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PLEASE SIGN MY GUESTBOOK AND ADD YOUR PICTUREWelcome to Antonio Pontarelli's Official Street Team Myspace page, music's hottest rock violinist. This page is for Antonio's street team members and fans and anyone else who is interested in getting to know Antonio.
Below you will hear some familiar songs of Antonio's plus his latest song with his new band called, "Saving Face." This song is not available on any other Myspace page. Feedback is welcome!
Enjoy!
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This is a very good review from LA's the Place of Antonio's performance at the Key Club on June 6th. He is definitely on his way to the top. Spread the word please!
More Pontarelli, More Violin: Rising Star Hits the L.A. Music Scene
Hundreds of bands work the Sunset Strip each week, but only once in a blue moon do you find an undiscovered gem that refreshingly turns out to be just as exciting as the headlining act. On June 6, the Key Club in Hollywood welcomed a new find, an artist named Antonio Pontarelli, who was on the bill to warm up the crowd before rocker Lukas Rossi from Supernova took the stage.
Pontarelli has been performing all over the country with his unique style of violin performance that is tightly woven into an interesting mix of modern, classic and progressive rock influences. As he opened his set, Pontarelli played a violin solo through a billowy cloud of smoke that parted once he kicked into vocals. It created a mystique about this rocker which drew the crowd to immediately arm themselves with their cell phones to snap photos before he became too famous.
Shredding on the violin with his hair flying and playing as if his life depended on it, Pontarelli drew the Key Club crowd to him like moths to a flame. Half way through the show, Pontarelli traded his traditional violin for a 6-string fretted violin that rivals an electric flying V guitar. The audience cheered as he attacked the violin while moving dangerously close to the edge of the stage. The audience constantly reached out to touch him as if to capture a piece of his magic.
Often compared to Hendrix and Zeppelin, Pontarelli uses his violin to create a story and takes audiences through a musical journey. It was refreshing to see epic moments of Baroque classical woven into rock that is so current sounding. In the end, we were all left with wanting more violin! More violin!
The musicianship of Pontarelli and his band is top drawer. World renowned drummer Thomas Lang creates a synergy that anchors the group while Italian Mario Pagliarulo on bass and the expert guitar work of Matt Rodriguez keep things tight. Pontarelli’s authentic emotion of his vocals also adds a large melodic soundscape. But we still want to see more violin!
This alternative rock band is exciting, talented and polished. With a sound that provides pyrotechnics without the necessity of fireworks, Pontarelli is an artist who has it all.
from: http://lastheplace.com/2007/06/14/more-pontarelli-more-violi n-rising-star-hits-the-la-music-scene/
A NIGHT AT THE KEY CLUB WITH ANTONIO PONTARELLI AND LUKAS ROSSI
June 6, 2007 was one of those nights that everyone had been anticipating for a very long time. The stage at the Key Club is rather large and gives the musicians plenty of room to move around, and I can promise you Antonio took full advantage of that opportunity. Wearing his famous knee-length jacket with the dragon on the back he came on stage with the lights dimmed and his back to the audience. The audience was packed tightly at the front of the stage—I don’t think one more person could find a spot up front if they wanted to… Antonio started the show with “The Void,†but added a short violin intro on his acoustic violin, which never ceases to amaze the crowd before he exploded into “The Void.†The audience was rocking after that, and so was Antonio.
I have never seen Antonio so animated in my life. He moved around more than I had ever seen him before on stage. The fans were stretching their hands out begging him to come over and touch their hands, which he willingly obliged as much as possible. Fans were holding up cell phones, cameras and videos cameras just to take a piece of Antonio home with them; girls were screaming and some were evening crying trying to get closer to touch him. I have never seen anything like it in my life!
Towards the end of the set Antonio announced Thomas Lang, who did a drum solo for the crowd which was outstanding. Thomas is an amazing drummer and clearly one of the best in the world. It would be a shame to not recognize his talent and give him the stage. I was so glad to see that drum solo.
After the show, Antonio did a Meet and Greet where he signed autographs, took pictures, talked to the fans, and signed t-shirts for them. Antonio is always so very gracious and grateful to all his fans for coming to see him and will always take the time and trouble to spend time to talk with them as much as possible—so thank you to all of you who came downstairs after the show to meet Antonio. He was truly grateful and humbled by your presence and hopes to see you all again very soon.
-Yvonne Westmaas
National Street Team Coordinator
for Antonio Pontarelli
Please do your best to show your support for this worthy cause. Come on down and support this music festival and Antonio. We would love to see you!
