Though they are incredible on any sized stage, Yo La Tengo made the large one seem quite smaller by crowding together stage right/audience left which conveyed the truth of the band of how close knit they have become over the years both while recording albums and performing.

intellectuals rejoiced at the twee sounds of Belle and Sebastian with the many deep feeling and sometimes long winded lyrics arising from poets in their own right who read tons of books and relish in every moment of it. Theirs was almost a set where the fans made the experience even better than it would have been. It was almost a musical baptism dancing along to so many lost and found souls in the rain to some of our favorite songs with “I’m a Cuckoo,” “Piazza, New York Catcher,” “Stars of Track and Field,” “If You’re Feeling Sinister,” “The Boy With the Arab Strap,” “Judy and the Dream of Horses,” and the fantastic but very bittersweet encore “Get Me Away From Here I’m Dying.”

From the minute Bjork walked on to the stage, this reviewer actually started having heart palpitations as the bass was so loud it seemed to shake the very Earth. Also, the sense of anticipation in the air was so thick one could cut it like a delicious chocolate cake and eat it like a shared secret. Bjork was, in short, awe inspiring.

This year, Pitchfork Music Festival has arguably the best lineup it has ever had. For fans of a wide array of independent music, the festival boasts a variety of musical styles and genres to suit your fancy as well as some incredibly substantial headliners. The trend is such that many of the bands that play earlier on in the day end up playing the next year at Lollapalooza, so it behooves the music fan to get to the festival at the start of each day, which also might secure a good spot for experiencing the headlining band’s set of the night. It’s also clear that now perhaps more than ever, Pitchfork is making a concerted effort to represent creative women in music as well as men, which helps make the overall lineup for 2013 rather exquisite, not to mentioned well balanced.

The joy just permeates their very essence as they even stayed at the merch table after the show to chat with fans and sign posters and album booklets.

The Who performed its landmark concept album Quadrophenia on two nights in Chicago, IL. The set list may have been known in advance, but the veteran British rockers played with conviction and fire.

Although Pete’s no longer sells sweet treats, on this night Ashley and Brodeur nourished us with plenty of delicious ear candy.

Bragg and his very professional band are an excellent combo, and when you include his old and new songs, you’ve got a heady mixture.

This college-aged New York foursome’s marvelous just-released second LP Warned You is one of my favorite albums of 2013, so these two Greenwich Village shows were eagerly anticipated. Much to my surprise, the band was as convincing and formidable live as on record!

Although this greater New York ethereal trio had to cancel their first February show at Brooklyn’s Rock Shop due to Blizzard Nemo, the band “stormed” back with these two superb follow-up gigs later in the month.

Sure enough, the set was an excellent mix of both Lps, not favoring one or the other, and the band was in sync.

A small room, Park Slope, friendly people, and free pop music provided by Charles Ramsey and band – a great combination.

The bottom line is that if you ever have a chance to see The Night Marchers, don’t miss them!

On the first show of their tour, bassist Jason Narducy’s and drummer Jon Wurster’s hefty yet fluid rhythms constantly sent Mould’s propulsive, buzzing guitar to Shuttle launch intensities.

Decent shows are slim pickings when your days off are Tuesday and Wednesday.

What a show, what a night and what a testament to Mould and his band that they still kick so much butt after all these years!

Each of Stringfellow’s previous shows I’ve seen were all analogous in how he strove to achieve an intimate, one-on-one connection with the audience. This early Saturday evening show was no different.

This show marked the 15th time I’ve seen Mission of Burma since their NYC comeback at Irving Plaza in January 2002, and their performance was as pulverizing, unrelenting, and physically exhausting as any of those previous gigs.

The last time this Hungarian group played in New York I had to miss them because of a Buzzcocks show on the same night. So I was glad to have this second chance to see them, even if I had to wait over two years for it.

Cornell howls, Thayil slays, Camerons slams, Shepherd sways – grunge lives in 2013.

It’s rare that two artists of such quality share a Free at Noon bill.

For this go-round and perhaps to stick to theme of the documentary, Stabb and company were intent on replicating a 1982 style set.

Starting with the instrumental “Mango” and playing a set that mostly comprised material from their earliest days, Dag Nasty was just on for the entirety of their short but incredible set.

The first time I accidentally ended up in a mosh pit was also the first time I was mistaken for a drug dealer. I say accidentally for I suppose there is no other way to first end up in one other than by blindly stumbling forthright into it.

The musicianship is just off the charts and I love the 3-4 part harmonies in some of the songs as well.

This Brooklyn trio built up such vigorous, colossal crescendos, I thought Union Hall’s upstairs bocce courts might collapse on top of us.

After headlining Manhattan’s spacious Terminal 5 in front of 3,000 punters last March, here they were eight short months later, playing this much smaller, 400-capacity Gowanus art/performance space.

Even 33 years after the original lineup split, an Avengers show is still, remarkably, a carefree and liberating experience.

For this tour, Sloan trotted out their 1994 second LP Twice Removed, the occasion being its recent box set reissue. Like the previous six times I’ve seen them, this was another smashing performance!

That he performed his ode to cunnilingus while wearing a black cotton sack dress made it all the more a shining example of unselfconscious sexual expression.

Tame Impala find the locus of The Beatles, Pink Floyd and hacky sack.

Lotion were one of the best bands in NYC back in the 1990’s, and they still sound better than most current local outfits. Here’s hoping they continue to play once (or more) per year, to keep reminding us of that.

We’ll keep our fingers crossed for that Slowdive reunion, but as these shows proved, Halstead on his own is equally worth making the trek from New Jersey to NYC on two successive nights to see.

In person their music engulfs and entrances you, even moreso than on record. It makes for a distinctive double-whammy of muscle and beauty that keeps getting better with each show.

Imagine a mild-mannered, 70-year old singer-songwriter in dark black sunglasses and a leather vest saying this stuff and you’ll get an idea of the weird, but cozy vibe of the show.

I took out my earplugs so I could hear their set in all of its glory and turned to a friend afterwards and said “wow”.

Newman was in fine spirits, joking with the crowd on numerous occasions between songs and even giving detailed (and very personal) explanations for the lyrics on songs like “Come Crash” and the aforementioned “The Heartbreak Rides”.

Australian imports with enough tremolo to shatter windows

Canada’s longest running trio tours on their newest record, Clockwork Angels.

A hometown show that wasn’t really a hometown show.

Deftly played songs about nature, love, and the sea.