I was expecting to see a couple of guys with acoustic guitars harmonizing about idyllic life in the mountains…sort of John Denver x 2. Instead Jamestown Revival showed up as a five-piece rockin’ band ready to show off their arsenal of Texas roadhouse tunes and, yes, some fine harmonies. This show is part of the […]
They say you need to see The Fall at least once before you die. Well, I can tick that one off my bucket list. Was it worth it? Not really. Mark E Smith and his ever-changing crew may have been relevant at some point in their 30 + year career, but for this neophyte, I’m […]
My how times change. Back in the mid-70s, when Kiss first emerged out of the rapidly-deteriorating New York City landscape, they represented, to certain factions, all that endangered good, upstanding family values. Now, 40 years later, that same band provides a night’s entertainment for not only rebellious teenagers, but mothers, fathers, toddlers and grandparents…its fun […]
The billing of last night’s Avalanche City show wasn’t entirely fair. My ticket said “Avalanche City with Benny Tipene,” but asThe 13th Floor arrived at Auckland’s Mercury Theatre — the show had originally been booked for one of the Town Hall’s smaller chambers, but ticket sales had impressed the promoters so much that they moved […]
What Russell Brand would have you believe tonight’s show was about, and what it was actually about, are two very different things. Brand came onstage, a good half-hour later than scheduled, following a montage of aren’t-you-shocked photos of homeless people and Abu Ghraib prisoners and street protests and clips of Brand himself being interviewed on […]
Last time I saw Skyscraper Stan he was opening up for — and utterly outclassing, in the process — Holly Arroswmith. That night, also at the Tuning Fork, about a month ago, Stan shared the stage with just Oskar Herbig, his cousin and guitar player. Last night he was back with his band the Commission […]
Beware all ye who enter here. Up these sweeping steps and between the crumbling pillars of the once-grand Mercury Theatre, a beautiful haze of existential angst awaits. Shayne Carter is preparing to unleash his one man blues explosion, and a string quartet is about to usher SJD’s latest album, Saint John Divine, up into the […]
With his new, and arguably best, album, B’lieve I’m Goin’ Down, fresh out of the oven, Kurt Vile is touring the US with his band, The Violators. The 13th Floor’sMarty Duda caught the second of their two-night sold-out stand at New York City’s Webster Hall. Webster Hall is a somewhat historic New York venue, having […]
So a few years ago it was announced that Toxic Holocaust would be hitting our shores, to great excitement. Then it was postponed. Then it just sorta dropped of the timetable, being indefinitely put on hold, then it was cancelled. People were pretty pissed, not just because they were hugely disappointed but because of the […]
Take salty sea dog Barry Saunders, pocket rocket Tami Neilson, wounded tom cat Delaney Davidson and mama’s sweetheart Marlon Williams, put them in a gothic cathedral chancel in front of a rose window, and pray. Over the next couple of hours you’ll meet the devil himself, hear the voices of angels and perhaps even bear […]