1996
Liquid Blue started out with a bang in 1996, as they were hired by Arnold Schwarzenegger to perform at his Planet Hollywood establishment in San Diego on August 10th, for the Republican Convention kickoff party. In those early days the band had only four members and gigged at just about every bar and club in San Diego, performing mostly covers from artist like Nirvana, Live, the Stones, etc. The band’s sound was dominated by the power guitar of Michael Vangerov, female vocalist Rosie Goldstein and the “vocal chameleon, Scott Stephens, who had the ability to rap as well as rock, covering artists from Snoop Dog to Johnny Cash, while still able to retain his own unique sound on the bands original music.
1997
In 1998 the band added a 5th member, vocalist Nikki Green, and was working close to 100 shows a year in bigger and better clubs, building a sizeable following. Nikki was green and barely out of high school when she stepped into the role of lead vocalist in 98′, but she quickly established herself as a vocal powerhouse and was highly respected in the San Diego music scene. At the time, Nikki had no idea she would soon become one of the original “BlueGirls” and travel the world.
1998
By 1997 the band was on it’s way to learning over 600 songs! One night it was four hours of rock, the next night, four hours of country and the following might be a full night of R&B, Blues or Reggae. In January of 97′ the band embarked on their first overseas tour, performing in Asia for two months. This was the first road trip for a band that would become one of the most “well-traveled” artists in the world.
1999
The band steadily progressed every year and by 1999 were known by many as the “hardest working” band in Southern California, both on and off stage. Liquid Blue was always on the cutting edge of technology and set the standard for band web sites at a time when few bands had ventured onto the web. During these first few years there were many personnel changes, as the band tried to define it’s vision and sound. The three constants were always Scott Stephens, Michael Vangerov and Nikki Green.
2000
The year 2000 was a turning point for Liquid Blue. A decision was made to add a third female vocalist to the band and incorporate high-energy choreographed dance moves. The trio was nicknamed, “The BlueGirls” and the local buzz they created was unprecedented. These “BlueGirls” were young, gorgeous (they even had their own bikini calendar) and immensely talented. While Nikki was still the primary lead, the other BlueGirls (Dana Damian & Miz Mandy) sang lead and background vocals as well as danced. The band was now also better than ever; a powerhouse working behind a sensational front line. Later in the year the band added thier first bass player, Ike Fifield. Fans lined up to see the band at clubs like the Boar Cross’n & Fogerty’s, as well as numerous other venues. In 2000 the band performed over 100 shows for the first time and that number grew almost every year throughout the decade.
2001
In 2001 rock drummer Tim Breech joined the band. The U.S. government (USO) thought Liquid Blue would be the perfect antidote for it’s military troops stationed overseas and was correct. The band quickly became the most popular act in the Armed Forces Entertainment (AFE) and was called upon to perform in 23 countries. The air was electric for every USO show and the troops REALLY showed their appreciation. From the moment the BlueGirls walked on stage, there was pandemonium. On Sept 11th when the World Trade Center was attacked, Liquid Blue was on a military base in Honduras. The band was watching the news on TV in the mess hall with the troops as the events occurred. All flights were cancelled for the band stayed on the base for an extra week and played shows everyday for the troops to boost morale. In between the many tours the band found time to film a promotional video that featured glowing endorsements from
the mayor of San Diego and baseball great Tony Gwynn. In July the band was awarded “Best Dance Band in the USA” at the National Music Awards. In August, the band was invited to perform at a NATO conference in Belgium. Later that month, the BlueGirls released their 2002 bikini fashion calendar. Later in the year, the band received several more awards. With so much attention, several music companies choose to sponsor the band. There were shows in Alaska, the Bahamas, Africa, Europe, South America, Central America and Vegas. In San Diego the band was a favorite of the professional sports teams and did shows at Qualcomm Stadium for both the Chargers and Padres. 2001 was a magical year for Liquid Blue and the start of the heavy touring schedule that continues today.
