Everyone's a Critic
English punk band the Buzzcocks performed a blistering set before an enthusiastic audience at the Belly Up Tavern. The club was packed with a mix of scene veterans who remember the band from its original …
“We’re the Zeros from Chula Vista, California,” said punk-rock pioneer Javier Escovedo to a packed and sweaty crowd during a “Music Thing” showcase at Bar Pink. Despite their show of local pride and deep San …
After hearing the catchy, upbeat song “Riptide,” fans of Vance Joy have been awaiting the Aussie’s debut album. Dream Your Life Away will please followers of his four released songs that have been circling the …
Using equal measures of psychedelia and sonic breathlessness, Bay Area–based singer/songwriter Ty Segall evokes a new California dream with Manipulator. At 17 tracks, Manipulator is massive, yet light as air with an effervescent ’60s vibe. …
The Baseball Project squeezed in a San Diego show before the end of the regular 2014 MLB season. The lineup for this evening featured the usual gunslingers, Scott McCaughey and Steve Wynn, alternating lead guitar …
My last trip to catch Atmosphere at the House of Blues some five years back marked the last time I would see the enigmatic wordsmith Eyedea perform before his untimely death. Following inspired sets from …
Sixties psychedelic pop band the Zombies received a hero’s welcome when they took the stage at the House of Blues for a 21-song set. While the venue seemed half full, the crowd more than made …
“He’s not a metronome,” volunteered one of my resident jazz experts on Billy Hart, age 73, who’s logged time with Wes Montgomery, Stan Getz, Chico Freeman, and three of Miles Davis’s straightest-up hardest-rockin’ sets. And …
After some bumps in the road, Millsted, a noise-punk band from Brooklyn, have hit their hardcore stride with this year’s Harlem. Vocalist Kevin Uffre is at full throttle here, and his manic shredding is matched …
I spent a small fortune on some good tickets to the Soundgarden and Nine Inch Nails concert at the Sleep Train Amphitheatre. And those pricey tickets were worth every penny! If only to hear Nine …
The misogyny trilogy still rankles, lyric-wise anyway, although “All the Girls Love Alice,” which can’t even decide if Alice’s customers rank with the young girls or “middle-aged dykes,” seems to have grown some cred of …
Self-described mod band the Bassics has been hugging the stage since Mrs. Magician’s set flared out. MM continues to enhance River Cuomo’s slack; slamming out catchy tunes about shopping malls and VCRs. But that’s not …
“Someone will die,” posted Carlos Arreguin on his Facebook page minutes before the Carnavalito Peligroso I music festival began at Plaza Fiesta. The singer of the power-violence band Calafia Puta was one of the organizers …
Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers’ 13th studio release is a hard-rocking, well-written gem. Petty’s first (ever!) number-one-selling record on the Billboard charts. Though a seasoned veteran, Petty’s voice sounds as fresh and rebellious as it …
On a cool August night in Chula Vista, Arcade Fire performed to an audience that ranged from children in animal costumes to hip grandparents and every kind of character, weirdo, and geek in between. Although …
Cheap Girls got the crowd warmed up for the Hold Steady. The trio from Lansing, Michigan, fueled by Ian Graham’s crooning vocals, was a throwback to ’90s alternative rock, most notably the Smoking Popes — …