Archives For montage mountain

Rihanna turned 30 on Tuesday and to celebrate the superstar’s birthday, I threw it back on the radio show to one of the most embarrassing moments of my career. It was May 2008; my program was only airing in Scranton, Pennsylvania at the time. Good ‘ole Cousin Tony was in town visiting and we had a lot planned – a trip to New York on Saturday to see the Yankees and then a doubleheader on Sunday: PNC Field for the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees game against the Pawtucket Red Sox and then up the road to The Pavilion At Montage Mountain for Kanye West’s “Glow In The Dark Tour” featuring N.E.R.D., Lupe Fiasco and Rihanna.

I was also scheduled to interview the “Pon De Replay” singer before she took the stage. Our record label rep, Nicki, brought me and my colleague Adam backstage for our chat. I had a five minute window.

The interview started on a great note; Rihanna was in a fantastic mood. But the worst thing possible happened after one question: the MiniDisc I was using died. I brought backup batteries and extra discs. After I replaced each I attempted to restart the interview. And by the fourth restart, sitting across from *Rihanna,* I made the call that we would just film and use the audio from Adam’s digital camera, which he thankfully brought.

There are a few things I’ll always remember about that experience: how kind Rihanna was, how patient Nicki was, using MiniDisc for the final time in my career and taking up so much time in the process that Rihanna couldn’t do another interview scheduled after mine. She went right from our photo-op to the stage, and slayed it.

The last noteworthy moment came as I walked out of Rihanna’s dressing room. We saw and snapped a photo with her boyfriend, who happened to be there… Chris Brown.

The “Boys Of Zummer” Tour starring Fall Out Boy, Wiz Khalifa and Hoodie Allen took over The Pavilion at Montage Mountain in Scranton, Pa. on Saturday. I was in attendance at the show, and here is what I noticed from my perspective.

– I attended the meet-and-greets for both Fall Out Boy and Wiz Khalifa, hopping between lines because both were off to a bit of a late start (I believe sound check ran late, thus pushing everything back). I just wanted to say a quick hello to the fellas of FOB; my presence was actually necessary at the Wiz meeting because his label required the radio station to have a representative on hand snapping photos.

– Although I don’t frequent them as much as I used to, I have attended my fair share of meet-and-greets. Fall Out Boy and Wiz Khalifa do a great job of making time to actually converse with each fan. It’s always nice to see artists that still don’t take such things as people wanting to meet them for granted.
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– Wiz was about a dressed down as you would expect when he strolled in to the tent we waited in backstage: flip flops, track pants and a green hoodie pulled up. His demeanor was pretty laid back, even when my camera stuttered before taking the first photo of our winners (thankfully I figured out the issue quickly. The photos are up now at 97bht.com).

– Fall Out Boy’s team runs its meet-and-greet a bit different. First, everybody is lined up just outside the venue’s entrance. A person from the band’s camp checks everyone in on a list one-by-one. Then we’re all lined up again, in the venue. From there, we proceeded to the VIP deck. A security guard stands by to hold any bags or phones; none were permitted as FOB has a staff photographer handle all photos. The shots are then uploaded to a website for download. They also offer props for the picture – sunglasses, boas, etc. Very photo booth-like.

– Of course, the guys from FOB are familiar faces now, especially lead singer Patrick Stump and bassist Pete Wentz. All or part of the band has been on “Ralphie Tonight” four times in the past nine months. We exchanged quick salutations and I told them how excited I was to hear the newer stuff live.
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– I also had a chance to chop it up backstage with DJ Bonics, a radio personality who is also Khalifa’s tour DJ. He was telling me how well the tour has gone for Wiz. Some still don’t understand how the two-acts can co-exist on the same bill. After seeing the Pittsburgh-emcee’s set, which included all of Wiz’s hits from “Black and Yellow” to “Young, Wild and Free” and of course “See You Again,” it became much easier to understand. The crowd was engaged from start to finish, and if they didn’t initially show up to see Khalifa, they more-than-likely left the venue a fan.

– And Fall Out Boy gets better every time I see them live; the last prior to this being on the 2013 “Save Rock and Roll” arena tour. It’s a seamless string of hit-after-hit with some fan favorites sprinkled in. As expected, a highlight of the evening was the band playing “Fourth of July,” a track from “American Beauty/American Psycho,” on of course July 4th.

Don’t call it a comeback, but feel free to file this one in the “Throwback” section – Paramore is returning to the Vans Warped Tour.

Hayley Williams and company will join the trek for six dates this summer, starting on Thursday July 14 at Toyota Pavilion at Montage Mountain in Scranton. The band joins a list of other Warped Tour alums returning to the tour – including main stage acts 3OH!3 and Gym Class Heroes. Canadian pop-rockers Simple Plan also rejoin for the group’s first “Warped” stint since 2003.

