Event Reviews: July 2008

Just like the Beatles belong to Liverpool, Nirvana to Seattle, and N.W.A. to Compton, Sonic Youth belongs to New York…

The second annual edition of Less Than Jake's Shout it Loud summer tour recently rolled through the Detroit area, bringing Goldfinger, Big D and the Kids Table, and Suburban Legends along for the ride.

For all the doom and gloom and visions of burning worlds and people done wrong and other snatches of terror, the Black Angels revel in their own interplay and are in love with how corrosive noise can be controlled (if never crisply shaped) to maximize dramatic effect

There’s a hole in the soul of America, and Tony Award winner (August: Osage County) Tracy Letts has written the allegory reflecting the possibly permanent national “skin condition." His comedy-drama, Superior Donuts, made its world premier at Chicago’s Steppenwolf Theater.

With TV on the Radio in town, blasting out new material alongside intense versions of “I Was a Lover” and “Wash the Day Away”, Buffalo, for a brief night, was the center of the universe.

LA’s Sunset Strip might be known for fake boobs and lame facial hair, but there’s also the music. PopMatters’ intrepid reporters Pamela Chelin and Lee Miller attended the first annual Sunset Strip Music Festival and returned with an armful of exclusive interviews that imply the area is revving up for a revival.

More cult than comedian, Eddie Izzard tackles such topics as dinosaurs; religion; dinosaur religion; and Scrabble in a world before language (which was quite the high scoring game)…

Live, Love is All is akin to a cavalry charge. They are both emphatic and euphoric, always crossing that musical finishing line with their arms aloft and voices raised.

With a blockbuster live show, a stunning new album, and the endorsement of one of this era's greatest musicians, Grupo Fantasma are closer than ever to becoming a household name.

Though gospel was dominant, Lovett is through and through a cowboy. There was a point—either during “Cowboy Man” or “Cute as a Bug” —when cosmopolitan New Yorkers breached a realm where violins cease to be called violins (fiddles) and distinction is measured in liquid volume (ten gallons).

Vocalist Lisa Kekaula controlled the music with a voice as full-bodied as her afro, and prowled around the stage as if she was scanning the audience for prey. "I know this is a Monday night," she said, "but I need you to act like it's Friday night! I've come to give you EVERYTHING, but you're gonna have to give something back to me! I've got a job to do, but so do you...and YOU CLOCKED IN WHEN YOU WALKED IN!!!"

Mission of Burma’s continued relevance, cemented by the two excellent albums released since their reunion, is just one thing that separates them from the current crop of groups reuniting around classic albums. Their music, and their performance, is much too timely to ever be confused with nostalgia.

Clyne then warned the audience to pace themselves and not get overheated (Gruene Hall has some well-placed fans and is open-air on one side, but there is no air-conditioning) or too drunk, because the band was going to play for a long time.

Judging by this concert, Williams seems to have emerged unscathed from the demons that used to torment her. She sang with an easygoing grace. The edginess that once made her concerts dangerous was no longer present. It was clear Williams was having a good time and enjoyed performing to an appreciative audience.

The only way to have approached this show was in the exact manner that Liz Phair delivered it; a detached celebration of an album that leaves its indelible mark on those who listen, regardless of time, or criticism, or who Liz Phair was then, is now, or will be in 15 more years.

Grand Archives (led by Mat Brooke, formerly of Carissa's Wierd and Band of Horses) evoke the pastoral beauty of the Pacific Northwest with their lush sound and wistful pop melodies that are both earthy and earnest.

Now that the "dance-punk" sound has begun to fall out of favor, I was finally about to get beyond the trendiness of Snowden's music, and appreciate them for the excellent songwriters and musicians that they truly are.

Over five nights, the former Grateful Dead bassist played eight of the Dead’s albums in full, in order, culminating with a final, six-and-a-half hour show that was a fitting finale to San Francisco’s Warfield Theatre, which is closing for renovations and will re-open under new management.