[ad_1]
If you tuned into the 2025 VMAs, Tate McRae undoubtedly stole the show in her debut. In between dates on her Miss Possessive Tour, the Canadian pop star did an in-venue awards show performance of “Revolving Door” and “Sports Car.” Surrounded by statuesque, oiled-up muscle men in underwear, she gave sultry looks and did a back bend as she powered through “Sports Car.” She writhed around in the sand and pulled off some exhilarating dance moves…
[ad_2]
Eric Diep
Source link
[ad_1]
As the Texas heat finally began to loosen its grip, the Pavilion at Toyota Music Factory in Irving became the epicenter of nostalgia and emo-fueled joy on Saturday, Sept. 6. The sold-out crowd was treated to a spectacular finale of Simple Plan’s Bigger Than You Think!…
[ad_2]
Preston Barta
Source link
[ad_1]
“New Jersey is my home,” said Nick. “But Dallas will always be where I was born.” So began the Jonas Brothers’ monologue about hometowns, performed for a packed Dos Equis Pavilion on Sunday, Aug. 31…
[ad_2]
Julianna Chen
Source link
[ad_1]
Nine Inch Nails’ latest tour is all about extremes.
From piano ballads to industrial rockers to dance makeovers, the show the band puts on during its “Peel It Back Tour,” which included a stop Sunday at Rocket Arena in Cleveland, represents many of the things leader Trent Reznor and his crew have done since he started the project in this city in 1988.
And that, combined with first-class lights and graphics presentation, made for an exhilarating 100 minutes.
Before we go farther, though, let’s address what Reznor did during the show for Cleveland, which, in his own words, “shaped me into who I became.” The answer: not much. There was little to set this show apart from others on the tour. He even dropped a song from the upcoming soundtrack to “Tron: Ares” that online setlist show was played at other recent stops.
But that’s a minor gripe for what was otherwise one of the most unique concerts the city hosted this year.
Really, the show was about 2 1/2 hours long, as opening DJ Boys Noize played for roughly an hour, sounding like the music playing in a warehouse hosting a dance party as Batman bursts in to beat up the bad guys. There was no set break, and the DJ’s finale cued the curtain covering a small square stage set up in the middle of the arena to drop.
Reznor, whose band was making his first appearance in Northeast Ohio since a 2022 show at Blossom Music Center, was alone. He went right into 2005’s “Right Where It Belongs,” captivating a capacity crowd with just his voice and piano playing. Gradually, his bandmates joined him during “Ruiner” and “Piggy (Nothing Can Stop Me Now).”
Then it was to the main stage, where moody lighting, strobes and images projected onto and behind a transparent screen surrounding the band. That’s where Nine Inch Nails ripped into intense, feedback-laden takes on “Wish” and “March of the Pigs.” Reznor, alternating between guitar and clutching a microphone like his life depended on it, sounded just as good at age 60 as he did decades ago.
Special props also go to journeyman drummer/Foo Fighters castoff Josh Freese, who mercilessly pounded the skins throughout the night, and guitarist Robin Finck, who switched from histrionics to more mellow textures in a split second.
The show vacillated between the searing and the dance-y, from hits to deep cuts. For every hyper-aggressive song like “Mr. Self Destruct,” there was a “Copy of A” (which featured cartoon graphics following his stage moves). For every “Head Like a Hole,” there was the band’s cover of David Bowie’s “I’m Afraid of Americans”
And then there was the mid-show collaboration with Boys Noize, which saw the DJ collaborating live on remixes of 1994’s “Closer” and deeper tracks like “Vessel” and “Came Back Haunted.” The segment augmented the intensity of the harder songs with electronic textures. Of course, this is nothing new for the band, but the takes on the tunes were fresh and left this reviewer wanting more (including that unplayed song).
The band closed the show with a stripped-down take on “Hurt,” again providing a showcase for Reznor’s underrated vocals. Like the 18 songs before it, it was unflinchingly raw and intense. But it also showed another dimension to Nine Inch Nails music on a night which already featured many of them.
Setlist (via setlist.fm and my own recollection):
1. Right Where It Belongs
2. Ruiner
3. Piggy (Nothing Can Stop Me Now)
4. Wish
5. March of the Pigs
6. Reptile
7. Find My Way
8. Copy of A
9. Gave Up
10. Vessel (with Boys Noize)
11. Closer (with Boys Noize)
12. Came Back Haunted (with Boys Noize)
13. Mr. Self Destruct
14. Less Than
15. The Perfect Drug
16. I’m Afraid of Americans (David Bowie cover)
17. The Hand That Feeds
18. Head Like a Hole
Encore:
19. Hurt
Eric Heisig is a freelance writer in Cleveland. He can be reached at [email protected].
[ad_2]
Eric Heisig
Source link
[ad_1]
Kali Uchis, born Karly-Marina Loaiza, was met with love and admiration from her fans during her recent visit to Dallas, the eleventh stop of her headlining The Sincerely, Tour, which kicked off on Aug. 14. On Saturday, Aug. 30, the Colombian American artist performed before a nearly sold-out audience at the American Airlines Center in downtown Dallas…
[ad_2]
Aria Bell
Source link
[ad_1]
Erykah Badu and The Alchemist made history, performing their album Abi & Alan in full during their live tour before its official release on streaming services. On their Aug. 24 date in Austin at ACL Live, we sent our contributor Rachel Parker to hear it first…
[ad_2]
Rachel Parker
Source link
[ad_1]
St. Vincent gave a solid, sometimes exhilarating performance on Friday in Cleveland, one that showed, as her solo career approached 20 years, why she’s inspired many other indie-minded artists.
