Backstreet Back in SLC

When I first heard that Backstreet Boys were coming to Utah, I couldn't wait to go see them. My roommates and I decided we'd go together to see the show. We have gone through a lot of criticism from everybody, because we were the only guys they know who was going.. All I have to say to that is that hey.. every guy not going sure did miss out. Every Teeny-Bopper who fell in love with the band has now grown up, and still hold fast to their love of the Backstreet Boys.. Yes.. I'd say the average age of women at the concert was early to mid twenties. Perfect age for 3 single guys in their upper 20s. Needless to say... We did get a couple numbers.

The show started later than expected. We waited an hour and a half before they came out. The opening act was a DJ. That was pretty much the lamest opening act I have ever seen. He ended up being the one-man band for the BSB.

They sang a bunch of old school songs, which brought me back to my teenage years.. in 1999 my buddies and I went to the BSB Millenium Tour. That was fun too. There was a movie theme that went along with the show. Each band member remade their favorite movie and put themselves in the staring roll. As the boys were changing their outfits, the movie clips would come on. They were pretty funny, and well done. Fast and Furious, The Matrix, and Fight Club were some of the movies they did. They put their own twist onto it and made it look like they were really the star actors in the movie. It was a very clever idea.

We bought our tickets the day they went on sale and ended up with some of the best seats in the house. first section from the stage, 6th row. This made for excellent photos.

BSB mentioned they have been around now for 17 years. That is just nuts. Everyone thought boy bands would fade fast, but these guys are here to stay, and continue to put out great music.

BSB mentioned that their first music video "Quit Playing Games With My Heart", was filmed in Salt Lake City. I didn't know that.

Overall, great show and sweet dance moves. I'd go again in a heartbeat.

ReAl Fun

Last week ReAl Salt Lake battled L.A. Galaxy at the Rio Tinto Stadium. This was no regular game. This was the biggest game of the season for RSL. RSL took the MLS Cup playing against L.A. last year, so I'm pretty sure L.A. still carry a grudge against RSL for kicking their space junk trash during a PK shootout in that final game. This game was algo a big one, because L.A. is an undefeated team this season. 10 wins, which make them the best team in the MLS. When on the road, no team has scored against the Galaxy.

I was in charge of official stats. I regularly work with the commentators like David James from Channel 2 and tv producers to make sure accurate information is not only said on the air, but televised during the game.

Soon after the game began there was a a sudden thunderstorm that struck the area and the game had to be delayed about 30 min. due to lighting. After the lightning break was over, the game continued. The stadium was packed. I have never seen more attendees at the stadium. Just under 20,000 RSL fans in attendance.

Since the game happened nearly a week ago, I'm sure you all know the outcome already. RSL scored a controversial goal in the 80th minute. L.A. claim that the point scored by Morales was scored offsides. It clearly wasn't offsides after the ball rolled to him after it bounced off of an L.A. defender. Goal! Not only did the fans cheer like crazy, but RSL players ran around the field with their shirts off, feeding their fans with excitement. That's how much this goal meant to them. RSL ended L.A.'s winning streak and sent them home scoreless. I have noticed I have been getting way into soccer when I jumped out of my seat and cheered. Immediately I was hushed by other media guys around me, making me feel like a retard. I forgot about the no cheering in the press box rule. Oh well. RSL has won their 7th game straight at home. These games are very exciting to watch.

There were more than the average amount of people in attendance at this game, because American Idol winner David Cook performed after the game. I had just walked out of the press conference room, when suddenly I rubbed shoulders with David Cook in the hallway. I was done with my duties, so I decided to follow him and his entourage to the field. I kinda felt like a clingy fan for a little bit, because there was nobody else around. I watched him and the band get pumped for their performance. I scrambled to pull out my camera and recorded a short video clip of them walking down the hallway. Too bad he was on his way to perform, otherwise I would have stopped him to get a picture with him. He put on a great show and my friends and I enjoyed the show.

My First Jump

This past Saturday I decided to jump out of a perfectly good airplane with my buddy Ryan. I love crossing off items from my bucket list. Skydiving has been on that list for years. We decided to jump in Ogden with Skydive Ogden.
I had imagined there would have been more instruction involved with the jump, but there really wasn't any until just minutes before jumping out of the airplane. Going tandem was a blast. My tandem instructor, Ryan is also a bullet biker guy. We talked about bikes on our 20 minute plane ride up to elevation.
I was as calm as a summer day the entire time until it was my turn to jump out of the plane. My buddy Ryan jumped before me and as I watched him free fall, it hit me that I was next. Jumping out at 12,000 ft. was a little scary at first, but once we reached terminal velocity speed, free falling felt normal. Just before jumping out, my instructor Ryan said, "Ok, if everything goes well our chute should come out, and i'll see you when we land. If not, it was nice knowing you." I laughed and said, "ok. It was nice knowing you to."
We did some different kinds of turning maneuvers and did lots of spinning. The free-fall lasted about a minute.
Once the parachute came out, we floated around for about 7 minutes. I was able to control the chute and get a feel for it. You really need to be strong in order to tug on the cords. It was a lot harder than I had expected.
We also did a ton of spins. It was a lot of fun, and it was peaceful to be able to talk and look at the scenery. I do remember popping my ears a few times on the way down because of the atmospheric pressure.
Our landing was great. We both landed on our feet for a smooth landing. I told my instructor Ryan that I felt a little nauseous from the spinning. He replied, "me too." I think we were a little more extreme than he normally is with other people. The dizzy feeling went away about 5 minutes later.
Overall it was a ton of fun, and I would love to go again.

Brand New Shoes

The new Ryan Shupe & The Rubberband album has just been released. I attended the release party last week and had a chance to catch up with Ryan Shupe, and play ultimate frisbee with the guys in the band.

I was lucky enough to help with recording of two of the songs on the album. I was eager to see if I could hear myself in the recordings, and see my name printed in the cd booklet. I have always wanted to be involved in some kind of professional recording, and now I finally got that chance. It's so exciting listening to the songs I am in. I laugh every time, because for some reason my voice stands out. Ryan told me that he could totally hear my voice in Beep above all the rest. I think I was just closer to the microphone than everyone else. I told Ryan that I hoped that I didn't ruin the song, but he reassured me that it sounded great.

This album was recorded 2 blocks down the street from my house in a small recording studio. The band put a lot of hard work in to the album and produced it themselves. It features such classics as "Baldy", "He knows Karate," and "Beep, Beep, Beep."

Ryan wrote "Baldy" as a country music parody about "the greatest cat he has ever known," because Shupe wanted to write the best country song that ever existed. People in Nashville would tell them that their music just wasn't quite country enough, so Shupe decided to pen a country song that involved typical country items such as cowboy boots, county fair, SUV, shot out to the military, etc. According to Ryan, these are all a variety of items generally included in a standard country song.

"This album features top notch musicianship, witty creative songwriting and great musical depth. The title track is a fun jam dance tuned about a kid's pair of 'Brand New Shoes' that not only helps him run faster and jump higher, but lands him on the news stations and gets everyone talking. It's post Heehaw, Funkadelic Hiphop New Grass in its finest form."

In addition to the new album, the band recorded the music for the new Toy Story 3 video game. How much fun is that? That will be interesting to play a game with their music in it.

Check out their new album. You can listen to it free on their website where it can also be purchased. Shupe.net