T-Mobile Sidekick - 50th GRAMMY Celebration Concert Tour Blog

OMG, It’s Seal!

Dave Lehre — Wed, 07 May 2008 20:44:00 GMT

Once again, I don’t even know where to start with how to describe the sheer awesomeness (is that a word?) that Seal’s performance was in Hollywood. After Sean Kingston left the stage, Dave and I went exploring and found the upper balcony where there was a ton of room and a great view. When Seal came on stage, we quickly realized that we were in for a heck of a show. He had the big video screen going and the lighting was great.

He did all of my favorite songs, including Crazy and Kiss From a Rose. I don’t think we would have let him out of there without doing Kiss From a Rose as several people were chanting for it during the course of the night. Everyone sang along with him for many of his songs, with Dave doing and especially good rendition of “Killer”.

We spent the first half of the show up on the balcony but then decided to make our way up to the stage to see how close we could get. I was literally up against the stage, mere inches away from Seal for almost the entire second half of his performance. Several times he reached out into the audience and made contact with individual people, looking them in the eye, touching fists, holding hands, etc. He really truly connects with his audience.

When he was done performing, there were smiles all around, and as he went backstage, rather than everyone leaving, an impromptu dance party started up to the music the DJ was spinning. Dave and I rushed backstage to meet Seal. Once he had a chance to meet us we were first in line to thank him for an incredible show. He was unbelievably modest and seemed a bit taken back that we were so enthralled by his performance. We had a chance to chat for a couple of minutes before the security people shooed us away to give others a chance to hang out with Seal. I must say that he was quite possibly the friendliest artist on the tour, even after putting on an enthusiastic show. I think he was a great way to end the tour.

Dave and I then headed out to the couches in the lobby to record a quick video recap of the night. I can’t remember what all I said, but hopefully he’ll apply his video editing magic to make me look cool. (This might include editing me out altogether!) Any way, I’m looking forward to seeing what he puts up.

I’m sad to see the tour over and done with. My All Access pass is now up on the shelf, next to the other Sidekick paraphernalia from over the years. The past month was definitely one of my most travel-filled months, and one of the most enjoyable tours I’ve ever been on. It really highlighted how much T-Mobile values the entire Sidekick user base and I can’t wait for the next event for them to sponsor. It’s a great way for them to give something back to the whole Sidekick community. Thanks again to T-Mobile and everyone responsible for making this happen!

Sidekick Roadie signing out for real this time…

-Ed

Sean Kingston hits Hollywood!

Ed Hunsinger — Fri, 02 May 2008 19:38:00 GMT

Wow, so I thought New York was going to be the best show of the tour, but it turns out that L.A. gave it some pretty good competition. I had originally not planned on going to this show, but was able to make it at the last minute and I’m glad I did.

After checking into the Hollywood Roosevelt, I headed down Hollywood Ave to get to the Avalon. I had seen the parking lot of my hotel filled with shiny new Audis, Escalades, and a Ferrari or two and knew something had to be going on. As soon as I turned the corner and saw the Chinese Theatre, I realized that I was smack in the middle of a red carpet event. I can only assume it was for a movie premiere or something and everyone was standing around yelling at celebrities and trying to get pictures. Someone even gave me a starry eyed look and mumbled a star-struck “hello” at me! I think he mistook me for one of those famous people or something.

I walked down Hollywood until I got to Vine and saw the T-Mobile Sidekick bus. I flashed my All Access pass and just hopped over the ropes and walked inside where I finally met fellow blogger Dave in person. He was a cool guy and was looking forward to a show with a little bit less country.

Right away we headed back to the dressing room to meet Sean Kingston. He’s a lot taller than I expected. We chatted, took photos, and then headed back out to score some free snacks and drinks before Sean came on stage. I think Dave was planning on eating his weight in those little snacks before the night was over.

Sean came out and put on a good show. I’ll be honest, I had never heard him before, but he had me tapping along with his beats. He played several of his hits, including “Beautiful Girl” which I dug, and “There’s Nothing”. The crowd really enjoyed him, and I had fun watching all the hands waving in the air from the VIP section. The place was packed with people having fun. Sean Kingston was great and even gave a shout out to his mother who was in the crowd. But when Seal came on, we were blown away. More on that later…

-Ed

I’m in Hollywood!

