CD Review: Ben Folds/Nick Hornby — Lonely Avenue; Playing The Tabernacle, November 21

CD Review: Ben Folds/Nick Hornby — Lonely Avenue; Playing The Tabernacle, November 21

Ben Folds/Nick Hornby Lonely Avenue Nonesuch By Al Kaufman If there is a rap against Ben Folds, the wildly talented pianist and songwriter, it is that he is too white. It is a flag he flies with pride in songs like “Rockin’ the Suburbs.” His characters are mostly slacker youths whose problems are akin to […]

Q&A with Jeff Daniels; Playing Smith’s Olde Bar, October 30

Q&A with Jeff Daniels; Playing Smith’s Olde Bar, October 30

By David Courtright Jeff Daniels, like many successful people in the creative industry, doesn’t sit still well. Aside from Screen Actors Guild and Tony Award nominations, aside from starring roles in classics like Dumb and Dumber, Pleasantville, and The Squid and the Whale, he is also a prolific playwright and champion of small theater. And […]

Live Review: Project 96.1 Reunion with Bullet For My Valentine at Verizon Wireless Amphitheater at Encore Park, October 3

Live Review: Project 96.1 Reunion with Bullet For My Valentine at Verizon Wireless Amphitheater at Encore Park, October 3

By Ellen Eldridge; photo by Lisa Solomon Keel Sunday night’s show at Verizon Amphitheater was presented by Project 96.1 as the Family Reunion tour in a similar fashion to the Family Values tours of previous years. The combination of pop-metal bands felt a bit like a dysfunctional family picnic with Stone Temple Pilots acting as […]

CD Review: Tired Pony — The Place We Ran From

CD Review: Tired Pony — The Place We Ran From

Tired Pony The Place We Ran From Mom & Pop Records By Scott Roberts Despite the beleaguered quality of the name of this super-group of sorts, Tired Pony, led by Snow Patrol’s Gary Lightbody and featuring the notable talents of R.E.M.’s Peter Buck and Belle and Sebastian’s Richard Colburn amongst others, has put together a […]

CD Review: American Bang – American Bang; Playing The Masquerade, October 10

CD Review: American Bang – American Bang; Playing The Masquerade, October 10

American Bang American Bang Reprise By Al Kaufman American Bang is a rock and roll band; of that there is no doubt. Their debut CD opens with what sounds like a wild sound check, then blasts into “Whiskey Walk,” which contains the type of spiraling guitars that were Living Color’s trademark back in the early […]

Live Review: Efterklang, Field Music, Buke and Gass at The EARL, September 27

Live Review: Efterklang, Field Music, Buke and Gass at The EARL, September 27

By Giles Turnbull Seeing Buke and Gass live made me re-evaluate many things. If you’ve read my review of Riposte, their debut album, you’ll recall that the Buke is a modified six-string baritone ukulele and the Gass is a hybrind, part guitar, part bass, and in addition to these creations, Arone Dyer and Aron Sanchez […]

Live Review: Mastodon, Deftones, Alice In Chains at Aaron’s Amphitheatre at Lakewood, September 28

Live Review: Mastodon, Deftones, Alice In Chains at Aaron’s Amphitheatre at Lakewood, September 28

Review by Ellen Eldridge; photo by Robb Cohen The tour title, BlackDiamondSkye, creatively showed the unity between bands Mastodon, Deftones, and Alice In Chains, but, at the same time, the bands’ combination of words from the latest album releases lead to the realization that had they stuck with the first word from each release the […]