car and hit the road for a good show. My motto is “have good music, will travel.” So when I heard British soul singer Omar was going to be in the States, within driving distance, I was there!

I first experienced Omar in Philly back in 2006. What an introduction to his music! He turned World Cafe Live out with quite a high energy performance. I pledged to collect his music and catch him live whenever I could. Having Fertile Ground on the ticket was icing on the cake. I’ve never seen them perform outside of the DC Metro area.

Another reason I like attending shows outside of DC is because our music venues leave a lot to be desired. Almost every city I’ve traveled to for a show has put the 930 Club and Black Cat to shame. The Lincoln Theatre in Raleigh was no exception. It was very spacious with levels of staggered standing/sitting room. There was plenty of floor space in front of the large stage for those that wanted to get up close and personal. DC, you’ve got to do better.

On to the show. This will be briefer than my normal review because I’m cutting the carbs this week and am already meaner than Mister in Color Purple.

blackstaryahcd.jpg

Yazarah (as Purple St James) opened the show. I was a little ambivalent about her performance because the last time I saw her a couple of years ago or so, I was not impressed. Her performance was all over the place. However when she took the stage in Raleigh, looking as classy as she want to be, I knew Miss Yazarah had made some changes. She looked great and sounded even better – particularly on her slower songs.

Blackstar

She gets a little operatic on Same Page

I really like the changes Yazarah has made in her show. She’s grown as an artist since I last saw her and the crowd was very appreciative. She definitely has a new fan here.

fertileground_bi.jpg

Fertile Ground was up next and they truly turned Raleigh out. I’m not sure how many people had heard of them down there. A couple of years ago, my BFF from Charlotte was in town and attended a show with me. She hadn’t heard of them and became an instant fan. It’s hard not to be mesmerized by the lovely Navasha Daya and the way she performs, bringing the songs to life.

Live in the Light
(Sorry for the sea sickness. I must upgrade my camera to one where I can shake my moneymaker while filming)

On Homage (Yesterday),they took it back to 1997 when it was just Navasha, her husband, James, and the drummer. I’ve never seen James, feel it like this. I don’t think this video truly captured it.

 

sing_ukcover2.jpg

By this time, the crowd was warmed up and more than ready for Omar to take the stage. For those that are late to the party, he’s been in the game for more than 15 years. He counts Stevie Wonder as one of his fans, even getting the 8th Wonder of the World to join him on “Feeling You,” from his 2006 release, Sing If You Want It.

This performance was definitely more low-key than the one in Philly, but he still sounded great.

Here are some of my favorite songs:

Ghana Emotion 

Nothing Like This

It’s So
(my favorite song from Sing If You Want It – as you’ll be able to tell)

Cover of William Devaughn’s
“Be Thankful For What You Got”

Overall,  definitely worth the trip, particularly since Omar’s tour schedule doesn’t bring him back in the States anytime soon.

Speaking of London, how I wish I could just jet over to Jazz Cafe. Some of their upcoming shows are ridiculous. Unfortunately, my musical adventures don’t take me quite that far…yet.

Get into these artists:

Omar
Myspace | Official site

Fertile Ground
Myspace | Official site

Yazarah
Myspace

Your Mess

11 Tuesday Mar 2008

Posted by in Feeding The Music Jones

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by vivrant thang on makes me wanna holler

omar3.jpg 

This is your mess
This is your mess
You gotta clean up
This is your mess
This is your mess!

I had been writing this post in my head since last week. After hearing yesterday’s Strawberry Letter on the Steve Harvey Morning Show, I knew that for some reason I needed to hurry and get this post out of my head and into this space. I don’t believe in coincidences.

Here’s the letter:

Good day Mr Harvey and crews. I am a 37 year old woman with 2 daughters, age 14 and 12. I got married when I was 22 years old. In 2005 my husband told me that he was going on vacation with his friends. I suspected that he was lying and went to the airport on his way back and surely he was with another woman. I kicked him out of the bedroom and few days later my parents advised me that to speak to him about therapy which i did. He said to me that he wanted a divorce and he will be moving out of the house in March 2005. He is still in the houseand claimed that he can not afford an apartment and child support at the same time. we don’t have any relationship as husband and wife since 2005 he stays in a spare room in the house. I have met a gentleman this past summer. I explained the situation to him and that he is in the house because we own a house together and for the children. My question to you is this gentleman going to take me seriously or not? I have not giving away the cookie because I really don’t know how he sees me. I must tell you I am self sufficient and don’t need my husband financial support to survive. Please help.

This letter struck a chord with me because I’ve been reflecting on a conversation I had a few weeks ago with a female associate we’ll call Erica. She called me, practically bubbling over about this new guy she met a few months ago.  Things were going great and they were already dating regularly, heading towards commitment.

My side-eye started twitching up a storm as she ran her mouth about how good this man was to her and for her. Is Vivrant Thang a hater? Nope. Erica has not one, but two exes still very involved in her life and she encourages their behavior. One feels entitled to pop up at the crib or at her job whenever the mood strikes. The other calls incessantly and actually dumped a girl he was seeing because she had the nerve to get upset about his and Erica’s constant phone conversations. Yes, he would call  just to “check in” while they were together. Erica encouraged him to get rid of her, saying she should always come first since they have history.

As I said, she does nothing to discourage their behavior. When she doesn’t want to be bothered,  she’ll ignore their calls or pretends she’s not home.  Even with this new dude in the picture, she has no plans to tell either of them to beat it. She revels in the fact that they won’t leave her alone and considers them to be just friends.

I think she loves the potential for drama, although surprisingly nothing has ever popped off. It’s like she’s the master puppet and can pull the strings at will to make them both dance or sit in the corner quietly.

My conversation with her got me thinking again about people that court drama and mess. If that’s the way they like to live their lives, fine. However, my issue comes in when you bring someone else into your life knowing it’s messy. Clean your house before you invite somebody in!

Whenever I meet a man, within the first few conversations, I let him know that I live a quiet life. I have absolutely no drama and I expect the same. I can walk into my quiet building every night without looking over my shoulder. No one is blowing my phone up or banging on my door. I’m too old.

So if he got stalkers, baby momma drama, or any other mess going on in his life, get it cleaned up before we get anything started.  How could I take a man seriously if he has no control over his life and has a bunch of mess going on?

As for the Strawberry Letter, does she really think the man is going to take the relationship seriously if her ex is still living there? If she’s so self-sufficient, there is no need for him to be there. What real benefit is it to the kids to have two parents in the same house leading separate lives? Absolutely none – and she knows it. It’s all about her insane need to have him there for whatever reason. If she really wanted him gone and out of her life, she would have found a way after three years. She is content to live in her mess and wants to bring this new man into it. Does she really think it’s going to be smooth sailing when she’s dating and her husband sees her with this man? What’s good for the goose is never good for the gander.

I know sometimes there are things beyond a person’s control – drama they don’t encourage or want. It just shows up on their doorstep. I’m not talking about those few folks. However, most people that have a lot of havoc in their lives are doing something, consciously or unconsciously, to court it. All I’m saying is think carefully about taking some time to do some spring cleaning before you invite somebody over. Or you may find yourself with more mess than you can handle.