Review: Nikki Lane at Gypsy Sally’s
Because Nikki Lane has a portrayed herself so effectively in videos as a snarling, dangerously vindictive woman who burns down the motorcycle of a cheatin’ ex, the kind of vengeful…
Jay Farrar’s Re-‘Trace’ at the Birchmere
The proof of music that’s truly enduring can now be clearly measured in decades, so with the 20th anniversary of the Son Volt debut “Trace” comes a tour by Jay…
The Carole King Musical, ‘Beautiful’
In an era when jukebox musicals proliferate, it’s sort of a no brainer to make a show out of one of the best selling albums of all time. Carole King’s…
Dave Davies at the Howard Theatre
With one quarreling brother over 70 and the other just under, how much longer can we go on expecting a Kinks reunion? Maybe the great band finally did play its…
Chuck Prophet at Jammin’ Java
Rangy San Franciscan Chuck Prophet has a great little band in the Mission Express, but every so often he breaks away for a solo tour. Armed with just an acoustic…
Rockers On Tour with Books Not Guitars
Elvis Costello and Patti Smith both made it to town on tour this week, less encumbered than they’ve ever been. There were no trucks, no equipment and no roadies on…
The Bottle Rockets at Gypsy Sally’s
The purpose of a lot of band’s tours is to promote the new album. But I can’t imagine many being so thorough about it than the Bottle Rockets, who played…
Keeping Up the ‘Odessey’ Vocally
When I talked to Rod Argent about The Zombies tour, playing the whole of its legendary "Odessey and Oracle" album in the U.S. for the first time this fall, I…
Walking the Landmark Music Festival
Since the days of Woodstock, the big destination rock festivals for years only occurred in England, Europe and other exotic places. In the past decade or two, though, there has…
Review: Yo La Tengo at the Lincoln Theatre
I like to think it’s because of Ira Kaplan’s origins as a rock writer for the Village Voice and the old New York Rocker, that he and his wife Georgia…