2002
Throughout 2002 the band was kept busy with more USO shows overseas and local events. In February the group performed for a week at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. Once again, everywhere the band appeared, crowds were large and lively. Early in the year, Layla Loxa became the newest member of the band. The exciting and stunning Asian quickly established herself as a fan favorite, receiving loads of fan email. Layla was also a very talented surfer and bodysurfer and shocked the surfing world when she won the World Bodysurfing Championship in August in her first contest! In the summer the band toured the Mediterranean and released their first EP of original music, entitled “Making Up”. The four song release quickly became popular in Asia and French Polynesia (which were the main areas it was promoted) and the band traveled to China in September to perform several shows. The band was excited when it was announced that
two of the shows would be in large arenas holding up to 30,000 people. When the band was taken to the sound check the day of the 1st event, they were shocked to find out that their concert was not being held in a sports arena, but instead in a 65,000 seat stadium! By 8:00 the stadium was overflowing with as many as 70,000 in attendance. The band played songs from their new EP as well as one popular Chinese rock song, (Pong Yo) sung in perfect Chinese by Scott, to the delight and screams of the Chinese audience. The following night was also a sell out and shown live on Chinese television (CCTV) as well. It was estimated that an audience of 700 million witnessed Liquid Blue’s performance, one of the largest TV crowds for an American band in the world, up to that time. The following day the band was recognized in the streets everywhere they went as they headed to interviews and press conferences. This was a time and a year that the band will never forget.
2003
2003 started with a bang as the band was featured on the NBC morning show on January 12th. This was the debut show for new BlueGirl BC Jean. Later in the month they performed at Donovan Prison, which has now become an annual event at the high security facility. In February the band did a week stint at the Sahara in Vegas and were joined on stage by the Coasters one night. On Feb 22nd Liquid Blue appeared at an event that featured Kenny Loggins and Cher, in Phoenix, Arizona. Once again, in-between all of the touring the band always came back to perform at their long time local havens, the Boar Cross’n, Fogerty’s and three new regular venues, Misty’s in Ontario, Viejas in Alpine and Costas in Palm Springs. With the SARS epidemic in China, the band had to look elsewhere to promote their EP and Tahiti turned out to be just the place. The band spent 10 days in paradise in May and did two shows, including one outdoor amphitheater show with approximately 3000 attending. This may seem like a small number compared to China, but considering that the towns population was just over 40,000, it was an exceptional turn-out. June saw the band in Atlantic City with another new, young BlueGirl, Alex Woods Then on July 6th Layla Loxa shocked everyone once again when she finished 3rd in the US Surfing Championships. In July the band was hired to perform on a Cruise ship for a special “inaugural” 1st cruise for the Island Princes, headed to Alaska. This turned out to be just the first of many future cruise ship appearances. On October 14th the band performed at the Greenbrier Resort in West Virginia at an event that also featured former US Presidents Bill Clinton and George Bush Sr. The band picked up several additional sponsors during the year and Moser Guitars released a Michael Vangerov signature guitar, designed by Michael himself. It is a strikingly unique rock guitar. It was a great honor for Michael as the guitar was licensed and sold with his signature, placing him amongst the elite shredders of the day. Throughout much of 2003, Scott Stephens was writing and putting together the material for the band’s debut full-length album, Supernova. The making of Supernova is truly is story itself and cannot be adequately covered here in this short history. Two of rock’s very best producers agreed to work with the band to help create what has now been called a “breakthrough” recording by critics. Joe Chiccarelli (two Grammy Awards, many platinum LP’s) engineered the effort and David DeVore (12 multi-platinum albums) produced it.
The recording was done at the legendary Western Recorders on Sunset BlvTd in Hollywood (also known as Cello), where the likes of Frank Sinatra, the Rolling Stones and other legends recorded. While Liquid Blue worked on Supernova, simultaneously Tom Petty, Helmet and Madonna worked in other studio rooms on the premise. Scott Stephens co-wrote a track with Cher’s drummer, Marc Schulman called “Arms of Love” and Marc also played drums in the studio on the song “Making Up”. Marc went on to join Velvet Revolver and then Pink. It was a magical time for the band and you can hear that magic on Supernova. BlueGirl Kristen Kelly joined the group in December and stayed for four years.
