When I arrived at Bowery Ballroom last night, April 19th, I could already hear Gypsyblood reverberating through the walls. Because of the setup of the venue, when I went inside the noise died down, but after crossing the front lounge/bar and opening the door to the front of the stage I was greeted with their
In my review of Drifting by The Sound Of Growing Up, I praised the fun piano pop sounds of the Boston band. I also said I’d love to see them live, which hasn’t happened yet, but here’s the next best thing: a video. I miss the old MTV days, when slickly produced videos showed me
freelance whales, courtesy their myspace The line outside of the Wonder Ballroom in North East Portland Tuesday night was nearly to the end of the block for The Naked and Famous, Foals, and Freelance Whales. A sold-out crowd was arriving early as the doors remained shut past their promised 7:30 opening. The crowded venue was
Last night NYC was total rain city. My feet were thoroughly soaked before I even got to the train to head to Mercury Lounge, but I’d already missed Cloud Nothings several times in the past few months, so I was going no matter what. Consequently, not as many people had the same motivation to get
This past Friday night was one of the more memorable shows I’ve been to at Music Hall of Williamsburg. I’ve been to a decent amount of shows here, and I can’t say I’ve ever had a bad time, but I’ve never been as surprised by what I didn’t expect at all from a lineup of
Typhoon’s set at the Doug Fir Friday night can only be described as epic. The Portland dodectet (that’s a group of 12 for you non-mathy folks) features a duo of trumpeters, a duo of drummers and a string trio. Lead singer Kyle Morton shines through it all with his soulful vocals and bashful charisma. I
I’m going to be honest; early shows have never really been my thing. I like a little time to take off my dinner suit and put on my music critic hoodie. Plus it feels weird to be inside a darkened show room when it’s still light outside. Long story short, I long ago vowed never
Reading Rainbow by Maxwell Monty Tuesday night’s Reading Rainbow & The Dodos show at the Doug Fir Lounge jumped out the the gate, with opener Reading Rainbow taking the stage at exactly their assigned time of 9:15. The Boy-Girl garage-pop duo got to it straight off, Drummer Sarah Everton pounding away while hitting peppy and
Photo by Brandon “Belvi” Banks LIL B He’s probably the most controversial figure in hip hop right now, but if the world he’s molded (“Based” is what he’s dubbed it, with his being the “Based God”) isn’t a big “gotcha,” then he’s also probably one of the most truthful. He ambled onstage Saturday night, smiling
Photo by Brandon “Belvi” Banks Murs’ Paid Dues Festival at the NOS Event Center in San Bernadino is perfect for grazers—a bite of this, bite of that, but never so much of just one that you get tired of it (if you aren’t into hip-hop, disregard). Instead, you leave satisfied but not stuffed, even a