Hot News 2012

Liquid Blue entertained at Tulaplip Casino for NYE for the 2nd time in the past 3 years. It was the bands 17th NYE show in 17 years.

Encinitas Magazine is featuring Liquid Blue singer, bandleader Scott Stephens on their Nov-Dec 2012 cover. The inside feature is six full pages with 12 photos. Scott and three other band members live in Encinitas. This is the bands 2nd feature story in the past few months and the seventh time the band has appeared on a magazine cover. The focus of the story is the bands extensive travels around the world. Click here for full article PDF or click here for to browse entire magazine online. There are additional photos and content online.

It's Canada's largest city and the final stop on the bands four city winter tour of Canada. Montage images courtesy of Wikipedia. 

The CN Tower in the background. It was once the largest tower in the world. 


The actual Stanley Cup on display at its home in the NHL Hockey Hall of Fame, Toronto

The band visited Niagara Falls on the Canadian side during a trip to Buffalo, Hamilton and Toronto. 

This will be the first visit to Edmonton and Calgary, the two major cities of Alberta. Band leader Scott Stephens toured the Alberta province back in 1981 with the band Electric Warrior. On this tour the group performed in many small and medium sized cities and towns in Alberta but did not do a show in either Calgary or Edmonton. It was a small town summer tour and most of the group regretted not seeing or playing in the well known, larger metro areas. So 30 years later, Scott and Liquid Blue are hitting these places. Edmonton is of course a city made famous by the man some called the greatest hockey player ever to lace up the skates; Wayne Gretzky. The great one helped Edmonton will four NHL Stanley Cup Titles in the 1980's before being traded to the Los Angeles Kings. He did not win a cup with the Kings although they did reach the finals once.

Liquid Blue performed at the Mayfield Inn in Edmonton.


The band visited the Rexall Place, home of the NHL Edmonton Oilers, where Wayne Gretzky played.


At the Art Gallery of Alberta in downtown Edmonton, near Churchill Square.


On Whyte Avenue, the cities most popular night spot

Liquid Blue packed the house at the Belly Up Tavern at a happy hour show Friday, Nov 16th. The group is now doing one local, public show per month (when not on tour) rotating between the Belly Up in Solana Beach and Club M in Del Mar. Liquid Blue broke the attendance record at Club M earlier this years.

Event Solutions Magazine is featuring Liquid Blue on their fall 2012 cover. This is the sixth time the band has appeared on a magazine cover. Event Solutions is one of the top publications covering the event industry. There are additional photos and content online.

Greensboro was the 500th city visited on tour by Liquid Blue. It's famous for its civil rights history. On February 1, 1960, four black college students from North Carolina Agricultural and Technical College sat down at an all-white Woolworth's lunch counter, and refused to leave after they were denied service. The four students purchased small items in other parts of the store and kept their receipts, then sat down at the lunch counter and asked to be served. After being denied service, they produced their receipts and asked why their money was good everywhere else at the store, but not at the lunch counter. Hundreds of others soon joined in this sit-in, which lasted several months. Such protests quickly spread across the South, ultimately leading to the desegregation of Woolworth's and other chains. The original lunch counter and stools where the four first sat are still in their original location, now home to the International Civil Rights Center and Museum. The museum opened on February 1, 2010, the 50th anniversary of the sit-ins.

Democratic National Convention festivities kicked off Sept. 1 with a party for 15,000 media members at the N.C. Music Factory. Liquid Blue headlined the Fountain Plaza stage at 8pm (2000 capacity). There was also entertainment in all of the venues housed within the North Carolina Music Factory including the Fillmore, (also 2,000 people) and the Music Factory’s amphitheater, which has a capacity of 5,000. There were 6,000 inside the Silver Hammer Studios space and another 1,000 under a big tent. Also during their trip to North Carolina, Acoustic Blue stayed in NC for the entire week, doing shows in Raleigh, Greensboro and returning to Charlotte for the DNC convention. Other acts that played at the NC Music Factory during the week of the DNC included the Foo Fighters, B-52's, Kathy Mattea and more. Below are some images from Charlotte and the DNC. To view all the images from Charlotte click here.

The band was at the Knuckle Saloon on Main Street in downtown Sturgis to finish the Wild West Tour of seven states. The Knuckle Saloon is the largest entertainment venue in Sturgis and even has its own radio station. It has been featured on numerous TV show over the years. Liquid Blue was the headline act on August 7th, 8th and 9th. The opening act was Extreme Fighting. There were also two bands in the afternoon. Other acts performing at Sturgis 72nd Annual Rally include Boston, Foghat, Zac Brown, Blue Oyster Cult, Loverboy, Sugarland, Lynard Skynyrd and Sublime. View pictures here.

On August 7th when the band took the stage at the Knuckle Saloon in Sturgis, South Dakota it marked the 50th state the group has performed in. Long time members Nikki Green and Michael Vangerov are the only ones who have visited all 50 states. Over the years the most frequently visited states (excluding CA) have been Nevada (21 trips) and Missouri (16 trips). For a detailed look at the bands travels in the USA visit the USA page here or the very comprehensive "World's Most Traveled Band" page here.

