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.

35 years is nothing for timeless music

The 16th annual Surf Guitar 101 Festival, held this year at the Golden Sails Hotel in Long Beach, California, featured 27 surf bands from around the planet, running the gamut from original 60’s surf from the likes of the Surfaris” and the *Atlantics” to long-time practitioners of next-wave surf, like the *Insect Surfers, Boss Martians, and the Ghastly Ones, to contemporary surf bands with a global twist, like the *Whys (Japan), Surfer Joe (Italy), Dirty Fuse (Greece), and the Scimitars.

The San Francisco-based metal quartet recently released their 11th studio album 72 Seasons and hit the road to promote the new material.

Days 3 & 4 of Lollapalooza 2024.

Days 1 & 2 of Lollapalooza 2024.

Murdoch commented on all the wonderful bands later on while headlining and his sincerity as always came through. “If you can’t run into a member of Belle and Sebastian at Bowlie, what’s the point?!”

Belle and Sebastian have been a band for over 25 years and they have yet to disappoint with any of their albums or shows. Like a fine wine, they just keep getting better and one can’t help feeling more nostalgic the longer you’ve lived with their music as a daily comfort.

The Big Takeover’s pre-coverage of Lollapalooza 2024 in Chicago, IL.

The Prisoners May 24, 2024, gig at the famed Roundhouse in London put a capstone on their legendary (at least to this scribe) career. Playing before their biggest audience ever, the band treated the crowd gathered from all over the world to a set of vintage organ-fueled garage, psyche, and soul, while playing gems covering their whole career, from 1982 debut, A Taste of Pink to their stellar 2024 comeback album, Morning Sun.

Wilco hosts their eighth curated festival nestled in the Berkshire Mountains with a wide ranging display of sounds.

Boston Calling enjoys superb weather on a bill stacked with pop performers and some C&W and others mixed in.

Though it was the last night of their tour, Allah-Las still played an engaging albeit somewhat short set that left the crowd yearning for more.