Dangerously Beautiful

Scenes from Miami!  Have a Maliciuos But Delicious Day!

Yesterday when I was driving to work, I was a little sad when I heard Tyrone on the radio, because I wasn’t going to the Erykah Badu concert.  I mean I know its my birthday month and I get to splurge and do as I want, but I didn’t want to be greedy since I just went to see Alicia Keys.  To my surprise at the last minute, I got a ticket for free! (Thanks Jonathan) I’m such a fan of Erykah.  She does that music you feel in your soul!  Mama’s Gun has got to be one of my favorite albums of all time. And now I can say I saw her live!

Bilal opened for her and I thought he was great.  I know about him because my honey really likes his music and there are a few songs that I have gotten to know and love (plus he reminds me of D’Angelo).  The majority of the audience didn’t seem to be familiar with him, so it felt like he was performing just for me.  He didn’t play my favorite song Soul Sista, but he sang one of honey’s  fav Something To Hold On.  And since my honey didn’t get to go (I could only get one ticket) it made me think he told Bilal to sing that song to me!  I know, I have issues.

After Bilal, I started to get really anxious to see Erykah Badu.  Unlike the Alicia Keys concert, there was a long wait for her to come out on stage.  OMG.  They kept turning the lights on and off (false starts) driving me insane.  Then about an hour and a half later there was a spotlight on the stage and there was Erykah in sweat pants and a hoodie!  Now it was time to hear greatness.

As you can tell from the pictures, there wasn’t much visually done to the stage like an Alicia Keys concert or other artists, but to be honest with you Erykah doesn’t need all of that.  When she opens her mouth and starts singing, its like you’re transformed to outer space.  The vibe is so strong that you can picture just about anything you feel at the moment.  About half way, she put on a top hat and a jacket and really went off on stage.  She made beats  live, remixed some of her songs over freestyle beats, and just jammed!

She was well worth the wait and we weren’t ready for her performance to end!  What a Dangerously Beautiful woman.  Make sure you check her out live.  It’s truly an experience.

I went to the Alicia Keys concert this past weekend. Not only did I go to the concert, but I had floor seats!!! (Thanks honey!) I meant to post about this yesterday, but it took me 2 days to figure out how to get the pictures off the camera. I’m just not a technical person.  OK, stop laughing at me so that I can tell you about the awesome concert.

Before Alicia, Anthony Hamilton performed and got the crowd all warmed up.  I love me some Anthony Hamilton.  He did some of  my favs like Point of it All, Cool, Can’t Let Go, and even Charlene (it’s been such a long time since I heard that one).  His voice was so pure and soulful.  So after he sang some of that lazy jazzy slow music (ladies I know you can relate, just makes you want to do things!), he took us to church.  He brought out the tambourines, had the crowd jumping and clapping, he even jumped off the stage!  Great performer.  I would definitely check him out again!

After a quick stage change (I say about 17 minutes), the lights went out and the crowd just started going crazy for the one and only Alicia Keys!!!  Yes, she was in a cage.  I’ve never seen her live before, so I didn’t know what to expect.  I didn’t know if she was just going to play piano and sing or dance around or what.  She did it all!  The first look of her in those sequence leggings with zippers, I knew I was in for a real treat.

The stage and the lights were awesome.  It was like we were a part of a movie.  The name of her tour is Freedom and she spoke of being yourself and understanding The Elements of Freedom. My favorite part was when she said that in order to love others you first have to love yourself.  Preach Alicia!

She got on top of the piano and sang her heart out.  I mean she really went through her catalog.  From her very first single Fallin to her newer stuff like Try Sleeping With A Broken Heart.  Then she went and got a keyboard shaped like a key and began playing it like a guitar. She rocked it, head banging style.  Yes!!!

She did 2 quick dress changes and unlike other concerts where they have a DJ playing radio music, Alicia’s backup singers kept us entertained.  They were phenomenal.  When she came back out in a white evening gown, we had no idea what was in store for us.  She sang my absolute favorite song of hers If I Ain’t Got You.  The crowd was so loud (myself included) that she let us sing the majority of the song.  It was such a great feeling, we sounded like a choir.  Then when the emotion was at the highest and the song ended, she went into No One.  She was so beautiful. Lights were all white around her and angelic visions of her played behind her on stage.  I thought it was the end of the concert because it seemed like the Grand Finale.  WRONG!

She came back out and sang Empire State of Mind (Part II) and substituted Miami in parts instead of New York.  There’s no other word to describe it, but Amazing.  She’s so Dangerous and oh so beautiful.  If she’s in your town, you must go see her.  It will be worth every penny!

The Calle Ocho Festival took place in Miami Florida yesterday. The annual festival, which celebrates the presence of the Latin Community in the city, fills 23 blocks in Miami’s Little Havana area with Latin music, street performers and international foods.  There are so many people and everyone is repping their home town. While it is know for its Latin influences, I feel that Calle Ocho is more of a caribbean celebration, because people from other non latin countries such as Jamaica come out to celebrate as well.

Those of you from Miami know that the radio station Power 96 always has a stage at Calle Ocho.  This is year, the lineup didn’t disappoint.  With show stoppers like Sean Paul, Trina, Flo-Rida, Three 6 Mafia, and newcomer B.O.B, everyone was on their feet enjoying the entertainment.

Last but not least, we have to discuss the food.  Can anyone say yummy?  You can smell the aroma from miles away.  Everything you can imagine from churrasco, arepas, chicharrones, boiled yuca, tamales, steak and chicken pinchos, cuban sandwhiches, coconut juice, guarapo, etc.  My mouth is watering just thinking about it.  If you haven’t had a chance to visit Calle Ocho, you’re missing out.  Nobody does it like Miami.

Last night was the Opening Night of the inaugural FASHIONmiami – a four day series of shows taking place in a beautiful 30,000 sq ft permanent tent in the Design District. The runway show featured 6 womenswear designers, including two designers flying in from New York: Whitney Port and Duskin, on the 60 ft runway and installations by 3 accessory designers. Also featured were Lialia, By Smith, Fernanda Carneiro, and Romina Heighes.

Dangerously Beautiful hasn’t quite made it to Gen Art’s Fresh Faces, but can show some love to local designers that are sure to bring that Miami flavor to the world of fashion.

So I’ve finally decided where to relocate the Dangerously Beautiful office.  We’ll be moving to Miapolis around the time the flying suitcase cars from the Jetson’s hit Amazon.

This atrocity looks like Miami’s CGI version of Dubai.  You can keep the tallest building in the world stats for yourself, I’ll be ground level when Hurricane Andrew pt. II pays us a visit.  Check out the eerie NWO-esque video on the website.  Score one for the Bilderberg Group

Last night at Electric Pickle turned out great.  Champion Sound put on a Ladies Night, with all female DJ line-up featuring DJ Elle, Jessica Who, & DJANE as well as the Heartbreakers Crew.  Dangerously Beautiful was in the house with giveaways for the ladies and being vibrant in the Miami scene.

Parties with all female DJs are great, but I hope we will continue to see female DJs in lineups for any party, not just those set aside for ladies every so often.

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CHAMPION SOUND Presents…
**LADIES FIRST**
Wednesday, September 2nd @ The Electric Pickle

This Wednesday @ Champion Sound the fellas are gonna take a break to let some of the flyest female DJs in the MIA show us how its done on the turntables!!
B-girls, Models, & round the way girls come thru and represent!

Dangerously Beautiful will be @ Champion Sound toasting it up and providing great giveaways to all our fly lady patrons of the MIA.  Can’t wait to see you out there!

Crowded…Youthful…Smokey…Dubstep.