Show Reviews

Originally scheduled for 2020, and postponed for two years due to the pandemic, it seemed that the Hog Farm Hideaway might happen, well…when pigs fly. But finally, on Friday, June 10th, the Black Oak Ranch in Laytonville, California came alive with eager fans, vendors, musicians and production crew ready to celebrate this long overdue family […]

Whether traveling to gigs on horseback or by tour bus, Americana mavens The Brothers Comatose forge their own path with raucous West Coast renderings of traditional bluegrass, country and rock ‘n’ roll music. The five-piece string band is anything but a traditional acoustic outfit with their fierce musicianship and rowdy, rock concert-like shows. The Brothers […]

After a series of shows over the winter/spring at The Maple Leaf to work on some new material, Jon Cleary & The Absolute Monster Gentlemen brought their national tour back to their hometown with a show at the Zony Mash Beer Project in New Orleans, Louisiana on Friday night June 10th.  With the addition of The Absolute Monster […]

Dead & Company successfully kicked off their Summer Tour 2022 on Saturday, June 11 at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles. The six-piece band – Bob Weir, Bill Kreutzmann, Mickey Hart, John Mayer, Jeff Chimenti, and Oteil Burbridge, returned to the City of Angels after wrapping up their 2021 tour at the Hollywood Bowl last Halloween. […]

Jay Farrar is a man of few words and fewer smiles, but he seemed to be in good spirits when he took the stage at Portland, Oregon’s Aladdin Theater on Friday, June 10th. Son Volt, the pioneering alt-country band he has fronted since 1994, released their 10th studio album Electro Melodier last year and Farrar […]

Paul McCartney and his band graced the jewel of Boston, Fenway Park, for two nights this week. On the second night, Wednesday, June 8, Kenmore Square was more alive than any Red Sox homestand. McCartney, the living legend from Liverpool, who will be turning 80 years young in just over a week, commanded another sold-out […]

It’s a sad reality that rock and roll just doesn’t find its way to arenas these days. There is no shortage of great rock bands out there, but the vast majority rarely make it past club venues. There are more reasons for this than can be summed up in a simple concert review. With a […]

A jubilant sold-out crowd returned to BottleRock Napa Valley over Memorial Day weekend 2022, having a raucous celebration of that music festival’s return to normal. Just in time to roll into the summer festival season, the ninth-annual gathering continued BottleRock’s unique Northern California style of festing that includes sunny skies and topnotch musical performances paired […]

“Del Yeah!” Since 2008, that rallying cry of exaltation has been echoing around the picturesque hills of Cumberland, Maryland every Memorial Day weekend as thousands of live-music fans descend upon the cozy confines of the Allegany County Fairgrounds for four days of live music featuring some of the most talented bluegrass musicians in the world […]

Much has been said – perhaps exhaustively – about the changes in Austin. Invaded by Californians, tech bros and yuppies, this once funky little college town often gets the brunt of criticism by those who feel its musical soul and free-spirited grooviness have been replaced by glass boxes, Airbnbs filled with swinging bachelorettes, and Teslas […]

Ultimately three years in the making, the Boston Calling Music Festival once again took center stage at the Harvard Athletic Complex in Allston, Massachusetts this past Friday, May 27th through Sunday the 29th with another eclectic mix of local and national acts. The bill featured close to 50 artists, a plethora of food vendors as […]

In the age of streaming – and in the age of instant access to a massive swath of recorded music at your fingertips – it’s getting harder and harder to recall a time when you’d have to plunk down your hard-earned cash for a single record.  Midway through their set, New Found Glory guitarist Chad […]

Solid Sound wrapped up with a day of clear skies and bright sun. A last-minute opening performance by Daughter of Swords (in place of Le Ren) started things off easy and low-key, and later sets by Sun Ra Arkestra and Chicago stalwarts Eleventh Dream Day kept the energy up in the final moments of a […]

What is Kurt Vile supposed to do? He reliably releases a good record every couple of years and then he moves on, should he fixate on the greatness of Wagonwheel Blues or Wakin On a Pretty Daze or pour everything into whatever new material is flowing through the pipe? Bottle It In and (watch my […]

It wouldn’t be a Solid Sound festival without the promise of a rainstorm and the first day of the first festival in three years was no exception. Nearby thunder and lightning pushed crowds indoors after a surprise set from Neko Case. Case and her band—the always fantastic Nora O’Connor and A.C. Newman—played songs spanning her […]

When Pete Townshend walked onstage, he thanked the crowd while mentioning he wasn’t sure The Who would ever play Madison Square Garden again. There was a palpable sense of joy in the air of the World’s Most Famous Arena on Thursday, May 26th as the band, augmented by a full orchestra, dove into “Overture”, and […]

Bad Luck and Dollars Signs co-headlined on Saturday, May 21st at Kung Fu Necktie in Philadelphia. They were joined by Out of Service and Taking Meds, making for a very full evening that was pretty well-attended by folks willing to brave the unseasonably warm 97 degree heat in Fishtown. If anything, it seem to fuel the upbeat atmosphere. Out of […]

Back in 2018, a few of Barrie’s first singles began to creep up out of the woodwork. They were eventually passed around with enough word-of-mouth fervor, that the five-piece was able to put out a full-length debut only a year later. Almost simultaneously, Happy to Be Here, one of the best albums of 2019, alienated […]

On Tuesday, May, 17th, Lyle Lovett and His Large Band kicked off a unique four-night, six-show stand at NYC’s City Winery. Joining Lovett on acoustic guitar was his large band of eleven players including four horns plus three backup singers and his incredible long-time singing partner Francine Reed (who is only on the NYC leg of […]

Twenty-two years ago, a Canadian artist named Merrill Nisker going by the stage name Peaches released an album that would thrust her hyper-sexual punk-pop antics into the spotlight and keep her there for the next two decades. Booked as an anniversary tour that was surely meant to take place on the twentieth anniversary in 2020, […]