Tagged: concertreviews

Ava Luna brought their brand of spazz soul last night to the Hi-Dive to show us how a sextet should look on stage. The female vocals in charge of harmonies/backup consumed any attention that I had set aside for the rest of the act. Manic beats gave way to an established presence by a fairly young act that took anything the Dirty Projectors had ever done and took it to the next frontier. Their new album, "Ice Level," will see the light of day February 28. From the ashes of King Mob comes [...]

• Ava Luna – Wrenning Day [mp3] » 04 Wrenning Day.mp3
• Young Pharaohs – Mr 100 [mp3] » Mr. 100.mp3

After last year's incredible success, followed by the outstanding SnowGlobe festival in Lake Tahoe, the Snowball team is coming back to Avon, Colorado for round two. With a very similar lineup to the previous two festivals, Snowball 2012 is featuring some of the biggest names in the industry: Bassnectar, Rusko, Beats Antique, Major Lazer, Snoop [...]

MUTEMATH continues to justify its reputation as a killer live act.

I knew I moved to New York for a reason when I walked into the press entrance to Carnegie Hall and waited in line, slightly thunderstruck, next to James Blake and Antony Hegarty. We happened to be checking in at the same time for the 22 nd Annual Tibet House U.S. Benefit Concert , except they went backstage and I took my press seat in the nosebleed section. By the end of the evening, Blake and Antony would join Philip Glass, Laurie Anderson, Lou Reed, Das Racist, Stephin Merritt, Carnegie Hall's two house bands, The Patti Smith Band [...]

It's hard to believe that Charles Bradley only has one album to his name. A soul singer from Florida, Charles has been riding a wave of momentum after a jaw dropping showcase at SXSW last year which was followed by a series of appearances that have been classified as legendary for those who went. Saturday night was his first trip to Toronto and it was met with great anticipation from the sold out crowd (which ranged from indie kids to grandmothers) at Lee's. Taking a stage after an instrumental introduction by his backing [...]

Fresh off the release of their sixth record, this year's Be The Void , Dr. Dog performed a sold-out show Saturday at The Regency Ballroom in San Francisco. A notable CoS favorite, Dr. Dog drew from its extensive catalog in order to compose an ambitious 18-song set; and while their music felt more fitting for an outdoor festival setting, and at times the vocals seemed stagnant, Dr. Dog ultimately redeemed themselves with their imaginative instrumental solos that posed tribute to the classic rock of the past. Beginning their set with "That Old Black [...]

SMOG | GetDarker | The Observatory Eccentric, Fabricated, G1ockz, and I headed back down to Santa Ana's The Observatory to experience another wonderful SMOG event [many thanks to Drew and the whole SMOG crew for their continued support + hospitality]. This time they partnered up with the one and only GetDarker. It was the first website I ever went to see Nero do a Drum & Bass dj set as well as Skream spin a set on a pair of Technics 1200s. GetDarker was celebrating the release of their compilation This Is [...]

Other Lives / Brillobox / 02.22.2012 / Doors 9:30 / $10 Words by Brendan Other Lives have come a long way from humble beginnings as Kunek in Stillwater, OK. Their cinematic folk rock has caught the ears of many fans and earned them a spot on tour with Bon Iver last year and now a string of dates with Radiohead (Yeah! That Radiohead !) this month and next. Seriously, 5 days after this show at [...]

• Other Lives - For 12

With only one show left in their "Paradise Lost" Tour, Brooklyn's Sleigh Bells stomped through Ft. Lauderdale's Revolution Saturday night with a fully-stocked bill that included Liturgy and Jacuzzi Boys . In support of their forthcoming sophomore release, Reign of Terror , the raucous duo attracted a vibrant, equally raucous crowd, who heated up the venue despite the chilly outside air. Prior to the headlining set, however, the seemingly metal-hungry fans had to "endure" Liturgy, an act that worked on paper yet tripped miserably in action. Sleigh Bells' fellow Brooklynites failed to [...]

Dusdin Condren/Courtesy of the artist On the surface, Sharon Van Etten 's new album, Tramp , has a fitting title. The Brooklyn-based singer-songwriter's third album—released earlier this month via Jagjaguwar—reflects the lifestyle she lead for the 14 months it took her write and record it. During that time, she slept on couches, kept all of her belongings in her car, and recorded in the home studio of The National's Aaron Dessner; the result is an edgy, ragged album tougher than her break out, 20092s Because I Was In Love , and more stylistically [...]

