On Friday, July 3rd, The Dead Guise, one of the Bay Area’s best Grateful Dead cover bands played a wonderful two-set concert at The Starry Plough that drew quite the crowd. The Plough was packed as it always is whenever The Dead Guise play and lots of the same friendly faces I have been seeing… Continue reading Dead Guise Headline 2 Spectacular Sets
With a voice as chilling as Janis Joplin’s and as sweetly strong as Eva Cassidy’s, Grace Potter proves that behind her girl-next-door bangs and thrift store-chic style, she has the chops to make rock ‘n’ roll history. A piano playing Amazon who captures all the retro appeal of a real woman singing about real-live truths,… Continue reading Grace Potter | Fox Theater | 7/1/09
Although I am no stranger to Grand Rapids, I had never attended a show at the Intersection until the Rothbury Pre-Party. There is no more appropriately named venue to host such a dynamic collaboration of talent. EOTO, Ultraviolet Hippopotamus and Herm Productions is quite the trio to kick off the Rothbury Music Festival. As I… Continue reading Rothbury Pre-Party: EOTO and Ultraviolet Hippopotamus
This Wednesday, July 1st, will mark an important one year point for Fort Collins band Tickle Me Pink. Just short of twelve months ago on this date in 2008, Tickle Me Pink were to celebrate the release of their first album on Indie label Wind-Up Records, but instead found themselves alongside many fans mourning the… Continue reading Tickle Me Pink Infuses Audience with Fixed Liveliness
The day Michael Jackson died was a particularly beautiful one, here in the Commonwealth of Virginia. Blue skies, just enough clouds, and uncharacteristically low humidity greeted the audience along with the stunning natural scenery of the Ginter Botanical Gardens, in Richmond, Virginia. Arriving early to set up audio taping gear, we noted that the pre-show… Continue reading Michael Jackson & Mr. Miyagi: Umphrey's McGee at Ginter Botanical Gardens
On Sunday, the Boulder Theater simmered with genuine blues bravado, the kind that clings to the air with an intoxicating presence. The source of this beautifully hazy down-home sound came in the form of guitarist and vocalist Robert Cray. This velvet-voiced musician has earned the approval and praise of Eric Clapton, Diana Ross and Tina… Continue reading Robert Cray at the Boulder Theater
Going back to my high school days growing up in Iowa, I specifically remember the first time I heard Phish. I was with a group of friends (guys I am still in touch with today) riding around on a hot summer day on our way to what had become almost a daily sand volleyball session. A buddy popped in… Continue reading Phish Close Tour at Alpine Valley
Truly integrating two disparate musical genres into a third doesn’t occur all that often. And when it does, it’s often lopsided in favor of one genre – over another. It’s unbalanced, and noticeably so. But when an organic musical marriage does happen, it can be like dynamite. Happily, such is the case for Asheville, North… Continue reading Toubab Krewe | Brown’s Island | 6/26/2009
On Friday June 12, at around 9:25 I walked into Ashkenaz on San Pablo Ave, in Berkeley, to the sounds of the Dead Guise playing their opening set of acoustic Grateful Dead covers, in a style similar to the Grateful Dead’s early 80’s acoustic albums Reckoning and Dead Set. The members of Dead Guise include… Continue reading Live Dead & Dead Guise Jam Into the Night At Ashkenaz
It sounds like the soundtrack to life’s meaningful pilgrimages and spiritual awakenings. The tripified, glitchy melodic beats that Shpongle produces also could easily be, what I would imagine, fills the brain of artist Alex Grey on a daily basis. On Friday, the Fox appeared like a pre-Burning Man Ritual— where furry boot refugees from the… Continue reading Utterly Shpongled in Boulder
