In case you were out watching fireworks in person and not on TV, you might have missed Heffron Drive’s performance at A Capitol Fourth, from Washington DC. Bandmates Kendall Schmidt and Dustin Belt performed their new single “Parallel” with The National Symphony Orchestra, in a special orchestral arrangement. Watch their performance below!
We love the full sound of this arrangement of the song. Love it too? You can download the orchestral version of “Parallel” on iTunes now!
Heffron Drive will be playing with AJR at the KRZ Summer Mingle in Scranton, PA this Sunday, July 13th! Get tickets & more info here.
It’s a holiday weekend and no matter what your plans are, let’s celebrate #Murica with these five songs that should definitely be on your 4th of July playlist.
1. “Young in America” – Danielle Bradbery There is nothing more American than country music, and we love the new single from country’s sweetheart Danielle Bradbery.The video features the common #Merica theme of a road trip, with lots of American flags waving.
2. “Light Me Up” – Hunter Hayes “Baby you light me up like the fireworks flying on the 4th of July!” Hunter will be performing on the Macy’s 4th of July Fireworks Spectacular on NBC this year, and we hope he’ll be bringing back this track from his “Encore” album, and playing his new single “Tattoo!” Since most of the East Coast will be dealing with Hurricane Arthur tomorrow, at least now you won’t have to feel bad if your July 4th plans revolve around staying in to watch Hunter perform! Other performers include Miranda Lambert, Ariana Grande & Lionel Richie.
3. “American Dream” – MKTO MKTO’s American Dream Tour got its name from their new single, which the guys just performed on Good Morning America. But this isn’t the same summer song you used to know. MKTO question what ever happened to the American Dream, and why Jack left Diane. They were Born to Run Cali here we come. (The song is also extremely catchy and quotable…sounds like the perfect summer song to us!)
4. “Made in The USA” – Demi Lovato As far as “songs about America” go, this one was made to be on your 4th of July playlist. Name dropping Chevy? Check. Because aren’t all good things “Made in the USA?” Demi’s video for this song is also very American: girl meets boy at a carnival and they fall in love. What’s more American than meeting the love of your life at a carnival!? Nothing. That’s what.
5. “Make It In America” – Victoria Justice This is the ultimate summer road trip song and video, featuring the entire cast of Victorious!Another requisite for making a #Merica song is apparantly referencing “Born to Run.”Which should already be on your playlist. “I wanna taste the sun case baby I’m Born to Run!”
BONUS: “Party In The USA” – Miley Cyrus
No matter how hard she tries….Miley will never be able to erase this song from the internet or her discography. It reaches the Top 10 on iTunes every 4th of July so she can’t complain too much. This song had a bunch of parodies and spoofs but our favorite is “Party In The F.I.P.” Watch it below in case you’ve been under a rock for the past 5 years.
Our favorite summer activity is outdoor concerts, so we were extra thrilled when Heffron Drive announced they would be having a concert at the State Fair! What better way to spend a summer night than riding a ferris wheel, having a major fat party (funnel cake and fried pickles anyone?), and seeing one of your favorite bands? It really doesn’t get much better than that.
Heffron Drive is made up of bandmates and best friends Kendall Schmidt and Dustin Belt, who formed the group back in 2008 before Kendall joined one of our favorite boy bands, Big Time Rush. Not wanting to breakup the group, Kendall recruited Dustin to play guitar for BTR on tour while they worked on both projects. Heffron Drive has a completely different sound, and we love seeing both boy band Kendall and guitar wielding Kendall.
Their set included more recent material like “Art of Moving On,” the funky “Feels So Good” and the rocking “One Track Mind,” as well as pre-Big Time Rush tracks like “Quiet Please.”
While we miss Big Time Rush, we love seeing how passionate Kendall is on stage. But don’t worry, BTR isn’t over! Kendall said during the show that Big Time Rush is very much still a band, and he misses them, too.
Heffron Drive also performed solid covers of “Wake Me Up” and “Ain’t It Fun,” which Kendall said he wished he had written. But our favorite moment was when Kendall asked if there were any *NSYNC fans in the house (us, obviously), as he intro’d his cover of Justin Timberlake’s “Not a Bad Thing,” which he said reminded him of a song *NSYNC would have written. We couldn’t agree more! Watch our video below.
Setlist: (not in order)
Art of Moving On
Wake Me Up (Avicii cover)
Better Get To Movin’
One Track Mind
Time Wasting
Ain’t It Fun (Paramore cover)
Feels So Good
Not A Bad Thing (Justin Timberlake cover)
Memories & Melodies
Quiet Please
Parallel
Visit our Tumblr & Youtube pages for more photos & videos from the show!
Heffron Drive have a couple of upcoming dates on the East Coast this summer, check them out if they’ll be near you! Pickup a copy of their single “Parallel” on iTunes now so you can sing along!
Youtube sensation Shawn Mendes, who was just signed to Island Records, released his first single “Life Of The Party!” Shawn snagged a coveted opening spot for Austin Mahone and The Vamps on tour this summer. He’s known for his unique covers of artists like Justin Bieber and Lana del Ray, which he posts to his Youtube channel as well as his Vine account. “Life Of The Party” is Shawn’s first original song to be released, after teasing fans with (what else) Vine and Instagram videos in recent weeks.
Watch the official lyric video below and download it now on iTunes so you can sing along on tour!
