CITY STAGES 2k9: “And them dope boyz go craaazy!”

Sooo, now that the dust has settled (both from my recent nuptials and the twitter-freakout-news that was the City Stages lineup news), I’m ready to make some picks.

First and foremost, you jokers ALL knew I was excited about YOUNG JEEZY! As a Minor HS grad and hiphop fiend, I gotta say I’m a fan of this. Especially since he seems to stop by Birmingham like twice a year and it’s at Platinum or Club Continental. No offense, but Linn Park offers me plenty more space than a cramped ballroom to see Jeezy in person. If you stick to your comfortable indie/twee/acoustic bubble most of the time, here are a few things you need to see:

Young Jeezy + R. Kelly – \”Go Getta\”

Young Jeezy ft. Kanye West – \”Put On\”

Young Jeezy w/Lil Wayne, Kanye West & T-Pain – \”Go Hard\”

Another highlights (for me, at least) this year is Charlie Wilson, Snoop Dogg’s infamous uncle who has sung alongside soul/r&b legends and most recently, had a pretty kickass duet with Justin Timberlake. :::THE MORE YOU KNOW:::

Needtobreathe is playing. These guys are great. Very mainstream, comfortable poprock. I’m a fan. My friend Kara and I have actually seen them in and around Tuscaloosa and Birmingham about 6 times. They’re a brother band out of South Carolina, but have strong ties to Alabama. So much so that they’re parents named one of the brothers “Bear”. Gotta love that. They’ve landed on the soundtrack for “Employee of the Month” and made a Dane Cook/Jessica Simpson kiss scene bareable.

The Whigs are Birmingham-bound as well. If you guys checked out Stokin’ the Fire at Sloss this past summer, they played alongside Manchester Orchestra. Great performance. Also, they’re from Athens, GA and more often than not… you get your $’s worth with that alone.

Courtney Jaye is a good friend of our site who got tapped for City Stages this year! She’s got the coolest Hawaiian, country, pop vibe. See for yourself. It doesn’t suck. In fact, listen to her song “I Need Love”. You’ll immediately recognize it as that song you always hear in the car on Live 100.5 and forget to go home and google. She’s great and on board for a BHAM.FM show soon as well!

There are some superstars on board that I’d like to hear from you guys about.

I know my mom is probably dancing on her desk right now over the STYX, .38 Special and Doobie Brothers news. That’s not snark either. Ask Chris, it’s his 70s southern rock, dancehall dealin’ mother-in-law now.

Also, Phil + Casey (our metal and web guys respectively) were pretty stoked about Jane’s Addiction‘s turn as headliners. I’m just excited about seeing Dave Navarro in person. That kid wears more eyeliner than I do.

Leave us comments on who you’re gonna see. We need to knoooow.