live

METZ are a reckoning band for me. Their music sounds endlessly complex and simple at the same time. I know I like them (more than like them, actually), but their music just doesn’t stick once I turn it off. Really, the only time that has happened to me with their music is with A Boat to Drown in. I love that song, and it’s safely stored in my memory bank. It’s what I think of when I think of METZ....

The last thing you think about after you have a near-death experience is when the next good show is coming to town. But, I love music. It’s funny, because I got hospitalized right after the last show I attended in November, and after you rehab and try to get back into your routine, the thought inevitably pops back into your head: when am I going back out there to catch a show? Starting a new demanding job didn’t help either:...

Pearl Jam Give Way Record Store Day Exclusive Everything critical that can be said about Pearl Jam has already been said. What’s left now are just end stories and personal experiences. The validity of “grunge” as a music genre can be debated (and it should be since it’s complete limited to the bands that came out of a certain part of the earth in a certain point of the 90s), but what is a fact is that Pearl Jam was...

Happy Thanksgiving! We were still so naïve in 2002. The Hives had released their second album Veni Vidi Vicious, and it was getting some mainstream attention. Not sure why. Maybe it was riding the coattails of that garage sound a la the Strokes/White Stripes/Yeah Yeah Yeahs that was all the rage at the time. As documented in Lizzy Goodman’s excellent book Meet me in the Bathroom, and the less excellent documentary movie that followed it a decade later, there was...

There is no doubt that the Oh Sees (formerly Thee Oh Sees, then just OCs, then OSEES) are an unstoppable force. Releasing what seems like their 40th album this year and another one already announced, it’s important sometimes to step back and assess what you’re getting with this band because their catalog can easily meld together into a metropolis of music. With all this published material, what would front man John Dwyer choose to highlight in a live set? The...

Seeing Ted Leo play live is not something I take lightly. It’s deeply embedded in my DNA at this point. It’s something I started doing 20 years ago with people who would go on to become some of my closest friends. Seeing Ted Leo and listening to him is more than just the music: it’s a walk down memory lane. And as the man took a break from music, I took a break from that connection. Ted Leo has now...

Miles Davis Live: What it is Montreal 7/7/83 There’s this story of Miles David being confronted by a fan in the 80s or whatever and the fan saying to him that he can’t really get into the new style and direction of his music. Miles supposedly replies, “Should I wait for you, motherfucker?” By all means, Miles. Artists should be allowed to pursue their art the way they want to. They should be allowed to express themselves the way they...

Few bands are flying the hardcore flag these days as successfully as OFF! It’s a mix of things that makes this band stand out. Sure, it’s fronted by Keith Morris of Black Flag and the Circle Jerks, who is still at the top of his game both vocally and lyrically. But, the appeal OFF! has for me are the hardcore riffs provided by Dimitri Coates. They are both musically innovative and undeniably hard and catchy. This band has already released...

Seeing Dinosaur Jr for me is a loaded affair. First off, because I had the chance to see them before, 15 years ago, but I was much more preoccupied with interviewing and seeing Mike Watt, who was opening for Dinosaur Jr, than sticking around to see them perform. I knew who J Mascis was, and stuck around backstage to meet him, but I think I met him more than he met me. A week later I was recounting the story...

Photos by the unbeatable Jen Vesp Photography...