- Posted 11:59pm "Lauryn Hill Live!" Here's a clip from Lauryn Hill's Live performance. Now you can tell everyone - you were there!
- Posted 11:35pm "Waiting for Ms. Hill..." Okay, the crowd leaves one way and we sneak back stage - well, side stage in this case - hoping to sneak in an up-close-and-personal pic for the LiveFlyer archives. We're sure she's not avoiding us as the "roadies" move back and forth in front of us. Here she comes ... and, and, and ... goes. Darn it, by the time we fired up the camera, she posed, said thank you and was gone. We'll post up what we have later in the day/evening.
So long from the W New York.
- Posted 11:24pm "11:24 Shows Over ..." Lights up, the band salutes and Ms. Hill disappears - stage right, leaving those holding the SPG Credit Card from American Express just a bit more loyal to a card that already has a preferred place in their wallet.
P.S. The most popular way of capturing the moment? Using a cellphone to take a picture or record a magic moment ...
- Posted 10:51pm "Okay, we play music critic..." We confess, we've never bought an iTunes song from Lauryn Hill, but among her music choices this evening - about 10 songs into the set - it does appear she handles the move from hip-hop to other styles quite well. And when she did her rendition of Bob Marley's "Zimbabwe" like she owned it, the crowd agreed. Right now she is belting out "Heat Wave" a song that the older members of the audience at least know.
Now, if we act the music critic, her voice might have been smoother and the band a bit more polished, but no one left too early and it's past eleven o'clock.
Wearing her hair in a giant Afro, the one thing we noticed from the start is that she repeats phrases and uses improvised and snaked words around the rhythms. It makes her sound mystical, lots of mystical.
Her music is blended afro-pop and jazz with a hint of hip-hop.
The worst thing about it was that she started an hour late with no apology, but for most of us that have seen a concert - any concert - from the nose bleed section, this was a treat.
More music, more photos as soon as we break the bandwidth.
- Posted 10:13pm "Hear That?" Hello Ms. Hill ...
With a full complement of a band - two of a kind: two guitars, two sets of drums, two backup singers, two keyboards and two brass, she opens with H-E-L-L-O and is greeted by the crowd... music is here.
- Posted 9:03pm "Where's Lauryn Hill?" It appears that in true (so we hear) performance fashion, Ms. Hill is unaccounted for. Scheduled to begin at 8:30 for 30-45 minutes, she's now New York "fashionably late."
When we hear it, you'll hear it.
How about a liquid refreshment while we wait? What will you have?
- Posted 8:55pm "Private Room?" If we're going to do this right, we need to find out everything - yes, everything. We discovered quite by accident the "side" private party going on. Yes, leaning against a vacant door lead us into the inner bowels of the W New York and we happened upon a slew of people here for the event. This was a SPG/Conde Nast private party and no sooner in the door than we spy Adam Aron, who has had a huge impact on this industry. He was one of the first who actually "invented" the industry. He championed frequent flyers at Western Airlines before AAdvantage and went on to fame by making Mileage Plus the true standard it is today. And he even did his time making the early days of Hyatt Gold Passport a player in the industry. Well, hanging out with the insiders (pics to come) is cool, but we're here for the music and the points and the plastic. More later.
Here's Adam Aron, member of the Board of Directors of Starwood Hotels with Robin Korman, VP Marketing of SPG.
Now, which secret door did I come in?
- Posted 8:30pm "It's 8:30pm, The Special Guest Performance is about to Begin" So, I squeezed around the ballroom for another lap and I can tell it must be about time - plenty of activity on the stage and those attending are starting to edge themselves forward for a better view. But really, with Lauryn Hill just eight feet away, what better view does one need?
Next report - live from in front.
- Posted 8:01pm "A Tour de Points" Okay, just back from doing laps around this ballroom. There are about 250 people in the audience with about half of them members, both of the devout SPG kind and of the plastic fantastic kind. We just chatted with a few of the plastic fantastic members and the first guy we chatted with spends over $500,000 a year earning points. No doubt he is one of the happiest members here tonight.
As with any army of "a-Pointees," this group travels, uh, spends on its stomach and there is no lack of finger food being easily consumed and offered. We'd tell you your choices as if you were here but it might spoil your dinner.
(Note to self: "find the satay waiter ... again.")
