Live Review: On a Cold and Misty Night on Long Island, Hall & Oates Heat It Up
June 11, 2011 – Some musicians are able to effortlessly create an explosion of energy with their mere presence on stage. Daryl Hall & John Oates are those kind of musicians. It was a long, cold and misty night on Long Island at the Jones Beach Amphitheater when that explosion started. It was somewhat gradual, [...]
Live Review: Glee! in DC: Like the Show, Only Way Louder
June 9, 2011 – There is screaming at a concert, and then there is screaming at a Glee! Live! concert. Nothing can quite compare to 15,000 Gleeks letting their lungs loose at the show they’ve waited an entire season to see up close and personal. It’s a good thing the cast is up for the [...]
Live Review: On 30th Anniversary Tour, Go-Gos Throw a Punk Pop Party
June 10, 2011 – When you think about it, the Go-Gos have accomplished quite a feat. Through hit records and hard times alike, the same five girls have stuck together and are still getting a kick out of playing on stage with one another. On a Friday night at the Wolf Trap in Virginia, Belinda [...]
Live Review: Years May Pass, But Frankie Valli’s Voice Remains Unchanged
June 8, 2011 – Lots has changed since the 1960s, but there are some things that have refused to change. You can still see a movie at a drive-in theater, and to this day you can still go to a concert and hear Frankie Valli’s famous falsetto. At 77, Valli is an American icon whose [...]
Live Review: Rihanna’s Opening Night Becomes a Flirtatious Escapade
June 4, 2011 – There was strutting on a moving catwalk, there were military cannons, fireworks, a flurry of backup dancers, grinding on a moving platform, and there was a crowd of 13,000 fans screaming for more. It was opening night of Rihanna‘s LOUD Tour in Baltimore. Hot of the success of her smash hit [...]
Live Review: Good Old Fashioned Rock N’ Roll from Creedence Clearwater Revisited and Three Dog Night
June 3, 2011 – “Do you think you’ll still be on stage 40 years from now?” Original Creedence Clearwater Revisited members Stu Cook and Doug Clifford might have laughed at that question in 1968. And it’s a likely bet that Three Dog Night vocalists Danny Hutton and Cory Wells would have scoffed at it too. [...]
Live Review: New Kids on the Block and Backstreet Boys Heat Up the Dance
May 29, 2011 – Women in homemade t-shirts are screaming and holding signs. You hear certain names being shouted over and over again – Donnie, Nick, Danny, Howie, and “A.J.”. Then it all starts to make sense. You’re at a New Kids on the Block and Backstreet Boys concert, shortened to the unbelievably long acronym [...]
Live Review: Sugarland Steams Through Columbia on the ‘Incredible Machine’
May 22, 2011 – Surrounded by a web of gears and machinery, Jennifer Nettles and Kristian Bush looked awfully small on stage when the curtains dropped at Sugarland‘s tour stop at the Merriweather Post Pavilion. But small would certainly not be the word to fit the current status of these two musicians world of country [...]
Live Review: 38 Special Fires off the Hits in Fredericksburg
May 20, 2011 – 38 Special couldn’t lose their signature southern rock grit even if they tried. It must come natural from being one of the hardest working bands in the business over their 30 plus years of touring and recording. “Oh man, I love this job,” quipped co-frontman Don Barnes during a fiery guitar [...]
Live Review: My Chemical Romance and Neon Trees Infect First Avenue
April 12, 2011 – A pack of over a thousand screaming and shoving fans just couldn’t get close enough to their rock heroes My Chemical Romance and Neon Trees on Tuesday night at First Avenue in Minneapolis. Perhaps the all-ages show featuring two of the hottest touring post-punk acts crammed into a small club made [...]
Live Review: Elton John Knocks out Bismarck
April 6, 2011 – When a legend like Elton John takes the stage, it can take a while for the reality of their presence to set in. Such was the case when the legendary singer/songwriter took the stage at a sold-out Bismarck Civic Center last night. Sure, there were plenty of cheers when Elton made [...]
Live Review: Doobie Brothers Can’t Seem to Stop
August 14, 2010 – Some bands have built such a reputation for stellar live performances that expectations at any given show are set quite high. Known for tight harmonies and energetic musicianship, the Doobie Brothers are one of those bands. But they’re well aware of those expectations, and ready to exceed them. While capping off [...]
