Posts by Marc Lacatell

The small theater’s main floor filled up rather quickly in the minutes preceding the impending performance by Rock Island, Illinois’ Lissie. Right at 8 PM, the stage lights cut out and Elisabeth Maurus’ nickname LISSIE popped up, in white capital letters on an enormous LED screen. The young crowd of fans cheered, whistled and clapped […]

Photo credit: Beth Herzhaft Photography Colin Hay, best known for his tenure with the 80’s hit-makers Men At Work, has been enjoying a new phase of his career, returning to his roots as a solo artist. Hay has been touring, relentlessly to promote his favorite album to date – Gathering Mercury. His lengthy Finding My […]

BB King and Robert Cray performing in Beverly, MA

Multi-instrumentalist ZZ Ward, born Zsuzsanna Eva Ward, is celebrating a whirlwind year of accomplishments, which includes releasing her new album Til The Casket Drops and headlining a national tour. ZZ brought her Down and Dirty Shine Tour to the intimate Paradise Rock Club in Boston. With a minimalist stage production, outside of her black and […]

Jonny Lang’s first new studio album in seven years, Fight For My Soul, was released on September 17th.  Lang’s songwriting on Fight For My Soul, the follow up to his 2006 GRAMMY Award-winning Turn Around, takes a major leap forward, as he explores the struggle for love and family with startling heart and depth. “This […]

On a quiet, clear September night, along the shore of Salisbury Beach – Robert Randolph and the Family Band arrived at the classy Blue Ocean Music Hall and conducted a clinic on how to throw one funky party. In support of their latest release, Lickety Split, Randolph and his band mixed up their tight set […]

As the term super-group gets used more often to describe bands that are composed of already successful musicians, it has started to lose its meaning. However, in regards to The Rides, donning it with such a title wouldn’t do it justice. This band touts a muti-generational composition of extremely talented singers, songwriters and musicians. Rock […]

The family-friendly Life is Good festival which raises funds for the Life is good Kids Foundation – took place this past weekend in Canton, Massachusetts at Prowse Farm. Mather Nature blessed the festival, its guests and the weekend itself with two days of glorious sunny weather with just a splash of rain on Sunday morning. […]

[rating=8.00] Kings of Leon’s sixth studio album’s title is very fitting ride as the 11 tracks run the gamut from ballsy dive bar rockers to arena worthy sing alongs. The Followill family band took a lengthy break from recording and touring and returned to record one of their most eclectic and poignant albums. It was […]

Hailing from Adelaide, Australia – Atlas Genius is unique band with a unique story of success. The band’s nucleus is vocalist/guitarist Keith Jeffery and his brother Michael who plays drums and the very first song that they completed was a song called “Trojans”. After weeks of retooling that song, Michael insisted that the song should […]

[rating=7.00] But don’t let Glen Campbell’s advanced age (77) and recent diagnosis with Alzheimer’s Disease sway you from giving See You There – new recording of his old compositions – a listen. Campbell’s voice remains strong and this treasure chest of songs could easily be described as hauntingly beautiful. The album opens with two heartfelt, […]

Since forming earlier this decade in Long Island, Tauk has built a steady live following with their unique blend of instrumental rock improvisation and fusion. Having had the privilege of opening for moe., Robert Randolph & the Family Band, Tea Leaf Green along with having performed sets at Gathering of the Vibes, Hangout Music Fest, […]

Music fans looking for a concert filled with straight up rock got what they came for and more at the House of Blues on July 8th. Slash featuring Myles Kennedy and The Conspirators provided them with a 22-song set that mixed the old with the new, including a nostalgic trip down G N’R lane. The […]

On a beautiful night in Boston, Fitz and the Tantrums brought their foot stomping Soul/Pop combo to a sold out Paradise Rock Club. At exactly 9:45 PM, the band hit the stage in front of a giant neon heart backdrop and a sea of LED lights. Michael “Fitz” Fitzpatrick (vocals) and Noelle Scaggs (vocals) danced […]

The dark lighting at the Paradise was a perfect match for Eisley’s dramatic, yet powerfully melodic music. This incredibly talented family from Tyler, Texas held its audience captively from start to finish. They put together a well-structured set that conjured a mashed-up jam between the Cardigans, Pixies and the Beatles. The band walked on to […]