Ed Hunsinger — Thu, 01 May 2008 01:35:00 GMT

A bumpy but short flight from San Francisco has landed me in Hollywood! I gawked at all the cool graffiti murals that I recognized and was amazed at how many businesses around here are related to the movies. Wow. I haven’t seen my first movie star yet, but my eyes are peeled. I’m checked into my hotel and waiting on room service to deliver a tasty burger. Then it’s off to the Avalon to check in and wait for Seal and Sean Kingston’s sure to be awesome performances. I wonder if Heidi Klum is going to be there…

This is the night to go all out people! I plan on being exhausted and catching up on my sleep on the plane ride home. See you in a few hours!

-Ed

Get ready LA!

Dave Lehre — Wed, 30 Apr 2008 23:49:00 GMT

I’m getting super pumped, in only a few hours I’ll be kicking it with Sean Kingston and Seal! I hope to see everyone there tonight! Bring your sidekick! You’ll get total VIP access, mini-burgers, Pizza and Nachos! maybe more! There’s also gonna be a raffle to win a free SK. sooooo, get ready to party! I heard Seal’s performance is gonna blow people away & Kingston starts performing at 9PM!

See ya tonight!

-DL

Sean Kingston and Seal!!

Dave Lehre — Tue, 29 Apr 2008 19:27:00 GMT

Dude!!

I’m SOOOOO pumped about tomorrow! Freaking Sean Kingston and Seal will be performing live at the Avalon in Hollywood! This is going to be a super fun show, I’m a pretty big S. Kingston fan. And Seal is a legend, so when you combine forces, you have the formula for an amazing night.

I live in Hollywood, so I’m not going to be staying in some swanky hotel or flying first class this time—It will make it easier to upload photos right away and blog about the event instantaneously. I have one request for Sean Kingston though… Sean, I want to come on stage during “Take You There” and sing the chorus with you. Holla at cha boy. I love that song.

If you are gonna be in LA tomorrow, (Wednesday), get some tickets for this legendary night!! Go to your local T-mobile store, hit up a radio station, have your people call our people, whatever. And as always, if you see me at the show, totally say hi! I look forward to meeting all you crazy cats!

Peace, love and sidekicks,

-Dave

It’s time for an encore!

Ed Hunsinger — Tue, 29 Apr 2008 19:21:00 GMT

You can’t keep this Sidekick Roadie down! That’s right, I’m back and will be hitting one last show on the T-Mobile Grammy Tour. T-Mobile was awesome enough to swing one more show for me. I’ll be there tomorrow in Hollywood to party with Dave, Seal, Sean Kingston, and hopefully a bunch of you guys. We’re going to party like it’s the last stop on the tour, cause well it is the last stop on the tour! I’m also hoping I get to play “Spot the Celebrity” because it’s Hollywood and all. Who knows who’s going to show up, right?

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, don’t miss this show, go get your tickets, don’t forget your Sidekick, and say hi if you see me.

I’ve hardly spent any time in L.A., but I’ve got a sweet hotel booked right across the street from Grauman’s Chinese Theater and tickets to the best show in town that night so things are good. See you guys at the Avalon!

My Dallas video wrap up

Dave Lehre — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 20:59:00 GMT

Check out my video wrap up of the Dallas show by clicking on the pict to the left!

I love Texas.

Dave Lehre — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 21:40:00 GMT

I JUST got back from the concert… whoa. AWESOME, AWESOME show!! T-mobile hooked me up with an all access pass so literally right when I arrived I got to meet Kid Rock & Gretchen Wilson. Then, if you flash you’re sidekick to the security guard, you get this fresh VIP area with Pizza, mini-burgers and PRIME seats. (So if you’re going to the LA show, bring your sidekick!)

Sidenote: I’m going to be making a very special “Video Upate” tomorrow when I get back to California, So I’ll give my full show wrap up then & have some exclusive footage. :-)

Anyways, Gretchen Wilson got the crowd going and put on a great live show. Her Drummer had on a shirt that said, “TEXAS. BIG TROUBLE.” hahaha, all this Texas stuff has had me cracking up all day, I love it.

Kid Rock normally plays huge stadiums and larger events, so it was quite a treat to see him in a place the size of a high school gym. He blazed through his new & old hits, and even did some covers of classic rock & roll songs! he was jumping around stage and getting everyone involved… no denying it, Kid Rock is a fantastic live entertainer.

When I got back into my Hotel room, there was an ice bucket full of drinks and a note sitting on my table. It said, “Mr. Lehre, I hope you enjoyed you’re first trip to Texas, It was our pleasure having you.”

Just like my crazy cab driver said today, Dallas really IS ONE MILLION TIMES better than any other city in the world! haha—
I’ll update ASAP with some photos & video!! Shout out to sidekick, you guys know how to throw a party!

