Show Reviews

There was great anticipation in the air as the crowd eventually made their way to their seats at Santa Barbara’s Arlington Theatre, just before the start of a moody electronica-drenched set by English singer-songwriter James Blake. The 29-year-old singer has made quite a splash with his hypnotic mix of beautiful R&B inspired vocals and post-dubstep […]

On a beautiful balmy evening in Santa Barbara, Ian Andersen brought his new multimedia musical project to the elegant Arlington Theatre. Not to be confused with the hard rock band formed in 1968, one of the first to combine jazz, blues and classical music, this presentation featured Andersen’s latest touring band playing a performance piece […]

I wonder if anyone ever told Keith Urban that he is considered a country artist? Because the show he put on for the sold out crowd in New Orleans was definitely more rock than country & western. Curious as to how the other side of the music world spends a concert night, I slid into […]

To celebrate Shovel & Rope’s strongest release of their career, Little Seeds, the duo of Cary Ann Hearst and Michael Trent played three packed shows at NYC’s best venue, Bowery Ballroom, and Wednesday night’s (10/19) showcase proved what a talent they are. Before the headliner though extra attention should be given to Matthew Logan Vasquez, […]

Dave Stewart brought another magical night of music to Hollywood on Monday night October 3 at the iconic Troubadour nightclub in Hollywood. The masterful English rock guitarist is, perhaps best known as one-half of one of the most successful pop duos of the 1980’s The Eurythmics. He has been a regular fixture in the Hollywood […]

On what became a more intimate, small crowd at Ferndale, Michigan’s Loving Touch for a mid-week performance by Cymbals Eat Guitars, allowed a more eloquent and agreeable nature for the band. Clearly, lead singer Joseph D’Agostino was in good spirits, as he was rarely absent with a smile or smirk on his face while looking […]

Korn rolled into Biloxi last Sunday bringing with them Breaking Benjamin, Motionless In White and Silver Snakes for the 19th annual CPR Fest and fans were more than ready to rock out with them. California band Silver Snakes had the hardest duty of the night: opening the festival and attempting to rile up the crowd for […]

It had been raining hard in Boston for over twelve hours straight. It was cold and it certainly wasn’t any kind of weather that anyone would have wanted to venture out in without having a good reason. However, on October 9th, the ragged Orpheum Theater was hosting one of today’s most genuine artists to leave […]

In the newest installment of Wannabe, artist Chris Prunckle does things a little different as he makes his way to the Roots N Blues N BBQ in Columbia, Missouri. Read (and view) on to see his take on this fest in his signature six-panel comic strip form… Just recently I had the pleasure of attending “Roots N Blues N BBQ” in Columbia, Missouri […]

If you want to hear the most angelic sound, listen to Sara Watkins sing “Like New Year’s Day” off her new record Young in All the Wrong Ways, to a quiet, rapt audience. Such a treat was granted on October 5th at Bowery Ballroom where Watkins delivered a stellar live show filled with new songs […]

Since forming nearly two decades ago, Okkervil River have been through many changes both in terms of their sound and when it comes to their personnel. Anchoring the band all this time has been frontman and principal songwriter Will Sheff. Collaborating with different musicians for each album – and sometimes bringing back old band mates […]

The crowd that turned out to see Mandolin Orange was surprisingly large one for a rainy Wednesday night in Portland at the Wonder Ballroom. Then again, this is a bluegrass loving town and the North Carolina band is most definitely rooted in that style. But, more importantly, they also just released an album, Blindfaller, that easily […]

James Blake’s sold out set at Boston’s House of Blues on October 4th was a haunting digital deconstruction of electronic music’s most iconoclastic mind. The young Brit has established himself as an almost anti-dance icon whose music showcases a masterful semblance of groove and soul but without resorting to the drops and air horns lazy […]

This is the sixth year that the Tedeschi Trucks Band has taken up residency at New York’s Beacon Theater and with every passing year the band simply gets better; moving from a tight (if semi-bland) outfit into one that is becoming must see for any fan of live music. On this gorgeous fall Tuesday night […]

Sometimes we don’t know the true value of a thing until it’s over and we’ve had some distance from what’s occurred. We need the reestablishment of home and its norms before it hits us what a profound, nourishing experience we’ve been a part of, and then a delightful pang rises inside, an urge to go […]

As a regular thing, live music in Santa Cruz, California is a thriving art. Even mid-week it is not hard to find a night to sit in front of an artist or artists and wile away the hours in the company of good songs and enthusiastic fellow audience members. The usual offerings were augmented this […]

Patterson Hood looked like David Lee Roth at a beauty pagent as he greeted the crowd at the Wonder Ballroom for the second of two Portland shows on Saturday. He had good reason to be happy, as this was the release weekend of American Band, the Drive-By Truckers’ controversial new album and easily one of […]

Everybody likes a lazy Sunday afternoon and that is exactly what festival-goers got for the final day of the first weekend of ACL. With a lineup that consisted of more low-key bands and headliners that included Mumford & Sons and LCD Soundsystem. The weather held out with sunny skies and a nice breeze. Many stages […]

Two years have passed since Memphis favorites Reigning Sound have released an album, the critically acclaimed Shattered, but these guys hardly need a reason to go on tour. There certainly didn’t need to be an occasion other than the simple fact that Greg Cartwright and co. were coming through Portland for a show, and that […]

Whether it is due to it not being a school day or the fact that many more hip-hop and electronic artists were due to perform, or maybe both, ACL’s second day saw a sharp influx in the amount of attendees that weren’t old enough to legally drink and those that like to binge drink with […]