This past week I went home to Toronto for reading week and I can assure you I did little to no reading. Okay, I spoke too soon; I actually finished reading Elixir by Hilary Duff (yes, yes I know). I don't really consider that an accomplishment as I started reading the book back in October. Did I ever mention that I was a slow reader?
Anyways, I had a friend visit me from London (England, not Ontario)... you'd be surprised at how many times I have to make that clarification when I talk to people. I wouldn't make a big deal out of it if it was London, Ontario. While he was here I showed him some of Canada's popular points... at least those in Southern Ontario like Niagara Falls, the CN Tower etc. On his last night here I dragged him to the Tattoo Rock Parlour downtown to check out The Pretty Reckless perform live on their first headlining tour.
Being my first concert of 2011, it was definitely a banging start as The Pretty Reckless are one of my new obsessions... well maybe not so new as I've been into them since they first came out on the scene almost a year ago. I saw them perform last year at Warped Tour, but that was a 6 song set list before their album was out, so it was nice to see them on their own as a headlining act. They definitely did not disappoint. I would go further into reviewing the concert, which brings me to the next thing I want to talk about. Concert reviews.
As an avid concertgoer with a passion for writing, I, naturally, love writing concert reviews. Going to concerts fits in well with my passion and love for music, which also fits in well with another one of my interests; communications and media. All this relates to this new gig I've gotten with MuchMusic, another one of my loves. For those who don't really know me, or are new to my blog, throughout my high school years, I've been auditioning to be on MuchMusic. Whether it be embarrassing audition videos or just going to their-now-off-the-air-but-reintroduced-as-a-new-show-called-New.Music.Live, MuchOnDemand, I always wanted to be somehow directly involved with media. I got my little start by being one of their Skype correspondents to ask different celebrities questions live via webcam but this kind of fizzled away mid-summer 2010 and would only be occasional. A few weeks ago, that evolved into something bigger and better that I'm super excited and stoked about.
I've become one of their Live Crew Correspondents where I've got a few different things I do. I do video throws and shouts for them (either taped or done live) for new music videos for their live show New.Music.Live. I also do live hits in between commercial breaks for TV dramas Gossip Girl and Hellcats. Via Skype (or in person if I'm in Toronto), I chat with their VJ about current happenings in the show, and give my opinion and predictions on what's going on and what may happen. So far, I've done quite a few hits for Gossip Girl, and one for Hellcats. In addition to live hits, I also do concert reviews for them for the various concerts that I go to. I know you guys might be thinking, but Khizer concert reviews are written, how does that fit into you being their live crew correspondent? Well, I do written reviews that are posted on their website AND I also do a live segment where I review the concert either via Skype or in-studio for New.Music.Live if I'm in the city.
This brings me back to The Pretty Reckless. See, everything kinda fits. The first concert review I did for them coincidentally started with the first concert I attended this year. This is why I refrained from expanding on The Pretty Reckless earlier; I did a review for MuchMusic's blog on the concert which can be read by clicking HURR. In addition, because I was in Toronto for reading week, I was able to actually go live into the studio and review the concert with their VJ Phoebe (who is totally awesome, btw) as well as talk to the band on New.Music.Live. Now we pretty much reach the climax of my blog as I've been trying to hold my excitement in for the last few paragraphs.
OMGWTFBBQ.
All of this is really something I've always dreamed and hoped for is becoming directly involved with music and media and although its nothing huge, its baby steps and something that fits in perfectly with my schooling and everything. Ok, so I feel like I've hit both birds now; The Pretty Reckless & MuchMusic. Doing the review live in studio was definitely a bit nerve-wrackin as it was my first time doing a live-in-studio thing as opposed to webcam, but it went by very well and it is something I would love to continuing doing. I will post the video of my two segments on my new YouTube account soon so keep an eye out for that! As for future concerts, I plan on reviewing everyone I go to this year whether its directly for my blog or if its for MuchMusic. Regardless, they will all be posted here!
So that was my reading week; a very interesting and diverse week that was full of surprises. I sit right now on a Greyhound bus back to Ottawa typing up this blog. I definitely want to get back into reading mode and pick up some interesting reads when I'm back home that hopefully won't take me four months to read.
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