Chad Berndtson, Author at Glide Magazine

7th Jammy Awards – Breakdowns & Insight: Wamu Theater at Madison Square Garden, New York, NY 5/7/08

Chad Berndtson May 9, 2008 No Comments

It was the tightest Jammys show in at least three or four of them-thetype of night for which you're tempted to use the word lean but pull back only because that might under-represent such a high quality of talent assembled. Tight, tight tight, with changes from the past few Jammys were subtle, but essential: slightly fewer acts with longer stretches devoted to each, giving time for collaborations (most, anyway) to marinate a bit and really suss out some value and excitement.

Murder By Death/O’Death: Middle East, Cambridge, MA 4/5/08

Chad Berndtson April 17, 2008 No Comments

Hearing the two play back-to-back one hour sets of Murder by Death and O'Death in the murky lair of the Middle East, well… all that was missing were seance candles and two men with handlebar moustaches declaring a duel after too much whiskey down the gullet.

Dumpstaphunk with Non-Static: Sullivan Hall, New York, NY 2/21/08

Chad Berndtson March 5, 2008 No Comments

If there's a word for the Dumpstaphunk experience-and articulating what gives great funk bands their mojo is a futile exercise-it's "full." Politics, passion, punch, and professionalism-and you're dancing your face off all the while.

Cat Power & Dirty Delta Blues: Terminal 5, New York, NY 2/6/08

Chad Berndtson February 11, 2008 No Comments

Manhattan's Terminal 5, tucked way down between 11th avenue and the West Side Highway in the West 50s, can be a top-of-the-line place to see a show; its airy-hangar-meets-the-Addams-Family-mansion feel drips personality. But when Cat Power and her oddly named foursome Dirty Delta Blues took up there, it was one crowd energy-killing, sonically misdirected moment after another,

The Black Angels – Drone To Artform (INTERVIEW)

Chad Berndtson January 16, 2008 No Comments

The Black Angels hold an enhancement for that lurking guitar drone that turns their songs into blissfully psychedelic sensory overload, gauzy blues, and industrial-edgy shoegaze. What about all that critical posturing about the Black Angels turning "drone into an art form"? It’s one hundred percent accurate.

Gov’t Mule: Mighty High

Chad Berndtson December 12, 2007 No Comments

Appreciating Mighty High means allowing for Warren Haynes and Gov't Mule to indulge their recent surge of interest in dub and other reggae flavors. There's a lot to like on Mighty High and a lot to discard. Even haters of the CD–some Mule fanatics have called it un-listenable, and they're not totally wrong, should feel comfortable knowing the band has no plans for a holding pattern with this musical output. Trust in that.

Gogol Bordello: Terminal 5, New York City, NY 11/3/07

Chad Berndtson November 28, 2007 No Comments

hy are so many people on the multilingual bus with Gogol Bordello? Because getting into them is as much as layered, depth-creating experience as it is the well-documented hyper-visceral one. That is, the more layers you peel back and the deeper you entrench yourself in what the band's laying down, the richer the experience gets.

Galactic – Goin’ House to Corner (INTERVIEW)

Chad Berndtson November 26, 2007 No Comments

The Galactic album that became From the Corner to the Block was originally going to be all-instrumental, and in its initial stages was a little loose on concept. That was two years ago, when the band found itself on tour with Bay Area emcee Lyrics Born as the opening act and nightly sit-in guest, and was really enjoying itself as it figured out the next direction.

RatDog: North Fork Theater, Westbury, NY 10/30/07

Chad Berndtson November 12, 2007 No Comments

Opening a two-night stand at this curious Long Island theater in-the-round, Weir and his crew were in satisfaction delivery mode, going for the familiar—Dylan chestnuts, Bob-sung favorites, a few fuzzy psyche-out moments—without taking too many chances until the end. Their opening run from "Shakedown" on was fun, but cursory; it wouldn't be until a slow-burning, wholly dramatic "Loser" that they'd really lock in. Steve Kimock too, was a colorist up until that point, and only keyboardist Jeff Chimenti—absolutely this band's undersung hero—had really grabbed the limelight, leaning barrelhouse for "Minglewood Blues."

Marc Ford – Keeping the Tree Burning (INTERVIEW)

Chad Berndtson October 31, 2007 No Comments

Nearly twenty years later, following creative times both fat and lean and two tours of duty with the Crowes, Marc Ford is older by fact, wiser by his own admission, and hardly throwing in the towel. He seems to be as busy as ever, and just returned to the road with a brand new band and a meaty new collection of songs.

Chad Berndtson

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