Music
Russian Circles @ Urban Lounge 03.02 w/ KEN mode, Inter...
Russian Circles’ tones, tempos and rhythms rise and fall, fold and buckle, tear and crumble, melt and congeal, in the way that mineral processes sculpt the land. The spectacle is orderly, rational, frequently beautiful, and spatially and temporally grand. … read more
Concert | Music | Show Reviews
Russian Circles @ Urban Lounge 03.02 with Inter Arma, KEN...
Russian Circles performed live at Urban Lounge March 2.
… read more
Concert | Music | Show Reviews
Pentagram @ Club Sound 03.01 with Merlin’s Beard, Kings Destroy,...
Seeing “old” bands is always a double-edged sword. On one hand, dusting off old tunes for a festival crowd or quick reunion circuit can equal big dollar signs at the ticket office, but lackluster performances from old heroes well past their prime can quickly sour that magic. I guess that’s what made this all the better. Pentagram never really had a prime to grow out of. … read more
Skinny Puppy @ Lo-Fi Cafe 02.26 with Army of the...
Outside the Lo-Fi Café there was a line to end all lines. Skinny Puppy and Army of the Universe were about hold a crowd in their hand before they crushed them with pulsating industrial rock … read more
The English Beat @ The Depot 02.26 with Insatiable
The English Beat’s arrival onstage provoked considerable excitement. Wasting no time, they blasted out “Rough Rider,” “Twist and Crawl” and “Hands Off She’s Mine”—thoroughly enjoyable with a nice beat, the folks to the right and left of me swayed and twisted. During this I tried managing a combination of dancing, snapping some pictures and avoiding getting my nose smashed by the back of some wanker’s head. Such juggling acts are not feasible for long periods of time. … read more
Foster Body @ Diabolical/Albatross Records 03.01 with The Circulars, Discoid...
Madison Donnelly punched out the beat to get this post-punk/hardcore–amalgam engine chugging, and the (comfortably) packed record-shop den began hopping. Banks scream-sang with wet effects that bounced around the speakers and the room like mad clowns at circus. Martin strummed angular chords that stabbed with bright tones and played brittle one-off lines that gave Foster Body’s songs their bite. … read more
San Fermin, Son Lux, L’Anarchiste @ Kilby Court 02.26
There was a lot of anticipation surrounding this show. That notion was clear when I arrived to a line of 50 or more people outside of Kilby Court waiting for the doors to open. As I waited in line, I looked a little closer at the venue that was on a “50 Best Concert Venues in America” list, last year. … read more
Jupiter Suit @ Velour 2.19 with Radio Motion, Soul Connection,...
“Our mission, when we perform, is to take down the barrier between band and audience,” Marquez said. “Sing-alongs, stomping feet, clapping hands … that’s where the magic happens.” Watching Marquez and his band is a bit of magic. Are they the tightest group in the world? No, but they are still kids, very talented kids albeit, and the polish will come. The barrier between them and their adoring fans was broken almost from the get-go. … read more
Deafheaven @ Bar Deluxe 02.15 with Subrosa
A cocksure Deafheaven took the stage and proceeded to obliterate shit, but not without some comedy. The vocalist, George Clark, is exceptionally charismatic, but he’s also humorously intense and clearly spends a lot of time on his hair. He wore leather gloves and a tight-fitted long-sleeve shirt that showed off his muscles. … read more
Pixies @ The Great Saltair 02.15 with Best Coast
The “Great” Saltair? I know, it’s old and quasi historic and hosted some soft-rock shitty bands your parents liked back when my uncles were jamming with Jimi and Janis on an airbase in Dan Nang. Whatever, though. It was Valentine’s weekend, and though I dug deep into the corners of my misanthropic being, I just couldn’t find it in me to get all that mad about seeing Pixies (no asterisk—fight me) in the live sphere. … read more