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ANTONIO ON THE RED CARPET AT THE 2007 GRAMMY'S
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A night at the 49th Grammys with Antonio Pontarelli
Being nominated for a Grammy Award would be a dream come true for most musicians—for Antonio, it’s just a matter of time before it happens. He may as well start writing his Grammy speech now, because I, for one, cannot wait to see him walk up to accept his Award(s?)
For now, this was his second appearance on the Red Carpet at the Grammys due to his involvement with the Grammy Camp in 2006. Grammy Camp is a 17 day interactive program for gifted musicians between the ages of 15-19. It is truly an honor to be accepted into this program.
Antonio pulled up in a black limo early in the afternoon. He was accompanied by his publicist, Diana; his music consultant, Denny, and of course, his mother. I also tagged along for photo opportunities which was not easy to do since cameras were not allowed on the red carpet, but we managed to sneak a few pictures in regardless. He was immediately greeted by a slew of photographers who were particularly interested in him because he had a viper strapped to his shoulder and most were interested to see how it works, having never seen an instrument quite like it. Diana, his publicist, casually walked along side of Antonio with an amplifier which was hooked up to his viper and on cue, when someone asked for a demonstration, Antonio was more than happy to oblige. Needless to say, he caused quite a stir on the red carpet. Everyone was fascinated with him and was therefore interviewed by more than 14 media stations, including CNN, TV Guide Channel, Fox News Channel, and CBS to name a few.
All in all it took almost an hour and half to walk the red carpet, but the best was still to come. At the end of the red carpet the photographers and fans were waiting, and believe me Antonio did not disappoint. When he stepped into that area, he was asked to play and the whole place was awestruck by his talent and composure. I swear he never gets nervous.
He looked incredible wearing jeans, a grey shirt and black coat with tails that looked absolutely amazing on him—the girls couldn’t get enough of him. Then it was on to the show.
After the show, Antonio was invited to the Sony/BMG party, and made a lot of new friends as you can see from the slideshow above. All in all it was a successful evening and as usual the message is always the same—“Let the music speak!â€
~Yvonne
ANTONIO AT NAMM, etc.
Current mood: cheerful
Category: Music
What an amazing weekend this has been!
This weekend Antonio performed at the NAMM (National Association of Music Merchants) show. NAMM is a trade show for merchants to show their musical goods—and I can promise you, they didn't miss a thing when it comes to music and instruments. Every instrument you can think of was there for you to try out. The volume of the instruments was regulated by NAMM so that no one musician would overwhelm another.
To preface this enormous show, Antonio attended a jam session party at the Hot House in Santa Fe Springs on Thursday night to jam with other musicians. I got there before Antonio and witnessed several bands playing and watched the way these musicians interacted with one another. What was surprising to me was the attention that Antonio draws when he enters a room; and what transpires after he has performed is even more amazing. Almost everyone wanted their picture taken with him and his autograph. I did not see that happen with any other musician in the place. Antonio captivates everyone who has the pleasure of seeing him play live—even other musicians!
The next day was the NAMM show. We got there early although Antonio wasn't scheduled to play until 3:00 PM. One of the first people we found was Steve Vai, the guitar God! Steve and Antonio have played together in the past. The line for Steve's autograph was unreal—at least an hour's wait if not longer. We were fortunate enough to be pulled into the front of the line by a fan of Antonio's who recognized him. Thank you, sweet lady! When Antonio finally got to Steve Vai, Steve did not recognize him. After some dialogue between the two of them, Steve finally said, "Oh, yeah, you're the guy—I've been looking for you."
Steve's manager approached Antonio after his conversation with Steve to say that Steve would be interested in working with him again in the future and handed him his business card and chatted about future possibilities of working together.
Later on we all had the pleasure to meet one of the best drummers we have ever heard, Thomas Lang —although, Antonio had met with him the night before. Thomas is featured in a picture on Antonio's page. It's no exaggeration to say how good he is and that proof was provided by the amount of people that surrounded Thomas when he played at NAMM. Every single person in the crowd had their jaw dropping to the ground in awe!
After visiting with Thomas, Antonio made his way over to the area in which he would be performing with Mark Wood and his band. (Mark Wood is the creator of the Viper violin that Antonio uses).
