Latest Live Shows You've Been To...

sfox50 · « **Reply #400 on:** 6 Mar 2009, 12:28 pm »

I saw the David Bromberg Quartet, backed by David's wife Nancy's Angel Band, last Saturday. Dave still picks the blues like nobody else! Nancy & the ladies were great as the opening act, then they were on with the quartet for the last few numbers. I sure hope I'm kicking as strong when I hit 70!

orthobiz · « **Reply #401 on:** 9 Mar 2009, 11:50 pm »

Great showman! I saw him at least three times in the 70's. I went to Stony Brook and I can't remember who he opened for, ?Doug Sahm?, but what a show! One time he had a woman on stage dancing to "Sharon."

I understand he makes violins in Wilmington, DE now...

Paul

Quote from: sfox50 on 6 Mar 2009, 12:28 pm

I saw the David Bromberg Quartet, backed by David's wife Nancy's Angel Band, last Saturday. Dave still picks the blues like nobody else! Nancy & the ladies were great as the opening act, then they were on with the quartet for the last few numbers. I sure hope I'm kicking as strong when I hit 70!

orthobiz · « **Reply #402 on:** 29 Mar 2009, 11:29 pm »

The Week That Was, Empty Bottle, Chicago, March 7

AC Newman, Logan Square Auditorium, Chicago, March 25

AC Newman, The Crofoot, Pontiac, MI, March 26

Coming up: The Mates of State and Robyn Hitchcock!

Paul

rockadanny · « **Reply #403 on:** 30 Mar 2009, 06:32 pm »

Last night at the Variety in Atlanta we caught Chick Corea and John McLaughlin Five Peace Band with Christian McBride, Kenny Garrett, and Brian Blade. Fabulous! A few songs seemed academic, a little bit of noodling around for each others' amusement, but most songs were good to great. And the final song, prior to their encore, was absolutely ecstatic! These dudes cook with GAS! Phenomenal! Is there a better rhythm section on the planet? I doubt it. Christian McBride may be my second most favorite bass player of all time now (Scott LaFaro still reigns for me). The only one I hadn't heard of was the drummer, Brian Blade. No worries here - this guy is fantastic! He drove them all night long - what a performer! I cannot believe there could be other jazz drummers better than this man. Kenny and John - solid. Chick - creative, wonderful, and unflappable, as usual. A real treat. A must see.

lonewolfny42 · « **Reply #404 on:** 1 Apr 2009, 03:58 am »

Quote from: rockadanny on 30 Mar 2009, 06:32 pm

Last night at the Variety in Atlanta we caught Chick Corea and John McLaughlin Five Peace Band with Christian McBride, Kenny Garrett, and Brian Blade. Fabulous! A few songs seemed academic, a little bit of noodling around for each others' amusement, but most songs were good to great. And the final song, prior to their encore, was absolutely ecstatic! These dudes cook with GAS! Phenomenal! Is there a better rhythm section on the planet? I doubt it. Christian McBride may be my second most favorite bass player of all time now (Scott LaFaro still reigns for me). The only one I hadn't heard of was the drummer, Brian Blade. No worries here - this guy is fantastic! He drove them all night long - what a performer! I cannot believe there could be other jazz drummers better than this man. Kenny and John - solid. Chick - creative, wonderful, and unflappable, as usual. A real treat. A must see.

That's some lineup....there all excellent musicians !!!

Found....future dates..... aa

WGH · « **Reply #405 on:** 4 Apr 2009, 04:23 pm »

Bruce Cockburn was in Tucson last night at the historic Rialto Theater for a solo performance. Bruce performed most of the tracks from his new solo album Slice O Life (released 4 days ago).

Bruce is in fine voice and his guitar playing is impeccable, there are 5 acoustic guitars on stage and he plays about 4 songs on each in a 2 1/2 hour concert. He loves the desert southwest and it showed in his performance, he told a few stories between songs and joked with the audience.

Do yourself a favor and catch Bruce live if you can.
http://truenorthrecords.com/TourDates.php

The Rialto has been restored with extensive floor to ceiling sound absorption on the walls and a new state of the art sound system. The sound was very clear, natural and non-fatiguing.

