Asbury Park—Happy Birthday Scott! The stars aligned such that Scott Stamper, co-owner of The Saint celebrated in style: with a sold-out audience assembled to eat cake, sing “Happy Birthday”, and see one of the hottest acts touring, The Airborne Toxic Event. Read More...
NEW YORK, NY—All of the recent Cold War Kids shows in NYC have been sell-outs, and I thought I understood why; their original take on songwriting and story-telling, their eclectic choice of instruments, and the charm of the characters they create to fill each track. But after finally seeing them (after a long time of wanting to), I was disappointed. Read More...
A visual taste of this year's Bamboozle festival. Read More...
PHILADELPHIA, PA—It was a sold out show, a packed house by the first act and a night of Jane Fonda-like...
NEW YORK, NY—Ida Maria’s gruff and tough, and she’s the type of chick you wouldn’t want to accidentally run into in a dark alley—or get trapped in an elevator with. But when she’s up on stage, and you’re at a safe distance away in the crowd, this Norweigan rock goddess shines like an absolute star. While she might have only released her debut record, Fortress Round My Heart, last year, it hasn’t stopped the European songbird from acting like a true professional. While she can, at times, sound like a bit of a tortured soul, who’s either barking, bitching or just generally mouthing off on issues like loneliness, self-confidence and sleeping around, Maria’s funny, she’s got flair, and most importantly, she beams with an I-don’t-give-a-shit attitude that couldn’t have made its way into the music scene at a better time. Read More...
NEW YORK, NY—In the lead up to PJ Harvey’s appearance at Irving Plaza, the capacity-crowd that packed the Fillmore buzzed with an energy and a sense of uncontrollable excitement which I haven’t felt at a gig in a while. When the English singer/songwriter finally braced the crowd, if there was such a thing as a standing ovation at a venue like Irving Plaza, well Polly Jean almost certainly received one. The entirely overage crowd was, on the most part, made up of long-time Harvey lovers, whose roars and cheers were almost deafening. I’m fairly confident that most of the noise roused was for the songbird herself, rather than her counterpart John Parish, but it didn’t really matter either way because at this gig, Harvey seemed more than happy to share the stage and the spotlight. Read More...
ASBURY PARK, NJ—People lose jobs, go broke, and travel across the globe to see shows like the Grateful Dead at the Pyramids or Cream’s London reunion or Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band’s Asbury Park rehearsal shows. This time Bruce invaded the college gym-sized hall to rehearse for the upcoming Working On A Dream tour. The full-sized arena stage was in place, taking up literally half the floor, giving an almost claustrophobic feel to the room. Everywhere was right on top of the stage. Those who couldn’t get in listened outside on the boardwalk. Some just had to be there. Read More...
READING, PA—Hit after hit, the bands delivered a rock show with so much passion and intensity throughout the night; one...
NEW YORK, NY—Cut Copy’s gig with Matt & Kim as openers was without a doubt, an electro-dance dream. And to be honest, I’m not sure who I was more excited for; the Brooklyn synth-pop up-and-comers, or the Aussie electro-pop masters. What was a certainty, however, is that no matter how much fun I or anybody else in the crowd was having, both bands looked like they were having much more fun onstage. Read More...
HARTFORD, CT—You kind of know you’re watching a show in Connecticut when an hour and a half after doors open the line to get in has barely moved. The Webster is a bit deceiving; I was expecting a Knitting Factory-sized place, maybe enough for 100 or so people, which had me wondering how bad Mudvayne did on record sales their last album out. Luckily they didn’t do too badly. Read More...
