Show Reviews

In the midst of their current U.S. tour the California 4-piece, Mellowdrone, took the stage Tuesday night at the Knitting Factory. The one-stop singer, songwriter and front man Jonathan Bates was joined on guitar by Tony DeMatteo, keyboardist/bassist Cami Gutierrez, and uniquely rhythmic drummer Brian Borg.

We Are Scientists don’t offer anything new in the listening stakes, as their speciality is serving up instantly accessible slices of pop rock loveliness to get your head bobbing and those feet a tappin’.

In support of their new album Safety in Numbers, Umphrey’s McGee has hit the road to criss-cross across the U.S. as well as parts of Europe and Canada this spring to spread their musical message. On this odyssey they made a brief swing through Oregon to play an in store performance at Music Millennium, as well as a full two set show at the Roseland Theater. Both shows were well received, and although they were not the best Umph’s performances I have ever seen, they still contained glimpses of brilliance that show why they are one of the strongest jam-rock bands.

Since 2001, Particle’s rise to success has been meteoric compared to other contemporaries in their scene. Sure they weren’t opening for the Stones at MSG, but in between festival spots at Bonnaroo, Coachella and Austin City Limits, and selling out venues coast to coast, Particle was a rare success with limited record sales. So to most fans on the outside, it came as a surprise when the band broke ties with longtime guitarist Charlie Hitchcock this past autumn. The split is still very much a ‘he said, he said’ mystery, but regardless of who was right or wrong, at the end of he day, one thing is for certain…it definitely didn’t end well.

Setting up camp for a five night stand at Yoshi's, the Bay Area’s premier jazz club, John Scofield enlisted the likes of jazz heavyweights Eddie Henderson, Bill Steward and Dennis Irwin for what he pegged “The April Band.”

When the band was in gear and smoking, like during their set closing cover of Sabbath’s “War Pigs” they bring more to the table then just silliness, they bring power playing, spot on pitch perfect singing and perhaps most importantly they demonstrate what a successful live show can become.

Somewhere over the rainbow this spring the dark pantheon of metal gods has a new body electric as Buckethead flees the coup before heading west with a complete sweep of sold out east coast venues ending in Boston.

Always hesitant of a band with an exclamation point in their name, I wasn’t sure what I was getting into last week when I decided to roll on over to North Six in Brooklyn to check out The Go!Team. Shortly after 10:30, the three boys and three girls of the Go!Team, stormed the stage clad with wristbands and donning their own personal style, they immediately started bouncing around and playing their hearts out like a pep rally gone rock and roll.

I have certain expectations when entering a concert, I've mentioned that before. But when it comes to a Wilco show, I tend to throw that out the window. Though I've only seen the band four times now, I can say I've seen a different band each time. Sometimes its the parts of the band itself that vary and other times its the emotion, the setlist, or the Tweedy. I mean which Jeff will be out there. Funloving Jeff thats incredibly chatty, or focused Jeff that rifles through 15 songs like nobody's business. I like them both for the record. Friday nights show at the historical Ryman was a standout performance though I must say.

With the pre-show press releases touting David Wilcox as the next best thing to James Taylor and Bob Dylan, this reviewer went to his recent show at Seattle’s Triple Door with high expectations. Fortunately, the comparisons proved apt.

In a time where, there are more self-proclaimed “All-star” bands out there then actual stars in the industry, this one lives up to the billing and then some. The Greyboy Allstars are truly a celestial combination of musicians, that have truly earned the moniker “Allstars” In one jam they can tickle your mind with harmonically layered tunes that the most cerebral focused music fans out there would be attracted to, while they can simultaneously add raw groovin’ nastiness in the same song for those whose bodies just need to funk out

Hosting just under 15,000 people and close to 40 bands, this year

The golden sounds Silverstein and their hand-picked lineup of friends provided made this foray truly fruitful and made fans musical millionaires for the night.

With a back up band that looks more L.A. than Nashville, it’s hard to take Shooter for straight up country, especially when he says, “we’re country music,” while one guitar riff teases Black Sabbath’s “Sweet Leaf,” and another purges in psychedelic excess.

While the high-octane electronic trio from Memphis has only been around for a touch over a year, The Pnuma Trio (Alex Botwin – bass, Ben Hazlegrove – keys and Lane Shaw – drums) has virtually bombarded the live scene.

“10 years, 907 shows, 12 drummers, 7 bass players, 4 keyboardists, 3 guitarists, & 1 Rev Tor later…â€

The convenient comparison is to fall in line and describe Levy as a cross between The Smiths and Coldplay but the reality is more like a coherent version of The Libertines.

Yonder Mountain String Band’s Annual Cabin Fever Tour made a stop here with supporting act of Tony Furtado. With a large number of bluegrass fans eager for some music, the show sold out early with its limited number of tickets.

In a somewhat unusual twist on the notion of “headliner” and “opening acts,” the three women shared the stage for the entire evening, playing a single-song set each while the other two sat, then waiting patiently – or singing along – while the other two did the same.

With most of the songs played during the set slated for a new full length in the works, black rimmed glasses wearing girls and Chuck Taylor sporting boys all across the country will be able to decipher the words and sing-a-long to Dirty on Purpose in the near future.