- Posted 7:48pm "Music" Starwood just seems to mean music and tonight is no different. It's like a nightclub where most people seem to know each other. Although it may be that most don't, those members attending tonight definitely feel as if they know SPG.
P.S. Word is that some of tonight's special guests are members who have worn out their SPG credit cards. That means lots of points and many miles!
As for the early music... this DJ keeps the place alive and, well, kicking!
- Posted 7:46pm "Reward Four" As we've told you, rewards is the name of the game and Reward Four is a copy of the Golf Digest Best Places to Play: America's Best Golf Courses
- Posted 7:22pm "Hello and welcome..." Okay, once you wind your way up the magical spiral staircase, you will be greeted by all the signs of a buzzing party.
First you'll be greeted at the door and handed a life-sized "ruby red" replica of the newly re-launched Starwood SPG Credit Card from American Express. What do you do with it? Simple, after thinking of how many points you can earn with the real thing, you wind your way around the ballroom weaving your way amongst the waiters willing to serve you a "Preferred Pomegranatini" in the right color.
- Posted 7:02pm "Almost Showtime..." We're here at the W New York where tonight Starwood Preferred Guest and partner American Express kick off their official launch of the new "ruby red" SPG Credit Card by American Express. It's early and we've been sneaking in and out of the venue. Coming up, pictures of some of the surprise rewards and maybe even a sneak at Lauryn warming up the band.
- Posted 6:35pm "Rewards?" What would a celebration be without rewards? Now, we don't know yet what their plans are but we snuck a few pictures of four tables overloaded with "rewards." Without trying to spoil the news for those special members attending this event, here's the "live" pictures of what we've seen so far...
- Posted 11:02am "A busy year for SPG events ..." As we get ready to jet off to bring this event to you live, we recall some of the events that SPG held this year for members to enjoy. (Now we're mad we didn't start groveling sooner, these were some grand events):
- Stanley Cup Finals tickets
- Attending the VIP pre-screening of "The Devil Wears Prada," which offered a dinner as well as entrance to Sotheby's for a charity auction at the St. Regis in New York City
- A private round of golf with Brad Faxon at the TPC of Boston.
- The Pavarotti Farewell Concert in Calgary
- VIP backstage and post-concert gala event at the Rainforest Foundation Benefit Concert with Sting, Billy Joel, James Taylor and others
- A private round of golf with PGA pro Jay Haas
And to think we almost made the member event last year at the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show and after party. Not sure if it was too bad for you or too bad for us.
P.S. It was only 10,000 points for two tickets, the same number of bonus points you can now earn by signing up for the newly re-launched Starwood Preferred Guest credit card from American Express.
- Posted 10:21am "Sneaking in...." When we heard that Starwood Preferred Guest and American Express were celebrating the re-launch of their highly popular partnership credit card with one of their trademark special events - this time a private concert for some of their members and credit cardholders - we couldn't wait to try and charm an invitation out of SPG so we could bring the event live to the rest of the free (hey, the credit card is free for the first year!) world. Okay, we groveled, but it worked, and we'll do our best this coming Wednesday evening to bring you the sights ... and the sounds of this musical event. What makes this very cool is the fact that this very groovy Ms. Hill will be entertaining just 200 people or so and it should provide just the type of scene that a stadium with 85,000 fans can't do. Our first thought was to fire up the iPod and share a tune with you - maybe the Bob Marley classic she did so well, "Never Forget (So Much Things To Say)." But then we remembered that maybe the file sharing thing isn't a good idea just yet. So, we clicked on over to iTunes and here are her most popular downloads.
- Posted 12:11pm "Ms. Lauryn Hill, the muscian." A founding member of the pioneering multi-platinum hip-hop trio the Fugees, Lauryn Hill found overwhelming success as a solo artist with her debut album The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill, which debuted at #1 on the Billboard the week of its release. Selling more than 12 million copies worldwide, The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill achieved both popular and critical acclaim, earning her five Grammy Awards (including Album of the Year and Best New Artist), three American Music Awards, one Billboard Award, one Soul Train Award and one MTV Video Music Award.
- Posted 10:31am "Starwood Preferred Guest/American Express Presents Ms. Lauryn Hill" In celebration of the Starwood Preferred Guest Credit Card from American Express – an intimate evening with Ms. Lauryn Hill.
Wednesday, October 25, 2006
7-10 PM, EST
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