Rialto Theater stage with 16 – JBL Vertec 4888 DP-AN speakers (8 per side)

Wayne

chadh · « **Reply #406 on:** 4 Apr 2009, 04:45 pm »

Quote from: rockadanny on 30 Mar 2009, 06:32 pm

Last night at the Variety in Atlanta we caught Chick Corea and John McLaughlin Five Peace Band with Christian McBride, Kenny Garrett, and Brian Blade. Fabulous! A few songs seemed academic, a little bit of noodling around for each others' amusement, but most songs were good to great. And the final song, prior to their encore, was absolutely ecstatic! These dudes cook with GAS! Phenomenal! Is there a better rhythm section on the planet? I doubt it. Christian McBride may be my second most favorite bass player of all time now (Scott LaFaro still reigns for me). The only one I hadn't heard of was the drummer, Brian Blade. No worries here - this guy is fantastic! He drove them all night long - what a performer! I cannot believe there could be other jazz drummers better than this man. Kenny and John - solid. Chick - creative, wonderful, and unflappable, as usual. A real treat. A must see.

I'm catching these guys tonight!!!

But...the show was promoted here as featuring Vinny Coliuta on drums rather than Brian Blade. It'll be interesting to see who shows up.

Chad

chadh · « **Reply #407 on:** 5 Apr 2009, 04:13 pm »

The Five Peace Band at Hill Auditorium, University of Michigan

John McLaughlin - guitar
Chick Corea - keyboards and piano
Kenny Garrett - alto saxophone
Christian McBride - electric and acoustic bass
Brian Blade - drums

Rockadanny pretty much summed it up - although he might not have been ecstatic enough. These guys were great - totally en fuego.

I thought Chick was having a quiet night, until he moved onto the piano. I really thought his playing came to life then (especially on a long piece he had written explicitly for this band, called "Hymn to Andromeda.")

I was in the fourth row, center - close enough to hear John McLaughlin's guitar strings above the amplification. Sound at this position wasn't great, as I think we fell in a bit of a hole, especially with respect to McLaughlin's guitar. But it was fantastic to be so close to the action. And even at the quieter volumes, McLaughlin was awesome. He was really getting into it, too, jumping up and down, legs kicking around the place throughout his solos. And he was almost as excited listening to the others play.

Kenny Garrett was breathtaking every time he played. And I love the way he plays - with complete focus on the goal of bringing the house crashing down. I don't think I've ever heard an alto player come close to generating the same power and weight in the music. He is the quintessential ass-kicking sax player.

The weird thing was that Kenny Garrett, who usually kicks ass harder than anyone, come in only third in the ass kicking stakes last night. Brian Blade blew me away. It wasn't just a case of how well he played, but how well he made everybody else sound too. I think Kenny Garrett especially benefitted from his work, and it really showed how closely they've worked together in the past. Every sax solo was simply lifted to a whole new plane of intensity by the sympathetic drumming of Blade. It was as though he could anticipate everything that Kenny Garret was about to do, and was able to support it perfectly with his percussion.

But Brian Blade was only half of the hottest rhythm section I've ever heard. Christian McBride was an absolute monster. I have no idea how a bass player can play with so much authority and so much finesse at the same time. Rockadanny mentioned Scott LaFaro: Christian McBride plays with that same authority. And he makes it all look so easy, almost as natural as the little groovy dance he's always doing while he plays. I think every single person I talked to after the concert was in awe of him.

The show was sublime. Each of the players was fantastic - but to be honest, I suspect I could have sounded fantastic with that rhythm section behind me.

They played a whole lot of fantastic stuff, and were on fire from the outset. But the encore was the highlight of the show for me. McLaughlin and Corea came out and began a duet version of In A Silent Way. Then the others joined in, and blew everybody away with It's About That Time.

I'll still be raving about this concert in a month's time.

Chad

rockadanny · « **Reply #408 on:** 5 Apr 2009, 09:03 pm »

Chad - Great review! I picked up the 2-disc live "Five Peace Band" CD the night of the show. While not as exciting as seeing them live, still pretty darned good. Well worth picking up, especially if you've seen them perform these songs live. Glad they kicked butt for you! These guys are amazing! And if I still lived near Telegraph Rd. & Warren I'd have been at the show with you.

JoshK · « **Reply #409 on:** 5 Apr 2009, 10:42 pm »

Quote from: WGH on 4 Apr 2009, 04:23 pm

The Rialto has been restored with extensive floor to ceiling sound absorption on the walls and a new state of the art sound system. The sound was very clear, natural and non-fatiguing.

Rialto Theater stage with 16 – JBL Vertec 4888 DP-AN speakers (8 per side)

Its funny. I recently read on a pro audio forum that the Vertec is commonly known in the pro world to be the one the harshest sounding speakers made. That seems in quite contradiction to what you heard.

WGH · « **Reply #410 on:** 5 Apr 2009, 11:55 pm »

Quote from: JoshK on 5 Apr 2009, 10:42 pm

Its funny. I recently read on a pro audio forum that the Vertec is commonly known in the pro world to be the one the harshest sounding speakers made. That seems in quite contradiction to what you heard.