The show was sold out and Billy Idol’s legion of fans were lined up down the boardwalk well before the doors would open and two and a half hours before the show would even begin. Fans were clad in leather, lace, and ripped T-shirts with the classic plethora of safety pins pointing all directions. Hair […]

If Queen and AC/DC could have a baby…it’s name would be the Darkness. And with that combination of rock and roll DNA, you really can’t go wrong. The members of the band, Ed Graham (drums), sporting a Darkness T-shirt, Dan Hawkins (guitar), with his signature Thin Lizzy T, Justin Hawkins (vocals and guitar), channeling Freddie Mercury’s style with a black and white vertical striped cat-suit and Frankie Poullain (bass) in his Sci-Fi Samurai cowboy get-up – walked out on stage, held hands and raised them into the air to the cheers of their ecstatic fans.

Early Elton @ Rockwood Music Hall – January 14, 2011

What is Early Elton and why should anyone care? Early Elton is what I like to refer to as organic Rock & Roll. If you love The Band, Stax & Atlantic Soul, The Counting Crows, Exile on Main Street-era Stones, Rod circa Gasoline Alley & Every Picture Tells A Story and even Ronnie Wood’s beautiful Mystify Me from I’ve Got My Own Album To Do, then you get what I mean.

[All photos by Marc Millman]

But more importantly if you loved singing along to Tiny Dancer in Almost Famous but were just as overcome with emotion when Mona Lisas and Mad Hatters was played during the scene where Jann Wenner makes a cameo in a NYC taxi, then this band is for you. Sure you like Bennie and the Jets. Who can deny its infectiousness? But wouldn’t you rather hear Grey Seal? And let’s be real, wouldn’t you rather listen to just about any track from 1970’s self-titled debut through 1972’s Honky Chateau?

Playlist of 10 Early Elton Clips From 1/14

Early Elton is the ultimate homage to Sir Elton. This is not a tribute band anymore than the Fab Faux are. (In fact, both bands share a key member in drummer/singer Rich Pagano.) They are “a Piano Driven Power Trio-Performing the music from the Elton John, Dee Murray & Nigel Olsson Trio tours of ’70–’72” according to their Facebook page. And this is spot on. If you can imagine those lucky enough to have been at A&R Studios on 11/17/70, then you can understand what it was like to share this night with passionate music lovers.

READ ON for more from Marc on Early Elton in NYC…

Our new friend Marc Millman joins us once again to finish recapping a special night in New York City. Last Tuesday night, Marc caught Gregg Allman’s album release party at the Bowery Ballroom before heading down to Brooklyn Bowl for the Soul to Soul II benefit. Here’s his take and photos on the second half of the benefit that according to Jambands.com raised over $20,000 for the victims of last year’s earthquake in Haiti…

As I reported last week, Tuesday night was one of those times that you can put aside all the bad things about this dirty old city we live in and relish in the fact that we can go see great music just about anytime and anywhere…and sometimes even more than once in the same night.

[All photos by Marc Millman]

Following an opening set by Brooklyn-based rockers The London Souls, Lettuce welcomed the Night Tripper himself, Dr. John, out for a few songs. We arrived  at Brooklyn Bowl right as Lettuce’s first set ended. Timing is everything, so there was no hesitation in grabbing a booth by the bar and ordering up some of the amazing food prepared by my favorite restaurant in all of NYC, Blue Ribbon. And just as we finished up our late night feast, which featured the amazing fried chicken and the best appetizer on this planet, egg shooters, Lettuce came back out. So somewhere around the stroke of midnight, we were treated to a two-hour set that featured the legendary sax player / band leader / James Brown & P-funk sideman Mr. Maceo Parker.

• Soul to Soul II Videos: Maceo Jam #1 Pt. 1, Maceo Jam #1 Pt. 2, Shake Everything You’ve Got, Hey Pocky Way, Pass The Peas and Sam Huff’s Flying Rage Machine

Lettuce kicked off the set with some of their own funk-heavy material. Around the second or third song, Maceo set things off with some old James Brown jams. And then ?uestlove of The Roots joined in for a few on the second kit before ceding his seat to Nikki Glaspie (Lettuce/Beyonce). Both drummers were laying down some serious funk beats that in combination with Adam Deitch’s work really moved the crowd.

READ ON for more from Marc on Soul to Soul II…