Posts by Andrew Bruss

TV On The Radio are a getting bigger and better with everything they do and their set at Boston’s Wilbur Theatre was a perfect example. 2006’s Return to Cookie Mountain put them on the map in a very big way, earning them bragging rights of Album of the Year at Spin. Their recent follow up, Dear Science, has yet to garner the blogospheric buzz of Cookie Mountain, but it supersedes the previous studio effort in both artistic development, and consistence in overall quality.

Rilo Kiley came through Boston’s Avalon Ballroom, hoping to give fans a taste of their A game, but wound up delivering a performance that was less than stellar. A lot has changed since Rilo Kiley performed in Beantown last, and the changes within the groups dynamic were evident from the start.

Over the course of the last year, the metamorphosis undergone by Tom Morello has proven to be nothing short of historically significant. Upon the heels of a headlining performance at Coachella, the once-disbanded Rage Against The Machine has seemed to be gradually making their radical presence known on the concert circuit once again.

With the theatrical flavor of Pink Floyd and the emotive tendencies of The Cure, The Arcade Fire mesmerized a sold out crowd at Boston’s Orpheum Theater.

State Radio graced a sold out, hometown crowd at Boston’s Avalon Ballroom to an energized set of riff-fused neo-ska-rock that showcased an onslaught of Chad Urmston’s post-Dispatch material, as well as a few well executed covers.

Toots and the Maytals performed a hits filled set at Boston’s Avalon Ballroom, letting anyone in doubt know that this age old act is still alive and kicking. Toots Hibbert, has led the group through trials, tribulations, and plenty of lineup changes over the years, but with a catalog of genre defining songs, Toots and Co. have clearly stood tall through musical decades.

Celebrating the 49th anniversary of Club Passim, John Prine performed a heart-felt performance at Sanders Theater, an age-old converted church that provided everyone in attendance with an environment that offered near-perfect acoustics, and cozy intimacy that set the mood just right.

The Slip's switch from loose jazzed-out odysseys towards verse/chorus/verse-oriented songwriting has played a big part in their recent break into the mainstream. This same progression is what has led many critics in the blogosphere to obsess over the aspect that they have gone from the “Jam-scene” to the “Indie scene.

Following a series of extensive cross-country tours that have put them in front of big crowds at major festivals like Bonnaroo, Langerado and Wakarusa, Steel Train has been making "serious tracks.”

Following an intense performance by Read Yellow, Campaign For Real Time dove head-first into an interactive set that proved why the group is quickly growing to be known as the biggest band to come out of Boston since the Dresden Dolls.