Odds & Ends: Peter Gabriel, Chris Brown, Choreographing Concerts & Celebrity Rock N’ Bowl

If you were born after Nov. 9, 1989, you have lived in a world devoid of that ill-begotten insult to freedom and humanity known as the Berlin Wall.  Separating then-communist East Germany from West Berlin, the Wall remained for more than 25 years until East Berlin finally relented and opened its gates to allow East and West to mingle once again, resulting in today’s united Germany.

Come November the German federal government and the city of Berlin will observe the 25th anniversary of the fall of the Wall with “Standing Up For Freedom.” 

The day-long celebration features lots of family entertainment, including a performance by breakdance competition winners Six Step/Breakers along with music by Otto Normal, Mine, Beatn’ Blow and Clueso.

The evening’s festivities to be held at Brandenburg Gate include Peter Gabriel delivering a rendition of “Heroes” plus performances by Leipzig techno artist Paul Kalkbrenner and German artist/producer Udo Lindenberg.  The Staatskapelle Berlin will perform the 4th movement from Beethoven’s 9th Symphony on a program that also includes international greats Elina Garanca, Renée Fleming, Jonas Kaufmann and René Pape.

On a more somber note, the nighttime entertainment will begin at 6 p.m. with an observance remembering all the people who died trying to cross the Wall from East Berlin to West. The onstage program will include an address by actor/musician Jan Josef Liefers, who will also MC the evening’s show.

“The euphoria that night was utterly real, mind-blowing,” Liefer said, according to a post on PeterGabriel.com.  “I was thinking, fingers crossed that things don’t get nasty.  Twenty five years after the event we are here to remember that historic night and have a great time reflecting and partying.”

As the world tries to get a grip on Ebola, Chris Brown apparently sees a different side of the deadly, highly infectious virus and took to Twitter to spread the word.

Although Brown’s tweet actually gained some momentum as Team Breezy members chimed in to agree with him, at least one follower disagreed and called the R&B star an “idiot.”

However, Brown had answer for anyone who didn’t like his original observation.

Nashville choreographer Kevin Andrews believes more country artists would benefit by learning a new dance step or two.

In an essay posted on Dance.Land, Andrews says “most country artists have less than ‘10 dance moves.’” So it probably shouldn’t come as a surprise that he recommends that today’s country stars employ a choreographer.

“A country artist will spend 4-18+ months recording and perfecting an album, but most of them will spend virtually no time working on the ‘show’ they will put on for their tours! So let’s get this straight. … An album costs $10-$20 to purchase (which took 4-18+ months to make) and you’re going to wing it on stage and charge $50-$1000 to see your movement rehearsal? No thanks.”

Andrews penned the opinion piece to explain why he thought today’s “pop-country” artists still come in second when compared against popsters like Justin Timberlake or Jennifer Lopez when performing on shows such as the American Music Awards.

But hiring a choreographer is merely step one.  In Andrews’ four-step advice posting he also said artists should “be open to filling the movement arsenal with more than a few moves,” “quit relying on the lighting crew to make the show ‘high energy’” and the need “to embrace backup dancers to help tell their story.”

Andrews appraisal of today’s country music scene viewed through a dancer’s eyes is a very entertaining read.  Check it out via this link.

The annual T.J. Martell Foundation Celebrity Rock N’ Bowl took place at Los Angeles’ Pinz Bowling Center Oct. 9. Among the rockin’ keglers taking to the lanes hoping for turkeys, doubles and spares were Lita Ford, Richie Sambora, producer Bob Kulick, Megadeth’s Chris Broderick, Fey Waybill of the Tubes and comedians Craig Gass, Joe Bartnick, Alice Wetterlund, Will Weldon and Brian Posehn.

Emceed by KNAC.com’s DJ Will, the Celebrity Bowling Challenge found a champion in Mark Ferrari (Cold Sweat, Keel).

A guitar donated by ESP Guitars was autographed by all celebs at the tournament.  Bowling pins autographed by members of Aerosmith, Fleetwood Mac, Alice Cooper, Yes, Maroon 5, Fuel, Anthrax, Ariana Grande, Hilary Duff, Metallica, Def Leppard, David Coverdale, Wiz Khalifa and Cage The Elephant were among the items included in a silent auction.

Chaired by Wendy Dio, who serves on the T.J. Martell Foundation Board and is the president and co-founder of the Ronnie James Dio Stand Up And Shout Cancer Fund, the event raised more than 45,000 for the fight against cancer.