When the show started, it drew one of the largest crowds at NAMM. It was packed. After three solo songs by Mark, he invited the band to come on stage with him. Although Antonio is not part of his band, Mark had wanted him to be there. After two songs with the band, Mark introduced Antonio as a force to be reckoned with in the future of music. He chose to display Antonio's gift for music as a sparring game: I play first then you try to match me or do better. I'll leave it up to your imagination as to who came out on top. I don't think I have ever seen Antonio perform with such animation as he did that day. He was completely in the zone and mesmerized the crowd to the point of clapping until their hands were raw!
He was AMAZING! But for Antonio, this is who he is and he doesn't think anything of going within himself to bring out what he knows how to do best! I honestly can't say that I think nerves are ever an issue for him. It's not about thinking what everyone will think or say about his performance, it's about the music—"Let the Music Speak!"
Antonio rocked the house that day….I can't wait to see what he will do next… Stay tuned!
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Hello, my name is Yvonne and I am the National Street Team Coordinator for Antonio Pontarelli. If you would like to join Antonio's Street Team, please send me either a message on here or an email to [email protected].
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Antonio Pontarelli at the Kodak Theatre on Highland and Hollywood on November 19, 2006 for a Children of Cancer Charity Event.
If you have never seen Antonio Pontarelli perform, wow, are you in for a treat!
He appeals to all generations--if you are older you will walk away saying to yourself, I haven't heard anything like this in years; if you are young, you will wonder why he has not already won a Grammy. Antonio's music is absolutely timeless--you will not get tired of listening to it, and I'm absolutely sure you will agree with me.
Antonio and his band appeared at the Kodak Theatre on Hollywood and Highland on November 19th for a charity benefit for children with cancer, of which, the proceeds which Antonio made from the event went to this charity. I arrived at 4:00 PM in time to catch Antonio's first show which was outside. I had only seen Antonio perform live once before so I was excited to see him play again. For his first set, he played without his new band and did a Jimi Hendrix medley, which consisted of two songs, and blew everyone away with his unbelievable technique and expertise on the violin. I looked up at the gallery and the look on people's faces told the story of how in awe they were of this amazing rock violinist.
After that he signed autographs for the children with cancer, who came over in droves for a piece of Antonio. If you could have seen the joy in their eyes and on their faces you would have cried. He took pictures with them and basically made them feel very comfortable around him. Nothing was too much trouble for him. I had a permanent smile on my face the whole time. I was so impressed with how he handled himself with the children.
When he had finished signing autographs, he was taken away to a hotel close by for a well needed break and something to eat before his next show at 7:00 PM. Antonio was joined by his family, friends and close business acquaintances which was very relaxing and comfortable for everyone.
Finally, he and his band made their way to the Ballroom where he was to perform. Although they had a late start, when they did start it was nothing short of miraculous!
The very first song they performed was "The Void." This was done on his acoustic violin, and as many of you are aware of how "The Void" starts, he put a completely different spin on the intro which blew my mind. He started "The Void" with a classical violin piece for about 2-3 minutes. If you have never heard Antonio before and are not familiar with his music, this is exactly what you would expect from a violinist, then, he exploded into "The Void." I was riveted and blown away by the simplicity of his intro which no one was expecting, and then came the heavy rock which gave me the chills. His performance was absolutely mesmerizing to watch--no one could take their eyes off him. He completely captured the attention of everyone in the room from the very first note.
The audience was his after that. Even the cameramen couldn't get close enough to catch his essence.
This was the remainder of his song lineup for the evening:
2) While My Guitar Gently Weeps
3) Follow Me
4) Call on Me
5) All That I Can Take (Antonio changed the name of this song at the last minute because he did not want to offend the children with cancer by calling it by its rightful name, "Fade Away.") How thoughtful is that?
6) All Along the Watchtower.
After the show, Antonio was back signing autographs for the children and many others that were in attendance. We all made a lot of new friends that evening. Antonio posed for pictures with the children; unfortunately I couldn't get any pictures of that because my batteries ran out on my camera. Sorry! Next time I'll bring extras.
That brings us to the end of one absolutely wonderful evening and everyone was very happy with the way things turned out.
One last note, I would like to apologize for the lack of quality in the pictures, but I did not come as well prepared as I should have been to take the amount of pictures I needed to take to make a good show for you, but I promise the next time will be a lot better.
After you click on the slideshow just move your mouse over the pictures, and dialogue will come up telling you a little about the picture. This has not been done for every single picture, just some.
You all rock!
-Yvonne Westmaas
National Street Team Coordinator
for Antonio Pontarelli