Photo by Cassandra Dunn on Unsplash. Like many Austinites, I’ve mostly viewed South by Southwest as a good excuse to retreat from downtown. In 2020, when I was actually looking forward to making an effort, the whole thing shut down. And despite my previous detachment, I was cartoonishly distressed. A lot of it was what…
Tag: Concert
Maggie Rogers’ ACL Snub: She IS Sensitive, and That’s Okay
Maggie Rogers stands onstage alone, acoustic guitar in hand, to begin her encore at Austin’s Moody Theater. In a heartfelt speech about gratitude, Rogers thanks the 24 people who worked on the set and lighting, and the fans who brought her music to light. She has barely been home in three years, thanks to her…
Gogol Bordello: Smuggling in the Immigrant Culture of Gypsy Punk
Originally seen on Tastemakers Online, September 20, 2017 Gogol Bordello is what might happen if a drummer and a bassist put out a call for an exceptional frontman, and took five of them. The real story is this: the Ukrainian immigrant frontman Eugene Hütz (who you might already know as the life of the movie…
Girls Wear Makeup For…? Blondie and Garbage’s Rage and Rapture Tour
Originally seen on Tastemakers Online, August 5, 2017 Last night was the first time in my life I wore blush: girls don’t wear makeup for boys, they wear makeup for Debbie Harry. (Boys wear makeup for Debbie Harry, too.) On this stop of the Rage and Rapture Tour I saw several pairs of icy blue…
ZZ Top Live Without Guest Gregg Allman: Confronting and Celebrating Aging in Live Music
I read a review of a Paul McCartney show recently that opened with a rather morbid reminder that he won’t be around forever. I wondered if Paul McCartney really deserved such a sobering introduction but in retrospect, I think I needed the reality check on celebrity aging before venturing out to the Blue Hills Bank…
Hippo Campus Rocks Boston at the Middle East
(Photo from TheBayBridged.com) Hippo Campus is a young band, and it shows through their massive success in only the best ways. Though a great majority of the room had at least a few years on them, the four men of Hippo Campus have a commanding stage presence that more than filled the room – already…
DIIV Reminds Boston Audience How To Enjoy Live Music
(Picture from SPIN.com at Governor’s Ball) Concertgoers at DIIV’s June 7th show at the Sinclair in Boston got several shows for the price of one – not that they deserved it. An opener, a standup act, a story of inner strength and persistence, a tragedy, and finally, the underdog’s victory. In this mood-swing-ridden identity crisis of…
Attunement 