Show Reviews

I kicked off the AJJ show at Asheville, NC’s notorious Grey Eagle on February 7th by inadvertently insulting the opening act, Emperor X. My sidekick and I got there a little later than I’d hoped, and the venue was already packed just before showtime — more populated than I’d ever seen it, in fact, even […]

There was a distinct element of poetic justice surrounding Galactic’s appearance at Higher Ground February 10. In 2017, this linchpin of the contemporary NOLA scene had to cancel a concert at this very same venue due to severely inclement weather, the very likes of which the band (barely) avoided this time around. As a result, […]

Before Cody Jinks and The Tone-Deaf Hippies performed the last song of their show at Nebraska’s Ralston Arena on Friday, February 7th, Buck Bennett had a few words to say. Bennett, who runs Buck’s Bar and Grill in the tiny town of Venice, Nebraska, said he’s been a fan ever since Jinks walked into his […]

Being in a casino for a concert is a surreal reminder that, at its core, music is entertainment. Country star and actor Dwight Yoakam is a tried and true entertainer, so it makes sense that these days he spends much of his time playing the casino circuit. This is also often a sign that one […]

Veteran indie rock band Cold War Kids brought their newest record, New Age Norms 1, for a two-night stand at New York City’s Webster Hall. The second evening featured a slightly longer set, including rocking renditions of “Hot Coals” and “Lost That Easy.” Here are five things that stood out from the February 5 concert:  […]

Blues master, John Mayall, and his superlative all-star band made a welcome return visit to Tucson’s Rialto Theatre on February 1st. It was a night of pure blues music that would allow any blues fan to revel in the blues all night long. Mayall was born in the United Kingdom and was drawn to American […]

For more than thirty years and through various lineup changes, the Reverend Horton Heat has been awakening the masses to the power of rockabilly. Helmed by the one and only Jim Heath on guitar and vocals, the band has endured while other musical trends have come and gone. On Saturday, February 1st, the Reverend Horton […]

The Marcus King Band is touring in support of their latest album release, El Dorado. Their stop at Los Angeles, California’s Fonda Theatre on January 31, 2020 was a tour de force for King and his band as they played several of the new tracks, a few of their older songs and mixed in a […]

The holiday spirit swept into the new decade as Nikki Glaspie put together an all-star cast for a memorable show on January 24, 2020, at The Mint in Los Angeles. Billed as “Peace Love and Funk – A Harold Robinson Foundation Benefit Concert,” Glaspie and friends joined together to help raise funds for the charity. […]

Each year, as the night shows of the Tucson Jazz Festival (TJF) close, has everyone professing that this was the best jazz festival yet. The festival has introduced attendees to new up and coming talent as well as the legends of music. This is what we experienced during the second half of Tucson’s Jazz Festival […]

The title track to The Infamous Stringdusters’ 2007 album, Fork In The Road, begins with the lyrics, “There’s a fork in the road, can’t seem to make up my mind.” On Friday, January 17th at Portland, Oregon’s Crystal Ballroom, The Stringdusters embodied these lyrics, teasing the song right out of the gate, and coming back […]

HSL Properties is in its sixth year sponsoring the Tucson Jazz Festival or ‘Jazz in January.’ The festival continues to host world-class jazz artists at multiple venues in the city.  The festival culminates on Martin Luther King Day with the Downtown Jazz Fiesta that is an all-day event encompassing four outside stages providing non-stop free […]

After going on hiatus following their So Long, Farewell Tour in 2016, Motion City Soundtrack made their highly anticipated return to NYC in 2020. At a sold-out night at Webster Hall on January 8th, the crowd packed in to sing along to a slew of the Minneapolis rockers’ greatest hits and deeper cuts. (For what […]

Missing from nearly every 2019 best-of-the-year list was the debut album from Portland, Oregon band TK & the Holy Know-Nothings. This is something of a travesty because anyone who had the pleasure to listen to Arguably OK was bowled over with the sharpness of Taylor Kingsman’s songwriting backed by a gritty, West Coast alt-country soundtrack. […]

Any time you see Gov’t Mule at one of the shows leading up to New Year’s Eve at The Beacon Theatre, you know they’ll hold a little something back: they have to. This reviewer learned this more than a couple of times over the last decade. But on Saturday night, the Mule put that trend […]

On Tuesday night December 17th, Steve Earle hosted his fifth annual John Henry’s Friends Benefit for the Keswell School at Town Hall in New York City. John Henry is his Earle’s youngest son who has Autism and he attends the Keswell School which challenges students to accomplish in aspects of school life, and prepares them […]

As the holidays rapidly approach, many bands are squeezing in last minute tours to give their fans one last taste of the good stuff before the new year. On Tuesday, December 17th, venerable instrumental guitar outfit Los Straitjackets did just that with a stop at Portland, Oregon’s Polaris Hall. This year, Los Straitjackets celebrated the […]

The long-held superstition that Friday the 13th is an unlucky day was turned on its head last Friday, at least for those holding tickets to the sold out Marco Benevento show at Portland, Oregon’s Doug Fir Lounge. Over the course of a couple of hours, any trace of winter doldrums and holiday season woes were […]

Alice Cooper’s Christmas Pudding has been a yearly affair in Phoenix for 18 years. The fund-raising event was started by Cooper and his wife as a way to get teenagers off the streets of Phoenix and into an environment that would teach them the arts. Cooper has spent his career ‘playing’ a teenager and it […]

It was absolutely delightful to watch and hear Bela Fleck and the Flecktones at the Flynn Center on December 7th. As the band continued the ongoing celebration of its thirty years together, the musicians drew on their history almost as much as their innate chemistry and did so in such a largely understated way, the […]