2004
With the release of Supernova in January, 2004, the band was busier than in any prior year. The 2004 Supernova World Tour includes 200 shows in 34 countries! In February and March it was down under to Australia and then Asia. It was a big year for the city of San Diego as a brand new ballpark was opened downtown. In April the BlueGirls were invited to sing both the Canadian and U.S. national anthem at the new park prior to a Padres/Expos game. In April and May the 2004 presidential campaign was in full swing and the powerful message music from Supernova attracted responses from the Kerry Campaign (Democratic Party), John McCain (Republican) and Ralph Nader (independent). Nader connected with the song “If You Gotta Ask” and selected it as his campaign theme song. In May and June the group headed for a two month tour of Northern Europe to countries such as Sweden, Denmark, Finland and Norway. On May 29th the band received word they had been named “Hottest Contemporary Act” at the NMA (National Music Awards) for the 2nd year in a row. Throughout the year the band received loads of positive reviews from fans and media. DJ Andre of San Diego remixed the albums three dance songs, Rhythm of Love, Arms of Love and Show Me Love, and the three songs became popular club tracks worldwide. Earlier in the year the band had met Wyland, the well known ocean artist, at an show in which Liquid Blue performed after a Wyland event. In July Wyland informed the band he would be using the song Rescue in his upcoming video and that it would also become the theme song for the Wyland Foundation. This same month Jagermeister offered the band a sponsorship. By mid-summer Supernova had solid internet distribution, including CD Baby, Tower Records, Amazon and more. Web radio was also playing various tracks from the record and the buzz was starting. On August 6th the title track, Supernova became the first song from Liquid Blue to reach number one on the independent music charts (Broadjam). Not long after this, several other tracks reached the number one position on Broadjam, including Arms Of Love, Real, Give Me Back My Heart, Anything Else But and Rescue. There was a big feature in a national Filipino magazine on Layla Loxa on August 8th. The combination of being one of the highest ranking female surfers in the world as well as singing and dancing for Liquid Blue had captured the imagination of the Filipino people in the U.S. and the Philippines. At the end of August till early October, the band headed back out on tour to places such as Denmark, England, Ireland, Scotland, Iceland, New York, Boston and Canada. On Sept 1st the band was notified that the song Rhythm of Love had won the Sept VH1 Song of the Year award. Also in Sept the band reached the CD Baby Top Ten and an invitation to be included on the CD Baby bestsellers compilation CD. September was the month that started Liquid Blue’s incredible award spree at Garageband.com. By the end of 2004 the band had been awarded “Track of the Day” 10 times and “Track of the Week” three times. On Sept 21st the song Supernova was ranked as the “Most Original Song Ever, All-Time” in Pop/Rock, at Garageband, which has over 200,000 tracks competing. Sept 21st was the 10-year anniversary of when Liquid Blue was founded. Everyday there was more recognition and on Sept 25th Real was named the “Best Produced Track Ever, All-Time” in any category at Garageband. Rescue was “Song of the Month” at Songwriter Universe for Sept. In October the track Making Up was selected for the Peace-Not-War compilation CD alongside artists such as Jurassic 5, Jane’s Addiction and Sonic Youth. Real was now being played on about 30 commercial radio stations in small and medium markets across the USA. On November 2nd the band was invited to the Phoenix office of Senator John McCain to meet with
the senator on election day. The senator voiced his appreciation for the song “Real”. The band performed in Phoenix that same evening. The next day the group had their first in-station radio interview at KJMB 100.3 in Blythe, CA. Broadjam honored the band my making “Give Me Back My Heart” their featured song and stating, “Liquid Blue could be the best alternative pop band you hear all year” On November 24th those words rang true as Liquid Blue was named one of “America’s Best Independent Artists” and signed to PCT Music to distribute Supernova throughout the United States. In Dec, Real cracked the “most added” and “up & coming charts on New Music Weekly. On Dec 13th the Dallas Songwriters 2004 Contest winners were announced and “If You Gotta Ask” was the first place winner in the rock/pop/urban category. “Can’t Stop It” finished 2nd in the same category as Liquid Blue went 1-2! Real finished 2nd in the easy listening category. On Dec 15th the band were invited to meet with former president Jimmy Carter in Los Angeles. The Carter Center had become aware of the song “Real” and arranged the meeting.