The musician, making her first appearance in the area in front of a sold-out crowd outside the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame since a 2021 show at the Agora Theatre, delivered 14 songs over 90 minutes. The breadth of her material, which includes harder rocking earlier songs, piano ballads and electronic-inspired grooves, was on display, and was proof of what happens when a restless mind has time to create.
That restlessness was on display during the concert. While St. Vincent—real name Annie Clark—acknowledged the set hadn’t changed during the year-plus she toured to promote last year’s return-to-form record “All Born Screaming,” she still found ways to tinker. Whether it was through an extended musical interlude interlude or singing snippets of the Grace Jones-popularized “Warm Leatherette” and Donna Summer’s “I Feel Love” before the pulsing backbeat of “Sugarboy” gave way to the song itself, they all seemed like ways for the artist to make the songs feel fresh.
And for the most part, it did. Starting with opener “Reckless”—which began with Clark singing while piano courtesy of Rachel Eckroth wobbled behind her, only to give way to a more intense backdrop—St, Vincent and her quartet of backing musicians delivered renditions that expanded on their studio counterparts.
As for the artist herself, the show was proof how much she’s evolved. Sure, it’s been several years since she used her guitar and considerable chops as a sort-of crutch, but in that time she turned into a commanding performer. Her unique moves, like the demented catwalk turn on “Broken Man” to her dancing and prowling on “Pay Your Way in Pain,” only enhance what’s going on in the music. It’s hard to look away.
She also now wields the guitar only when she has something to say with it, like on a thrashy “Cheerleader” or during a demented solo of “Marrow.”
Her skills as a performer were enough to forgive her for yelling “Hello Cleveland” early on during the show. In her defense, though, she acknowledged it’s played out, but, but did it anyway after noting that Christopher Guest—start of “This Is Spinal Tap,” which is where the jokey phrase was popularized—played her guitar in the upcoming sequel.
Still, her restlessness occasionally got the best of her. Interjections during “New York” and show closer “Candy Darling” were distracting and momentum-killing. But those were the exceptions, and when St. Vincent focused, the results were often thrilling and showed why she remains revered.
Openers Gustaf delivered 45 minutes of herky-jerky rock that showed the quintet worshipped the dance and punk bands of the late 1970s. When the bass and drums locked in, and the guitar found space between the grooves for some noise, the music bordered on exciting. But it proved to be too much of a good thing, and despite the delivery of lead singer Lydia Gammill—whose aggression strangely lined up with the swarms of midges that repeatedly descended on the crowd—the set was a bit monotonous by the end.
Setlist:
1. Reckless
2. Fear the Future
3. Los Ageless
4. Broken Man
5. Birth in Reverse
6. Dilettante
7. Pay Your Way in Pain
8. Flea
9. Cheerleader
10. Marrow
11. New York
12. Sugarboy
13. All Born Screaming
Encore:
14. Candy Darling
Eric Heisig is a freelance writer in Cleveland. He can be reached at [email protected].
Subscribe to Cleveland Scene newsletters.
Follow us: Apple News | Google News | NewsBreak | Reddit | Instagram | Facebook | Twitter | Or sign up for our RSS Feed
[ad_2]
Eric Heisig
Source link
[ad_1]
Neil Young has a few things on his mind in 2025.
He’s worried about the state of the world politically. He wants the earth to remain habitable. And he’s got mortality on his mind.
But Young, not usually one for subtlety, didn’t hit the Blossom Music Center crowd over the head with his messaging as bluntly as he could on Friday night. Instead, he let some of his best-known tunes and obscurer cuts do most of the talking over nearly two hours. While those looking for a strictly greatest hits set were bound to be disappointed (though, honestly, who expects that from Young after he defied expectations time and time again?), there was plenty to enjoy over the 17 songs torn through by him and backing band the Chrome Hearts.
The alternately ferocious and tender set by the esteemed singer/songwriter/rocker, who made his first appearance in Northeast Ohio since a 2012 show with backing band Crazy Horse at the Wolstein Center in Cleveland, had songs spanning nearly six decades. From Buffalo Springfield’s “Mr. Soul” to new song “Silver Eagle,” Young proved what he was capable of at his height and what he can still do as he pushes 80 years old.
The show was a sampler of all his talents, idiosyncrasies and messages, from the calls to “save Mother Earth” on 2003’s “Be the Rain” to the almost hypnotic pump organ-driven “Name of Love” to the powerful “Ohio,” played about 15 miles from the site of the National Guard’s deadly intervention in a 1970 Vietnam War protest that inspired the song. He shouted and sang through a megaphone at times and played behind a huge prop of an orange speaker.
