The band does a long look back at their origins, and The Red Album and The Blue Album still hold up quite nicely.
The most famous band from Akron Ohio celebrates 50 years of de-evolution, still in progress.
Sharon Van Etten recruits a band, revamps her music, and brings a more collaborative and integrated approach.
It was a big week in Chicago for Johnny Iguana and his talented crew in the Claudettes. On Tuesday, Iguana celebrated the release of Johnny Iguana at Delmark. On Friday, The Claudettes headlined at venerable roots-rock haven FitzGerald’s.
The potent, two guitar attack of Swervedriver lands in Boston for the first time in six years, supporting the new EP The World’s Fair.
Australia’s answer to Gonerfest is a killer mix of bands reactivating for the gig and tons of new and current bands making their marks in the garage, punk and general rock genre.
Bartees Strange reaches into his bag of sonic tricks in support of his newest record, Horror.
Mogwai branch out into a more conventional songwriting approach but have not abandoned their control of dynamics.
Mike Baggetta’s MSSV trio hits the road for a marathon 52 days straight tour, with Mike Watt on bass and Stephen Hodges on the kit. Mark Shue’s Beech Creeps gives rousing support.
Colin Newman and Malka Spigel’s Immersion project continues to grow tendrils.
A mind-expanding trio of disparate experimental jazz was on offer at Melbourne’s Northcote Social Club.
Cork, Ireland’s The Frank & Walters returned to NYC for the first time since 1998 as an acoustic duo of founding singer-songwriter Paul Linehan and new member London-via-Cork’s Dylan Ó’hEochaidh, a dazzling multi-instrumentalist, and played 17 songs over a delightful two sets to a sold-out audience, some of whom journeyed from Quebec, Canada, Nebraska, Washington, D.C. (and western parts of Brooklyn) to rejoice in an unexpected appearance after so many years.
Pioneering folk singer-songwriter Judy Collins returned to The Town Hall to celebrate her ongoing 85th birthday tour on International Women’s Day with musical friends young & old and a raft of incredible stories that contextualize Collins as a civil rights activist, a dazzling musician and songwriter in her own right, and a peerless connector whose recordings buoyed the careers of Bob Dylan, Joni Mitchell, Leonard Cohen, and even Stephen Sondheim with her hit cover of “Send in the Clowns” in 1975 that earned him a 1976 Grammy win for Song of the Year, which she reprised in a bravura version that showed her magnificent soprano singing persists even at an age when most artists (if they are lucky to live so long) have lost significant vocal range.
The Bevis Frond has perfected the dichotomy of super catchy pop songs and ear-melting psych rock freakouts.
Often, these songs recall the best of 70s folk songs but with a little bit more jangle added in at times and the double vocals make for an enhanced experience.
Kevin Starrs brings his vision of ’70s giallo to life.
Frank Black dusts off his sophomore effort and brings out the OG gang to help play it.
The Saints, one of the lynch pins of the early punk movement, roar back to life on stage, abetted by some friends.
Zebra gave Chicago-area hard rock and progressive rock fans something to obsess over besides the boxing match between Mike Tyson and Jake Paul on Friday night.
Last night at a sold-out Madison Square Garden, Cambridge, England’s guitar wizard David Gilmour, famed for joining pioneering psychedelic blues group Pink Floyd in 1967 when co-founder and childhood friend Syd Barrett was breaking down, celebrated his legacy and the recent release of his sophisticated and beautifully-crafted UK-chart-topping Luck and Strange LP on Night Three of a five-show-stand with a 23-song set drawing from ’70s Floyd blockbuster Dark Side of The Moon and his leadership of the now dormant band since the late ’80s, which all fit in a thematic whole with the new material.
Nothing can top King Diamond playing on Halloween
Boris bring their sludge masterpiece to the live setting via an Amplifier Worship Service.
Hania Rani becomes a one-person orchestra, stopping by Philadelphia on her global tour.
So catchy, it spreads like wild fire. So fun and unpredictable, you don’t quite know what rhythms you’ll hear next or how to move to it. And this same music is so exciting that it can literally feel like it has the power to speed up time so that 45 minutes feels like the blink of an eye.
AIR blow the lunar dust off of their debut record Moon Safari, which has aged well.
Fontaines D.C. have always had a warm welcome in Boston, and that trend continues on the shoulders of touring their newest record, Romance.
Last night at The Beacon Theatre, London, England’s The The returned to New York City for only the second time in 24 years with a full performance of characteristically moody & thoughtful comeback LP Ensoulment in a two-plus hour show that The The founder and sole constant Matt Johnson called “two sets for the price of one,” to the delight of the reverent audience, many of whom had never seen The The.
At 73, the wiry Sting is remarkably ageless in voice and body, and his affecting baritone-to-tenor rage and energetic melodic bass figures had the somewhat-less-gracefully-aged crowd standing and singing along almost the whole time, but true to his early pre-Police years playing jazz, he brought an improvisational flair to nearly every one of his very familiar songs, deftly sprinkling in subtle rhythmic shifts, interpolations, and call-and-response breaks with sharp synchronicity from Dominic Miller and Chris Maas, offering pleasant surprises to even the most devoted fans on classic rock radio staples “Roxanne,” “Message in a Bottle,” “Every Breath You Take,” and more.
Last night at a BrooklynParamount full of Gen X, millennials, & Gen Z fans, Manchester, England’s guitar genius Johnny Marr played his first NYC show since opening for The Killers at Madison Square Garden in 2022… and first headlining appearance since 2018, and Marr… was on fire in a 17-song set with his very tight backing band since 2013. Opening for Marr, 42 years after forming in Manchester, England (and touring with The Smiths in the mid-‘80s), James is still making impassioned music that integrates rock/pop/folk/opera/jazz elements. They were in top form celebrating their first non-compilation UK #1 LP with 2024’s Yummy (their 18th studio LP!).
Tick Tick BOOM! The Hives light the fuse and blow up Roadrunner.
Last night at The Beacon Theatre in a co-headlining show with The Psychedelic Furs, East Kilbride, Scotland-originated influential post-punk/noise pop/shoegaze-precursor group The Jesus & Mary Chain returned to NYC for the first time since 2018, intact with shadowy lyrics wrapped in bright melodies sung in offhand baritone by Jim Reid bristled by blistering fuzz riffs from William Reid.
To behold her, you have to reassure yourself that this stunning creature is not a mirage.
Last night at a sold-out Radio City Music Hall, it was great to see Battle, England’s Keane for the first time since 2012, in the same venue where, in 2005, I first interviewed lead singer TomChaplin (who also played keyboards on some songs), songwriter/keyboardist/singer Tim Rice-Oxley, and drummer/singer Richard Hughes (since joined by J.J. Quin on bass/keyboards/vocals) for The BigTakeover after being wowed by their powerful live show and dazzling 2004 debut LP Hopes and Fears.
It is truly a revelation to experience both this level of intensity and gentleness of a human in the very same night. Talbot’s capacity for a such a depth of emotion is what makes each song feel genuine and exceptional both live and on album. This is no ordinary band or live show and you will be changed by listening.
