Show Reviews

17th Annual Telluride Blues and Brews Festival: Telluride Town Park, Telluride, CO 9/17-9/20/10

Once again music lovers and beer enthusiasts alike found their way to Telluride Town Park for the 17th Annual Telluride Blues and Brews Festival. Not just any mountain town can pull off three days of blues, great beer with not a drop of snow, sleet or rain in sight. Telluride couldn’t have dreamed of better weather for this year’s festival. Maybe it was mother nature’s way of saying thanks for making this year’s event the greenest of them all. Over 26 metric tons of carbon waste was offset this year through use of solar cells, recycling efforts and transportation coordination.

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Dr. John & the Lower 911: The Santa Monica Pier, Santa Monica, CA 9/02/10

When addressing the musical heritage of New Orleans, one cannot go without mentioning “Mac” Rebennack, famously known as Dr. John. Since hitting it big in the late 60's and 70's with his combination of traditional blues, jazz,  zydeco, psychedelia, funk, and rock and roll, the legendary performer has remained an integral figure in the New Orleans music scene.

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Soul Asylum: Hard Rock Live, Biloxi, MS 8/27/10

“We’re going to rip this place!” announced a smiling Dave Pirner and he wasn’t kidding. The Minneapolis quintet kicked off their show in a rainy Biloxi with an energetic “Somebody To Shove” and never thought about letting up. Fans braving the nasty weather were treated to a band not exactly on the Billboard radar anymore, but you wouldn’t have been able to tell as Soul Asylum were, as lead vocalist Dave Pirner said, still ripping it up.

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Life Is Good Festival: Canton, MA 9/11-9/12/10

The first Life Is Good Festival held September 11 and 12 in Canton Mass, promises to be another premier stop on the summer circuit. Put on by the Life Is Good Company, it drew over 30,000 over 2 days according to the organizers. The non-profit event raised over $600,000 for the Life Is Good Foundation, devoted to helping kids overcoming obstacles and challenges in their lives. 

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The Inaugural Hopscotch Music Festival – Ten Things Good & Bad: Downtown Raleigh, NC – 9/9-9/11/10

The inaugural Hopscotch Music Festival went off far better than most could have anticipated. Enthusiastic, well-mannered crowds managed to fill the downtown Raleigh, NC streets for three days with barely any issues, save a few very packed shows that left many fans milling about in the cool night air. There was an awful lot of music to experience and a lot of concrete to tread, but a few moments stand out. Here are seven good and three bad things I managed to experience over the weekend.

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Truth & Salvage Co.: Lolas Room, Portland, OR 9/15/10

On Wednesday September 15th, Truth and Salvage Co, a barnstorming new outfit with six musicians from disparate parts of the country, began their “Great Northwest Music Tour” at Lola’s Room in Portland, OR.  The “Tour” is just part of a much larger west coast romp for these purveyors of a sweet and polished new Americana sound.

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Panda Bear: Music Fest NW, Portland, OR 9/8/10

Panda Bear is embarking on a rare U.S. tour in anticipation of his fourth LP, Tomboy, to be released “in a month or two” according to Noah’s recent talks with indie tastemaking blog, Brooklyn Vegan.  A one-man band whose popularity skyrocketed with the 2007 critically acclaimed, Person Pitch; one of the more innovative and unique albums to hit the streets in a long time.

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Hot August Blues: Oregon Ridge Park, Cockeysville, MD 8/21/10

Of course, it was the stellar bill of rhythm and blues artists that attracted and delighted the crowd at Hot August Blues as the line-up included Sweet Leda, Higher Hands, Dean Rosenthal, Jackie Scott, The Bridge, Black Joe Lewis and the Honeybears, Keb’ Mo’, and Lyle Lovett and His Large Band.

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