live

There is no doubt that the Oh Sees (formerly Thee Oh Sees, and now actually just OCs) 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...

A deeper look at the grooves pressed into the 2017 vinyl reissue of the Pack Up The Plantation: Live! 2LP set by Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers. It’s far a far less common occurrence now (when virtually every band in the universe releases a live album and, thanks to digital technology,is able to “fix” every flaw in the show in post-production) but, at one time, the release of a live album meant that the band in question was confident enough...

With the amount of noise they’ve been making, it’s hard not to notice Priests. I know exactly when I noticed their noise, and that was years ago when I saw them on the Chris Gethard show. They were the musical guests for the Sleater-Kinney episode and I knew when I saw them that I had to keep an eye on them. Smart folks knew to do the same and for years everyone waited, wondering when they were going to make...

A deeper look at the grooves pressed into the Record Store Day Exclusive Release pressing of Alice In Chains’ Live Facelift 12” EP. While readers may be familiar with parts of Alice In Chains’ new Black Friday/Record Store Day release, Live Facelift, it’s nearly guaranteed that they don’t know the whole thing. They may know some of the songs – like the performance of “It Ain’t Like That” because it was the song which was playing in the background as...

I can’t remember the last time I saw a mosh pit at a show. And it’s not because I’m old or anything (although by punk standards I’m ancient), because I go to shows all the time. It must be the way things go in Boston because I’ve seen my fair share of “No Moshing” signs since moving to the city. I’ve almost begun to think they were a thing of past, until I saw Jeff Rosenstock at the Sinclair, because...

A deeper look at the grooves pressed into a vinyl copy of David Live 2LP by David Bowie. It’s incredible how good, interesting, revealing and even informative an album can be, while simultaneously being critically abhorred. How such things happen is anyone’s guess, but they do – a perfect example is the live album that David Bowie released in 1974, David Live. David Live was Bowie’s first official live album. The album compiled tracks from a two-night stand at th...

White lung Brighton Music Hall – Boston, Massachusetts – July 30, 2016   There are many ways to describe a White Lung show: ferocious, loud, energetic, threatening, powerful, transfixing. I’ve seen this band three times now, and I’m extremely glad to report that they have not lost a single beat. White Lung are one of the best bands active today and one of the greatest live acts currently touring . Their albums have a tendency to contain the same song-writing...

Leftover Crack @ Once Ballroom – Somerville, MA – June 18, 2016 Who would have guessed that the reputation Leftover Crack would have this year in Boston is as the hottest show in town. Sure, they were playing the coolest new venue in Boston (as Stefon would say, “This place has everything!”), but I remember from Punk Rock Bowling in Vegas last month that their show was one of the first to sell out. Let’s be clear here, Leftover Crack...

Brooks Wheelan Middle East – Cambridge, Massachusetts – May 7, 2016 Frequent readers of Ground Control (as you should be) know my love for Brooks Wheelan’s stand-up debut “This is Cool, Right?” We listen to a lot of records here on Ground Control and they just keep coming, but as of late, it’s becoming that stand-up albums are coming out faster than ever. On last year’s Best-of lists, I carved out a space for best Stand-Up album, and you can...

  NOFX Live: 04-28-16 Venue: Paradise in Boston, MA Review: Ollie Ottoman Photo: Scott Murry Whenever I think of NOFX live shows, I do that Italian gesture of kissing my fingers and go, “MUA!” Seriously, I have seen NOFX in small clubs and large outdoor venues (yes, the Warped Tour), and have never in my life had a bad experience. Is it because they’re such consummate musicians or because they are simply so goddamned entertaining live? Maybe it’s both. We...