All Entries in the "concert review" Category
Dawes at Royale on Oct. 28, 2011
Dawes seems to be doing everything the right way. They tour endlessly, they’ve played backup to the great Robbie Robertson, and they treat their fans like their friends. Last night was my first chance to see Dawes live and it was everything I hoped. On album, the band sounds like a California version of the [...]
Grace Potter at Bank of America Pavilion, Aug. 20
The door has swung wide open for Grace Potter, and she is sprinting through it. It seemed to jar open suddenly late last year with her invitation to join Katy Perry and Nicki Minaj on the high-profile MTV “Divas” showcase. She and the Nocturnals followed that with a full circuit through the late-night talk shows, [...]
Newport Folk Festival, July 31
It’s clear that the musicians that play the Newport Folk Festival get it. Yes, it’s a beautiful scene, with its view from the stage looking beyond the crowd to the bay filled with folk-loving yachters. But there are other scenic venues – Red Rocks in Colorado and the Gorge in Washington state come to mind. [...]
Thao & Mirah, T.T. the Bear’s, June 7
Most times when you go to shows you pretty much know what to expect. Once in a while, though, you get surprised and wonder (in your best David Byrne impression), “How did I get here?” That was somewhat the case the other night at T.T. the Bear’s in Cambridge, where caught three acts that — [...]
Anais Mitchell’s Hadestown, Me & Thee Coffeehouse, May 6
From left: Dinty Child, Amy Correia, Tim Gearan, Jefferson Hamer, and Anais Mitchell. Sleeping after a concert is always difficult for me; the music from the show runs through my head, almost like reliving what I heard. So imagine what it’s like when you have the entire Hadestown folk opera on repeat! That said, Anais [...]
The Submarines at Brighton Music Hall on April 25
You have to make the most of Mondays, especially the dismal ones in April. Luckily for us, the Submarines came around just at the right time. If you’ve never seen or heard the Submarines — ostensibly, Blake Hazard and John Dragonetti, though they brought a drummer and bassist with them on tour — they [...]
Lake Street Dive at the Lizard Lounge, April 19
Lake Street Dive just wants you to have fun. I could end my review right there and you would have enough information to get you to go see them the next time they come to your town. You won’t find a more spirited group of musicians than the quartet of singer Rachael Price, acoustic bassist [...]
Grace Potter and the Nocturnals at the House of Blues, March 25
Grace Potter the band has arrived! This is the third time I’ve seen Grace and the Nocturnals in about a year and a half. Each time I reviewed the shows, I thought I knew what kind of band they wanted to be. The first, in Nov. 2009 and just after the formation of the new [...]
>Josh Ritter in Philadelphia and Boston, Feb. 10 and 11
> Josh Ritter and the Royal City Band, opening night in Philly What should one expect from a Valentine’s Day Brawl? Love, roses, a nice slow-dance sax solo, and of course some heartache because this ain’t no Hallmark celebration. This was Josh Ritter’s tell-it-like-it-is idea of Valentine’s Day, and it was quite a party. I was [...]
>David Wax Museum CD release party at Oberon
> When a CD release party is billed as an Extravaganza, you expect just a little bit more than a band onstage running through their new songs. And so it was that the alt-Mex-folk act David Wax Museum — essentially the duo of guitarist David Wax and his violin and donkey-jawbone-playing partner Suz Slezak — [...]