And while we should perhaps feel lucky to see Young live at all—especially after a tour with Crazy Horse last year was called off part way through after it proved to be too much for the band to handle—he showed he doesn’t need any propping up. His guitar work, whether on his “Old Black” Gibson Les Paul on “Cowgirl in the Sand” or on acoustic like on showstopper “Harvest Moon,” remains top notch. His nasally voice is also remarkably intact, which was evidenced by the plainspoken delivery on show opener “Ambulance Blues” and his shout-singing over the cacophony on “Southern Man.”
Also, lucky for him that he’s found ace musicians to shepherd him through the final years of his career.
The Chrome Hearts, put together last year and featured on new album “Talkin to the Trees,” showed it’s more than up to the task. Made up of younger members—guitarist/keyboardist Micah Nelson, bassist Corey McCormick and drummer Anthony LoGerfo—and an old hand in legendary organist Spooner Oldham, the quartet provided whatever its leader needed at a given moment, from the stomp of “Cinnamon Girl” to the Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young harmonies of “Looking Forward” and everything in between.
The band’s more polished than, say, the primal garage rock of Crazy Horse, but the Chrome Hearts proved to be more versatile.
After closing the main set with “Old Man”—and turning the song he wrote in his 20s into a reflection of where he is in his life—he returned for a lurching, feedback-drenched “Hey Hey, My My (Into the Black).” The song’s performance was another example of what was clear all night: that Young has nothing to prove but can still transcend expectations.
Setlist:
1. Ambulance Blues
2. Cowgirl in the Sand
3. Be the Rain
4. Cinnamon Girl
5. Southern Man
6. Mr. Soul
7. Ohio
8. Looking Forward
9. Silver Eagle
10. Harvest Moon
11. Daddy Went Walkin’
12. New Mama
13. Sun Green
14. Like a Hurricane
15. Name of Love
16. Old Man
Encore:
17. Hey Hey, My My (Into the Black)
Eric Heisig is a freelance writer in Cleveland. He can be reached at [email protected].
Subscribe to Cleveland Scene newsletters.
Follow us: Apple News | Google News | NewsBreak | Reddit | Instagram | Facebook | Twitter | Or sign up for our RSS Feed
[ad_2]
Eric Heisig
Source link
[ad_1]
My Morning Jacket, over the more than two decades it has been together, has learned one thing incredibly well: how to transform compelling studio recordings into something even better live.
Onstage, the Louisville, Kentucky-hailing, psychedelic-alternative country-indie-rock-etc. band’s grooves get looser, the drums get heavier, the solos get longer and the crescendos get louder. Throwing in a first-class light show also helps.
That mastery was on display Friday night at the band’s sold-out concert at Cleveland Heights’ Cain Park (or, if you go by what was erroneously printed on the posters sold at the merch table, Calvin Park). Over 125 minutes and 19 songs, the quintet showed why its reputation as one of rock’s finest live acts endures.
My Morning Jacket last made an appearance in the Cleveland area in 2022 at a show at Jacobs Pavilion. Then, the band battled the summer heat while also showing off its latest self-titled album, and this reviewer noted that its energy appeared to wane by the end.
Not so on Friday night, even if the band was a bit shaggy at times (especially the voice of leader Jim James, though he ably handled most of the high notes), something that no doubt came from the touring the band undertook this summer. The show was the end of a run that began last month, during which the band co-headlined most concerts with Nathaniel Rateliff & the Night Sweats. It also threw in a few headlining dates of its own.
Shaggy or not, songs like “Off the Record,” “Lay Low” and “O Is the One That Is Real” powerfully emanated across the amphitheater and onto the lawn to the fervent crowd. So did “One Big Holiday,” “Anytime” and others.
James, when he wasn’t strumming or shredding on guitar, glided across the stage, though props go to each member for different reasons. Some standout moments came from guitarist Carl Broemel and keyboardist (and Lakewood native) Bo Koster. The former’s work on the pedal steel elevated encore opener “Wonderful (The Way I Feel), while Koster’s keyboards were featured in “Least Expected” and main set closer “Circuital.”
The real treat, however, was a faithful cover during the encore of Neil Young’s “Harvest Moon.” The quintet’s interplay was, like on so many other songs, exquisite, elevating a familiar tune into something even more special.
Jade Bird opened the night with a quick set of feisty folk music. The singer/songwriter had the unenviable task of trying on her own to sing over those still filing into Cain Park, and others who preferred to talk with fellow concertgoers. Those who were paying attention, though, heard strong originals that fit well alongside covers of Son House’s “Grinnin’ in Your Face” and Big Star’s “Thirteen.”
Setlist:
1. Off the Record
2. Touch Me I’m Going to Scream Pt. 1
3. Touch Me I’m Going to Scream Pt. 2
4. Holdin on to Black Metal
5. War Begun
6. Aren’t We One?
7. Least Expected
8. Spring (Among the Living)
9. O Is the One That Is Real
10. One Big Holiday
11. It Beats 4 U
12. Gideon
13. Lay Low
14. Circuital
Encore:
15. Wonderful (The Way I Feel)
16. Harvest Moon (Neil Young cover)
17. State of the Art (A.E.I.O.U.) (Jim James song)
18. Mahgeetah
19. Anytime
Eric Heisig is a freelance writer in Cleveland. He can be reached at [email protected].
Subscribe to Cleveland Scene newsletters.
