With only caffeine being the drug being still on the menu, Adams proved that you can take away the booze, speed balls, and nicotine (Adams quit smoking several days before the show), but can’t take away the crazy. That stays.
The Hardly Strictly Bluegrass festival finally confirmed for us there’s an East Coast bias. Last weekend’s three-day event drew anywhere between 300,000 and 500,000 people to San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park, trotting out some heavy hitters like Jeff Tweedy, Bela Fleck, John Prine and Emmylou Harris. Yet HSB still fell off the radar of just about everybody we know. Blogbuzz? Not even.
The Telluride Blues and Brews Festival, now in its 14th year, is an annual festival held beneath the magnificent backdrop of the San Juan Mountains. The festival is held in Telluride Town Park, and is organized with roominess in mind, as the open grassy area offers plenty of room for dropping down blankets and chairs with a great view of the single stage from anywhere within the park.
With Neko Case and Dan Bejar playing live with The New Pornographers, artists that had two of 2006’s best albums (Fox Confessor Brings the Flood and Destroyer’s Rubies), the evening’s performance in Tucson could have been billed as: The New Pornographers feat: Neko Case and Dan Bejar.
Jacob Fred are on top of their game, a group that just keeps developing into new, refreshing directions while always paying tribute to the jazz masters. Fittingly Hass reminded the audience near the end of the set to remember to, “listen to a little jazz everyday.”
Rilo Kiley came through Boston’s Avalon Ballroom, hoping to give fans a taste of their A game, but wound up delivering a performance that was less than stellar. A lot has changed since Rilo Kiley performed in Beantown last, and the changes within the groups dynamic were evident from the start.
John Cowan has some pretty big shoes to fill: his own. After all, here is a guy who has been doing everything from country to bluegrass, blues to soul and gospel to rock in roll for over thirty years and doing it well. He has a voice like no other, he has been a driving force in helping to open country and bluegrass and fusing together all kids of music into one sound and bringing them to an ever-widening audience. Cowan’s performance September 1st at the Neighborhood Theatre in Charlotte, NC, did not disappoint.
The energy on Friday night was unbeatable, and the show was example of how Interpol is a band that is confident, and ready to call the shots – anytime, anyplace.
After reading my review of the Allman Brothers Band show we attended just a few weeks ago, my buddy DJ had just one complaint. "They're not going to stretch things out like they do at the Beacon. You just can't expect that." While the ABB may have showed such restraint in New Jersey last month, I am proud to report that Gov't Mule did no such thing as they kicked off their "Mighty High" tour at the Central Park Summerstage on September 6.
As the bartender at The Bowery Ballroom told me on Thursday night, you really can’t go wrong with a guy from Minnesota. And as it just so happened, Minneapolis’ Mark Olson and his cross-cultural band took to the stage at The Bowery Ballroom with a fresh and energetic half-step that was exciting and enjoyable. Olson has spent the last two years enduring the highs and lows of life: the sadness of a divorce, the healing power of music – all captured on the former Jayhawk’s first official solo release, The Salvation Blues.
