Show Reviews

When the lights went down at Irving Plaza, fans of the French rock band Phoenix were in for a treat when opening act Dogs Die In Hot Cars, took to the stage first. The playful five-piece from Scotland won over the crowd with its colorful mix of new wave pop tunes reminiscent of the Talking Heads.

Recently, a pair of legends rolled into a city that has seen some pretty hard times, and is trying to redo its image. The most beautiful day so far of 2005, with an 80-degree evening, lent itself to some adventure, so after a short train ride from the Big Apple I entered Newark, NJ and headed for the magnificent NJPAC.

After a week

After a long absence from the Pacific Northwest, moe. made a triumphant return to Portland Oregon

You half expect M83, a French band named after a distant galaxy, to be R2D2
and C3PO dabbling in electronica. And I imagine the band felt the same way
landing in rural Burlington, Vermont. Playing on the heels of its third album, Before the Dawn Heals Us, which is making a considerable dent on the charts and having sold out two nights at New York City

Two bands that appear to be in their musical prime got together for a few west coast dates recently and I had the opportunity to catch their show at the McDonald Theatre in downtown Eugene, a beautiful 77-year old building owned and operated by the late Ken Kesey

Nathan Moore may very well be one of the finest singer/songwriters of our generation. With songs that are so pure and honest, you can follow his pains and his joys note for note and word for word. Stepping away from his regular band, ThaMuseMeant, Nathan teamed up with the members The Slip to rejuvenate Surprise Me Mr. Davis, a band that grew out of a Boston blizzard a couple years ago.

On the heels of a few rainy days in the Big Apple, winter-like weather pushed fans of the indie act Sam Champion inside the Mercury Lounge early on Tuesday night. It was one of the last times like this in March before Spring made its official arrival. Clusters of guys and girls were still layered in heavy wool coats and corduroy jackets to bare the crisp, cold air.

Every year the media deems a few bands

Bishop Allen is a DIY paragon, though it

For music lovers who dig old classic rock music like Pink Floyd, The WHO, Led Zeppelin, The Doors and the Rolling Stones, The Soundtrack of Our Lives is a perfect fit. The group has been around for more than ten years and just released their sixth studio album, Origin Vol. 1. The band brings to life unexpected combinations of 60’s pop, soul and garage psychedelia with 70’s high-energy rock-n-roll, plus a tinge of boogie.

Since Trey Anastasio walked off the stage at the conclusion of Phish’s final
show last August, the red-headed frontman has been about as mysteriously absent as Brian Wilson was in his “bedroom” hey day. So it was no surprise that debuting his new band at a stealthy benefit show for the Vermont Land Trust would take only two hours to sellout. And before showtime, there were plenty of those familiar looking, ticket-less fans begging for a chance to see Anastasio unveil his latest endeavor – 70 Volt Parade.

Langerado came at just the right time this year. As the east coast was experiencing one of many late season snowstorms, the sun was shining bright in the cloudless skies of South Florida.

At Orchestra Baobab

On the surface, the name Soul Rebels looks just like any of the endless array of names that your eyes would pass over while browsing the racks at a music store. The result is music that is all over the radar screen, that features one track as a hip-hop song with a tuba playing the bass line, while the next is somebody dropping serious rhymes over a salsa beat. This may seem like a puddle of too many sounds to rope together into cohesive song structures, but the reality in each track retains enough of the traditional song structure to pull off a clean sounding album

Rock and roll, then. That

Touring this winter, Yonder has raised the

Butler is single-handedly jolting the roots-rock genre back from the hollow, complacent wasteland for pretty boys, callow songwriting and fluffy lyrics it

Citizen Cope is another rising star in the world of men with acoustic guitars. Already, the genre has heroes that include Dave Matthews, Jack Johnson and Ben Harper. And now Cope is making his mark, while attracting sold out club audiences.

Playing the second night of a “secret” warm up run under the name of Mr. Crowes Garden, this sold out show at Higher Ground proved 800 or so fans were in on the message board secret. Already possessing one of the meatiest sounds in rock, and owning a recognizable song book spanning six strong albums, the Black Crowes always stand to be a draw. In their first visit to the state of Vermont, the energy in the building was enlivening, even during this mid-March north-country state of cabin fever.