2005
2005 started out in flying fashion as GoFastSports sponsored the band in skydiving over Las Vegas. Scott, Michael, Layla and Kristen jumped out of a plane on January 2nd and fortunately, landed safely. Show Me Love was selected as a track on a benefit CD for Tsunami victims. The January 14th issue of New Music Weekly featured Liquid Blue on the cover as the hit single Real was rising on the charts. On the same day the band signed a distribution deal with Shanghai Audio and Video to distribute Supernova in China. Throughout the year press reviews continued to rave about Supernova and numerous songs from the album were picked for compilation releases. On March 4th the hit single Real reached number one on the STS Indie lable hot A/C chart and #4 on the NMW Hot AC chart. The band went on the road to Central America in April and May while Supernova was released in the USA and distributed in all 1200 Target stores across the country. 32,000 copies were sold at Target! On May 9th the band celebrated their 1000th show while in Cabo San Lucas. Things got spacey on June 2nd as the title track from Supernova was chosen as a semi-finalist by the Mars Society in their song contest. During the summer the band toured California, Arizona and also did a couple shows in Kansas. In June the band was notified that a young Canadian artist was covering the Liquid Blue track Can’t Stop It in her shows. Quite ironic for the former cover band to now have their music covered. In July the band’s popularity was evident as webalizer statistics were showing that 15,000 unique visitors were viewing the LiquidBlue.net every month! In July the band went unplugged and for the first time performed an acoustic show in local coffee houses. In August Supernova was nominated for Best Pop Album of 2005 at the San Diego Music Awards. The band was also one of two U.S. act selected to perform at the prestigious Shanghai International Arts Festival. The Cincinnati Symphony was the other act. Yo-Yo Ma and other international stars were featured at the event along with Liquid Blue. On August 28th it was announced that Give Me Back My Heart had won the WRA Song Competition. It was also announced that month that for the 5th straight year Liquid Blue had been selected as one of the top-10 Best Dance Bands in the USA. In Sept Scott and the BlueGirls
were invited to walk the red carpet at the Hollywood Film Festival in Beverly Hills. On Sept 20th the band released their first music video for Anything Else But. Avalon Guitars became the 22nd sponsor of Liquid Blue on Sept 21st as they handed both Michael and Nikki brand new Avalon acoustic guitars. Two days later three Liquid Blue songs were released as ringtones by Band Radio. Three days after that the band was nominated as Best New Group of 2005 by NMW. Rhythm of Love was released as the band’s 2nd music video just as they embarked on a two month tour of Asia culminating with back to back sold-out shows at the newly built 5000 seat Minhang Arena in Shanghai, China on Nov 10th and 11th. There were no other acts on the bill. The band did almost all of Supernova as well as four Chinese songs (sung by Nikki and Scott in Manderin) and a stunning rendition of Imagine sung by Nikki. Upon returning home the band was interviewed on Inside California which aired Dec 9th.
2006
2006 was the band’s 10 year anniversary. The BlueGirls sing the national anthem for the New York Knicks at a place known as the world’s greatest arena, Madison Square Garden. The BlueGirls also sang the anthem for the San Diego Charger, Los Angeles Lakers, Los Angeles Clippers, Los Angeles Kings, Boston Celtics, Anaheim Mighty Ducks and more, all in the span of a couple months. The patriotic, peace promoting group had now sung the Star Spangled Banner for the NFL, NBA, NHL and MLB as well as every major Southern California sports team. In February the Wyland Foundation released a DVD featuring the Liquid Blue track Rescue. Wyland is one of the most well known artists in the world and a activist for clean oceans. On February 7th BlueGirl Alexzandra Woods appeared on MTV. In March the band showcased the new video for “Real” as well as a live concert DVD filmed in China. On March 20th Major League Baseball hired the band to perform at Petco Park for the World Baseball Classic final. AM Radio talk show host Jon Elliott invited Nikki and Scott to guests on his radio show on March 25th. The following day the band celebrated their 10th anniversary with a big bash at the La Paloma Theater in Encinitas. In April the band launched their first Podcast and then embarked on their longest journey yet; a three month tour of Europe with stops in 26 countries. In May the track “Making Up” finished 2nd in the Peacedriven songwriting contest. “Rescue” and “If You Gotta Ask” were both finalists in song contests in July as well. Four songs from Supernova received honorable mention in the prestigious Billboard Song Contest. In August Liquid Blue launched a Live365 internet radio station called Liquid Blue Radio, which quickly became of of Live365’s fastest growing stations. In Sept the BlueGirls were invited to sing the national anthem for the San Diego Chargers opening game of what would turn out to be their greatest season ever. On Sept 30th while the band had a show in San Diego, Nikki Greenrepresented Liquid Blue at the Pasadena Civic Auditorium, singing and playing acoustic guitar on a bill that featured a well known Chinese act, Musicat. On October 2nd the San Diego Padres hired the band to perform at Rally Monday at Petco Park, which drew over 10,000 fans excited about the Padres 1st place finish.
