A delight to catch Midge Ure playing solo and acoustic at Iridium where the Ultravox frontman touched on every phase of his career. The Scot lives in England where, in his home studio, he created his first new album of original material in 13 years called Fragile. As 2015 marks the 30th anniversary […]
Rock
A fine how do you do! from British indie-rock band The Struts who played their first ever show in the U.S. at the John Varvatos store on the Bowery…better known as the old CBGB. The fellas promised they’d be back soon.
Zach Williams’ first NYC gigs were at the Rockwood Music Hall and it was the beginning of a beautiful relationship. He was the first guy to play Stage 2 when it opened and when it came time to record his band‘s debut album, they converted the venue into a studio […]
The Tragically Hip connected with their fans in New York City – as well as those close enough to get to The Beacon Theatre on Friday – for a satisfying, career-spanning concert. The fellas are featuring their 1992 album Fully Completely on this run of shows.
To open their self-titled second album released last spring, The Apache Relay recorded something of a masterpiece in the song “Katie Queen of Tennessee.” Singer/guitarist Michael Ford Jr. and Brett Moore (keys/guitar/mandolin) were quick to share credit with the string arranger Jimmy Haskee (who has an Emmy and three Grammys) and Johnathan […]
Put That Dream In Your Pipe And Smoke It is Mike Rimbaud’s new disc. The Bowery Electric was the venue for the New York singer-songwriter‘s latest release.
Eugene Kelly and Frances McKee of The Vaselines have carved out a place for themselves in the history of rock n roll. The Scottish alt-rock band plays selections from their latest release V For Vaselines in a rare New York appearance.
Patti Smith’s year end tradition of playing NYC shows to celebrate her birthday (her 68th in this case) along with the new year keeps getting better. Her friend Michael Stipe opened the show in, a couple of one-offs aside, his solo debut! I spoke with Patti in an expansive interview […]
It’s been a long time since we’ve seen Bob Seger in NYC. It’s been eight years since his last album and tour. It’s been too long since The J. Geils Band worked their magic here as well so it was a twin-bill at Madison Square Garden not to be missed…
If you only listen to one record from 2014, make it the Most Messed Up one by Old 97’s! Flashback to their show in August and revel in songs from the numero uno el disco of the year…perfect warm-up for New Year’s Eve.
The fabulous Alynda Lee Segarra and Hurray For The Riff Raff snare the deuce with their album, Small Town Heroes. Get a taste of it with this performance footage shot in January along with remarks from the aforementioned Alynda.
Deer Tick is celebrating their 10th anniversary with a residency at Brooklyn Bowl that began last night and stretches through New Year’s Eve. Here’s John McCauley talking about the milestone while playing a wicked version of The Curtain solo on acoustic.
The Kooks fourth album Listen surprised me – not because I like it so much which I expected to because I was on board with the first three – but why I did, which I couldn’t have seen coming. The songs that made me a fan of these guys like Always Where […]
2014 holiday season gift ideas include plenty of memoirs & biographies to read and documentaries & performances to watch…
I first heard Eric Johnson’s guitar playing when his debut album Tones came out in the mid 1980s. I had never heard anything like it. Nobody had heard anything like it! Since then whenever the Austin native put out something new, I felt I owed it to myself to hear […]
Follow the link to hear songs from Spoon’s eighth studio album played live and a conversation with the fab Alisa Ali and enjoy a flashback to the fellas at Governors Ball (as well as The Strokes) in this video…
Here’s a peek back to Robert Plant’s killer show at BAM in September. The mighty re-arranger never fails to satisfy. Zeppelin? We don’t need no stinkin’ Zeppelin!
Jack White is the 21st century riff-meister! Here’s a flashback to his Governors Ball performance in June – About 100 seconds of the instrumental track High Ball Stepper from Lazaretto.
Ho Ho Ho! Here’s some suggestions if you’d like to give (or receive) the gift of music this holiday season whether it is boxed or unboxed.
British rocker Nick Lowe put out an appealing Christmas album last year called Quality Street and he’s bringing his Quality Holiday Revue back to the Bowery Ballroom tonight (Sunday the 14th of December 2014) and the Music Hall of Williamsburg next Saturday 20th of December 2014. Here’s a look back […]
The Hold Steady have become an essential New York band since coming together in Brooklyn about eleven years ago. Three of the guys live in Greenpoint within a few blocks of each other with the remaining members in Manhattan and Memphis. I spoke with Craig Finn and Tad Kubler (pronounced […]
Cool event last night at the intimate Marlin Room (capacity 500) at Webster Hall with Thurston Moore. It was a free show presented by Norton Antivirus and Pandora that you had to RSVP for and it featured an open bar – really! The former Sonic Youth guitarist/singer is now living in […]
The Orwells’ frontman Mario Cuomo told me he really didn’t like the process of recording albums very much. What he loves is playing live. Despite that being the case, the young quintet from outside of Chicago copped a spot in my top ten album list for 2014. They’re in a TV […]
Holiday Cheer for WFUV is a brilliant annual event – the last 5 years of its 10 year life at The Beacon Theatre – that raises dough for non-commercial New York City rock radio station WFUV, as well as her sister The Alternate Side. The last few years have featured […]
The Super Soul Revue last Thursday through Saturday at The Apollo was an excellent reminder at the tremendous talent found on Daptone Records. As I’ve been spending some time recently with the outstanding Burnt Offering by The Budos Band, I was keen to capture a taste of their performance and […]