-Dave

ONE MILLION!

Dave Lehre — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 19:38:00 GMT

Yeah Dallas! Right when I got off the plane immediately I knew wearing a hoodie was a bad choice… it’s about 85 and humid right now! I had the coolest taxi driver ever take me to the Hotel, He was from Iran and has been living here since 1979! He told me all about the city and kept saying how great it was. Let me quote, “Dallas is one MILLION times better than any city in the world!” That is a bold statement sir! But so far, that crazy cab driver was right!

T-Mobile got me some kind of master suite with a turbo huge balcony over-looking the city, it’s pretty awesome! I’ll post a bunch of pictures when I get back tomorrow because I just realized I forgot my USB cable for my camera! I’ll ask around, someone might have one here!

So I am chilling for another couple hours until my call time at the Granada, I guess I have to be there around 8! I hope to see ya’ll there tonight! Kid Rock, Gretchen Wilson and tons of cool people! Say Hi if you see me, I’ll be hanging out all night! Exclamation points!!

-Dave

OMG DALLAS!

Dave Lehre — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 19:30:00 GMT

The tour is rolling into Dallas tomorrow and I’m gearing up for my trip EARLY in the morning! The show is going to be Kid Rock and Gretchen Wilson…

FUN FACT: I was born & raised in the same small town, Romeo, Michigan, as Kid Rock! He totally went to the same high school as me too—so I guess that’s pretty cool. (I’m hoping he lets me sing back-up vocals on “Bawitdaba” because of this.)

Basically, I’m just packing right now and not doing anything too super exciting, but I’m sure once I get to Texas the adventure will begin!

Hope to see you all at the Granada Theatre tomorrow!! :-)

Peace, love & sidekicks,

-Dave

Curtain Call for this Sidekick Roadie

Ed Hunsinger — Sun, 20 Apr 2008 20:12:00 GMT

The last month has been an incredible adventure. When I was originally contacted about doing the Sidekick Roadie thing I couldn’t believe that it was actually real. I kept waiting for the “Ha ha! Gotcha!” that never came. Come on, would you believe someone if they told you: “We’re going to fly you around to concerts with Grammy award winning artists in Chicago, New York, and Miami. Full access at the shows, and you’ll get to meet the performers.” I didn’t until I was actually on that first flight in Chicago. But once the ball started rolling, I had more and more fun with every trip.

I want to take a moment to thank all the people involved with this. The Grammy people who have put a lot of work into these shows. T-Mobile for not only picking up the bills for the shows/after parties/etc, but for also giving me this great opportunity (and of course the Sidekick)! It’s been a blast, hopefully we can do it again sometime! Glen, the bus driver that hauled us around to different clubs after the shows and drove the Sidekick Tour bus cross country. And finally, Colbie Caillat, Cat Power, John Legend, Missy Elliott, Busta Rhymes, Kat DeLuna, Pitbull, and Ozomatli for putting on great shows and being all around cool people.

It’s definitely been a journey that will not be forgotten.

Sidekick Roadie signing off…

-Ed

You can’t help but dance to Ozomatli

Ed Hunsinger — Fri, 18 Apr 2008 03:56:00 GMT

Ozomatli filled the stage with the members of the group and from the very start, made everyone in the audience dance. Their sound was infectious and you couldn’t keep yourself from dancing to it. I made my way down to the very front to take some pictures and dance with everyone. Yes, even after having been awake since 3am I was still unable to resist the beat. At this point in the night a fair number of people had already left because they were just there to see Pitbull I assume. They totally missed out, but their loss was our gain as it was great that there was enough room for people to groove to the sounds of Ozomatli. Towards the end of their set, one of the singers jumped down off of the stage with his mic and came into the audience to dance with us. As you can see in the picture it made everyone smile.

After Ozomatli’s exhausting set, we met them backstage and hung out for awhile. They are by far the coolest group of guys I’ve met in a long time. They were cracking jokes, shaking hands, posing for photos, and asking about Sidekicks. When they heard that they were all going to get Sidekick LXs they were more than pleased. We invited them to the after party, but they had caught the red-eye flight after playing on Dancing with the Stars so needless to say they were quite tired. We said our goodbyes and then I headed out with the T-Mobile and Grammy people (aka the people that make it happen) for one last night out as the Sidekick Roadie.

We first tried to hit up some club, but there was some birthday party going on and we decided we wanted food, so we hopped in a cab and went hunting for some place that was still open. We happened to be walking by an Italian restaurant and they literally stopped us and before we knew it we were sitting at a table outside, looking at the ocean, drinking mojitos and waiting for steaks at 2am with one of the coolest waiters ever. After a delicious dinner, it was truly time for some sleep as I had been up for almost 24 hours! A good end to my last night out as a Sidekick Roadie.

