Show Reviews

Led in equal parts by the married couple Susan Tedeschi and Derek Trucks, the Tedeschi Trucks Band (TTB) rolled into Tedeschi’s home state of Massachusetts last weekend for a two-night tour finale at the House of Blues in Boston. Both evenings, a sold-out crowd packed into the venue to see the band’s fusion brand of […]

In what may be an unprecedented set of concerts, Peter Hook and The Light performed six New Order and Joy Division albums in their entirety, during four concerts across Southern California, on the week leading to the Thanksgiving holiday. The band began their week long odyssey with a concert on November 22nd at The Fonda […]

Jessica Lea Mayfield is like a little woodland sprite, all soft-spoken, tiny and fair-haired, until she sings. Her voice is rich and full-bodied, sometimes sultry and always a little sullen. At a recent performance at Brooklyn Bowl, she haunted the crowd with this voice, and though there weren’t many in attendance on a bitter cold […]

Interpol’s tour in support of their new album, El Pintor, came to a grinding halt when the mega snowstorm that dumped over seven feet of snow in the Buffalo, New York area left them, along with their crew, gear and supporting band, Hundred Waters, stranded on a highway for over fifty hours. Fans could follow […]

Lawrence packed The Bottleneck on Friday night for the last stop on Drew Holcomb and the Neighbors’ headlining tour. While backup vocalist Ellie Holcomb was not present on this tour, Holcomb and company put on an energetic show in typical fashion. The night began with Nashville singer/songwriter Neal Carpenter, whose debut album Good Guys was […]

To say The 1975 have blown up would be, with little exaggeration, quite the understatement. From their humble beginnings in Manchester to selling out shows half-way across the world in Los Angeles’ Hollywood Palladium, the British foursome are (and will continue to be) the indie band with huge mainstream appeal, and whether you like it […]

“The reason why we played the first bunch of songs without stopping is because we got a hundred fuckin’ songs to play,” announced Dave Grohl after the Foo Fighters had made it about eight songs into what would end up being close to a three hour set. In only eight songs the band reminded the […]

When it comes to turning the angst and energy of an album into performance magic, Stars is matchless. Simply put, if you have the opportunity to see them in concert, don’t pass it up. Their packed show Thursday, November 13th at the 9:30 Club in Washington, DC was heavy on pomp and circumstance, feeling more like a celebration than […]

As someone who attends concerts on a regular basis, it can become fairly easy to lose inspiration or to simply slog through the evening’s proceedings with a bit of ho-hum nonchalance. The spectacle of live music is usually enthralling and it’s a joyful highlight to be able to check out bands and artists from across […]

Here on the “west coast of New England,” Burlington, Vermont knows a thing or two about live music.  It was no surprise that The String Cheese Incident sold out Memorial Auditorium well in advance for the band’s tour-closing show Saturday night.  Making their first appearance in the Queen City since a performance at University of […]

Entering the Marquee, an energetic crowd was packed up against the stage and filling about half of the whole area at 8pm, while around and behind the sound booth, people milled around talking. There was a DJ downstage right, behind a laptop, promoting his song choices with wild gestures and dancing more to his chosen […]

On paper, Hard Working Americans is a band that is very much a mutual admiration society. The band is comprised of Todd Snider on lead vocals, Widespread Panic’s Dave Schools on bass, Chris Robinson Brotherhood’s Neal Casal on guitar, Great American Taxi’s Chad Staehly on keys, Jesse Aycock on lap steel and electric guitars, and […]

Howe Gelb (Giant Sand) has spent the better part of the last thirty years cultivating a catalog of idiosyncratic works that speak to the listener in a particular, sharp voice. Grant Lee Phillips (Grant Lee Buffalo) on the other hand is a songwriter who speaks from an evocative baritone/tenor to wide, open landscapes. The decision […]

It has been a hell of a year for J. Roddy Walston and The Business. Since their breakout record Essential Tremors arrived in 2013, they’ve amassed a major following, landed a beer commercial and played countless sold out shows. Not to mention an appearance at the prestigious Newport Folk Festival. It’s safe to say, these […]

The blistering drop in temperature in the Midwest on Tuesday night could not keep the Granada Theatre from filling in order to see New Politics, Bad Suns, and SomeKindaWonderful. The diverse crowd of University of Kansas hipsters to 14-year-old screaming teens (and subsequently, their mothers) all had one goal in mind: to see the three-man […]

The basement of a nineteenth century church might seem like an odd place for The Dismemberment Plan’s mini tour of the Northeast to wind up on a Friday night, but it was a match made in heaven. Even the wrought iron lined worn path and stone steps leading down to the performance space added to […]

The Southland’s biggest live music Halloween party took place Saturday and Sunday, November 1 and 2, moving this year to the Fairplex in Pomona. The Hard Day of The Dead is one of the largest EDM festivals in the country, featuring some of the biggest names in Electronic music playing on five stages over the […]

There are tons of festivals in Austin, but none provide a better glimpse at the culture of this town than Fun Fun Fun Fest. The lineup, which has always featured everything from death metal to gangster rap and dance music to name a few, is a cross-section of the well-honed tastes of music lovers in […]

Bypassing his usual beer and occasional shot of whiskey, James McMurtry’s glass of red wine was symbolic of the evening’s show.  Touring with his band in support of his first studio album in six years, “Complicated Game” McMurtry delivered an intimate, perfect volume and relaxed set to a jam-packed Johnny D’s.  Perhaps due to the […]

The layout of Higher Ground’s Showcase Lounge doesn’t much recall the late Bill Graham’s Fillmore East, but the triple bill of Anders Parker’s Cloud Badge, Blood Oranges and Waylon Speed called to mind the halcyon days the now-defunct New York venue as a haven for true music lovers. The bands  on this Halloween evening bill […]