Reviews
This night was a party, and who could be surprised by that with the amount of talent at Cervantes Masterpiece Ballroom on this night. There were three bands and three painters that created an electric dance space under the giant disco ball to kick off the holiday festivities. The famous Frenchy, Scramble Campbell, and John Bukaty lined their canvas side by side on the left side of the stage and prepared for a night of sheer artistry.
James Brown, dubbed the hardest workingman in show business, is long gone. If anyone were to carry the torch in the contemporary touring scene Karl Denson would be a chief contender.
On a super busy concert night in this thriving state, which has seriously become even more of mecca for music than it already was over the last half a century, the Ogden Theatre hosted EOTO on their final night of their fall tour. It was a perfect place for them to go showcase their intergalactic improvisational sound and their Prism laser beams descending on the crowd like a hard-boiled egg slicer. Colfax Ave.
“The older the song, the harder they slam” –Vince Herman
For the first time since Yonder Mountain String Band took up residence at The Boulder Theater for its holiday run (in 2011), the band decided to play three sets for New Year’s Eve. Each set had its own motif, but all three were governed by the same primary theme. When it initially hit the stage, the quintet played an hour of buoyant, uplifting songs that were singed with beauty.
This past Friday, Philadelphia’s kings of trance-fusion The Disco Biscuits made their triumphant return to the Windy City, delivering a two-night holiday run at Concord Music Hall that marked some of their most well-rounded, creative shows seen in quite some time.
We like to think of ourselves as intellectually superior beings. I am speaking of the jamband fan of course; but based on my observation, I am sure you already assumed that. We like to think of ourselves as intellectually superior, and we talk out of both sides of our mouth in doing so. We promote inner balance and are renowned for drug use. We promote originality, but foam at the mouth at a song played every 3rd show on summer tour for 30 years. We liken our musical preferences to art at its highest and we ignore anything that the masses have given the same validation.
Stuck somewhere between obscure, psychedelic Frank Zappa B-sides and the soundtracks to retro Sega Genesis videogames you’ll find the ultra-versatile, moog-driven sounds of Northeast-based jam quartet Dopapod. Between the recent release of their fourth studio effort Never Odd or Even, and an extensive collection of East Coast and Midwest dates alongside the incomparable Umphrey’s McGee, it’s clear the future is looking exceedingly bright for the progressive dance-rock group.
Grace Potter & The Nocturnals, long known for their rock’em sock’em live shows, are the latest group to tap into their vast vault of concert recordings for official release. They launched the series, dubbed Vaulturnal, with the release of a complete headlining show recorded at the Tanglewood Music Center in Lenox, MA on the night of Aug. 19, 2013.
Bluegrass singer/songwriter Peter Rowan makes his way around the whole United States performing intimate gigs and festival headliners on a regular basis. Rowan is generally touring with multiple different projects at once and in the studio. He’s released four original albums since 2010 including with his bluegrass band, his Twang an’ Groove project and solo. The bluegrass icon began his career in 1965 when he was hired by founding father of bluegrass Bill Monroe into his Bluegrass Boys band.
