By Sophia Whang
DAILY BRUIN SENIOR STAFF
[email protected]
While summer concerts have become the hot ritual of the season,
they’ve also turned into an annoyingly perfect method of
promotion for artists.
This was the case of the sold-out fifth annual Wango Tango, a
ten-hour concert put together by 102.7 KIIS FM last weekend, a
concert that seemed more like an extended commercial.
The radio station broke its tradition of holding the concert at
Dodger Stadium and moved to the Rose Bowl to accommodate its
growing crowd and reputation. Artists would be out of their minds
to give up performing in front of 70,000 fans from the most
sought-after demographic. Even legends like No Doubt and Will
Smith, did not rest on their laurels, as each hyped up their new
album or film release.
The brief appearances of Scooby Doo and Jennifer Love Hewitt to
promote their upcoming films were both bothersome and pointless;
the latter staying on stage just long enough to announce her new
endeavors. And the Mexican singer Paulina Rubio took off more
clothes than necessary while repeating the name of her recently
released album, “Border Girl.”
Luckily, the entire show didn’t seem like a ploy.
A long, warm summer day with a lingering sun after eight is part
of what created the magic of the concert. The mood was heightened
with some of the truly extraordinary music created that night. Pink
and Steven Tyler belted out a duet that left audience members
stunned. Will Smith lost his MIB suit to a more relaxed outfit that
matched his “Summertime” single. The stadium sang along
with Celine Dion’s titanic hits and embraced Gwen
Stefani’s enthusiasm and Marc Anthony’s sizzling band.
After dark, glow sticks created a relaxed effect that could only be
accomplished in a venue and crowd of that size.
Surprise celebrities like Ozzy Osbourne also added additional
excitement to an already impressive list of artists including
Alanis Morissette, Ja Rule, Ashanti, Vanessa Carlton, O-Town and
India.Arie.
The most disappointing performances were given by Kelly
Osbourne, who was way off-key, and by Nick and Aaron Carter, who
were basically busy jumping around on stage. The down time of
twenty to thirty minutes in between each act was also inconvenient;
even the toughest revelers can’t party that long.
Although there was always some type of promotion, the concert at
the Rose Bowl was ironically like the quality commercials during
the Super Bowl. The impressive acts and the summer mood will most
likely convince the fans to go see that latest movie or buy the new
CD.