Go forth and fill your libraries with media.
Seriously, thanks to everyone for being so amazing and patient. You are the reason I love Vox.
I was just told that the Amazon Conduit will be fixed by tomorrow. I will post here as soon as I get word that it's back up and running.
I know this has been frustrating and I am sorry there wasn't more I could do to make it less so. I really appreciate your patience though.
Cheers,
Bad news. As many of you have probably noticed, the Amazon Conduit was not fixed in the last week's release. Unfortunately, there was an undetected bug that is preventing the conduit from working.
We are working on this bug fix and hope to have the Conduit back up and running this week.
I will keep you posted.
Thank you for being so patient.
Blog Action Day is every October 15th, when blogger are asked to post something about a single issue to show our strength and conviction as an online community. It's a great way to feel connected to the greater good, and the participation of so many bloggers to support the world's leading non-profit organizations is something you can do to help, right now. By blogging today, you're supporting some of the world's leading non-profits and sharing your voice for change.
This year's topic is climate change, and we'd love to read your thoughts on the topic. If you participate, leave us a link to your post in the comments, so we know to check out your post!
Go to www.blogactionday.org to learn more, get a badge for your blog showing your participation, and see some ideas for your post on climate change.
Can't wait to read your posts!
~ daisy
The Amazon Conduit will be working again on October 15, 2009. Thank you to everyone for your patience.
Have a great weekend,
daisy, Team Vox
In my last Team Vox post, I let you know that we're aware that the Amazon conduit is broken and that we're working to fix it. Many of you want to know when it's going to be fixed and I'm so sorry I haven't gotten back to you about that sooner.
Unfortunately, I don't have an exact date to give you, but rest assured, the Amazon conduit will be fixed in the coming weeks.
In the meantime, I'm about to finish my latest book and I could use a few suggestions as to what to read next, so... if you don't mind, let me know in the comments what's on your nightstand and/or what book you think I absolutely must read next.
Thanks! :)
For all that heTonight Julian plays with the same terrific conviction he brought to the showcase and the set works well. He has thrown in a Girls Aloud cover, which works out well, nice anecdote about being on tour with them and his version of Colin Blunstone’s “Say You Don’t Mind” is truely moving. It gets into swing as he plays “Ride My Star” which is a real highlight, but the decision to throw “Wonder Why” in as an encore is a surprise, it is too good to come right at the end. For all that it has been a real success
Dingwalls is packed out and the atmosphere is great. I have heard about Neil Finn’s legendary bonhomie but it is something else to witness it first hand. He is the perfect host, all the more so when it is an evening of music that few of those in attendance will have heard before. The reaction is great as indeed it should be, these songs sound terrific. It is great to hear Ed playing and Phil Selway is an absolutely charming acoustic singer songwriter. It is a great band; Wilco’s rhythm section is a joy to watch. I am impressed at the amount of songs they manage to get through from the album. The band encore with “I Got You” one of my favourite songs from Neil’s first band Split Enz. He follows this up with “Always Take the Weather” and a couple of other Crowded House tunes that everyone swoons over.
We manage to eat by 11.15 and then head over to the Metro, a beautiful Victorian music hall which has long been a great home for music in the city. The band finally come on a little after midnight. The first song is a pile driving number, starts out with a slow Bonham beat and then speeds up to more of a pulverising pace before settling down into the groove. There is a strong and clear Zeppelin influence at work here, much of the set falling back into the grooving blues of the early Led Zep records, what lifts it even higher are the moments of harmonies. Undeniably this is amazing. To watch Dave power away at his drums is an awesome sight. Josh is a towering presence as is John up front. They drop down into some real motornick grooves at time that could go on forever and with the lights flashing hypnotically in my eyes I am struggling to hold it all together. I can see Dave is looking exhausted as well; it is damn hot in here. I manage to pull of a picture of Josh and John but I struggle with Dave and abandon my picture and the notes I am taking. They play maybe 12 songs which is a lot of music to take on board from a brand new band, but it feels like they pulled it off in spades. I cannot believe what I have witnessed, I am supremely fortunate.
We drive into the centre of the city to drop our bags and we head over to Lollapalooza where Kesha and Band of Horses are playing. The festival is in a beautiful park down by the lake. On one side is the waterfront, on the other the skyscrapers. I am really blown away by the city; it is a wonderful place to be. The festival is on a substantial site, but one that feels much more easily navigable than Summersonic. It is nice being outdoors as well. The temperature is every bit as hot as Tokyo but nowhere near as humid. Thunder threatens, but never quite makes it.
We wander across the site which has the two main stages facing each other, one sets up whilst the other has a performance. The BMI Stage where Kesha is performing is a much more modest affair, but there is already a small crowd gathered who are dancing to tunes that her DJ is spinning.
Kesha comes on and performs six songs. She looks amazing. She has the stars and stripes draped across her shoulders, and an outfit that consists of black shorts and a black body and shredded leggings over her golden skin which is smothered in golden glitter. Next to her is a keytar player who looks like Gwen Stefani and a guitarist who looks like Tony James when he played with Gen X. She tears through “Backstabber” “Party in a Rich Dudes House” and is totally convincing. She comes over much more like Karen O. She is spraying beer into the crowd and then her guitarist is pouring it all over her face. She carries on through “Blah Blah Blah”, “Dinosaur” and a triumphant “Tick Tock” which has a whole crowd of kids up on stage with her. She ends with a glitter cannon blasting glitter into the crowd and then another cannon firing off condoms. I am totally smitten with her, she is amazing, everything I could have wished for in a pop star.
I head over to see Band of Horses and it feels like everyone in the whole festival is converging on this stage. I am impressed at the number of girls packed in down the front signing all the words, but then this is such a great looking romantic band why the hell not? They play with the same kind of righteous delivery that I adored in bands such as Guided By Voices and The Hold Steady, but there is a purity here that can take them far higher. Ben’s voice is truly special, soaring above and beyond anyone else performing here today. And boy do they rock, Bill is a great focus to that side, he tells us later that he rocks the tennis visor because his hero John McVie wore one. I can’t believe that I am stood side stage taking all of this in, the sun setting on the Chicago skyscrapers as they light up for the evening. What a special day. We are getting to the end of the set when there is another band starting to be overheard between the numbers. Everyone is trying to work out what is going on when we realise that Janes Addiction have taken to the stage and that is the bass line to “Mountain Song” that we can hear. The Band of Horses sound guy just cranks the volume up higher to 130db and the band play on for another three songs. It feels like such a victory against the old guard, despite Lollapalooza being Perry’s festival and everything.