The band hit the road for a month, July 18th through August 11th performing 13 shows in seven Western and Midwestern states including: Pebble Beach CA; Livingston, Montana; Rugby, North Dakota; Omaha, Nebraska; Le Mars, Iowa; Rock Springs, Wyoming and Sturgis, South Dakota. Along the way the group visited Yellowstone National Park; Mount Rushmore; Crazy Horse Memorial; Devils Tower and many other historic sites. During the Wild West Tour the band drew large crowds but the tour had its share of rock & roll insanity. Band members got two speeding tickets within the first week; a band member was knocked out cold just before a performance after entering into Extreme Fighting; there was a gun pulled at an event in Wyoming involving a band member; another band member walked right up to a Buffalo in Yellowstone (and survived) and much more. Below is one of many newspaper articles written about the bands appearance and below that is a photo from a show in Rock Springs, Wyoming.

The Biz Bash Los Angeles Readers Choice Award winners were announced on June 13th at the Biz Bash IdeaFest held at the Los Angeles Convention Center. Liquid Blue was crowned "Entertainment Act of the Year" for 2012! We want to thank everyone who helped make this possible: Biz Bash magazine; event industry professionals and of course our great fans from around the world! View Press Release here.

Following the announcement that the band had won a Readers Choice Award, group members Grovler, Nikki, Diana and Jenny attended the Biz Bash Readers Choice Awards celebration. 2012 was the 2nd straight year that Liquid Blue was honored for being one of the best in event entertainment. Last year in 2011 the band won "Entertainer of the Year" at Event Solutions Spotlight Awards.

All of us that hail from Southern California celebrate the world champion Los Angeles Kings who won their first ever Stanley Cup on June 11th. Kings fans waited 45 years for the cup to come to Los Angeles. Not even Wayne Gretsky was able to bring it to the city of angels during his tenure. The Kings started as the 8th seeded team but then dominated in the playoffs. The photo below is the BlueGirls singing the National Anthem at a past Kings home game at Staples Center.  Liquid Blue members are frequent guest singers at Staples Center and have sung there for the NBA Lakers and Clippers; the WNBA Sparks as well as the NHL Kings.

Liquid Blue was on the finish line main stage at Sea World for the 2012 San Diego Rock and Roll Marathon. Headlining the event was Donovan Frankenreiter.

The Biz Bash LA Readers Choice Awards Finalists have been announced and Liquid Blue has been selected as a finalist for "Entertainment Act of the Year". Biz Bash is the leading trade media for the event industry. Voting closes on June 10th and the winners will be announced at the Biz Bash IdeaFest at the Los Angeles Convention Center June 13th.

The class of 2012 at Vanderbilt University will be treated to a Liquid Blue concert at their commencement party. The event will be held in Nashville on the campus lawn and tickets are $20. Tom Brokaw is the keynote speaker. From the college web site: As part of our Commencement tradition, Vanderbilt hosts a big outdoor dance whose simple name says it all: THE PARTY. This event launches three days of festivities in a grand fashion with live entertainment and a huge dance floor — offering a memorable evening of fun and celebration under the stars. Event Link. View Event Photos.

15 days; 14 cities, 12 states including Kansas City MO, Tulsa OK, Hot Springs AR, Nashville TN, Columbia SC, Charlotte NC, Sterling VA, Baltimore MD, Wilmington DE, Pittsburgh PA, Cleveland OH, Columbus OH, Indianapolis IN and St. Louis MO. While traveling, the band took time to visit the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland, the Indy 500 time trials in Indianapolis and the NFL Hall of Fame in Canton, among other stops. Above photo from show in Nashville.

Liquid Blue visited Minnesota and Wisconsin on a short tour including a big show for Harley Davidson. This was the first tour to this part of the country for Liquid Blue and the first time singer Nikki Green had performed in her home state of Wisconsin.

Liquid Blue performed in Cabo San Lucas on March 22nd where they "played and stayed" at the Hilton Los Cabos Beach Resort. The group has visited Baja's favorite city many times.

The statement "history repeats itself" certainly is true for Boston born Ellis Hall III. "E-3", as he is referred to in music circles, has the influences of his father, Ellis Hall jr (http://www.EllisHall.com), the legendary soul singer, formerly of Tower of Power, to thank for his rich musical beginnings. However, music was not his initial career pursuit. He loves computers and studied graphic design, which led to an associate's degree from Northern Essex Community College. Attended University of Massachusetts Lowell on track scholarship. While working at a prestigious publishing company, he came to the realization that music was his destiny.  Ellis is classified as a songwriter, producer as well as a performing artist to make him one of the newest, freshest talents to hit the music scene. Ellis is currently mixing tracks in the bands studio for the upcoming new Liquid Blue album.

Liquid Blue earned their 3rd Rising Star Award for being the highest earning dance band on Gigmasters in 2011, the largest internet booking service. The band also won the award in 2007 and 2010. The band won the award despite the fact that most Liquid Blue bookings are handled through talent agencies and not Gigmasters.

Liquid Blue celebrated the new year at the Wynn Resort and Casino performing at their VIP party. The band featured 12 performers including five BlueGirls and the BlueBrass horn section. Over 2000 guests attended this exclusive party. The performance was "in the round" and also featured additional dancers and aerialists. The band spent three nights at the Wynn and while in Vegas the group attended the musical "Love" featuring the music of the Beatles. View more pics here.