This was the debut show for new drummer Angelo Frisina who is from Perth, Australia. In October San Diego 94.9 DJ Midori became the voice of Liquid Blue radio. On Oct 21st the band played at 4th & B to a packed house that featured country star Billy Dean. In October the song “Let the Music Move You” was chosen for an independent film called “Supermodels”. On November 1st the band went over 5000 friends on MySpace. Michael and Scott went on tour as a duo in Central Europe to eight countries highlighted by a performance with legendary London DJ Lisa Loud. In Dec Liquid Blue was awarded runner up for BEST BAND in the International Music Awards for 2006. A great way to end another great year.
2007
January of 2007 was the bands most successful year to date, both financially and in terms of concert attendance. To start the year, Liquid Blue was presented with a gold record courtesy of the IMA (International Music Awards) for the song “Real” which garnered “best production”. Liquid Blue also finished 2nd in the “Best Band” category for the IMA for the 2nd year in a row. The local NFL team, the San Diego Chargers, hired Liquid Blue to perform at one of the franchises biggest games ever vs the New England Patriots at Qualcomm Stadium. Speaking of sports, former LA T-Birds Roller Derby skater / Liquid Blue vocalist Scott Stephens started training skaters for the world famous Bay Bombers team which had set up a training/recruiting center in San Diego. Scott was asked to skate for the Bombers but declined. In February the band bolted to Asia with sold-out concerts in the Philippines and China. An amateur video was produced of the bands pre-concert promotional activities which shows the level of pandemonium that accompanies the group of some of their tours. It was named “Fan Frenzy”. The band did two sold-out shows in the Philippines; one in Dipolog City and another in near by Dapitan. Tracks from Supernova were in heavy rotation on radio and the events were promoted well by the two cities. Liquid Blue has last visited the Philippines in 1997! The concert in China was held in Sanya and celebrated Chinese New Year. In March the band received the official world record for “World’s Most Traveled Band” for having performed in 89 countries. The record was certified by Open Record Book and Record Holders Republic. Guinness World Records withheld from certifying the accomplishment as they would not approve any show not opened to the public, which includes all shows on military bases. On March 3rd Liquid Blue performed at the world famous Cow Palace in San Francisco to a sold-out audience of 13,000. This marked the largest crowd (other than National Anthem appearances) for a Liquid Blue show in the United States (largest overall is 65,000 in China, 2002). The Cow Palace show was televised internationally. On March 31st the band appeared (along with Chinese Idol Jane Zhang) at another venerable venue, the Pasadena Civic Auditorium in Los Angeles to a near capacity crowd of 3000. In April, the duo “Two From Blue” took off for a 10 country, three week tour of Eastern Europe which included Romania, Bulgaria, Moldova, Ukraine, Serbia and more. The following month, May, saw the band in the Middle East for a USO / Armed Forces Entertainment tour of several countries including Afghanistan. The band has performed for AFE since 2001 and toured all six AFE circuits. On July 4th there was a headline appearance at the Lake Murray Music Fest which drew about 5000 in San Diego. In July Liquid Blue was named America’s Best Dance Band for 2007. This was the 2nd time the band had won this award from the National Music Awards. Listen Local San Diego named the duo “Two From Blue”, featuring Scott Stephens and the Grovler, as artist of the week for the week of July 10th. On July 16th the group headed for a summer cruise tour of Northern Europe with eight countries including England, Scotland, Ireland, Northern Ireland, Belgium, France, Norway and Denmark. On July 21st a very famous European (Brit) made his debut in Los Angeles. His name; David Beckham. Liquid Blue was hired to sing the National Anthem for David’s inaugural