Q Concert at Susquehanna Bank Center
If you're a pop-hop radio-station maven and attended Camden's Susquehanna Bank Center for Friday's seven-hour-plus Q Concert 2009 - a plethora of acts plus special guest Sean Paul - you got an earful.
If you're a pop-hop radio-station maven and attended Camden's Susquehanna Bank Center for Friday's seven-hour-plus Q Concert 2009 - a plethora of acts plus special guest Sean Paul - you got an earful.
If you're a studious (and beat after seven-plus hours) observer of said culture, you found that Q Concert's crowd of under-16 girls never looked up from texting, its boy fans never looked up from staring at girls texting, and the parents watching over those kids really liked tall, pricey colada thingies.
The good news was that frequent visitors the Ting Tings ably tackled warp-speed Lee Hazlewood/Nancy Sinatra-style pop. Rich melodies, spry condensation, plus kicking electro-riffs made stuff like "Fruit Machine" ring. Same for the Veronicas' neatly orchestrated big-harmonic robo-pop: sweet and swift.
Bad news? Not to sound all W.C. Fields-ish, but tween star Jesse McCartney was an annoying man-child and will become an annoying adult if he keeps up that whining, slick, hip-pop shtick. Techno-rappers 3OH!3 sounded interesting for a sec with their minimalist scowl akin to early Human League. Then the twerps OH-pened their mouths to release tedious jokes and 2009's worst-so-far noise. Dance-hopper Ciara's lamely choreographed set never caught fire.
The best news came when Morrisville's Asher Roth - the toast of nu-hip-hop - commanded the big stage. His voice was deep, his songs were memorable, and his dippy nasal stoner raps ("I Love College"), done to the accompaniment of a DJ and a drummer, had real force while keeping it real fun. The All-American Rejects (potent lead singer Tyson Ritter, guitarist/harmony vocalist Nick Wheeler), with their sharp contagion of stuff like "Gives You Hell," proved to be everything Weezer would like to be: a smart, emo-power pop band that sells records. Though deep-drawling MC Flo Rida was Q's headliner (too many kids left before his solid soulful take on "Right Round"), the night belonged to the stage flash-n-funk of the Black Eyed Peas.
Reunited for their first album (The E.N.D.) since 2005, Taboo, apl.de.ap, solo sensation Fergie, and will.i.am did something wildly smart: They turned the fussy complexities of their hits - the furious surf-hop of "Pump It," the disco-licious Fergie showcase "Don't Phunk With My Heart" - into robotic hothouse tracks in accordance with their spunky new thumper "Boom Boom Pow." Clever.