Show Reviews

Just a week after his brilliant appearance at Eric Clapton’s Crossroads Guitar Festival in Dallas, Texas, Gary Clark Jr. played his six-string out for adoring fans on September 29, 2019, at the historic Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles. Clark has become one of the few remaining torchbearers of classic Blues music, but he also explores […]

David Byrne’s American Utopia may have started as an outdoor summer tour, but it returned to Boston’s Emerson Colonial Theatre modified, improved and ready for Broadway. When it was announced that the former Talking Heads frontman was doing an American Utopia residency before a four-month Broadway engagement, it wasn’t hard to appreciate why the enigmatic […]

If you’ve had the pleasure of indulging in all 16 hours of Ken Burns’s Country Music documentary, then you may have been left with the burning question of who will bear the torch for the rich legacy of country and bluegrass? The answer, my friend, is Billy Strings. Since bursting onto the scene a few […]

On the evening of Wednesday, September 25th, the Capitol Theatre in Port Chester, New York hosted “There’s a Reward: A Celebration of the Life and Music of Neal Casal.” The event served as a gathering for grieving fans to commemorate the multi-talented musician who passed on August 26th at the age of 50. The event […]

Fans of timeless songwriting and radiant guitar playing flocked to Los Angeles’ Greek Theatre on September 22nd to hear Mark Knopfler and his eleven-piece band perform hits and non-hits from throughout his 40 plus year career. The four-time Grammy winner and 2018 inductee into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (Dire Straits) lived up […]

The second annual Sea.Hear.Now Festival was held on the beach in Asbury Park this weekend and although the lineup, weather and setting were ideal, the festival came up a little short.  While there was a lot to love, the crowds were hard to manage. The main stages were stretched further apart and that allowed the […]

Farm Aid has hosted their yearly festival for 34 years and still counting. It is the granddaddy of fund-raising concerts and the event is much like a family reunion and this year the family consisted of 30,000 people. Many of those people have been returning to the event every year. The rain showers did not […]

In our chaotic, hyperactive times of media overload, there isn’t much opportunity to savor. Art – music in particular – gets released only to be digested quickly before people move onto the next thing. But John Prine’s songs were always meant to be savored, as it’s impossible to grasp his rootsy genius with a quick […]

Guitar-loving fanatics that scored tickets to the Crossroads Guitar Festival 2019 at American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas, on September 20 and 21, 2019, knew before they stepped into the arena that this was a true bucket-list event – and not one of them walked away disappointed. This epic gathering of amazing guitar talent, curated […]

BABYMETAL brought their Metal Galaxy World Tour to a jam-packed show at NYC’s Terminal 5. Ahead of their upcoming new album Metal Galaxy (set to be released next month), the Japanese kawaii metal outfit showcased some blistering new cuts, as well as beloved hits from their first two records.  Avatar took the opening slot ahead […]

Learn the rules, then break them!” and “Aim for the world you want” are just some of the inspiring lines from Tom Morello’s one-man show titled Speaking Truth to Power Through Stories and Song at the Minetta Lane Theater on Wednesday, September 18th, the first of three shows being recorded by Audible for future download.  […]

In a special edition of Wannabe, artist Chris Prunckle offers his illustrated commentary on the experience of Chicago’s 15th annual Riot Fest, which took place at Douglas Park September 13-15. Over three days Prunckle traversed the festival grounds, catching acts such as Ween, Slayer, Anti-Flag, Lucero, Descendents, and more. Click on the image for full resolution (best viewed on […]

The fifth annual KAABOO Del Mar music, arts and entertainment festival happened over three days, from September 13 to 15, 2019, at the historic Del Mar Racetrack + Fairgrounds. Located just north of San Diego on the Southern California coast, it’s a huge space that KAABOO has used since the fest’s inception. What has made […]

A gambler rolling into a casino is always on the lookout for that lucky seat. Turns out the luckiest seat on Sunday September 15th at Reno’s Grand Sierra Resort was a ticket inside it’s Grand Theater for a fantastic evening of musical payouts. The fashionable Gary Clark Jr. commands any stage he walks on with […]

Let It Slide, from brilliant keyboard player Marco Benevento is an engaging mix of electro R&B and soothing grooves as the album mixes it up effectively and engagingly right from the start.  Benevento is a self-described control freak when it comes to his music, but for this release, he partnered with Leon Michaels (The Arcs, Lee Fields) […]

Little Steven and the Disciples of Soul aka Steven Van Zandt and his very large band are celebrating the release of their first album of original material in 20 years with a tour of the same name, Summer of Sorcery. The new album was released in May and Steven’s tour that has covered Europe and […]

Unlike Grand Point North 2018, this year’s two-day festival (September 14-15) at Burlington’s Waterfront Park had no theme. Last year, Grace Potter’s fascination with soul/R&B style percolated through the bill both days in the varied forms of the Seth Yacovone Band’s emphasis on funk riffs and Nathaniel Rateliff’s nouveau Van Morrison stylings. In 2019, however, […]

Maren Morris is distinguished as the most played female singer on country radio over the last two years. It’s a major accomplishment for a woman these days when country radio is dominated by ‘bro-country.’ Morris is on a roll as a solo artist with her monster hit songs “My Church,” “Girl,” and “I Could Use […]

John Mayer had an epic night in Phoenix as he mesmerized a near 18,000 crowd of fans at Phoenix’s Talking Stick Arena on September 10th. Mayer has shifted gears as an entertainer since his career-defining first album, Room For Squares. He has moved from pop to blues, to country and Americana and to the lead […]

The sixth annual Big Blues Bender went off with a bang from September 5-8, 2019, at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas. That blues music festival made a smart move from its original home (downtown Vegas’ Plaza Hotel) into the Hard Rock, and the new venue was a definite upgrade. The terrific […]