As always, Benevento ranged across the keys, exploring melodies, harmonies and healthy doses of dissonance with equal skill and abandon. In the middle, Mathis anchored the sound, keeping the pace as Benevento and Dillon jockeyed for position. A consummate bass player and musician, Mathis served as the glue for the shape-shifting drums and keys.
Chris Difford, formerly of Squeeze, has written songs with the best. In addition to his longtime writing partner, Glenn Tilbrook, Difford has worked with legends Elvis Costello and Elton John. Now, out on his own with several releases to his credit, Difford made his first U.S. tour in ten years, culminating at Shank Hall in Milwaukee.
Ben Kweller recently opened for British stars Gomez at Seattle’s Showbox club, and the openers put on a show that, while technically skilled (and at times, even, intriguing), unfortunately did little to raise the heartbeat of this reviewer.
It’s hard to believe that Sonic Youth – whose two lead members Thurston Moore and Kim Gordon live in nearby Northampton, MA – haven’t yet made the trip up Interstate 91 to play in Burlington, Vermont. The stars aligned and the seminal indie band made a first-time trip to the Green Mountain State for a visit to Higher Ground.
The Slip's switch from loose jazzed-out odysseys towards verse/chorus/verse-oriented songwriting has played a big part in their recent break into the mainstream. This same progression is what has led many critics in the blogosphere to obsess over the aspect that they have gone from the “Jam-scene” to the “Indie scene.
During the final day of February 2007, New Yorkers were treated to Sparklehorse’s second show in Manhattan in six months, a feat considering it took five years for 2006’s astonishing Dreamt For Light Years in the Belly of a Mountain to finally be released.
With a clearly undersold US Airways Center for The Who, following a Tuesday night’s sold out serving of Bob Seger, the The Who’s name couldn’t have been more relevant in Phoenix. Hello? The Who just happen to be a title contender for the “world’s greatest rock band ever” – right up next to The Beatles, Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin and Pink Floyd. Who know, maybe it’s just a Wednesday night thing. However, this is The Who, and whether its rock operas, drug overdoses, operatic falsettos, windmill guitar riffs or the long awaited new album (Endless Wire), The Who’s name speaks for itself.
In the Rock-Paper-Scissors game of life, Cold can’t stop Rock. This was proven in the gothic halls of Rebel NYC, where Generals and Majors and the Mooney Suzuki took flight in an aerial show of guitars and whiskey.
Following an intense performance by Read Yellow, Campaign For Real Time dove head-first into an interactive set that proved why the group is quickly growing to be known as the biggest band to come out of Boston since the Dresden Dolls.
On the heels of the release of their two most recent albums, Jesse Sykes and Sparklehorse made it a lively Tuesday night at the Clubhouse.
