Archive
Minus the Bear defy expectations with a career-spanning show
There are few bands I am willing to drive three hours for, but Minus the Bear is one of them. Facing situations where you invest copious amounts of time, effort, and gas money into making it out…
The Black Angels unleash a primal assault on the senses.
I’ve never been in the armed forces, and thankfully never will be. But after The Black Angels show, I have some small understanding of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. I have never seen the raw power of rock and…
Check in to a raucous night at the Neutral Uke Hotel
Neutral Uke Hotel is a cover band in a class all its own. It’s a show organized by a collection of dedicated musicians with the combination of audacity and insanity necessary to create a beautifully unusual performance.…
Foals should ready themselves for bigger stages
Note: The guy standing to my left was wearing cologne and earplugs, so it goes without saying this review might come off a little more bitter than necessary. It’s like, Dude, what are you doing here? Get…
Toro y Moi – Live @ The Empty Bottle
Chaz Bundick is the first musician I have ever seen sip tea at a concert. Whereas most indie poppers, shoegazers, and dance rockers chug PBR in-between songs, Chaz would rather slurp Earl Grey from a warm mug.…
Lupe Fiasco – Live @ Wabash College
Chances are that you have a friend who is in love with Lupe Fiasco, even though you yourself may have no idea who he is. Lupe Fiasco, whose birth name is Wasalu Jaco, is arguably alternative Hip-Hop’s…
Andrew Belle wins over audience with an intimate hometown performance
I was pretty confused when I walked into the venue and saw rows of chairs lined up in front of the stage. Add in the unnatural quiet of the room and the candles providing dim lighting along…
Prince – Live @ The Forum
The first of Prince’s 21-night SoCal concert stand was rife with disjointed sequencing. There wasn’t an obvious pattern in the way songs flowed from one to another. That would be a serious problem for lesser artists, but…
A Girl Talk show ensures that both audience and artists have a great time
I’ve got to admit that on my way to the show I thought the Marquee was a strange choice of venue for something that was essentially one guy and his laptop. In the end it wasn’t such…
All hail Sharon Jones, the new queen of soul.
No one can command the stage quite like Sharon Jones. Her voice ranges from ragged to smooth, her energy and dancing are unbridled, and her band, the Dap-Kings, are tighter than a sailor’s knot. All of these…