Follow us: Apple News | Google News | NewsBreak | Reddit | Instagram | Facebook | Twitter | Or sign up for our RSS Feed
[ad_2]
Eric Heisig
Source link
[ad_1]
There’s no telling what King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard will do on a given night.
The Australian sextet has dabbled in an array of styles over the past dozen years. Maybe it’ll mess with electronics or engage in a psychedelic freakout. Or maybe they’ll go full-on jazz fusion.
On Saturday at Jacobs Pavilion, playing to what seemed like a capacity-and-then-some crowd, the band tried a little bit of a lot of things. There was psychedelia, bluesy rock and Middle Eastern-inspired jams.
And there was metal. A lot of metal.
The Gizz was making its first stop in Cleveland since a 2022 show at the Agora Theatre, a venue less than half the size of the outdoor amphitheater where Saturday’s show took place. Like in other places, it has built an ever-growing following in the city, in part due to its reputation as an excellent live band. Longtime fans speak fondly of early shows at the Happy Dog (which members shouted out in what was, to this reviewer, an indecipherable manner) and the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.
That fervent following — on display with lines for merchandise that stretched from the venue’s entrance to the bathrooms behind the bleachers — was also built on a prodigious release schedule. It can be hard to keep up, and that’s half the fun. The band released six studio albums since its last trip to Cleveland, including this month’s “Flight b741.”
Four songs came from that album on Saturday, including the harmonica-laden “Daily Blues” and the boogieing “Le Risque.” They fit right in in a show that appeared designed like a pu pu platter.
Opening up with the progressive rock-inspired “Magma,” vocalist and guitarist Stu Mackenzie prowled and bounded across the stage, paying homage to fellow Aussie Angus Young of AC/DC by rocking shorts. From there, the band dove into the psychedelic “Muddy Water.”
The show grooved on for a good hour though never meandered (and I can’t be 100% sure, but it appeared Terminal Tower’s lights synced up with “Ice V”). The Gizz improvises but it’s a far cry from what passes for music on the jam band scene. A lot of props go to drummer Michael Cavanaugh – who donned a Cavs jersey as either a Cleveland tribute, a play on his last name or both – for keeping the rhythms propulsive.
After a trio of psychedelic tunes from 2017’s “Polygondwanaland,” the music turned harder and faster. The band tore into “Superbug,” and audience members shouted the lyrics and pumped their firsts. It was off from there, finishing the 18-song set with one metal song after another.
There was the ferocious “Self-Immolate,” the chugging “Flamethrower” and show closer “Gila Monster,” which saw keyboardist/saxophonist Ambrose Kenny-Smith emerge from behind his rig and spit out a verse.
It was a brutally cathartic finish for a band that has so many styles from which to choose. I guess, on Saturday night, it wanted to let loose.
Opening band Geese warmed up the crowd with its brand of classic rock-inspired indie music. Lead vocalist Cameron Winter showed his considerable abilities and anchored the quintet’s 30-minute performance. And while the music was engaging, the band has some work to do to fill a venue like Jacobs Pavilion with its sound.
Full streaming video of the show below:
Setlist (courtesy of setlist.fm):
1. Magma
2. Muddy Water (with “The Bitter Boogie” drum beat)
3. Antarctica
4. Raw Feel
5. Daily Blues
6. Mr. Beat
7. Ice V
8. Le Risque
9. Inner Cell
10. Loyalty
11. Horology
12. Superbug
13. Supercell
14. Predator X (with “Perihelion” tease)
15. Self-Immolate
16. Flamethrower
17. Dragon
18. Gila Monster
Eric Heisig is a freelance writer in Cleveland. He can be reached at [email protected].
Subscribe to Cleveland Scene newsletters.
Follow us: Apple News | Google News | NewsBreak | Reddit | Instagram | Facebook | Twitter | Or sign up for our RSS Feed
[ad_2]
Eric Heisig
Source link
[ad_1]
Everything about Missy Elliott’s “Out of this World Tour” felt like an anomaly. It’s an anomaly that a four-time Grammy Awards winner who’s sold over 40 million records would be headlining her first arena tour since debuting 27 years ago. It’s also an anomaly that the openers — Timbaland, Busta Rhymes, and Ciara — are three music legends in their own rights with multiple platinum plaques hanging on their walls.
But yet here we are.
Timbaland, who’s more known for his production work with some of music’s biggest stars, hit the stage first. With his son Demetrius as his DJ, Timbaland took the crowd through his hits with Jay-Z, Justin Timberlake, Beyoncé, and Detroit’s late Aaliyah, including “One in a Million,” Are You That Somebody?,” and “Try Again.”
Next up was Busta Rhymes, who performed everything from his breakout verse on A Tribe Called Quest’s “Scenario” to “Put Your Hands Where My Eyes Could See” and “I Know What You Want.” The 52-year-old emcee also took time to pay homage to the late, legendary Detroit producer J Dilla, telling the crowd, “He’s produced a track on every album I’ve put out.”
Ciara batted cleanup as seven dancers joined her to give a thrilling performance on an awkwardly cool slanted slab stage. Her set had main act energy and included hits “Oh,” “Goodies,”, and “Level Up.”
