By Sophia Whang
DAILY BRUIN SENIOR STAFF
swhang@media.ucla.edu
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.