Ten Best Live Cover Songs of 2014

Ten Best Live Cover Songs of 2014
Mark E. Ortega
GrimyGoods.com
December 1, 2014

Having been fortunate enough to see around 100 concerts in 2014, not to mention a good number of music festivals, I had the opportunity to see some musicians pull out some pretty bad ass covers during their live sets. After much deliberation, I’ve broken down my Top 10 for the year, which was no easy feat.

Click here to read the rest...

An interview with Craig Nyman: Get to know Life is Beautiful Festival in Las Vegas

An interview with Craig Nyman: Get to know Life is Beautiful Festival in Las Vegas
Mark E. Ortega
GrimyGoods.com
October 9, 2014


Last October, Las Vegas played host to the inaugural Life is Beautiful Festival — a two-day fiesta of music, art, food, and learning that took place on the city streets of the rejuvenated downtown Strip. The festival was such a success that this year’s festival has been expanded to include a third day and will take place Oct. 24 through Oct. 26, headlined by Kanye West, Foo Fighters, and Outkast.

This has made extra work for Craig Nyman, the Head of Music and Live Performances for Life is Beautiful, who is tasked with putting together the music lineup along with Another Planet Entertainment for the unique and up-and-coming festival. After talking to Nyman for this feature, it became clear immediately that the additional workload was exciting rather than stressful.

Click here to read the rest...

Panic! At The Disco ignites The Greek for fans both old and new

Panic! At The Disco ignites The Greek for fans both old and new
Mark E. Ortega
GrimyGoods.com
August 27, 2014


Tuesday night, I took a trip back to my high school days. No, a DeLorean and Doc Brown weren’t involved. All it took was a trip to the Greek Theatre to see Panic! At The Disco, a band whose popularity first emerged when I was still a teenager with little life experience.

One thing that struck my right away: though a decade has passed since I really was into this band, their target demographic has not changed. A new generation of teenagers comprised more than half of the crowd at the Greek as 15-year-old girls were in every direction.

Click here to read the rest...