Show Reviews

I had heard the epic stories of Costa Rica’s Envision Festival long before I decided to check it out for myself. Truth be told, I was a bit skeptical as to whether I was going to enjoy it, as I consider myself a music fan, and tend to gravitate toward more traditional music festivals with […]

An ideal night for music in Austin; the weather, the entertainment, and the overall mood at the Mohawk on Red River St. were the perfect storm for an incredible night. Deafheaven, a shoegaze-metal quintet out of San Francisco, have established themselves as a must-see live band given their technical instrumental prowess and front man George […]

Come and Take It Productions continued their fantastic run of booking on Sunday night at Austin’s Grizzly Hall with a hell of a metal lineup spanning generations and genres. Devildriver headlined the affair, but their openers were basically headliners in their own right in the power packed evening. Winds of Plague’s music, especially on their […]

On a February night that shockingly felt like springtime in New York City on February 23rd,  two rock and roll acts pulled into the west side of Manhattan. With their recent release Near To The Wild Heart Of Life the Japandroids booked their largest venue to date in New York and while Terminal 5 was […]

Run The Jewels’ sold out set at Boston’s House of Blues was an hour long battle cry against The Orange Menace occupying 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue and laid clear their bona fides as the most important Rap Duo of 2017. El-P and Killer Mike released RTJ3 weeks after the election and they brought its sense of […]

Portland’s intimate Doug Fir Lounge was the site of a good-natured showdown between two hugely talented acts on Saturday night. Beloved local picker Scott Law brought his Cosmic Twang project to the stage and split the bill with California Americana group the Dead Winter Carpenters. Both acts played full sets, keeping the sold out audience […]

When Chicano Batman hit Portland on Friday night it was only the second stop of their tour, but already the group was on fire. It was also a cause for celebration as they prepare to release their new album Freedom Is Free and they managed to sell out the 500-capacity Star Theater. Both the crowd and […]

When Sting shouted out, “I want to hear you New Orleans!” the crowd shouted back in unison. While the city is in the midst of their Mardi Gras season, Sting brought that same kind of jovial fun to his set on Wednesday night at the UNO Lakefront Arena, performing with bass in hand just about […]

Any band that can manage to draw crowds for over two decades must be doing something right. In the case of Leftover Salmon, that something is being able to throw one hell of a party every time they hit the stage. Sunday’s show at the Wonder Ballroom in Portland was no exception. The members of […]

A surprise sell-out crowd at the Mohawk on Monday night meant that 90’s nostalgia and Swedish dream pop hasn’t lost its luster. The Radio Dept. is a Swedish indie cult band that would prefer to operate out of the studio than be caught banging around on tour. Alas, having only released three albums since their […]

As one of the early adopters of hardcore punk in California, a state which spawned some of the all time greatest punk rock bands, Agent Orange has surprisingly also been one of the few to plow along all the way into 2017. Like most others, they’re down to just one original member, though singer and […]

“‘Nine Bullets’!” yelled a man in a flannel shirt near the end of Drive-By Truckers’ set at The Space at Westbury Theater Friday night. He was referring to the second track on the Truckers’ 1999 album Pizza Deliverance, a yowling, howling fantasy about gunning down your condescending peer group and immediate family. Co-leader Patterson Hood, […]

There was a multitude of high profile musical gatherings taking place across Hollywood this weekend of the Grammys. Meanwhile, a fascinating musical discussion happened in front of a small, lucky crowd of fans and journalists on Thursday evening, February 9 at the Record Parlour in Hollywood. Amidst the antique jukeboxes and retro pinball machines in […]

With Mardi Gras festivities in full swing, it seems fitting that New Orleans’ most prominent funk outfit would hit the road to bring some of that Big Easy love to the rest of the country. The people of Portland were clearly feeling the Mardi Gras spirit when they brought their dancing shoes to catch Galactic […]

Mike Doughty is a truly steadfast force in music. The Soul Coughing frontman has spent over twenty years making music. Much of that time has been spent releasing solo material at a prolific pace. His most recent album, carrying the lengthy title The Heart Watches While the Brain Burns, came out late in 2016 and […]

Fans of what could possibly be described as new classic country were treated to a three-course helping Wednesday when Cody Jinks came to Portland, Oregon with his pals Ward Davis and Paul Cauthen along to help elevate the experience. When the first performer to hit the stage has had his songs recorded by the likes […]

“It’s great to be back in Austin. I spent this last year working a day job in my hometown of Oxford in England so that I could come back to my favorite places like Austin”, Chad Valley admits to the crowd. “What was your day job?” an audience member asks. “ I mixed paint…and sniffed […]

Portland, Oregon music fans were treated to a lengthy session of dance therapy when Karl Denson’s Tiny Universe (KTDU) brought their infectious grooves to the Aladdin Theater on Friday, February 3rd as part of their Runnin’ With The Diesel tour. Los Angeles-based band The Main Squeeze kicked the night off and made sure that those […]

The Black Lips have kept a fairly low profile as of late. It’s been three years since their last release, Underneath the Rainbow, and tours have been done in small bursts of dates. Maybe it’s OK that the Atlanta band is resting on their laurels after non-stop touring, recording, and partying pretty much since the […]

It’s been roughly a decade since Rick Astley skyrocketed back to popularity thanks to becoming an internet meme. Though “RickRolling,” the act of luring an unsuspecting victim into watching the video for Astley’s 1987 hit “Never Gonna Give You Up” with a misleading link, has died down over the years, Astley endures as an online […]