Live Review: Bob Dylan Still Hard to Define
August 10, 2010 – It goes without saying that you won’t find massive flashing lights or pyrotechnics at a Bob Dylan concert. Nor will you see the 69-year-old songwriter doing jumps and kicks in the air as he jams on the guitar. What you will see and hear is a music legend, and his songs. [...]
Live Review: For Scorpions, Farewell Comes too Soon
August 13, 2010 – For a band that’s on a proclaimed farewell tour, the Scorpions sure don’t appear ready to leave the stage. When this German metal band became a household name decades ago, the soaring vocals of Klaus Meine coupled with piercing guitars and strong melodies were what did it. Making their first ever [...]
Live Review: Buckcherry Go Up a Notch for “All Night Long”
August 9, 2010 – Touring hard for a decade, Buckcherry has more than enough stamina to make it through a set of rambunctious mainstream rock anthems. They’ve never played a boring show, but now in support of their fifth studio album it seems that the band has made their concerts into an even bigger spectacle. Buckcherry [...]
Live Review: Ozzy Osbourne Brings the Scream to Sturgis
August 12, 2010 – Accept no substitutes; the Prince of Darkness is reigning once again. Ozzy Osbourne has built such an immortal status in the world of hard rock and metal that seeing him in concert is a somewhat surreal experience. But the much anticipated concert in Sturgis at the Legendary Buffalo Chip was very, [...]
Live Review: Mötley Crüe Keeps the Grime and Grit
August 11, 2010 – Some bands change their formula constantly over time to satisfy fans and musical trends. Others, like Mötley Crüe, just stay the same. Sure they’ve cleaned up the act of overindulgence a bit in order to stay alive, but to quote Larry King from the band’s 2008 interview, “There’s plenty of hard [...]
Live Review: A Hard Rock Night with Tesla and Drowning Pool
August 7, 2010 – There really wouldn’t seem to be much crossover among the fans of ’80s hard rockers Tesla and alternative metal styled Drowning Pool. And perhaps in normal circumstances, there isn’t. But when both bands shared the bill on Saturday night at the Legendary Buffalo Chip in Sturgis, the fans gathered were ready [...]
Live Review: Blues Still Has Hold on ZZ Top
August 9, 2010 – There is no messing with ZZ Top. And that’s not just because we’ve all been told not to mess with Texas. It’s because the same three guys – Billy Gibbons, Dusty Hill, and Frank Beard – have had one of the most consistently successful music careers ever. Blending blues with pop-friendly [...]
Live Review: Dave Mason & Lee Rocker Present a Welcome at the Chip
August 6, 2010 – Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee Dave Mason has given the Best Party Anywhere its official start with a little help from rockabilly double bassist Lee Rocker. It was an opening ceremony of sorts, and fans were quick to filter in for a taste of stellar musicianship from two names that [...]
Live Review: Frankie Valli Tells the Story of an Era
July 15, 2010 – There aren’t many singers who can boast the consistent career and vocal ability of Frankie Valli. Now into the seventh decade of his career, Valli is still taking his sentimental, feel-good hits on the road for all to see and hear, and that’s good news for anyone who appreciates being entertained [...]
Live Review: Heart Unleashes a Firestorm of Hits and Energy
August 1, 2010 Sisters Ann and Nancy Wilson have been together through the good times and bad over their 35 plus years in the groundbreaking rock band Heart. It boggles the mind to think of the hours spent riding with each other in the tour bus, recording songs in a studio, or putting on a [...]
Live Review: On Reunion Tour, Bachman & Turner Bring Their Best
July 28, 2010 – Whenever Randy Bachman has collaborated with Fred Turner, the result has been flawless, rough but polished rock classics. Although the two Canadian music greats who brought us the likes of “Takin’ Care of Business” have spent much of the past two decades on their separate journeys, they could only fight their [...]
Live Review: Steve Miller Band Strikes a Chord on ‘Bingo’ Tour
July 27, 2010 – Steve Miller seems to have scored bingo at this point in his career. And yes, that choice of phrasing might have a little something to do with the title of his brand new album. But regardless, it’s clear that the revered singer-songwriter known for far-out guitar licks and lyrics alike is [...]