game with the Los Angeles Galaxy. Since Nikki and Layla were in Europe, Kristen Kelly led the anthem singing along with Little Gina who was making her first appearance with Liquid Blue. Layla Loxa was now DJ’ing more and more and getting some high profile sponsors. In October the band was (finally) notified they had won the “Wish You Were Here” award from MAMA (Madison Area Music Awards). On November 1st the band returned to China for a show in Zhongshan. Two From Blue then headed for shows in Lhasa, Tibet. Two From Blue spent two weeks of December in Israel and Palestine with a special peace concert in Bethlehem on Dec 23rd. Palestine them became the 100th country visited by Liquid Blue. The event took place at the Bethlehem Peace Center
in Manger Square next to the Church of the Nativity. It was filmed for local TV broadcast. Immediately following the Middle East appearance, Two From Blue met up with Liquid Blue in Haikou, China for a sold-out concert with 35,000 in attendance and televised by CCTV. Then on Dec 31st, the band performed what may have been their biggest show ever (in terms of international exposure). The event was held in Beijing and was the first televised event for CCTV’s new all-Olympic channel, CCTV-5. The sold-out show drew 8200 and featured some of China’s biggest stars. Liquid Blue was the only act featured from the USA. This was the first official Olympic kick-off event and the last show for BlueGirl Kristen Kelly who was soon to get married and leave San Diego. What a way to finish! Two new BlueGirls made their debuts in the latter part of 2007; Gina Devan and Jessica Manning.
2008
In February of 2008 the band was awarded the Rising Star Award from Gigmasters for having the highest revenue amongst the 4344 members on the site. Gigmasters is the largest online booking agency in the world. Late in the month the band headed for a two month engagement in South America including Argentina, Chile, Peru, Ecuador and Uruguay. During the tour, vocalist Scott Stephens took side trips to Antarctica and Machu Picchu. On February 20th, American Entertainment Magazine hit the stands with a cover story featuring Liquid Blue performing in Beijing. Upon returning from South America in May the band headed for a week in Gulfport, Mississippi. On May 16th Liquid Blue was interviewed on Wealth TV network. Later in the month on May 23rd the band headed for a show in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Then on June 7th, Liquid Blue headlined a festival in the Eastern European country of Belarus. This festival drew over 15,000 rabid rock fans and was the highlight of the year and maybe the decade. The band participated with only five members including just one BlueGirl, Gina and brought a sitar player along for specific Beatles covers. Belarus is a purely communist country and rarely traveled to by Americans but the people could not have been friendlier. Following the show an ever smaller, acoustic version of the group, Two From Blue, traveled to perform in Lithuania, Latvia and Moscow, Russia. The show in Vilnius, Lithuania was the groups 100th country “performed in” and 108th country visited. On July 4th the band once again headlined the Lake Murray Music Festival for thousands of San Diegan’s celebrating independence day. In August, two more sponsors got onboard with Liquid Blue which brought the total number of current sponsors well over 25. In September the band played shows in Kansas City and attended the Posi Awards in the same city. The song “If You Gotta Ask” had been nominated for a “Posi” earlier in the year and won in the social action category. In October the BlueGirls sang the National Anthem for the (soon to be world-champion) LA Lakers. On November 1st, Diana Ferrer made her BlueGirls debut. On November 4th, Election Night, the band played at San Diego Election Central- Golden Hall. Former BlueGirl BC Jean wrote a song for Beyonce that hit number three on the Billboard Hot 100 on November 15th, “If I Were A Boy”. In December, 21 year-old BlueGirl Jessica Manning was invited to China and Taiwan to compete in the Chinese/Taiwanese version of American Idol, Taiwanese Idol. Jessica made it all the way to the semi-finals and then was even invited to sing as a guest at the finals. Jessica learned to sing in perfect Taiwanese with extraordinary coaching from a famous Taiwanese singer. She was seen by millions of Chinese people on TV. While Jessica was in China, Liquid Blue ws in the studio in Burbank mixing two new tracks with Joe Chiccarelli; Dominate and Earth Passport. On December 20th the band headed for Syracuse, New York for a performance. On November 4th, Election Night, the band played at San Diego Election Central- Golden Hall. Former BlueGirl BC
