live shows Archive
30 Jul 2012
Concert Review: Papa Grows Funk – Asheville NC July 27 2012
Live performance and studio output are two wildly different things. Some bands are adept at crafting carefully-put-together studio albums, but when they take to the stage, they’re lifeless and stiff (or worse, show to be incompetent on their instruments). Other acts are engaging onstage, but seem never able to capture the excitement of live shows
05 Jul 2012
Concert Review: Delicate Steve
A lot of what passes these days for new and cutting-edge (i.e. “indie”) music has among its hallmarks a breathy, somewhat emasculated vibe. As I like to say, it Does. Not. Rock. Or, it’s such a mishmash of previous styles that it ends up with little personality of its own. Yes, I know that my
05 Jul 2012
Concert Review: Yellow Ostrich
If you’re the sort of person who sits around pondering odd musical juxtapositions, one of the unlikely combinations you might dream up could be: What would it sound like if Fleet Foxes were backed by Crazy Horse? Well, while the answer to that might be subtly suggested on Strange Land, the sophomore release from Yellow
10 May 2012
Event Review: Music Video Asheville
I’ve just returned from the 5th annual Music Video Asheville event, held at Cinebarre. The organizers – music publicist and event planner Erin Scholze (a nine-year veteran organizer of Asheville’s renowned LAAFF Festival) plus Kelly Denson and Jason Guadagnino – did a stellar job of promoting and executing the gala event. Bringing together video music
22 Mar 2012
Concert Review: Thomas Dolby at The Handlebar, Greenville SC (21 March 2012)
I wasn’t completely sure what to expect from a Thomas Dolby concert. I knew he’d avoid dated 80’s kitschy shtick; when I interviewed him a year ago, he memorably told me, “every week I get an offer to go off and do some eighties revival tour with ABC and A Flock of Seagulls.” With his
25 Nov 2011
Concert Review: The Miles Davis Experience 1949-1959
Miles Davis’ work passed through a number of phases; the characteristics common to all his musical eras were his uncompromising attitude toward composition, arrangement and performance, and his commitment to innovating, moving forward. A current aggregation of young players is traveling the country to bring the music of Davis’ earliest work to the masses. A
07 Nov 2011
Moogfest 2011 Recap: Day 3: The Drums, M83, Neon Indian, Passion Pit, Ford & Lopatin
Sunday was the last of the three-day Moogfest. I kept my plans fluid until the last possible moment, not deciding which acts to see until minutes before I made the (five-minute) drive downtown. I predicted – accurately, as it turned out – that attendance for these shows would be a bit lighter than Saturday’s. Some
04 Nov 2011
Moogfest 2011 Recap: Day 2, Part 3: The Flaming Lips, Amon Tobin: ISAM, Moon Duo, Brandt Brauer Frick Ensemble
The Flaming Lips Here’s the thing about the Flaming Lips: it’s all about the spectacle. Whether you like their music or not is almost, in some ways, beside the point. Saying that a given artist’s performances are “equal parts sound and spectacle” makes for a nice bit of alliteration, but when it comes to the
03 Nov 2011
Moogfest 2011 Recap: Day 2, Part 2: Hans-Joachim Roedelius, Terry & Gyan Riley
Hans-Joachim Roedelius Approaching this performance, I wondered if it would be little more than an encore of the previous day’s LunzProject set by Roedelius with Tim Story. The venue – the intimate and ever-so-slightly hoity-toity Diana Wortham Theatre – was the same, and when I entered and took my seat, I found a similar stage
02 Nov 2011
Moogfest 2011 Recap: Day 2, Part 1: Brian Eno’s “Illustrated Talk”
Brian Eno’s “Illustrated Talk” was a separately-ticketed event; Moogfest pass holders got first dibs on tickets (and a reduced price). Clearly hoping to avoid recriminations later, the promoters went to great lengths to let people know that Eno would not be playing music at this event (nor at his also-separately-ticketed “77 Million Paintings” installation at