Buy A Timeshare.com Employee and His Band Blue Gravy Opens for the Famous Rusted Root May 21, 2010
Posted by Bryan Connelly in : Customer Comments, General, New Features, Timeshare Resource, Uncategorized , add a comment
Bleu Gravy, a popular up-and-coming local band. Operations Manager at BuyATimeshare.com, Aaron Oliveira, has been playing guitar and drums for Bleu Gravy for over 5 years. Bleu Gravy, upon returning from a short stint of shows in Colorado, greatly enhanced their press kit with footage of those shows as well as others in the Florida area. Around the same time a well known local venue previously known as Jannus Landing had re-opened after being shut down over a year due to tax fraud issues. Under new ownership they renovated the entire venue, putting millions of dollars into sound, lighting, bathrooms, back stage green rooms and so much more. They also changed their name to Jannus Live. Please Click Here for additional information.
The music recruiter for Jannus who is also long time friends with the manager of Rusted Root wanted to put a free show on featuring Rusted Root, one of their most popular acts. Please visit their site to learn more about Rusted Root. The recruiter for Jannus knew Rusted was playing in Orlando so he went to talk to their manager personally while watching a killer show backstage. Rusted Root agreed to play the free show at Jannus Live for their grand opening weekend. Bleu Gravy was soon contacted by Jannus’s recruiter with an offer to send a press kit to Rusted Root for their approval in having the Bleu Gravy open up for them. To everyone’s surprise, Rusted Root and their manager were impressed and accepted the gig. They also put Bleu Gravy on their website which was most flattering.
Although it was a free show, there is a limit to how many people can attend each show. Since Jannus had been shut down for so long people obviously couldn’t wait to visit their favorite local venue. Tickets were made available to the public; within 5 short hours they were sold out. Bleu Gravy received 100 tickets for the band to use and those were gone within a week. The band was given 3 weeks to prepare for the show. Considering they had a brand new bassist and hand-percussionist, the band had their work ahead of them.
When the band arrived to the gates of Jannus Live they were greeted by the recruiter and band manager of Rusted Root. The band’s manager expressed how much he enjoyed the music and was looking forward to watching Bleu Gravy perform. This was about 4 p.m., the gates weren’t open to the public until 6 p.m. The members of Bleu Gravy got to see the venue’s renovations first hand. Actually, they still had a crane working on the stage lighting up until 5:30 p.m. which was just in time for the sound checks. In the meantime Bleu Gravy was handed their backstage passes and upon entering the area the band was greeted by THE Rusted Root who were just getting ready for their sound check. Aaron immediately recognized the lead singer and drummer from previous shows he had attended. Aaron initiated conversation and before long was deep into a “Neil Young discussion”…talking about how his music influenced our bands. And what song did they choose for a sound check? Powderfinger by Neil Young. That set the tone for a really great night.
Aaron Oliveira and Band Bleu Gravy Perform at The New Jannus Live Venue May 21, 2010
Posted by Bryan Connelly in : General, News & Events, Timeshare Resource, Travel, Uncategorized , add a comment
While Bleu Gravy was completing their sound check it was clear that the show was going to be packed. As soon as the gates opened to the public the place was booming with fans who were excited about the new Jannus Live venue, the free show and the exciting bands that were performing. The band didn’t know if it would be a slow night because the rain storms had been threatening all day. Well that didn’t slow anything! All 100 tickets the band gave out were used. Bleu Gravy was welcomed by a bunch of their fans while Rusted Root fans were still piling in non-stop. Bleu Gravy took the stage and after performing just one song the band was blanketed with warm applause.
The band then launched into a blend of covers and original music. There was a person dressed in a white rabbit costume (unplanned since Bleu Gravy actually performed White Rabbit by Jefferson Airplane for him upon Aaron beginning the opening riff. There were beautiful people hula hooping, and if there was one person not moving to the music half way through their performance they weren’t seen. Midway through the set Bleu Gravy was performing over a sea of madness. Since it was now dark the lighting system cascaded on the crowd who was moving in sync to the music. This was an amazing site for their photographer and the videographer who were floating from backstage to balconies to the crowd. These 2 professionals donated their time for backstage passes. The pictures as well as video can be seen on Bleu Gravy’s Facebook page.
Apparently the soundman for Jannus Live had told the Bass player 5 minutes left to play. There was a “communication breakdown” and Bleu Gravy pushed 3 times that but since the crowd loved the music so much the sound wasn’t turned off. However the band got a nice “talking too” upon exiting the stage. It turned out to be perfect timing because as soon as Bleu Gravy exited the stage the rainy storms that had been hinting all day came down with a vengeance. While a lot of people scattered for the little shelter available at the venue many people continued to dance in the pouring rain. The band, now hanging out with Rusted Root backstage on a balcony, was watching the entertainment down below while receiving compliments from Rusted Root’s band members. After about a half hour of rain Rusted Root was set to take the stage.
The downpour stopped and everyone was back in the venue as if it never rained. Rusted Root’s performance was amazing. The drum jam, the high-energy folk music, as well as the high tech lighting made for a solid performance. Everybody was dancing to the rhythms pumped out by the band. The energy in the audience was electric! When Aaron made it down to the crowd he was pleased to see co-workers Ryan Bhagan, Melisa Perez, Evan Carter and Marjorie Alcantara were still there enjoying the music. This made for a great topic of discussion at work the following morning. You may watch the entire show in 10 minute segments either on Bleu Gravy’s Facebook page or simply go to Youtube.com and search Bleu Gravy. There are also other videos available to view.