Reviews

For the sixth year in a row, the most infamous section of Hollywood’s Sunset Strip, was shut done for the finale of the Sunset Strip Music Festival which took place on August 3rd. Like in years past, two large stages book ended the well known boulevard. The festival shut down the stretch in front of […]

[rating=6.0] The second release from the NYC songstress is a complete cover album as Kendra Morris takes on some well known staples of classic rock (and other genre’s) putting her sultry touch upon them. All of the tracks will be instantly recognizable to even casual music fans giving Morris the extra weight of preconceived listener […]

On a hot summer evening typical of early August in Kansas City, Atmosphere and Slightly Stoopid took the stage at CrossroadsKC at Grinders. The positive aura of the First Friday crowd in the Crossroads arts district carried over into the audience at Grinders for this stop  on the “Kicking Up Dust” tour. Atmosphere took the […]

On July 31st the sixth annual Sunset Strip Music festival got under way with their customary awards show at the House of Blues in Hollywood. This years’ honoree was the Queen of Rock and Roll, Joan Jett.  The feisty slender singer guitarist was one of the first successful women in rock, with a string of […]

[rating=7.00] With a resurgence of lo-fi punk rock over the last decade it is good to see one of the best from the 90’s strap it back on as the Oblivians return to offer up Desperation in 2013. The trio of Greg Cartwright, Jack Yarber and Eric Friedl gained an underground cult following with their […]

[rating=9.00] You will not see this coming. Throw out everything you remember about KT Tunstall and her previous records because none of it applies here. For all intents and purposes, with her latest record, she has completely scrapped her previous discography as if to start afresh and take her career in a new direction. Whether […]

The much-hyped British synth-rockers The 1975 don’t just have the girls giddy in England; they’ve affected the young lasses across the Pond, too. A predominantly under 21 crowd of young girls packed a sold-out Troubadour in West Hollywood, Calif., to see the four-piece Manchester band play their infectious, jangly tunes, even before their debut album […]

[rating=8.00] Überjam Deux provides proof positive of the chemistry of John Scofield’s Überjam Band. Some ten years since they last worked together–actually under the moniker the John Scofield Band on Up All Night–this new studio set flows as effortlessly as the musicianship at its foundation. The album begins in leisurely enough fashion with “Camelus,” a […]

A quick recap of Phish’s July 31, 2013 performance at the Lake Tahoe Outdoor Arena at Harveys, Stateline, NV Phish played their second consecutive show last night to a packed audience in Lake Tahoe, NV. With three solid shows under their belts to start off the second leg of summer tour anticipation was high. From […]

As the sold out crowd milled around the Bank of America Pavilion enjoying the beautiful summer weather and few cold beers an anticipatory buzz hung in the air.   The Black Crowes bluesy but energetic opener “Soul Singing” immediately provided the focus and direction the crowd was seeking.  Lead singer Chris Robinson clad in jeans and […]

A quick recap of Phish’s performance July 30, 2o13 at Lake Tahoe Outdoor Arena at Harveys, Stateline, NV After two ripping shows at the infamous Gorge Amphitheater to kick off the second leg of summer tour, Phish took the stage last evening in Lake Tahoe, NV to a capacity crowd. The intimate venue was rocking […]

As the sun sets over the west, the cars pour out of the 55th Newport Folk Festival full of leg-weary, over-sunned but ultimately satisfied music lovers making the trek back home.  Whether they came to check out their favorite band, to graze to find some new ones, or to catch the headliners, Newport Folk promised […]

Sunday at GOTV turned out to be the warmest day at the festival, just a bit more humid than the previous days, and with lots of gorgeous sunshine that poked through sparse cloud cover throughout the day. And whether it was local youthful jammers The McLovins or reggae/punk pioneers Fishbone on the Green Vibes stage, […]

Saturday at the Vibes turned out to be another fantastic day at the festival as Bill Evans continued to make himself present as Artist in Large on each of the stages, sitting in with fellow jazz legend John Scofield at the Green Vibes Stage. The New Orleans music scene was well represented at the fest […]

18 years. Has it really been 18 years of the Gathering of The Vibes Festival? When Jerry Garcia, aka Captain Trips, singer and guitarist of The Grateful Dead, died in the summer of 1995, his passing left quite a void in the psychedelic rock scene. What began a year later as a celebration of his […]

Punk rock isn’t dead, in fact it’s alive and well when punk musicians reach their 50’s, as was the case with Black Flag, who announced in January of this year that guitarist Greg Ginn and vocalist Ron Reyes would reform the iconic punk band. When you are standing in a ridiculously long line outside of […]

[rating=8.00] Though he might have spent his early years hanging out with the likes of Patti Smith and Television at CBGB’s, it was at the recently shuttered rock ‘n’ blues club Kenny’s Castaways on Bleecker St. where a young Willie Nile made his name shortly after moving from his hometown of Buffalo, NY down to […]

As The Rolling Stones evolved from blues purists and made a concerted attempt to commercialize themselves for the pop market, their manager Andrew Loog Oldham posited them as bad boy alternatives to the cuddly mop-tops that were The Beatles. It only makes sense then, that instead of the semi-fictionalized presentation of the latter with their […]

Vans Warped Tour founder Kevin Lyman has pulled another rabbit out of his hat and kept Vans Warped Tour alive for its 19th year. The festival faced an uphill battle this year, with less well known big ticket bands on the roster. Attendance is down too, about 8% overall on average from last year. But […]

[rating=7] Hockey first made their mark in the alternative rock world in 2009 with the infectious, upbeat singles “Too Fake” and “Song Away.” Following the success of their debut album, the band traded their cozy hometown of Portland, Oregon for the rural forests of upstate New York, where they spent months writing and revising over […]