Show Reviews

This writer has been talking up the underrated country, folk and Americana scene in the Pacific Northwest for a few years now. Look at the output of indie labels like Fluff & Gravy, American Standard Time, and Mama Bird Recording Co., and you’ll see a prolific output of talented acts. The latter just released The […]

The Outside Lands festivities continued on Saturday. Based on the enormous crowd that gathered for Dr. Dog’s late afternoon’s set at the smaller Sutro Stage — the audience stretched pretty much all the way back to the main walkway that leads to the main area — the day seemed to have an even greater turnout […]

After a pandemic-induced hiatus, Outside Lands made its much-anticipated return to San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park for its 2021 iteration. Fans arrived early and in force on a picture-perfect Bay Area fall day to catch the first sets of the festival. In the initial phase of the day, entry lines moved quickly, even with the […]

Night after night, throughout the whole of Fall tour 21’, Phish has been on fire. If you chat with anyone who’s attended shows or been listening in on streams, they will most certainly agree. Reaching yet another new high watermark, the band that has been playing live music together for over 30 years has longtime […]

The newest record from Lilli Lewis titled Americana begins with her thesis statement “My American Heart (Prelude)”: “My American Heart is alive with the fire and the promise of tomorrow. I’ll speak my story, I’ll sing my song. My American Heart is alive with the fire and the promise of tomorrow.” After her lyrical declaration […]

The Mercury Lounge has been offering up early sets over the last few years (starting around 6 and ending around 8 pm). Most of these early sets are younger bands trying to get a foot in the proverbial NYC concert door. That was definitely not the case on October 24th when Vapors of Morphine took […]

The Good Luck Thrift Store Outfit reunited for one show this past Sunday in the band’s hometown of Oakdale, California at the incomparable Dying Breed Brewing Company. Pre-Covid, the band had announced a limited run of reunion shows that were to happen days before the initial lockdown in 2020. Fans of the band were heartbroken […]

West coast rock and rollers, Rival Sons, hit the east coast this past Sunday the 24th at Boston’s House of Blues on one of the band’s many stops to both commemorate and celebrate the tenth anniversary of their breakthrough record, Pressure and Time. Back in 2011, the band found themselves playing venues of all sizes in North America and Europe to promote and share their brilliant […]

It was just ten years ago that this reviewer saw Simone Felice perform with his band The Duke and the King which rates highly on one’s greatest shows ever list.  So when Felice performs within a two-hour ride, it’s essential to attend; oh, and he has new music – an album All The Bright Coin […]

It has been over two years since Joe Russo’s Almost Dead performed in front of a Los Angeles-area audience. The COVID-19 pandemic shot down their 2020 scheduled performance, but now that the band is on the road again, JRAD finally hit the Palladium in Hollywood on October 22. They certainly made up for lost time. […]

On Tuesday, October 19th, Phish kicked off the first of two nights in the college town of Eugene, Oregon at the Matthew Knight Arena. The show marked the fourth stop in the band’s short West Coast jaunt leading up to their big Halloween run in Las Vegas. With these Oregon shows being among the many […]

Willie Nelson, the legendary musician, songwriter and social activist is still chugging away at 88. The singer brought his band to Irvine, California’s FivePoint Amphitheater on October 16, one of the 14 stops in 2021 along his annual Outlaw Music Festival tour. Joined by a strong supporting cast, Nelson and friends put on a solid […]

The Doobie Brothers’ 50th-anniversary tour was scheduled to take place in 2020, but the pandemic delayed those big plans. The overdue tour finally kicked off in July 2021 and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame band hit The Forum in Los Angeles on October 9. Michael McDonald, Pat Simmons, Tom Johnston, and John McFee […]

If you were in the audience for any of the Allman Betts Band tour stops this year, if it was anything like their Baton Rouge show at the Manship Theatre on October 7th then it was nonstop rafter-shaking, blues-infused jamming, and from-the-gut singing from beginning to end – and this included the openers the River […]

Pat Metheny, by far, is one of the most successful jazz musicians in the world. The guitarist has won 20 Grammy Awards in ten different categories since his 1976 debut Bright Size Life that featured Jaco Pastorious on bass and Bob Moses on drums. Metheny is renowned as a risk-taker performing in various collaborations and […]

On Tuesday, October 5th, beloved Chicago indie rockers Wilco kicked off their long-awaited Pacific Northwest run with the first of two shows in Portland, Oregon. The show also marked the band’s first Portland gigs since 2016 when they were supporting their Schmilco album. Given the five-year gap and the forced benching of shows due to […]

Day three of of Austin City Limits Music Festival (ACL Fest) was marked with killer hard rock by White Reaper, a crazy set by 070 Shake, witnessing the sorcery of the high-priestess of hip-hop, Erykah Badu, watching Tyler the Creator sink on his boat themed performance, and Duran Duran delivering a white hot set that […]

With summer in the Pacific Northwest bidding adieu and the rainy season lurking around the corner, concert promoters who got a late start to the season due to Oregon having some of the harshest pandemic restrictions in the country are cramming as many outdoor shows in as possible before the weather is no longer suitable. […]

The second day of Austin City Limits Festival (ACL Fest) went smoother for fans and festival producer C3 Presents on Saturday versus Friday. The festival opened their gates at 11 a.m. as planned instead of the late 3 p.m. start ACL Fest had to adjust to in oroder to allow the Zilker Park grounds to […]

Austin City Limits Music Festival (ACL Fest) returned to Zilker Park yesterday, October 1st, after last year’s edition didn’t happen due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In a city that lives and breathes music, that’s taking away the manna that feeds the Austin masses daily. The festival could be viewed as a fully realized homage to […]