Show Reviews

Outside Lands Kicks Off 15th Anniversary Celebrations With Kendrick Lamar, Janelle Monae, Cuco, JID (Festival Recap/Photos)  Outside Lands’ inaugural edition took place in 2008, so the San Francisco festival officially started its 15th-anniversary celebrations this weekend. Gray skies and misty rain didn’t dampen the mood at Golden Gate Park. Fans arrived in force, packing in […]

The 2023 Newport Jazz Festival was held in Fort Adams State Park in Newport, RI, from August 4-6, the same site that hosted Newport Folk Festival a week prior.  The Newport Jazz Festival is the “Grandaddy of all festivals,” acknowledged as the first major festival when it began in 1954, and is renowned for jump-starting […]

Perhaps it’s playing into millennial and gen z marketing trends that point toward consumers looking for experiences, or a way to justify the steep ticket price as an event that is about more than the lineup, but in the last two years Pickathon has changed its slogan to “experiential music festival.” To a cynical fan […]

“That’s why I don’t ever want to do guitar interviews or anything, because I just don’t know what I’m doing…I don’t have some sort of a plan, I think it just happens.” That’s what guitarist Taylor York told Apple Music’s Zane Lowe earlier this year while discussing Paramore’s latest album, This is Why. And after seeing him […]

If you want to get the best experience out of seeing a jam band, often the best way is to catch them on their home turf or at least in a place where they have a stronghold of fans. String Cheese Incident may be from Colorado, but the best place to see them is Oregon. […]

The biggest challenge that’s faced Newport Folk Festival in recent years is the burden of extraordinary expectations that it’s constantly meeting and that’s never been truer than this year, after Executive Director Jay Sweet and his team brought the 2022 event to a close with a surprise performance by Joni Mitchell that was her first […]

‘THAT was smokin’!’… So spoke one of those hundred or so present July 26th at the 200+ capacity Nectar’s in Burlington, VT to witness Duane Betts and his Palmetto Motel band. And his statement was most apropos concerning the group’s take on the Allman Brothers Band’s “In Memory of Elizabeth Reed” appearing in the homestretch […]

For Fall Out Boy, Michigan remains an integral part of the band’s rise and continued success. “We used to play Detroit so much,” remarked lead singer Patrick Stump midway through the band’s set, as he particularly recalled frequenting The Shelter on many weekends.  If the thousands of screaming fans at Pine Knob Music Theatre were […]

The shockingly resilient compilation album Nuggets: Original Artyfacts from the First Psychedelic Era, 1965–1968 was released over 50 years ago, so the record’s producer, Lenny Kaye, organized a golden jubilee celebration of the music. City Winery in NYC played host on July 28th (an additional show took place on the 29th) and was packed with […]

The 2023 Newport Folk Festival took off right out of the gate on Friday with a day of music that wasn’t only memorable, but historic, even by the standards of this hallowed institution. After shocking ticket holders last year with unexpected performances by both Paul Simon and Joni Mitchell, Executive Director Jay Sweet had his […]

The weather may get all the attention, but the hottest thing in Texas these days is Shinyribs. For years, the swamp-pop-meets-Texas-soul band that started as a side project for members of Austin’s beloved alt-country outfit The Gourds was something of a secret that stayed within the borders of the Lone Star State. But you can […]

One of the brightest new bands on the New Orleans scene made their NYC debut on a scorching night in late July, as The Rumble took to the voodoo-draped stage at City Winery in Manhattan on Wednesday the 26th.  Touring on the back of their debut album Live at The Maple Leaf, the six-piece band […]

Attending a Phish show at The Mann Center for the Performing Arts in Philadelphia is somewhat akin to stumbling upon a long-forgotten civilization. The kind historians marvel at for centuries while the rest of society does their best to sweep any notion of it under their collective rug, dismissing it as some farcical hippie fantasy. […]

Neil Young has never been one to play by the rules, bucking trends and maintaining control over his own career ever since he found his way from Canada to Los Angeles and joined Buffalo Springfield. At age 77, one might expect the Canadian rocker to either hang it up after a prolific career or get […]

For the first time in over a decade, Alicia Keys performed in Detroit proper. (Last year’s Alicia + Keys World Tour did bring the singer to Southeast Michigan at Michigan Lottery Amphitheatre at Freedom Hill – in Sterling Heights – but prior to that, you have to go back to 2013 for the last time […]

There’s something to be said about going out on top. Of course, it’s natural to wonder why stop now, what really happened, how did we get to the final show? Regardless, after last night’s finale for Dead & Company the band reached a pinnacle. Playing as a cohesive unit throughout the night, the arc of […]

You might not call it a comeback but the Disco Biscuits are currently burning through what is, according to bassist Marc Brownstein, “the first legitimate 3 week Disco Biscuits touring situation in probably [15 years].” Not only that, but it’s on the West Coast, hitting some towns for the first time ever and others for […]

Summertime in the city of Philadelphia always brings new energy to the streets. Outdoor seating is set up as the day inches by, allowing you to appreciate every warm breeze and every ray of sun that illuminates the city of brotherly love every year. Such was the scene at Port Richmond’s Bonk’s Bar, a charming […]

The Stone Pony music club in Asbury Park, New Jersey has endured since 1973. It survived the economic depression of Asbury Park, the change in the music business, the Covid years and so many other challenges; so Sunday night’s (July 9th) reports of a storm that might cause coastal flooding colliding with the sold-out Revivalists/The […]

Perhaps it’s the nostalgia that comes in later age, but the last few years have found Les Claypool obsessed with revisiting and recreating the music of his idols. The renowned bassist convened his main band Primus around a massive tour that included a full album cover of Rush’s A Farewell to Kings. Now, Claypool has […]