Check out all of Shawn’s upcoming dates on the Austin Mahone tour here!
We love the pop-country sound of rising singer-songwriter Tiffany Houghton, who was just added to MKTO’s American Dream Tour lineup! Tiffany has that fresh “early Taylor Swift” sound that we’ve been searching for. Armed with an acoustic guitar and girl-next-door charm, Tiffany’s catchy, well-crafted songs will have you singing along before the first chorus. Tiffany moved to Nashville at the age of 17, and has spent time songwriting and honing her craft. We’re sure you’ll be hearing a lot more from this girl in the future!
Watch the video for her new single, “17 Again,” below, which was inspired by one of our favorite movies,”Breakfast at Tiffany’s.”
Tiffany teamed up with ConcertBlogger.com for a performance of “Band Boy,” which she wrote about her weakness for boys in bands after getting home from a concert one night. This song is pretty much every fangirl’s anthem. We especially love the line “fangirls love band boys and band boys love fan girls!”
New Jersey pop rock band Action Item released a brand new single today and yes, we are hooked on it already! The upbeat track has an American Authors/Imagine Dragons feel to it. We will definitely be adding “We’ll Be Fine” to our summer playlist and blasting it poolside this summer!
Listen to “We’ll Be Fine” on Soundcloud now and pickup a copy on iTunes!
You can catch Action Item on tour with MKTO and Tiffany Houghton on the American Dream Tour which kicks off on Friday!
Earlier this month, Aaron Carter announced that he would be heading out on a World Tour later starting this fall! Since the first leg of the tour is in the US, there were some complaints that there weren’t any international dates on the list. (Come on guys…it’s called a World Tour for a reason!) Well get ready because AC just announced his first international stop on the tour: Aaron’s Party is coming to London in January!
Last night marked the last date on the North American leg of Backstreet Boys’ In A World Like Tour. The tour, which started last summer in celebration of the band’s 20th anniversary, has ended up being the longest in BSB history. As they said to the packed crowd at Jones Beach, this tour surprised their agents, critics and even them: it’s amazing to see how much love and support they still have after all these years! They played all of their hits, as well as tracks off of their new album, “In A World Like This,” as the audience partied like it was 1999. A Backstreet Boys concert is like one giant singalong/dance party, with 15,000 of your closest friends.
About halfway through the concert, it sunk in that we wouldn’t be seeing the BSB on tour for a while. But then we realized us Backstreet fan girls have a lot of other things to look forward to this year!
Backstreet Boys: The Movie
A documentary on the BSB, filmed mostly last year during their 20th anniversary “reunion,” was announced last year, and we are still impatiently waiting for a release date! The trailer for the movie has been shown during the IAWLT tour since last summer. Now that this leg of the tour is over, we are hoping we will finally get a release date! And an excuse to sing and dance in the movie theater.
Nick and Knight Album and Tour!
Nick Carter is so much fun to watch on stage, because he just brings his A-game each and every night. He tends to do his own choreography, and is moving non-stop on stage. You can see the pure joy he has in performing. He’s teaming up with NKOTB’s Jordan Knight for an album and tour this fall, titled Nick & Knight! Jordan also BRINGS IT each night on stage, so we cannot WAIT to see what these two will be up to on tour. It’s going to be amazing.
“I Heart Nick Carter”
This isn’t Nick’s first foray into the world of reality TV (House of Carters anyone?), but this time around the show focus on Nick’s life with his new bride, Lauren Kitt, rather than Carter family drama. We will only watch reality shows that star current or former boy band members, so obviously we have already been counting down to the show’s premiere! Watch the first look below! “I Heart Nick Carter” premieres on September 10th at 10pm on Vh1!
Stay tuned for updates on the rest of Backstreet’s upcoming projects! Be sure to follow Backstreet Boys & Secret Fangirls on Twitter for more updates!
Get ready Mahomies! Austin Mahone has added even more dates to his summer tour. He’s coming to Georgia and Michigan in September! As usual, Mahomies.com members will have first access to tickets and VIP packages, starting on Tuesday June 24th.
If you’re seeing Austin on tour this summer, make sure you rehearse your dance moves! We’ve pretty much nailed the “Banga Banga” choreography. And pickup a copy of “The Secret” EP on iTunes so you can sing along!
Austin Mahone Summer 2014 Tour Dates
September 7th – Verizon Wireless Ampitheatre – Alpharetta, GA – Buy Tickets
September 10th – Freedom Hill Ampitheatre – Sterling Heights, MI – Buy Tickets **View all of Austin’s Summer Tour Dates here
Tickets for the new dates go on sale to the general public on Friday, June 27th at 10am.
Phase V is truly a modern boy band, or as they call themselves an “urban-pop boy band.” We love that they are a boy band in the classic sense of the word: They sing, they dance, they sing while they dance – they’ve got it! (The right stuff.) Phase V’s brand new single, “Drop It” is out now and it’s everything you need in a summer jam. As fangirls of 90s boy bands, it’s safe to say that Phase V might be our new favorite artist to come out the recent 90s resurgence.
Be sure to pick up a copy of Phase V’s “Drop It” on iTunes and Amazon. Watch the official video below.
We hope these guys go on tour soon (and play in NYC) because we’re going to need to experience their smooth harmonies and sharp dance moves in person! They also did a cover of Justin Timberlake’s “Not a Bad Thing,” which we’ve always said would sound great with a 5-part harmony.
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