Paramore had an interesting holiday season – at the end of December last year the band announced that two of its founding members, Zac and Josh Farro, would be departing. Statements have been exchanged publicly between the Farro brothers and the remaining members of Paramore – namely Josh and Hayley. Despite the tumultuous times, Williams told MTV News earlier this year that not only will Paramore stay together, but the band will release new music in 2011.

Crunk-rockers 3OH!3 have had a many tours of duty at “Warped” – as both a relatively unknown act in 2008 and prior – and as the main attraction in 2009 – riding high that summer off of the number one hit, “Don’t Trust Me.” Travie McCoy and Gym Class Heroes are certainly no stranger to Nat and Sean – the two groups have traveled together both on the summer festival and other dates. This is GCH’s first proper tour since McCoy launched a solo career capped with the smash song, “Billionaire” featuring Bruno Mars.

Check out previous Warped Tour coverage here.

How ironic given that last summer, Lil Wayne kicked off his “America’s Most Wanted Music Festival” in right here in NEPA at Toyota Pavilion at Montage Mountain. Anyways, enjoy (NOTE: NOT CLEAN VERSION!).

Big thanks to my homie DJ Woogie for putting me up on this.


Check dates here.
Full lineup here.

Of course, some of the highlights…
– The Cab
– Hey Monday
– Sum 41
– We The Kings

And headlining…

THE ALL-AMERICAN REJECTS!

As politically active as Young Jeezy was last fall, it only made sense that last week, he felt right at home in what the pundits called, “The Ground Zero of the Presidential Election.”

“I appreciate Scranton for standing behind (President Obama),” Jeezy told me backstage at the first stop on the “America’s Most Wanted Music Festival.” Obama won both Lackawanna and Luzerne Counties. “We here now, we’re trying to make the world a better place.”

The Atlanta-rapper is both realistic and patient – he believes it’ll take President Obama two terms to fix the various big ticket issues our country faces. But he also recognizes the other half of the winning ticket.

“Joe Biden! What up homie!” he cheerfully shouted when I reminded him that Vice President Biden is from the Electric City.

The conversation quickly turned to music, as Jeezy is working on his fourth studio LP: Thug Motivation 103. No release date is set – and the rapper is rather evasive on details. Jeezy did tell me that fans can expect, “a little bit of everything,” referring to a conglomerate of material that people grew accustomed to between Thug Motivation 101 and The Recession.

“Everything still pretty much in the can right now,” Jeezy revealed. “It’s gonna be a very special album, but at the same time, the streets gonna love this, Scranton are gonna love this, people are gonna love this album.”

Still, Jeezy would not as much as divulge any type of timeline for the record’s release, simply stating that he’ll drop it once it’s finished. You would think that if it’s already in production, it’ll be released by the time fellow Atlanta rapper T.I. leaves jail. Young Jeezy told me that through their respective camps he keeps in touch with T.I.P.

“He’s gotta pay his debt to society and get back on it. We here for him though.”

Don’t necessarily call it a homecoming to hip-hop, but for MTV News reporter Sway Calloway, it sure felt good to cover the America’s Most Wanted Music Festival’s first date in Scranton, PA.

“I’ve been on the road doing a lot of stuff with MTV,” explained Calloway – mentioning the Michael Jackson memorial as well as numerous political events. “I really wanted to come back to the core of how I got in this game, and that’s through rap, hip-hop music.”

Producers and MTV News beat reporter Shaheem Reid joined Calloway to cover the event. The team from MTV arrived on Sunday and caught Lil Wayne’s dress rehearsal. By all accounts, it seemed as if the crowd at Toyota Pavilion at Montage Mountain would be in for a special show. But the event impressed Calloway on other levels as well.

“Especially in this time of economic crisis, people said you can’t put together a tour,” said Sway. “Young Money Records, Lil Wayne, stuck their neck out there and they got truly America’s most wanted.”

The lineup is something to marvel at – the front of the bill includes Jeremih (top 10 hit in “Birthday Sex”) and Pleasure P, formerly of Pretty Ricky. Soulja Boy Tell ‘Em takes the stage next, followed by Young Jeezy and Wayne – who brings his entire Young Mula crew for the ride. At least for now, that will be sans Drake, who reinjured an already torn ACL on Friday in Camden, NJ. The R&B singer returned to his home of Toronto, where he will undergo surgery this week.

But with a tour this deep, almost any hit to the card is sustainable, especially when you have one of your opening acts tossing out thousands of dollars to the crowd.

“I’ve seen that gimmick over the years a thousand times,” Sway noted of Soulja’s parting act. While performing “Turn My Swag On,” the 19 year-old reached in to his pocket and began tossing out Ben Franklin’s to the crowd as if he was shooting free throws in a gym. “Soulja Boy is the first person I’ve personally witnessed to throw out real, $100 bills, continuously for at least six minutes.”

