BloodTypeG and Human Trafficking

A few weeks back I mentioned that I had gone to a MANAFEST concert back in December in California and got introduced to the band BloodTypeG (BTG) at the show. At the time I was not sure what to make of them as their blend of sound was totally unique to me. As their website says, their musical anatomy is a mix of a Rap-Rock heart and a Hip-Hop Soul. But their blend of personal styles was also very unique. Ela, the female vocal lead was dressed very classy and has a classy voice as well. Hashemi, the male vocal rap lead was dressed more gangster and the deep rap voice he has is totally different. And then there is Progc. Lead guitar, hard rock, long hair, jeans and T-shirt type. For their first song, my thought was, this guy is totally out of place. Church choir, gang rap and hard rock all mixed together. Who are these guys? Put on top of that the cultural / ethnical mixture of the members of this group. No wonder they are so unique!

So, needless to say, they were unforgettable due to being so different. I thought I would buy one of their CDs, just so I could listen to them again, but instead they gave me all three for less then I would have bought one normally. So glad I did, because I just cant get away from this sound.

Which brings me to part two of this post. A new band that interests me gets added to who I follow on twitter (@lavenderphoto) and Instagram (@lavenderphoto7). Through that follow I noticed that BTG was in a contest doing a Sting/Police cover as part of Rock Against Trafficking. If they win the contest they win a spot of the album being created by Rock Against Trafficking. So they did a cover of "Message in a Bottle". All I can say is wow!

After watching the video, if you would like to vote for them, go to Talent Watch and the Rock Against Trafficking contest and vote for Blood Type G!

I could jump to the other aspect of myself that looks at how we can impact the injustice in this world, but I will not in this post. But I will say that organizations like Rock Against Trafficking do get my support. Rock Against Trafficking (RAT) use the power of music to generate proceeds and resources to fund organizations who work directly in rescuing and rehabilitating abused children and prosecuting perpetrators, as well as creating global awareness of the horrors of child labour and sex trafficking. BloodTypeG have put that message into their song, even though it is a cover of an existing song. Extremely well done!

MANAFEST Concert

Last December, while on a business trip to California, I had the opportunity to see MANAFEST in concert. Usually, when I travel, I look to see if there are any concerts that I might be able to attend. For the hundreds of business trips I have been on, I have never attended a concert, do to some conflict or bad timing. But last December, that changed. For the first time I was able make a concert I was interested in.

I have seen MANAFEST in concert a few times before, and being a fellow Canadian, I wanted to make the effort to get out and see him. To say the least, it was an interesting night. There were two opening bands, the first that made no impression on me at all, but the second one was different and dynamic. If you are looking for a unique blending of music check out BloodTypeG. But more on them in a later post.

So, the place was almost empty, but regardless, the concert was performed as if the hall was full. MANAFEST (a.k.a. Chris Greenwood), put all his energy into his songs and worked on connecting with the small crowd that was there. But for me, the best part was after the show. Small crowd and Chris selling his own merch, made it easy to wait until he had helped other people and then just spend some time talking to him.

Two things followed out of that. One was his book that he wrote, I bought, he signed, and I read on the plane ride home. His book "Fighter" is a common sense book about facing your fears and having the courage to overcome them. Common sense, but something many of us face and struggle with. The second was a discussion we had about  a concert in Sarnia again. Hey, I've organized concerts before and Chris is a musician looking for places to play. So, for the last few months, that's what I have been working on. Details are not final, but I am hoping that in the near future, I will be announcing on these pages yet another concert hosted by MAD Entertainment.

Until then, if you haven't listened to the music of MANAFEST before, take some time to become familiar with him.