Everyone's a Critic
The Shins’ return to San Diego after a five-year hiatus — for two nights at the Observatory — was special for more reasons than just the long absence and mini residency. To start, for many …
Stevie Nicks fans waited in anticipation for months after an extension of Nicks's 2016 tour was announced last fall. When her show arrived in San Diego at SDSU’s Viejas Arena on March 2, the performers …
Howard Phillips Lovecraft (1890-1937) lived whenever possible in Providence, Rhode Island (although a short-lived marriage dragged him scraping and screeching to NYC for a jaunt). He grated through poverty, obscurity, frustration, nursing his personal obsessions …
When it comes to concerts of Beethoven’s Symphony No. 5, the one turned out by the San Diego Symphony on March 4 was special. Never in my life could I have imagined anyone conducting like …
Despite a torrential downpour, fans packed the Belly Up in Solana Beach for a fun-filled evening with the English Beat. Just shy of his 61st birthday, Dave Wakeling acted like an old-time vaudevillian as he …
There exists a battle in the arts: the duality of the pure and the commodity; the passion and the product. This, certainly, is no different with records. There are ingenious albums, those that have the …
How does one begin to describe Slim Cessna’s Auto Club? The band, forming 25 years ago in Denver, defies categorization, though many have tried. Some have labeled their sound — a wickedly enchanting mix of …
We’ve seen a variety of outfits from singer/songwriter Ryan Adams throughout his expansive career. Never shy of being experimental, if you are able to get past the dismay of his Taylor Swift cover album, we …
Dropping two weeks after the inauguration of Donald Trump, crossover thrashers Iron Reagan’s new record, Crossover Ministry, couldn’t have come at a more perfect time. Eschewing the typical pizza-party fare of many crossover bands (with …
Maybe someone warned him about the Belly Up Tavern’s location in laid-back Solana Beach. Maybe it was the venue’s seated-show setup. Maybe it was because his group was playing on a Sunday night. Whatever it …
It was announced on Monday afternoon that the Hot Snakes would be playing an impromptu show later that night at John Reis’s Bar Pink in North Park. The four of them, packed onto the little …
Symphony CEO Martha Gilmore made some lovely statements before Saturday night’s symphony concert. She also made a sly remark about the house being sold out for the music of Erich Korngold. Of course, the house …
Midge Ure, at 63 years of age, can still rock the house. The former member of Ultravox, Visage, and Thin Lizzy brought his three-piece band to the Casbah, where they played songs spanning his career. …
“Over the Rainbow” would be the last piece he’d play in public for a few years. As he remarks in his liner notes, he was already sick when he did these concerts. He didn’t know …
Have you ever had a magic night involving music? This was one of those nights. Led by my psychedelic bolo tie, I walked into the Casbah with no expectations. Ziggy Shuffledust started us off. Having …
These days, Donald Glover is known more for his acting (in the critically-acclaimed FX series Atlanta, and before that, Community) than his musical endeavors as alter-ego Childish Gambino. But he’s about to even the score …