Jean wrote a song for Beyonce that hit number three on the Billboard Hot 100 on November 15th, “If I Were A Boy”. In December, 21 year-old BlueGirl Jessica Manning was invited to China and Taiwan to compete in the Chinese/Taiwanese version of American Idol, Taiwanese Idol. Jessica made it all the way to the semi-finals and then was even invited to sing as a guest at the finals. Jessica learned to sing in perfect Taiwanese with extraordinary coaching from a famous Taiwanese singer. She was seen by millions of Chinese people on TV. While Jessica was in China, Liquid Blue ws in the studio in Burbank mixing two new tracks with Joe Chiccarelli; Dominate and Earth Passport. On December 20th the band headed for Syracuse, New York for a performance.
2009
The band started 2009 with a few shows in ski areas and visited Yosemite National Park along the way. On January 15th the group installed solar power for the band’s dance and recording studio. On the same day the band traveled up the coast to Los Angeles to perform at the “Dream On” concert for Martin Luther King. The Dream On CD featured a track from Supernova. A few days later the band introduced a new song and video, Earth Passport which contains photos of the band in over 100 countries. In February the band toured Australia and New Zealand and drummer Angelo was able to visit his family in Perth. Noize TV (Melbourne) featured the band in one of their segments. Both new Liquid Blue songs were honored in February by as both Dominate and Earth Passport made the finals of the Peacedriven competition. In March it was Asia including Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand, Singapore, Japan, Taiwan and China. On March 23rd former BlueGirl BC Jean was signed to a branch of Sony Records by legendary Clive Davis! In April, International Music Magazine published a feature on Liquid Blue vocalist/manager Scott Stephens. IM is published by the American Federation of Musicians and reaches over 100,000 musicians in the USA and around the world. On May 22nd the County of San Diego designated Liquid Blue as a “certified green” business. In June the band got some favorable press from a former founding member of the Moody Blues, Mike Pinder. On June 18th the BlueGirls sang the National Anthem for the San Diego Padres, which marked the bands 50th appearance singing the anthem at professional sporting events. In August, “Real” was nominated as Pop Single of the Year and Supernova was nominated for Pop Album of the Year by the LA Music Awards. Also in August, Earth Passport was nominated for Best Video and Best New Song at the HMMA awards. In Sept the band opened for The Guess Who in Las Vegas and also performed at the San Diego Chargers home opener. On Sept 21st the band released their long awaited
new promotional DVD and then headed off for a two month tour of Oceania. On the tour the band unleashed 15 new tribute shows including the popular “Divas Tribute” which played to capacity crowds on several occasions. On October 25th, Glenn Shorrock, the singer for the Little River Band, performed on stage with Liquid Blue. On November 11th, Supernova won Album of the Year at the LA Music Awards. On November 19th, Nikki Greenwas on the red carpet for the HMMA awards at the Highland in the Kodak Theater in Hollywood. In December, members of Liquid Blue were performing on three continents, simultaneously. The band was in California, Nikki Greenwas in China as a contestant in Taiwanese Idol and DJ Layla was house DJ for the Star Princess in South America.