Think of your typical folky, indie, female singer/songwriter. It probably sounds something like a mix of Sharon Van Etten, Regina Spektor, Feist, or something more extreme, like Joanna Newsom. Now, take away the raspiness, the bird-like voice, those little yelps and other vocal oddities, the quiet crooning, the rock edge. All that you're left with is a raw, unadulterated, clear, powerful, and honest voice. In other words, you're left with Laura Veirs . What sets Veirs apart from other stellar female vocalists in the underground music scene is the transparency and intimacy of her voice, like someone [...]

​The DarknessFirst Avenue, MinneapolisSunday, February 12, 2012Something about the Darkness band feels a little like Jurassic Park: Use the genetic code ripped from the monsters of rock and make it ro

The following is a guest post contributed by Jason: Detroit - While there is an inherent voyeurism in attending any show, it is especially true when it involves a very popular rock and roller pulling out their acoustic guitar and playing a smaller than usual venue. One wonders if years of playing larger venues with a full band has skewed an artists' ability to connect with their audience, or whether their craft has been sharpened through experience. With this thought in mind, it was with high hopes that my companion and I biked down to P.J.'s [...]

Frank Yang A better writer might be able to come up with some angle that relates the sudden one-day cold snap that hit Toronto on Saturday and the long-awaited, much-anticipated local debut by Mr Charles Bradley at Lee's Palace, but sadly, all I can come up with is something like how it was cold outside but hot inside and that's pretty weaksauce, so I'll just move on. A little surprisingly, support for this tour came from across the Atlantic in the form of English power trio Little Barrie , who were [...]

The beast of hype is a nasty one. It takes wholesome innocents like Sharon Van Etten and aligns them with a world of unfair, ill-informed assumptions, too-cool-for-school bio photos, and overwrought press releases. Prepared or not, this past week, Sharon Van Etten was well acquainted with the publicity machine. But Saturday night's sold out show at the Black Cat was a strong reminder that this young songwriter can never be stripped of her charm, passion, or eagerness, not even by such a vicious beast as hype. For better or worse, it also showed she ain't perfect. [...]

There were some reservations that The Darkness may have lost a step or two in the seven years since they had toured in the United States. By the end of their Chicago stop on Saturday night, however, any and all reservations were swept away on the rolling thunder of guitars and blaring falsetto. After a less than tolerable opening set of so-kitch-it-hurts 80's metal from Crown Jewel Defense, the mixed crowd of college kids, metal heads (who all kind of looked like Phil and Terry from Wayne's World ), and standard rock fans were all [...]

In the heaviest French accent imaginable, a man came up to me on the tube ride and said "Are you going to the Justice concert?" I told him I was and asked him how he was able to tell, his only explanation offered was, "You are wearing a leather jacket!" We chatted for a bit, I regretfully informed him that I didn't have an extra ticket, and we went our separate ways. Turns out that man was simply representative of the 200 other French men seeking tickets I'd be surrounded by when I exited the tube. Thankfully, I [...]

Crammed in a small hole in the wall just south of the Tenderloin, Gardens & Villa 's performance at Rickshaw Stop on Thursday was a burgeoning band at its best. Still coveting a small, but devoted, following in the indie scene, the down-to-earth group is on the brink of stardom and notoriety with upcoming gigs to promote their eponymous debut all over the United States, including sets at both Coachella and Sasquatch!. The secret to their momentous rise through the music world? The fact that their sound and their attitude still possess all of the Californian idiosyncrasies that make [...]

Last Saturday (the 4th) provided a memorable concert, even though I'll remember the day for something else. I have revolving standards when judging concerts. Sometimes when I go to concerts, I judge by the mood they put me in (e.g. Miami Horror was fun). Other times, it's just the opportunity to be there (e.g. Mumford and Sons, favorite concert of 2011), or it's by the synergy with my mood (e.g. Cass McCombs matched it), or it's the performance of my favorite song of theirs (e.g. Fleet Foxes's 'Mykonos' let me down), or it's the set closer (or end-cap [...]

Walking into the Paramount to see a rock show feels like somewhat of a contradiction. As I strutted in-wearing jeans and high-tops-the thought, "am I under-dressed?" crossed my mind. The interior architecture resembled something royal-which is appropriate because the royal family of indie-rock was about to take stage. If you haven't seen Wilco live, DO IT! They have some seriously talented musicians and an incredibly impressive light show to boot. Jeff Tweedy was, by no surprise, on point. His voice never misses a pitch. The musician that took the show [...]