The Hold Steady Bringing Anniversary Reissues & Residence; Brooklyn via Minneapolis Band Marks Ten Years On Boys And Girls In America with Deluxe Version Plus Sexy Reissues of Almost Killed Me & Separation Sunday – The Hold Steady have become an essential New York band since coming together in Brooklyn about thirteen […]
Rock
383 posts
Helmet Kicks Ass At Highline Ballroom In Return To NYC; November 12, 2016 Regarding the first album by his group in six years, according to Page Hamilton: “People who hate Helmet are not going to like the record…and the people that love Helmet; some of them may take a minute […]
Dweezil Keeps Zappa Flag Flying At Beacon Theatre 10-30-16 I think Frank Zappa would be very proud of what his son Dweezil has done and what he is doing in regards to keeping his music alive on stages around the world. He plays it with skill and passion and is […]
Tricky Gets Personal At Webster Hall – 10/28/31 When I spoke to Tricky a few hours before his show last Friday, he explained how people had mentioned to him that when he’s on stage there is a tension and a vibe that would be welcome in larger doses in his […]
The Damned Celebrate Forty Years At Gramercy Theatre – Saturday 10-29-16 as well as Sunday 10-30-16 The Damned vini, vidi, vici’d two sold out shows at a grand old theatre. The interview occurred in between sets on Saturday night which is the most manic time imaginable to conduct an interview. […]
Steely Dan Fall ’16 Beacon Residency Underway – October 18th, 2016 The boys are back in town! Donald Fagen and Walter Becker have led Steely Dan through extended runs at The Beacon Theatre in five of the last seven years but they’ve topped out this year with ten shows. The […]
New Morphine Documentary, Vapors Of Morphine Shows in Brooklyn This Saturday 10-15-16 Oh the joy Morphine has given me! One of the bands I have played the most in various living rooms of apartments I’ve lived in. Always there to create a very cool vibe. As he said near the […]
Derek Trucks Talks Listening In The Tedeschi Trucks Band Tonight – Saturday, October 8th 2016 – marks the nineteenth show for the Tedeschi Trucks Band at The Beacon Theater. It caps a six night Fall ’16 residence for the twelve piece group that included three nights of support from Jorma […]
First Ever Roots Picnic NYC Is Happening 10-1 & 10-2 This upcoming weekend’s festivities also involve many stars but will not allow non-musicians on stage. The Roots were in wicked form in July at one of my fave annual events – the Lowdown Hudson Music Festival. ROOTS PICNIC: NYC AT […]
5th Annual Global Citizen Festival 9-24-16 Saturday was a mad scene in Central Park as 60,000 turned up to see, by any standard, an impressive lineup of talent. The musical parade in the early going in the afternoon included Demi Lovato, Ellie Goulding, and Major Lazer as well as special […]
Donovan & Brian Wilson Celebrate Fifty Year Anniversaries – Sunshine Superman and Pet Sounds were both released in 1966 and both the Glasgow born troubadour and American genius are marking the landmark releases with tours visiting New York City. Donovan played Zankel Hall at Carnegie Hall on Thursday September 15th, […]
Peter Wolf Brings A Cure For Loneliness To City Winery – September 8th, 2016 Also September 9th & tonight (September 10th) Peter Wolf’s A Cure For Loneliness is one of my favorite albums of 2016 and he is the kind of performer who I want to see regardless of the […]
As it always is with that most exciting of trios, it was my pleasure to take in the Soulive show a few weeks as part of the Louis Armstrong Wonderful World Festival at Flushing Meadows Park. At that time, Eric Krasno revealed in an interview that he has a Central […]
Springsteen Reaches New Heights (& Lengths) In Jersey (8-23-16) 8-25-16 & Tonight at Metlife Stadium. “I want to hear that satisfied sound!” – Bruce speaking to the audience at approximately the 3 hour, 50 minute mark of Thursday’s show shortly after refreshing himself by squeezing a sponge over his head. […]
Living Colour Covers Biggie In Stand Against Gun Violence – Who Shot Ya Mixtape Coming Next Month Living Colour have offered a sneak peek at their new video that will accompany their song Who Shot Ya to be released on September 9th as part of an Andre Betts produced mixtape […]
Eric Burdon Hits The Mark At City Winery – August 8, 2016 “If you want to find the truth in life, don’t pass music by. You know, you know…I would not lie!” -Eric Burdon from Monterey, 1967 I was a little intimidated to meet Eric Burdon whose voice is nothing […]
Ageless Paul McCartney Conquers MetLife Stadium – August 7, 2016 Paul McCartney puts on a phenomenal show by any standard. The fact that the brilliant artist is doing what he doing at age 74 only adds another level of awe. It was the setlist of doom; 38 songs in all. […]
Garbage Hits Summerstage In Central Park – August 1, 2016 touring behind the new album Strange Little Birds… As I mentioned to Shirley Manson as I was clipping a microphone on her garment last Monday evening, I read an interview with her in the mid 90s in which she was […]
Thao & The Get Down Stay Down In Town Tonight – August 4, 2016 When I spoke with Thao on a lovely afternoon in Austin during SXSX in March, she said that the new record A Man Alive was a much more personal album than she and the band had […]
D Generation Celebrate Comeback Album At Irving Plaza – July 30, 2016 “We always liked bands that had melodic kind of pop songs; groups like The Replacements and Cheap Trick and T-Rex. You’re taking something really nasty with the melody and the two are fighting against each other and you […]
Michael Franti & Spearhead Lively Up Times Square at the Playstation Theater – July 15, 2016 Michael Franti has a great attitude; he emanates positivity. Â His live shows are love-ins. That was especially true last week Friday at the Playstation Theater in Times Square as a second stage was set […]
“Somewhere between long awaited and well overdue” was how Dave Wakeling described the status of a new English Beat record when I spoke to him during a recent visit to New York City. Dave and the rest of the band are back in town for a show this week at […]
“Information is not knowledge, knowledge is not wisdom, wisdom is not truth, truth is not beauty, beauty is not love, love is not music. Music is the best.” – Frank Zappa (From Packard Goose off Joe’s Garage, Act III) Few artists are as worthy of a documentary film as Frank […]
The Compulsions: Log Cabin Studio Session 2016 If you’ve spent a night in a NYC venue listening to a rock show over the last decade, you might have seen Rob Carlyle and/or his mates who have played innumerable gigs in dives, joints, clubs, and theaters across the five boroughs and […]
Wolf Parade Light Fuse On 2016 Northside Festival; June 9, 2016 After Wolf Parade’s sound check on a gorgeous afternoon at Brooklyn’s McCarren Park, Dan Boeckner clipped on a microphone and spoke about this band‘s wildly triumphant comeback. “I underestimated what this band meant to people while we were active.” […]