alabama shakes @ cat’s cradle

When the Alabama Shakes slid on to the national scene last summer, with a slight EP and a handful of YouTube videos, pretty much everyone who heard them knew they were about to blow up — and they have. And you know what? Everything I’ve heard says that they’re amazing live, better than their staggering…

delta spirit @ cat’s cradle

Delta Spirit loves what they do. They write hooky songs with basslines that make you want to shake your hips, and any band that even occasionally uses two drummers is bound to groove pretty hard. They were just flat-out fun last night, and even the normally stolid Chapel Thrill crowd really got into it. I…

vacationer @ cat’s cradle

Reasons why I will go see a band live: I like them. Someone whose taste I trust told me I would like this band. A publicist I like asks me to shoot the show. A publicist in whose good graces I wish to stay asks me to shoot the show. A publicist I don’t know…

grant hart @ the cave

Dear 22 year old self, I know that, right now, you’re unhappy: you hate yourself, and your life, and you’re terrified about graduating and what the future is going to bring and all of that bullshit. The worst part is, self, that you don’t really have the words or the self-awareness to know all this,…

frontier ruckus @ local 506

Up front, I gotta say, what this show did was make me salivate for Frontier Ruckus’s new album. Last fall, Matthew Milia told me that their follow-up to Deadmalls & Nightfalls was going to be even more dense and complex, and it is, based on the new songs that they played last night, but it’s…

jonquil @ local 506

Jonquil, a smartly clever pop band from the UK, weren’t even on my radar before Monday — but when one of my favorite publicists asked me to sit down with them on Wednesday evening before their set, I was more than happy to do it. I’ll have the interview up on Monday, but for today…

the devil makes three @ cat’s cradle

After two shows, the Devil Makes Three are rapidly becoming one of my favorite bands to see live; I like their studio stuff, but their stage presence — unassuming until WHAM! they start really rocking — is a huge part of why they’re so great live. The harmonies, the thumping bass, the way they all…

fanfarlo @ cat’s cradle

Everything about seeing Fanfarlo last night at the Cradle — a small crowd, but one that really, really wanted to see this band, especially irritating underage drunk asshole who yelled for “Fire Escape” all show; with Hospitality at the 506 and War on Drugs at Kings, there was competition, plus, oh, you know, the ACC…