Everyone's a Critic
After years of paying dues in various groups and collectives, Onry Ozzborn has put Northwest hip-hop on the map. His experiments in varying degrees of morose expressionism turned an artistic corner with the release of …
You'd think Cupid had put the kibosh on former Texas Is the Reason bassist Garret Klahn's new project. Dean, Bar Pink's dedicated sound jockey, fords the challenge of balancing Klahn's acoustic with John Herguth's electric …
She beguiles me. She fascinates me. Her knack for hovering right outside a lyric, desire pressed to the emotion(s) within (a scenario she evinces literally for "Goodbye, Little Yellow Bird") reminds me of no one …
Canadian singer-songwriter and three-time Grammy-winner Sarah McLachlan brought her tour to San Diego, where she played to a sold-out Spreckels Theatre downtown. There was no opening act. Instead, two members of McLachlan’s band, Buttefly Boucher …
If any performer has earned the right to sing the blues, it's Gregg Allman. His brother died in a motorcycle accident in 1971 at the peak of the Allman Brothers band's ascent up the charts. …
Going to watch Yelawolf in Mira Mesa was like being let in on a secret. Even through several underwhelming openers (except for locals Black Resume, whose lively set seemed to gain a few new fans …
Sam Beam, the heavily bearded indie virtuoso better known as Iron & Wine, has mastered the craft of the beautiful sad song. His folksy songs tell withered tales of loss and longing. Carrying these songs …
Grace Potter and the Nocturnals, a Jay Leno favorite (two appearances in the past month), have been playing to packed houses across the country. Their show at House of Blues was no different. GPN, as …
Anton Barbeau’s last one, Plastic Guitar, defied most expectations. Specifically, I didn’t expect a pop-monger to get funky courtesy of a few stealth Cake members, and the Jesus thing, while left-field, seemed sincere. Barbeau seems …
It's remarkable how savagely drunk some people get at the most mellow of concerts. Somewhere between the Jello shots and middle-aged women screaming during choruses like boy-band groupies, Amos Lee played an intricate, relaxed set …
If Freddy Mercury were alive, I'm sure he would be in awe of Jake Shimabukuro's virtuoso ukulele version of "Bohemian Rhapsody." As he did on his first album with the George Harrison classic "While My …
Alt-rock five-piece Cage the Elephant from Bowling Green, Kentucky, played a "secret" acoustic show for FM94/9 at Hodad's in Ocean Beach. Toning down their garage-rock volume to acoustic versions worked well for the cramped confines …
Robert Wyatt, an art-rock category-confounder who sometimes lists toward the traditional, weaves seemingly disparate strands into this set of haunting sob-songs, jazz standards, and originals. Cello, alto sax, and strings throw washes of color behind …
UCSD's music department has been presenting concerts all week featuring returning alumni and staff, including singer and bassist Kristen Korb, who opened Saturday's show, and the creative free-jazz co-op Cosmologic, which closed it. The event …
I went through Tift Merritt's new one while reading John Glatt's Lost and Found — that's the true story of Jayce Lee Dugard, who, should you not recall, was/is the girl kidnapped off the streets …
The Old 97's stormed into the Abbey like an alt-country Ramones, with a blitzkrieg 50-minute assault on the ears of a packed house. Scheduled as a KPRI promotion, their abbreviated set served to whet the …