2010
Nikki Green started the year in Malaysia and become the first American ever to qualify for the finals of “Chinese Idol” which is the equivilent to “Amercan Idol” in China and Asia. This contest was witnessed by millions around the world, especially in China, Taiwan and Malaysia. It had more viewers than American Idol! When she returned home in February the band remixed the single “Earth Passport” with Killers producer Mark Needham. In March the band was nominated for an energy conservation award (SANDEE). In April the band headlined the House of Blues in San Diego with “The Divas” tribute show and then headed for shows in Philadelphia and Phoenix, where the band opened for Joan Jett. Back home at the end of the month the band ventured to Tijuana for a show and were proclaimed “unofficial ambassadors” by the city major. Liquid Blue was featured on the cover of Vision Magazine’s May issue. In June the band headed off for a summer tour that included 31 cities in 16 states. One of the June shows was in Vegas at the Hard Rock in front of 4000 fans. The Positive Music Awards (PMA) gave the LP Supernova their PMA Seal of Excellence in July. A few weeks later in August American Entertainment Magazine did a full feature on the band’s called Liquid Blue going green. In August DJ Layla was in South Dakota performing at the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally while the band continued their summer tour. Baja Breeze Magazine become the 2nd mag in 2010 to feature Liquid Blue on their cover. On September 4th Earth Passport entered the Billboard Hot 100 (Hot Singles Sales Chart) at number 40. It was the bands first Billboard hit song and it eventually rose all the way to number 12 on the Hot 100 and number 3 on the Hot Dance Singles Sales Chart. While Earth Passport continued its rise on the charts the band continued to tour, stopping to celebrate along the way with each jump forward. In September the band played a show with the Beach Boys in La Jolla CA. On October 10th Liquid Blue was awarded a Guinnness World
Record for the song Earth Passport. It contained more languages (9) than any other song ever to chart on Billboard. Then it was onto Georgia, Chicago and Hartford. On November 10th the band learned they had been selected as a finalist for the Event Solutions Spotlight Award. In November Liquid Blue headed to the Dominican Republic where the band performed for the President (Fernandez) and his wife. The group walked the red carpet at a special event in Santo Domingo along with Sammy Sosa. All time home run king Barry Bonds attended the show which was held in the Punta Cana Resort area. The band’s best year ever both artistically and financially finished with a NYE show in Seattle.
2011
2010 had been the bands best year financially but by the end of June 2011 the band had broken their own record for gross income. In January the book “Believe the Unbelievable” published Liquid Blue’s world record for performing in more countries than any other band. Also in January the group learned they once again won the “Rising Star” award at Gigmaster for being the highest grossing dance band on the site. Gigmasters is the number one online booking site and there are thousands of members. On February 28th Liquid Blue was crowned “Entertainer of the Year” – Ensemble at the Event Solutions Spotlight Awards. The Spotlight Awards are the most recognized awards in the event industry. In March the band headlined the House of Blues in New Orleans with a packed house. Then a fun trip to Kauai, Hawaii followed by a week in the Bahamas in May performed at Bakers Bay. The show was attended by the “king of country”, George Strait. Later that month the acoustic version of Liquid Blue, Two From Blue, changed their name to Acoustic Blue as most of the show now involved the three core performers. On June 3rd the band rocked a packed house at Sammy Hagar’s Cabo Wabo in Baja, Mexico and then headed to Orlando to headline a show at the Hard Rock Live for over 3000 fans. 4th of July brought a crowd of over 12,000 to Norwalk CA. New BlueGirl Jenny Nowinski made her debut at the Jewel Ball in La Jolla on August 6th.
Liquid Blue Internal Bests
Highest Attendance for any performance: 67,000. People’s Stadium, Dalian, China. 9/14/2002
Highest Attendance as Headliner: 16,700. Beatles Festival, Minsk, Belarus. 6/7/2008
Highest Attendance for Ticketed Show: 13,800. Cow Palace, San Francisco. 3/3/2007
Highest Attendance for Ticketed Show as Headliner: 10,200. Minhang Arena, Shanghai, China. 11/11/2005
Highest Record (LP) Sales: 40,000 units for the LP “Supernova”, 2004 (PCT Records)
Highest Billboard Chart Position: Earth Passport. #3 on Billboard Hot Dance Single Sales Chart. 10/9/2010
Highest Billboard Hot 100 Chart Position: Earth Passport. #12 on Billboard Hot Singles Sales Chart. 10/9/2010
Most Live Shows in a Single Year: 213 in 2004
Most Countries Visited in a Single Year: 34 in 2006
Most States Visited in a Single Year: 17 in 2010
