Chatham County Line sounded so fantastic last night; intense and joyous and fierce. They remain one of my favorite live acts to see, and it was a pleasure to get to shoot them so up close and personal. (Muchas gracias to Dave and to Dan Dan The Taping Man for the ticket.) Justin Robinson &…
Category: opinions about concerts
the lusitania @ motorco music hall
First up, an open letter: dear the Lusitania, I am really, really sorry that y’all had such a shitass time with the sound at your show last night, because playing at Motorco is usually way way way more fun than you guys had. If it helps, and it probably doesn’t, you sounded fantastic from where…
onward soldiers @ nightlight
On the face, this was a strange line-up: Wilmington’s sharp Americana-pop songwriters Onward, Soldiers, with the Triangle’s rockers Effingham and garage-psych trio the Pneurotics, but you know what? It did. Effingham’s Jeremy Blair writes songs with a hook and a pop sensibility if not necessarily a pop sound, and with the collaboration of Magnolia Collective…
locally grown: holy ghost tent revival
my heart was yours, honey what’s mine was yours, honey but that was only for a while
josh ritter @ the cat’s cradle
if there’s a book of jubilations, we’ll have to write it for ourselves I believe in rock and roll as a religion. I believe that if you close your eyes and tilt your head back, the right live music is capable of transformation and transportation. I believe in the church of effects pedals and goosebumps…
chimneys @ nightlight
I was looking forward to Brooklyn indie-folkers Chimneys’ set at Nightlight last night anyway, because their debut EP The Antarctic is my favorite release with that word in the title since Modest Mouse’s The Moon & Antarctica, but I was not expecting to be as blown away as I was — and I was absolutely…
the devil makes three @ cat’s cradle
Haven’t seen a great roots show at the Cradle since last fall’s Punch Brothers set, and it was a delight to see the Devil Makes Three play to an almost full house last night. Before their set, I assumed that the crowd was primarily there to see beloved local open Mandolin Orange, and while they…
magnolia collective @ the station
The second half of my Thursday double-header was Magnolia Collective’s regular residency at the Station, complete with new banjo player and an opening set by Matt Douglas, who fronts the Proclivities and plays in the Small Ponds with Caitlin Cary. Matt’s solo stuff is strange and huge and noisy, and startled me a it. MagCo,…
boulder acoustic society @ deep south
I had the pleasure of going out to Raleigh to see my favorite klezmerpunkamericana band, Denver’s Boulder Acoustic Society, last night. With a huge sound, a practically punk rhythm section, and an accordian, BAS really, really don’t sound like anyone but themselves. Their set in Raleigh swung from gorgeous bluegrass waltzes to raving klezmerpunk fusions…
sinful savage tigers @ local 506
The first half of last night’s double header was Chapel Hill’s own fierce folk and string band skuffle ensemble, Sinful Savage Tigers; they’re getting ready to release their second album of Seth Martin’s excellent songwriting, and they were in fine form last night. Seth, Seth and Andrew play and harmonize together so, so well, and…
brand new kind of photography 