It has been printed that Umphrey's McGee best describe their music as “heavy, not hippie”. After their most recent trip to Southern California, where they played at the House of Blues in West Hollywood, their music might best be described as “acoustically heavy, not hippie”.
No group is more responsible for the creation and popularization of Celtic punk than the Dropkick Murphys (no, not even Flogging Molly). To say Saint Patrick’s Day is a big date on their tour calendar is an understatement. St. Patty’s Day is to the Dropkicks what Halloween and New Years Eve are combined for most jambands.
And what exactly did Megadeth give to the loud and excited crowd? One hell of a show. Getting all riled up over some fan’s stupidity only invigorated the band to play a balls-to-the-wall locomotive set, culminating in a masterful fire-breathing dragon of an instrumental orgy of “Holy Wars/Silent Scorn”. Proper credit has never been given to this band, much less for their guitar onslaughts, grown ever more vigorous with the addition of Broderick in 2010. There is definitely a new fire in their soul, which is apparent on old Megadeth standards “Peace Sells”, “Symphony Of Destruction” and “A Tout Le Monde”, which saw Lacuna Coil vocalist Cristina Scabbia joining the gravel-voiced one for a duet.
If the reception at this show was any indication, she’ll find familiar faces at the next gig, Chicago and beyond.
Sporting large, circular glasses and a casual blue button-up shirt, Bundick looks more like an Apple employee instead of the prolific contributor to several musical projects. Recording under the name Toro Y Moi since he was a teenager, he's got an 80's pop voice that makes it look like he could be wearing a red leather jacket, tight jeans and a giant pair of high-tops. And although he has been grouped into the chillwave subgenre, which includes acts like Washed Out and Neon Indian, both of which he has remixed, the live show is more lively than a guy standing at a station of synths turning knobs.
Craig Finn’s first solo tour made its stop in the singer/songwriter’s home town of Brooklyn on Thursday night, but with the troubadour having played multiple shows in the area, tonight’s attendance seemed sparse throughout the Music Hall.
And for a band so young, they’ve already established themselves as a compelling studio group, but as they demonstrated at their show last night, they’re a much more engaging live act, and one absolutely worth seeing before they explode into a wildly popular group– which is only inevitable at this point.
Young The Giant continued the great rock groove started by Walk The Moon, but proved again why they’ve already become so popular– both on record and on stage.
As for Cursive, they are a distinct new incarnation of the band, one that is both more mature and progressively ardent. While I am Gemini may be an obtuse tale of split personality delusions, they still put on a show that's as comprehensible as it is blaring. Cursive's live show translates: “We're brilliant, we're sophisticated, we're surly and we still know how to rock.”
Perhaps it’s because Geographer is a hometown band that made the room seem even more alive, but last night’s crowd was downright ecstatic for their performance.