Missy Elliott’s set started with monitors full of visuals that fit right at the crossroads of an ’80s George Clinton concert and a Guardians of the Galaxy movie. This was going to be a fast-paced intergalactic ride, and it was time for the audience to buckle up. She walked on the stage dressed in a glittery spacesuit performing the bass-heavy “Throw it Back” to the cheers of crowds (many of which were dressed like Missy). Songs “Cool Off” and “Sock It 2 Me” followed, and it seemed like she had a different digital backdrop and wardrobe change for every song. There were laser lights, pyrotechnics, and more than 20 dancers who sometimes dressed like astronauts and other times like medieval Power Rangers. One dancer dressed in an all-black outfit holding an umbrella gave the perfect routine for Missy’s mega hit, “The Rain (Supa Dupa Fly).” Missy also boarded a platform that hovered around Little Caesars Arena and performed “Gossip Folks,” there were breakdancers featured that were better than anything seen at the Olympics, and she jogged a lap around the entire main floor rapping “Work It.”
Her 70-minute set moved so fast it was hard to catch a breath. It was a beautiful futuristic layered body of music and visuals all connected perfectly. Yes, she was taking the crowd through her greatest hits but in a much different way than most artists do. Other than a shout out to Aaliyah and hugs with disabled fans, Missy stayed on script. The night finished with her bringing out Timbaland to perform “Up Jumps Da’ Boogie,” then Busta to perform, “Touch It,” and finally Ciara to perform, “Lose Control.”
Elliott, who was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame last year, has nothing to prove as her accomplishments have been cemented for years. With this tour she’s raised the bar on the kind of experience hip-hop acts — and especially legacy acts — can offer and has pushed hip-hop’s creativity forward even more.
[ad_2]
Kahn Santori Davison
Source link
[ad_1]
Evolution has been a part of Sleater-Kinney’s history since it formed, and the band’s concert Saturday night outside the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame was a reminder of that.
The Olympia, Washington-hailing band has been through many iterations, from its early days as part of the punky riot grrrl movement to its flirtations in the 2000s with psychedelic hard rock to now tinkering with synthesizers and ballads. And while some things haven’t changed, such as the band’s progressive politics and advocacy for the LGBTQ+ community, it’s good to remember how it has evolved when comparing the current iteration to ones from its past.
The duo of guitarists and lead singers Carrie Brownstein and Corin Tucker are now working to forge a path as an indie rock institution and determine what that means to them. The 85-minute, 22-song concert—the first in Cleveland since a 2015 show at the House of Blues—shows that they’re mostly succeeding.
To be sure, part of the band’s evolution was necessary, as longtime drummer Janet Weiss departed in 2019. Her thundering percussion left a void and it takes three auxiliary musicians, including current drummer Angie Boylan, to fill it. But the now-quintet proved it can adeptly and powerfully tackle any era of the band’s music, veering from gentle to raucous while always paying special attention to precision.
Tucker and Brownstein also remain forces onstage. The latter constantly bounds about and is airborne while unleashing riffs and solos on her Gibson SG. Tucker’s more stoic, though proved on “Untidy Creature” and show closer “Entertain” that her legendary wail is still intact.
Their guitar work, which sees both members weaving through each other’s playing, also remains impressive.
The duo’s newer songs, including the ones on this year’s “Little Rope,” show them taking a new direction now that they don’t build songs around Weiss’ drumming. The album was represented Saturday by eight songs, and while some are as punky as the band’s output from the 1990s, others are moodier and more atmospheric.
Songs like “Dress Yourself” and encore opener “Say It Like You Mean It” mixed well live with older tunes like “All Hands on the Bad One” and “I Wanna Be Your Joey Ramone.”
Tucker noted Saturday that 2024 marked 30 years since Sleater-Kinney came together. Brownstein added that it felt different to see their “life encased in glass” in a Rock Hall exhibit featuring the band’s lyrics and some of Tucker’s clothing.
But Saturday’s concert, which shone a brighter light on music released after the band reformed in 2014, showed that the members were, as Brownstein said, still very much interested in the present. Possibly even the next evolution.
Openers Die Spitz warmed up the crowd with its brand of punk and metal. The Austin, Texas quartet’s songs repeatedly stopped and lurched forward during the 40-minute set. Vocalist/guitarist Ellie Livingston and bassist Kate Halter did most of the heavy lifting performance-wise, though Chloe Andrews and Ava Schrobilgen also showed off their versatility by switching between guitar and drums and taking turns behind the microphone.
Setlist:
1. Hell
2. Needlessly Wild
3. Bury Our Friends
4. The Center Won’t Hold
5. Small Finds
6. One More Hour
7. Oh!
8. Start Together
9. Hunt You Down
10. The Future Is Here
11. All Hands on the Bad One
12. Don’t Feel Right
13. Hurry On Home
14. Price Tag
15. Jumpers
16. Dress Yourself
17. Modern Girl
18. Untidy Creature
Encore:
19. Say It Like You Mean It
20. I Wanna Be Your Joey Ramone
21. Dig Me Out
22. Entertain
Eric Heisig is a freelance writer in Cleveland. He can be reached at [email protected].
Subscribe to Cleveland Scene newsletters.
Follow us: Apple News | Google News | NewsBreak | Reddit | Instagram | Facebook | Twitter | Or sign up for our RSS Feed
[ad_2]
Eric Heisig
Source link
[ad_1]
Midway through The Rolling Stones’ concert Saturday night at Cleveland Browns Stadium, frontman Mick Jagger referenced the band’s first full show in the Forest City six decades ago.
