Show Reviews

Photo by Scott Newton/Courtesy of KLRU Midway through the Alabama Shakes’ taping on Austin City Limits the crowd spontaneously erupted into a loud “Happy Birthday”. The moment of joyful randomness was directed at the band’s lead singer Brittany Howard, who was celebrating her birthday by playing the revered television show for the second time in […]

As the Austin City Limits Music Festival raced back for its second day, festival-goers prepped for the musical circus by massaging their sore dancing feet and guzzling fizzy mimosas. Football games threatened to tackle their attention, but everyone knew where their real priorities belonged. By noon, droves of folk, rap, and indie rock fans poured […]

When Barton Springs Road becomes a trail for foot traffic and the friendly food trailers start charging for parking, it can only mean one thing: The Austin City Limits Music Festival has finally landed. To many avid audiophiles, the letters “ACL” are synonymous with Christmas. With a lineup as vibrant and diverse as Austin, the […]

Sipping from a tall cocktail while sizing up a new setlist, Buster Poindexter (a tuxedoed, pompadoured David Johansen) was deliberately pacing himself. On September 29th in New York, his band opened a two-week residency, their third extended engagement at Café Carlyle since last October. These marathon supper-club bookings are fitting, as Poindexter is as much […]

On the first night on Wilco’s sold out two-night run at Stubb’s in Austin, the Chicago band’s affable front man Jeff Tweedy proclaimed the outdoor venue his favorite place to play. This could be one of those throwaway lines that a musician says at every tour stop, but given the performances that ensued on both […]

“It’s nice to bring it down just for a second,” Billy Idol says as he straps on an acoustic guitar about midway through his set at Biloxi’s IP Casino. “It really does have a story,” he continues as he plays a few gentle opening chords to “Sweet Sixteen” from his 1986 Top 10 album, Whiplash […]

Leftover Salmon brought their high-energy slamgrass to Mauch Chunk Opera House on September 20th in Jim Thorpe, PA. It was just a little over a year ago when founder and front-man Vince Herman officially inaugurated Bill Payne as an active member of Leftover Salmon in at the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville during the band’s 15th […]

Mark Knopfler knows his demographic and these days his concerts reflect that. The crowd filing into his sold out performance at the Moody Theater in Austin on Friday night were on the far side of middle age, but these are the kind of people who can afford the $150-$400 ticket price. They are also the […]

There’s no denying that the past couple of years have seen a sharp increase of nostalgia for all things 90s. While this is great for those that were in their teens and twenties during that era, it has proved to be fantastic for bands for which that decade was their heyday. Blues Traveler is no […]

The spandex may be a little less tight (barely) and the hair a lot shorter, but make no mistake about it, Van Halen still know how to party. On their lengthy tour the purveyors of the world’s greatest strip club soundtrack made a jaunt through Texas with a show at the Austin360 Amphitheater on Monday. […]

Paul Janeway has more charisma in his little finger than most performers could contain in their entire bodies, and he brought every last ounce of it to Brooklyn Bowl on September 16th where his band St. Paul and the Broken Bones packed the house. The Birmingham, Alabama-based group have been steadily building their fan base […]

Tell someone that you are going to a Death Cab For Cutie show and the most likely response will be, “I’ll bet that’ll be depressing.” On the contrary, the crowd at the first of two sold-out nights at The Moody Theater in Austin couldn’t have been more upbeat and energetic. Ben Gibbard and co. are […]

The line snaked around the block and spilled onto Red River St., crossing the entrance of a music club that, just last week, was called the Red Eyed Fly, but now touts tan equally arbitrary nomenclature as The Sidewinder. This was a classic Black Lips move. As a band that has been around since 2003 […]

Like most festivals worth their weight in wristbands, the Americana Music Festival and Conference, held every September in Music City, Nashville Tennessee, demands lots of choices. There are so many conflicting concerts and events in fact, that it’s a challenge in itself trying to decide which shows to see and which have to be dropped […]

Photo via WAVVES Twitter These past five years have been fruitful for punk rock fans who appreciate a lo-fi garage and surf sound. Groups like King Tuff, The Orwells, FIDLAR, and a wave of others have found large audiences eager to get rowdy and dance to their millenial interpretation of punk. Two bands that have […]

Woodstock, New York may not be the hub of the flower child sub-culture that it was in the 60’s, that culminated during the Summer of Love, but it still has a vibrant art and robust music scene. The Bearsville Theater, now a part of the Bowery Presents family, nestled on The Sawkill Creek on Tinker […]

The dynamic duo are back again and up to their old tricks, only… better.  El Ten Eleven, a two piece post rock duo hailing from Los Angeles, consists of dual bassist/guitarist Kristian Dunn and Tim Fogarty on acoustic/electric drums and drum triggers. They started the first link of their tour at Crescent Ballroom, Phoenix AZ. […]

Steve Earle has always inhabited an intriguing realm as part scholar, part chameleon in his music. For the most part, especially in the years following his arrests and subsequent sobriety in the 90s, he has made albums that dwell in the lexicon of American music. Whether it be country, bluegrass, Appalachian and even more Celtic-influenced, […]

In its six years of existence, the Hopscotch Music Festival has cemented itself as Raleigh’s most unique music event. The lineup is always relentlessly strange, forcing attendees to step out of their comfort zones and discover new sounds. With a strong gang of headliners playing in the City Plaza venue balanced by an often befuddling […]

Strangefolk brought a reunion of sorts to the mountains of northern Vermont last weekend. However, the band that reformed over 3 years ago has dropped “Reunion” from their name, which could be a sign that this much-loved group is still willing to remain a consistent entity in the live music scene, continuing what began twenty-four […]