When it comes to jazz guitar, few names carry the same prestige as Joe Pass and Herb Ellis. Both emerged from slightly different backgrounds—Pass was widely celebrated for his masterful chord-melody approach and unerring sense of time, while Ellis came up through the ranks playing with the likes of Oscar Peterson, honing a blues-inflected style… Continue reading Ellis and Pass in Conversation: “Seven, Come Eleven” Reviewed
Switchman Sleepin’ is celebrating twelve years as a band, and like most things associated with the music of the Grateful Dead, there is no stopping this magical train. The band formed in typical hippie fashion: a few guys jamming at a backyard party in 2012 set the wheels in motion and laid down the first… Continue reading Full Steam Ahead: Switchman Sleepin’ Celebrates a Dozen Years of Magic
Goose returned to the Moody Center on December 31, 2024, to close out the year with a bang at a show billed as a formal event. The band donned button-up shirts, ties, slacks, capes, and masquerade masks reminiscent of The Phantom of the Opera. These masks, along with roses, were handed out to the crowd… Continue reading Goose Rings In the New Year With An Inspired Texas-Sized Performance
Dopapod—the word has no defined meaning, but if it did, it might read something like: improvisational jazz, energetic funk, progressive rock with intellectual lyrics. The first time I heard Dopapod was in a muddy field in Illinois, and suddenly time stopped. The band has that effect on people; their music transcends the physical and takes… Continue reading Improv, Illumination, and Indefinite Hiatus: A Dopapod Retrospective
After taking a year off from performing on New Year’s, Goose returned to Austin, Texas, for the third time in their career and for their sixth New Year’s run, which included a performance on December 31. They chose the 15,000-seat Moody Center ATX—located in the heart of the University of Texas and home to the… Continue reading Goose Slam Dunks Night One At The Moody Center
Now here’s the thing, man: you step into the Broward Center on New Year’s Eve, sun-bleached Florida swirling outside like some neon crocodile dream, and you realize Bob Weir‘s firing up the Wolf Bros rocket ship, ready to blast your soul beyond the sugar-palm stratosphere. The crowd’s got that old Grateful glimmer in their eyes—like… Continue reading Dancing into the New Year with Bob Weir's Wolf Pack
Kalamazoo, Michigan, has a bright and vibrant nightlife. Several colleges call the city home and occupy a large part of its landscape, so it’s no wonder that an aspiring college student once began brewing beer in his home kitchen and now runs a nationally recognized brewery: Bell’s. Tonight, Bell’s Brewery is hosting Earth Radio and… Continue reading Jam Sessions and Goodbyes: Earth Radio’s Last Show with Justin Avdek
Greensky Bluegrass rang out 2024 with a jubilant, genre-blurring party at Denver’s Mission Ballroom, packing the venue with devoted fans ready to greet the new year in style. With Fruition as the opening act—and later, surprise collaborators—this New Year’s Eve show offered everything a fan could want: tight pickin’, unexpected covers, heartfelt originals, and a… Continue reading High-Altitude Hoedown: Greensky Bluegrass and Fruition Ring In the New Year at the Mission Ballroom
Night two of Dopapod’s Michigan run starts with local favorite Desmond Jones. This five-piece ensemble hails from Grand Rapids and has played nearly 1,000 shows in 12 years. Fast-paced, high-energy original music is the band’s trademark. Part of their story is the themed uniforms, and tonight’s maroon jumpsuits are pure cool. The band digs in… Continue reading From Hive Mind to Hall of the Mountain King: Desmond Jones Sets the Stage
Jam-rock heavyweight Phish kicked off its beloved New Year’s run at Madison Square Garden on December 28, 2024. The band showed little sign of rust, despite not having played since the October 2024 benefit run in Albany, NY. The setlist included not one, but five rarities, along with a robust helping of tasty jams. The… Continue reading Phish Kicks Off Annual New Year’s Run with Setlist Rarities