-Ed

Pitbull!

Ed Hunsinger — Fri, 18 Apr 2008 02:35:00 GMT

After Kat DeLuna’s performance, we were hanging out backstage with Pitbull. He was quite the charismatic guy and very friendly with everyone! He did a couple of interviews and posed for a bunch of different photos with people. I got my picture taken with him and exchanged a few words. He was soon shuffled away by bodyguards since he was supposed to go on stage soon! We stuck around and hung out with Kat DeLuna until we realized that the music we heard on stage was no longer the DJ and Pitbull had already started.

We rushed back out to the main floor to a crowd filled with people there to see Pitbull. The energy was super high and he was totally rocking the place. I had never really listened to Pitbull before so I just kind of lumped him into the rap genre. Now that I’ve seen him perform, I have no idea what genre he would fall into! Somewhere between rap and rock with a Cuban flavor and a hint of electronic techno is the best I can come up with. Pitbull is from Miami, so this was a hometown show for him. He effortlessly switched between English and Spanish on stage and keep the crowd hyped up as he did a roll call for what seemed like all of the southern Florida counties. Of course Dade County was the best represented. Pitbull had everyone singing along with him and I think everyone was sad when he was finally done. I must say, that man has got a great stage presence and a good group of people backing him up with the music. After Pitbull was done, we had a chance to take a quick breather before Ozomatli came on, and boy did we need it.

-Ed

Miami is made of hot!

Ed Hunsinger — Thu, 17 Apr 2008 17:44:00 GMT

Wow, I knew Miami was the place to be, but I had no idea it was filled with such hot people! I was amazed at how well dressed people were. The typical Miami nightlife attire, the miniskirt, was out in full force. And there was even a group of girls decked out in evening gowns. The guys were also wandering around with their fancy clothes and jaunty hats. All in all I felt a little under-dressed! I’m sure the official photographer got some great pics of the crowd, so keep an eye on the photos section for them.

But enough on the people-watching, the show was incredibly good! I’ll be honest, I didn’t really know the three groups that well. I had heard of them, but never heard them. As with most shows with musicians I don’t know, I lower my expectations. But this show totally blew me away.

The Fillmore was huge! It has 2,600 seats PLUS the standing room area up front. The way that the place was setup for the show was great. There was a VIP area smack in the middle with couches and our own bar for Sidekick VIPs. We had a great view of the show the entire night and the dancing bartenders kept the drinks flowing.

Kat DeLuna was up first. Her band and backup singers took the stage and she exploded onto the stage with a ton of energy. I never knew the human body could move like that! She was moving and shaking and dancing all over the stage all while belting out her songs with an incredible voice. Quite a sexy show, and totally one that was well suited for Miami. She was so energetic that she had trouble keeping her earpiece in! She was really cool and genuinely thanked the Grammys and T-Mobile for including her in the tour.

When Kat was done, we headed backstage to the dressing rooms to meet her, take a few photos and chat. She was incredibly cool, upbeat, and a pleasure to chat with. Even after dancing all over the stage she was still full of energy and wanted to chat with everyone. We ended up hanging out backstage so long that before we knew it we had missed the first few songs of Pitbull’s set!

Bienvenido a Miami!

Ed Hunsinger — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 19:51:00 GMT

“Beep beep beep” said my alarm. It was 3:00a, time to get up and head to the airport and catch an early morning flight to Miami. I don’t think I ever fully woke up on the way to the airport, going through security or even boarding the plane. I have a hazy recollection of taking off just as the sun was rising over San Francisco and before I knew it we were over the Gulf of Mexico, almost to Florida. But the good thing about waking up so early is that this means I get into Miami early in the day, even with the 3 hour time change.

The weather down here is awesome! I was dreading the wave of humid and hot that I’ve associated with Florida, but was quite happy when I stepped out of the airport and could still breathe! Florida is my old stomping grounds, where I spent most of my early years (in Gainesville to be exact). So I’ll always have a soft spot for this state. A Grammy Tour concert is totally an excuse worth making the trip out here.

Speaking of the concert, I hope everyone’s got their tickets! New York is a tough act to follow on the tour, but I’m sure it will be fun tonight. Looking forward to seeing all of you there. If you see me, come up and say hi!

(No that’s not actually a picture of Miami from the plane, it was just the first bit of land we saw after flying over the Gulf of Mexico)