“It was pretty empty but it was still rowdy,” Jagger said of the 1964 Public Auditorium show.
The comment was no doubt a throwaway line meant to amp up a capacity crowd at one of the biggest shows the city will host this year. Still, it highlighted that the British rock ’n’ roll band has put out music and toured for 60-plus years. How many groups can claim that?
That longevity, as well as a killer songbook with numerous hits, are the reasons the Stones still fill stadiums. And even though principals Jagger and guitarist Keith Richards are now north of 80 years old (decades past the age required to join AARP, which sponsors the band’s current jaunt) and guitarist Ronnie Wood is in his late 70s, the members and their eight backing musicians put on a lean, muscular show that had them sounding as good as ever.
Jagger in particular is a human specimen that science must struggle to explain. He may not sprint across stages anymore, but he was still in constant motion during Saturday’s 19-song, nearly two-hour performance, frequently making use of the massive stage and catwalk. As for Richards and Wood, their guitar “weaving” gave the show a spontaneity that many bands of the Stones’ stature lack.
Like so many of the band’s tours in the back half of their career, most of the focus was on a core set of their best-known songs. Opening the show with rocker “Start Me Up” and closing with the sneering “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction,” the show was heavy on the hits and light on the deeper cuts that make their catalog so rich.
The concert was the Stones’ first since a 2002 show at Gund Arena. They were set to perform at the football stadium in 2020 but cancelled due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Since then, the band lost the steady backbeat of original drummer Charlie Watts in 2021 and replaced him with longtime Richards associate Steve Jordan.
Jordan lacks some of the finesse of his predecessor but his pounding drums (which he seemingly played with his entire body) kept the show moving at a brisk pace. They powered a show light on frills (no geysers of flames during “Sympathy for the Devil,” for example) but heavy on expert instrumental interplay, like the work Jordan did with bassist Darryl Jones on a groove-heavy “Miss You.”
New album Hackney Diamonds, the band’s first in seven years, was represented with a handful of cuts that, well, sound like the Stones. While the band can be lauded for still putting out new material, none of the songs, save for perhaps “Angry,” made much of an impression. They likely won’t make lists of the band’s best tunes.
Another (possibly evergreen) gripe: diehards like this reviewer will always long for some deeper cuts. While it’s thrilling to hear “Jumpin’ Jack Flash” and “Honky Tonk Women” played live, some of the most special moments were when the band busted out rarer songs like “Monkey Man” and the fan-voted “Doo Doo Doo Doo Doo (Heartbreaker).”
At this stage in their career, that may be asking a lot. And hey, if they’re not going to mix it up, it’s best to focus on what makes each night’s show different: Richards and Wood’s guitar interplay.
Both improvise heavily live, which can lead to the occasional flubbed note and sloppy solo. But when they’re on, their bluesy lick-trading capabilities are unmatched, like on highlights “Tumbling Dice” and the Richards-fronted “Happy.”
Given that the band’s last show in Cleveland was more than 20 years ago, it’s anybody’s guess whether, given the members’ ages, they’ll play here again. If Saturday’s show is the last time the band sets foot here, it can do so knowing that they gave a performance as strong as any by bands half their age.
Setlist:
1. Start Me Up
2. It’s Only Rock ‘n’ Roll (But I Like It)
3. Let’s Spend the Night Together
4. Angry
5. Doo Doo Doo Doo Doo (Heartbreaker)
6. Monkey Man
7. Whole Wide World
8. Tumbling Dice
9. You Can’t Always Get What You Want
10. Tell Me Straight
11. Little T&A
12. Happy
13. Sympathy for the Devil
14. Honky Tonk Women
15. Miss You
16. Gimme Shelter
17. Paint It Black
18. Jumpin’ Jack Flash
Encore:
19. (I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction
Eric Heisig is a freelance writer in Cleveland. He can be reached at [email protected].
Subscribe to Cleveland Scene newsletters.
Follow us: Google News | NewsBreak | Reddit | Instagram | Facebook | Twitter
[ad_2]
Eric Heisig
Source link
[ad_1]
Vibes were high at Jacobs Pavilion on Wednesday night, when Khruangbin soared through a set of groovy, summery songs fitting for the outdoor venue.
The Texas-based musical trio — Laura Lee Ochoa on bass and vocals, Mark Speer on the guitar and vocals and Donald “DJ” Johnson on the drums — brings an electrifying psychedelic rock sound to the forefront of their music, with hints of inspiration from various genres such as rock, soul and funk.
From the moment it played its first song from its latest album, “Fifteen Fifty-Three,” the band electrified the crowd with a crisp sound that felt personal and intimate. The intimacy of the first song set the tone for the night and highlighted the album’s themes of nostalgia, familiarity and home.
“It’s like a spiritual feeling that I get when I listen to them,” says one concertgoer, who drove from Columbus to see the band. “[Their music] just uplifts me and [has] nice energy. A lot of their songs just mean a lot to me.”
Although Ochoa and Speer are well-known and don’t seem shy of the spotlight, there’s a mysteriousness that follows them as they perform. Wearing long, black wigs created an air of anonymity and a tension that felt almost otherworldly — yet the chemistry between all the band members remained intact.
