jeff

I had a chance to check out the Mary J Blige show at the Monster Cable event last night in Vegas. There were several thousand people at the show which was held at Paris and the Monster team held back on no expense putting it together - red carpets, models, goodie bags, cars, and even a pretty wild after-party.



I can't even imagine the price tag that Monster paid to host the event - whatever the case, it was a blast and they really know how to throw a party. Noel, Kevin, Seth, Melinda, and Lynne - well done!



Mary's eighth and latest album, "Growing Pains" which was released on Geffen last month has reached the number one slot on Billboard's R&B/Hip Hop chart. The album has sold over 800,000 units in the past two weeks according to Nielsen. It was the first time I've seen her "live" and it was a blowout. She has an incredible voice and works her ass off on stage. The R&B singer went through a 19-song set without a single break. Here's a copy of her set list which one of the roadies gave me.



She danced, strutted back and forth, and got the crowd moving right off the bat. It was really cool to see her in action from up close to feel the intensity of her singing and incredible passion for her music.



Mary has received 26 Grammy Award nominations and has won 6 in her career as a R&B and Soul singer. It really comes as no surprise as her performance was powerful. I was particularly surprised to hear her do a U2 cover of "One" which was great to experience.



There were times that she reminded me of Aretha, Chaka Khan, and N'Dea Davenport all rolled into one...



All in all a great night and some serious promotion for Monster.