Probably depends on the room. When it first opened, the Rialto had the worst sound imaginable. The old theater was not built with acoustics in mind and had a very bad echo, to compensate the bands would turn up the volume. Now all the walls have acoustic panels and the place has great acoustics. The Rialto is not very big, seating only 500 so they don't need to blast the volume to fill up the space either.

All I know is that when I was there the Vertec sounded great with a single plugged-in acoustic guitar. I'll have to check out a full bore rock band sometime and report back.

Josh, the Rialto has a website with venue technical specs, ask them why they choose Vertec, it would be interesting to know.
http://www.rialtotheatre.com/venue.php

Wayne

orthobiz · « **Reply #411 on:** 14 Apr 2009, 01:35 am »

Saw Mates of State this weekend at the Metro in Chicago. Great show, good performance by Black Kids as well. Brought all three daughters, so what if I'm the oldest person there? Except maybe Thax Douglas...

Paul

toobluvr · « **Reply #412 on:** 18 Apr 2009, 04:04 pm »

Felice Brothers, Webster Hall NYC, last night.

Decent show....enjoyed them more up in Woodstock in December.

New album is well reviewed, but I'm not digging it as much as the two previous ones.

Demarche · « **Reply #413 on:** 25 Apr 2009, 04:17 pm »

Leonard Cohen, Thursday night @ the WaMu Theater in Seattle. He was fantastic @ ~75 his voice still hold up! He has assembled one, if not the, most impressive backing band I've ever seen. They played 2 sets, the 1st went about an hour and the second went almost 2 hours! He sang most everything you would have wanted to hear, Everybody Knows, Chelsea Hotel, Democracy, Famous Blue Raincoat, The Partisans, Sisters of Mercy, The Future, Tower of Song,... The only song I noticed that he didn't play was Closing Time.

I have to add that the WaMu Theater is the most sterile venue I've ever seen a show at. Just a big convention center type room that they divide up with curtains and then set up the chairs. It is a multi-use facility that wants to be all things to all people and in the process becomes nothing to anyone. All that being said they did do an excellent job with the sound, it was stellar.

Rocket · « **Reply #414 on:** 26 Apr 2009, 01:48 am »

Hi,

I've been a 'The Who' fan since Tommy the movie was released in 1975. I've got all there albums. They haven't toured Australia much in their career. The UK and US markets were too lucrative.

Anyway, I was lucky enough to see the a couple of weeks ago here in Perth Western Australia. Although the Ox and Keith Moon are now dead I found the concert very good.

The best part was I only paid $50 for a ticket.

Regards

Rod

galyons · « **Reply #415 on:** 26 Apr 2009, 04:01 am »

James Cotton and the JC Blues Band at the Little Fox Theater in Redwood City, CA. Small, intimate venue plus blues harp master, with a tight backing band, made for a great evening. As are most of the blues masters, James is showing his age!!

Cheers,
Geary

low.pfile · « **Reply #416 on:** 2 May 2009, 04:41 pm »

I finally got to see a locally grown performer live last night.

What a fun night. A beautiful spirit.

Goapele at San Francisco's The Independent.

mjosef · « **Reply #417 on:** 9 May 2009, 05:02 am »

Since my main speakers are down for the count...my ears/brain has been undergoing a recalibration(rest-time reset slide).
This concert was a perfect sound check for the ears as well as the spirit.

A complete acoustic space without electronic amplification. The Ruben Museum of Art Concert Auditorium.
Billy Bang and William Parker Duo.
http://www.jazzmuseuminharlem.org/archive.php?id=505
It was simply transcendental , closed my eyes and soared with the music.
There were several other master musicians in the audience, Anthony Braxton, Henry Grimes, and a few others.
This is the best place in the City to hear pure music, and I do hope that the Museum administration expand the program to a full jazz calendar schedule. The next concert is June 26.

Here is a clip of the Duo performing at the Mozgu Festival in Poland two years ago, will give you and idea of the experience....just an idea, two years can be a lifetime in musical time.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i7UmBCHhc08

jimdgoulding · « **Reply #418 on:** 9 May 2009, 05:28 am »

Sounds like it was fine music, fine setting. Nothing better than that. Nice.

mjosef · « **Reply #419 on:** 10 May 2009, 06:25 am »

Frank Carlberg’s Tivoli Trio at The Douglass Street Music Collective.
F.C. on piano, Aryeh Kobrinsky-bass and Jeff Davis-drums.
A local (Brooklyn) performing space run by a collective of musicians.
Live music sure can soothe a tired soul.
Two nights in a row. aa