The MTV reporter estimated that Soulja gave “at least $5,000” to the fans.

“I talked to people who walked away with a couple hundred dollars,” he said. “(Soulja Boy) paid them, to come see him.”

Certainly no one needed any more incentive to show up. Over 12,000 people entered Montage Mountain for the event – a solid figure in an area that has generally struggled to support hip-hop and rhythmic shows. Again, just another testament to the lineup put forth by Wayne. The “maturity” of the acts also impressed Calloway. While we spoke, Young Jeezy performed behind us, backed by a 9-piece band.

“Music is a universal communicator,” said Sway. “You see people right now, partying together, to one beat… and it’s a great venue.”

R&B newcomer Jeremih learned an important lesson on his first day of touring: sometimes, you need to roll with the punches.

“The keyboard should’ve been here,” he explained while backstage at Toyota Pavilion at Montage Mountain. “It’s on its way; it was 15 pounds over capacity for the plane limit.”

But at least the singer himself made it. Jeremih flew to Scranton from El Paso, TX – touching down in NEPA around 4:30. He quickly drove to the venue, and snuck in a quick sound check before doors were opened to the public. I spoke with him just past 6 p.m., approximately 40 minutes later he hit the stage to croon for 15 minutes, ending with the up-tempo version of his Top 10 hit, “Birthday Sex.”

But if you’re headed to another stop on the America’s Most Wanted Music Festival, don’t assume that you’ll hear that particular cut.

“It all depends on what people are really feelin’,” said Jeremih. “It was up to me, I’d perform both of ‘em.”

After consulting with myself and Kidd Kraddick In The Morning producer Adam, Jeremih and his manager decided on the up-tempo remix, as that is the version heard on 97 BHT.

Jeremih isn’t your average R&B singer. Born Jeremih Felton in Chicago, the singer entered the University of Illinois at age 17. The early entry to college forced Felton to grow up quickly, and he would soon learn a lot about himself and his surroundings.

“I ended up getting a hold of some IDs,” revealed Jeremih, who blamed his downfall in part on living away from home in a co-ed dorm. “Long story short, I’m the youngest kid in there, but the oldest dude in there.”

The singer soon found himself with a revoked license. But Jeremih credits that experience with helping his career: during that two year period, he was forced to sit home and work on his craft. Jeremih transferred to Columbia College Chicago. He left a semester short of a degree to pursue his career, but plans on finishing at some point.

“Education is key,” said Jeremih. “It got me this far.”

It shouldn’t come as a surprise that the most tech-savvy artist of our generation is using all of his gadgets while on tour this summer to continue creating, producing, and finishing projects.

“I got the studio bus actually on the road, the whole tour,” explained Soulja Boy Tell ‘Em. “So I’m recording my third album, I was tellin’ ya about, The DeAndre Way, it drops in November. I’m recording my album while we’re on tour. So ya’ll can look out for the Soulja Boy/Drake collaboration.”

I sat down with Soulja during Lil Wayne’s set on the opening night of the America’s Most Wanted Music Festival. The summer long tour features Weezy and his Young Money crew, Young Jeezy, Soulja Boy and S.O.D.M.G., Drake, and Jeremih. Pleasure P, formerly of Pretty Ricky, also made it on to the bill.

Drake, who just signed a deal with Universal Records that affords him a $2 million advance, called Soulja, “the smartest artist of our generation, period,” on The Ralphie Radio Show in June. It seems the respect is mutual.

“Drake is a real dude. Most rappers, they don’t like to give the other rappers props,” Soulja Boy said. “He showed me my respect. Drake is a good artist.”

At least when it comes to artistry, it seems most of the rappers on the bill are taking cues from the headliner. Even after the first show, Soulja Boy already found himself inspired and pushed by Weezy.

“I just got through watching Wayne’s show. I’m about to go back to the drawing board,” revealed Soulja. “I feel like, my next show, I just gotta go back and critique everything a little bit, but we straight though.”

However, I’m sure one part of the performance that will not change is the end. The crowd inside Toyota Pavilion at Montage Mountain exploded when Soulja dropped “Turn My Swag On.” The first few rows of the venue near came to a boil soon after – when the 19 year-old began tossing out $100 bills in to the crowd. MTV News reporter Sway Calloway estimated that Soulja gave back atleast $5,000 to the crowd. But for the Chicago-born rapper, the money itself wasn’t much of a driving factor behind the move.

“I flash back in my head to when I was 15, 14 years -old, just wanted to become a rap star,” he said. “For me to make it, and to become a millionaire, and for my dreams to come true, all that just be flashing through my head.”

South Philly-born Amber Rose showed up at opening night of the America’s Most Wanted Music Festival. The model and former exotic dancer has appeared in videos and print campaigns with Young Jeezy and Kanye West, and has been romantically linked to West as well.


Rose recently appeared with West in a Louis Vuitton ad.