The stage and lights imitated the album’s cover, featuring a house window, through which scenes of the weather changed — going from sunrise, to sunset, to night stars, to a thunderstorm.
The band overwhelmed the crowd with their airy synths and vocals as they transitioned into “May Ninth,” with Ochoa’s deep and rich bass warming the venue. Seamless transitions kept two sets of songs moving into the night.
Despite technical difficulties halfway through the band’s fifth song “Pon Pón,” where Mark’s pedalboard malfunctioned and caused the band to leave the stage for 20 minutes, the group was able to come back and win the crowd back over.
A La Sala, meaning “to the living room” in Spanish, marks the band’s first album in four years, following 2020’s Mordechai, which was released during the beginning stages of the COVID pandemic. Back then, it was a time when hope was faint, and fate was questionable. Mordechai felt like an album to distract the world from its grievances and get it to feel, while A La Sala feels like a 12-tracked layered, bittersweet love letter to fans and to the band’s home state of Texas.
“’A la Sala:’ I used to scream it around my house when I was a little girl, to get everybody in the living room; to get my family together. That’s kind of what recording the new album felt like,” Ochoa said at the show. “Emotionally, there was a desire to get back to square one between the three of us, to where we come from in sonics and in feeling. Let’s get back there.”
Khruangbin Setlist: May 29, 2024, Jacobs Pavilion:
1. “Fifteen Fifty‐Three”
2. “May Ninth”
3. “Ada Jean”
4. “Farolim de Felgueiras”
5. “Pon Pón”
6. “Todavía Viva”
7. “Juegos y Nubes”
8. “Hold Me Up (Thank You)”
9. “Caja de la Sala”
10. “Three From Two”
11. “A Love International”
Set 2:
12. “August Twelve”
13. “Dern Kala”
14. “The Number 3”
15. “The Recital That Never Happened”
16. “Shida”
17. “So We Won’t Forget”
18. “The Infamous Bill”
19. “Pelota”
20. “María También”
21. “Time (You and I)”
Encore:
22. “Evan Finds the Third Room”
23. “People Everywhere (Still Alive)”
Subscribe to Cleveland Scene newsletters.
Follow us: Apple News | Google News | NewsBreak | Reddit | Instagram | Facebook | Twitter | Or sign up for our RSS Feed
[ad_2]
Jala Forest
Source link
[ad_1]
Midway through Alkaline Trio’s concert in Cleveland on Friday, frontman and guitarist Matt Skiba said he didn’t think everyone would make it after the past few years, let alone get 2,000 people in a room together for a concert.
“Covid happened, I thought it was curtains for all of us,” Skiba told the crowd at the Agora Theatre. “I’m really glad it wasn’t. This song is called ‘Armageddon.’”
The fans, of course, roared. And while his statement came well into the band’s 20-song show, it set the tone for the night. The band, firmly in its third decade and armed with a catalog of emo and goth-tinged punk rock, seemed happy to be playing and basked in the adoration of the sold-out audience.
It responded with a tight, professional 80-minute concert, one put on by middle-aged men playing a type of music frequently played by people half their age. They even dressed up for the occasion by wearing suits (though new drummer Atom Willard was forgiven for not wearing a sport coat).
Touring behind its 10th studio album Blood, Hair, and Eyeballs, released in January, the trio opened with new song “Hot for Preacher” and played a healthy heaping of the record. The new music has the occasional moody and metallic touches, like on “Bad Time,” but never strays far from punk.
The vibe put off by the members was that they are in a good spot. While the band never went away (Alkaline Trio last played the same venue six years ago), Skiba’s time over the past decade as the guitarist and co-lead singer of blink-182 gave him less bandwidth to put out material with his main project. Now, with original blink-182 singer Tom DeLonge back in that fold, it appears Skiba’s determined to focus on his own trio.
Still, the years with blink-182 refined Skiba’s performing skills. He was in fine voice and showed that the smallest gestures can be as effective as wildly jumping around. This isn’t a pogoing performer, but he was no less energetic as he moved across the Agora stage. Bassist Dan Andriano was no slouch either as he took the helm for several songs, and Willard showed he’d earned his spot in the band by bashing the skins as hard as he could.
The rabid audience sang along to every song, new and old. They reacted loudest for earlier tunes like “Fuck You Aurora,” “Mr. Chainsaw” and show closer “Radio.”
If there was one criticism, it’s that the band should trust its audience more and play more of its new material. More than half the songs on Friday came from 2003 and earlier. But that’s a minor quibble, as Alkaline Trio met its marks throughout the show.
Hardcore band Drug Church opened with a high-energy 40-minute set. Led by vocalist/growler/pseudo-crooner Patrick Kindlon, the Albany, New York-hailing band doled out one pummeling metal-influenced punk song after another. Kindlon, seemingly aware of his duties to hype up the crowd for the main act, consistently implored the audience to mosh.
“Alkaline Trio is a punk band,” he said, “so treat it like a punk show and move your fucking asses.”
Setlist
1. Hot for Preacher
2. We’ve Had Enough
3. Take Lots with Alcohol
4. Bad Time
5. Versions of You
6. Mr. Chainsaw
7. One Hundred Stories
8. Calling All Skeletons
9. Cringe
10. Break
11. Armageddon
12. Fuck You Aurora
13. Mercy Me
14. Warbrain
15. Crawl
16. Blood, Hair, and Eyeballs
17. Stupid Kid
18. Private Eye
19. Time to Waste
Encore:
20. Radio
Eric Heisig is a freelance writer in Cleveland. He can be reached at [email protected].
Subscribe to Cleveland Scene newsletters.
Follow us: Apple News | Google News | NewsBreak | Reddit | Instagram | Facebook | Twitter | Or sign up for our RSS Feed
[ad_2]
Eric Heisig
Source link
[ad_1]
“I just made all that shit up,” a beanie- and overalls-clad André 3000 says after delivering a powerful speech of gibberish that sounds like he’s speaking in tongues.
He explains to the crowd gathered at the Masonic Cathedral Theatre for his New Blue Sun performance in Detroit that it’s a combination of every language you’ve ever heard and that sometimes it feels good to just make noise. In fact, weird noises are encouraged at this show.
André 3000 and his ensemble played three gigs in Detroit on his New Blue Sun tour, one at Cliff Bells on Thursday and two at the Masonic Temple on Friday. He and his backing band — comprised of Carlos Nino, Nate Mercereau, and Surya Botofasina — riffed off songs from the reclusive rapper’s surprise new instrumental album, released in November, playing some of the main melodies and freestyling the rest. New Blue Sun is an improvisational album anyway, so it made sense. Throughout the tour the band will end up playing new music every night.
The smoke machine works overtime to billow hazy streams across the stage in the dimly lit cathedral. A blue laser beams down onto André’s flute from the balcony as a chorus of ring lights glow like luminescent all-seeing eyes cutting through the darkness.
André changes flutes several times throughout the show, sometimes playing distorted notes that sound more like they’re coming from a keyboard. The most interesting thing happening onstage isn’t André himself, however; it’s the percussion coming from Carlos Nino, who uses mallets to play the cymbals like a gong. Gentle wind chimes and thunderous beats like a war drum fill the cathedral like a sound bath meditation.
The best way to enjoy the show is to close your eyes. The music allows you to settle into stillness and as the night progresses I notice the tension in my shoulders and legs before allowing the music to melt it away.
André invites the audience to join him in releasing whatever noises they feel like as he growls and purrs like a panther before playing “That Night In Hawaii When I Turned Into A Panther And Started Making These Low Register Purring Tones That I Couldn’t Control … Sh¥t Was Wild.” While there’s a bit of hesitation and no one quite lets themselves go completely, the crowd obliges with the occasional yell or “whoooo.” He tells us to take deep breaths, stand up, and stretch like an internal voice embodied.
In between songs, André gives short speeches, telling us how he began playing his flute in Los Angeles parks and met Nino in a grocery store, leading them to record New Blue Sun in his garage. He says that when he plays his flute in public, people from all cultures come up to him, because every culture has their own version of the ancient instrument.
“Whaddup doe,” he says. “I learned that yesterday.”
The Detroit crowd loves it.
The audience seems to be waiting for a climax but there isn’t one. Just four guys making it up as they go along like we’re all ultimately doing in this life. As the end of the night draws near underneath the crucifix hanging from the venue’s ceiling, frantic notes and screeching melodies start to feel like a horror movie soundtrack with the cathedral’s stained glass windows as a backdrop.
Appearing humble, he shouts out all the great music coming from Detroit, including the late new age jazz player Yusef Lateef.
“Tell Jack White we want to make some music with him,” André 3000 says before thanking the audience for allowing him to explore and leaving the stage.
Subscribe to Metro Times newsletters.
Follow us: Google News | NewsBreak | Reddit | Instagram | Facebook | Twitter
[ad_2]
Randiah Camille Green
Source link
[ad_1]
Madonna’s first concert in Cleveland in more than a decade was a nostalgic career overview, a dance spectacular and a visual extravaganza.
There were some moments Thursday night at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse where she tried to push buttons and others where The Queen of Pop simply tried to create the best dance party in the city.
In other words, it was the type of show the 2008 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductee has been known for throughout her four decade-plus career. Even at its messiest moments, you’re not going to look away.
“Are you ready to hear the story of my life?” the Detroit native asked the capacity crowd, many of whom had held onto their tickets for months after she rescheduled her original August date for health reasons.
Absolutely.
Coming to Northeast Ohio as part of her “Celebration Tour,” her two-hour, 15-minute show represented her own twist on the career-overview concert that seems to again be in fashion. But she did it her way. It was as if the 65-year-old took a greatest hits set and put it in a blender.
Splitting up the show into seven acts, the concert featured tales of lust, religion, struggle, success and controversy. It highlighted aspects of the LGBTQ+ community in a way that shows that its struggles have lasted for decades.
Some of the stories were autobiographical, some were wild dreams acted out by a cadre of dancers who jumped, kicked and stage fought their way through a 26-song setlist that sounded like a DJ tried to mix it to perfection.
And Madonna, complete with her myriad tough and tender personalities, was right there with them as she sang along (often to backing tracks that included her own vocals) and moved from the rotating main stage to others that jutted into the crowd.
The highlights were many. The first portion of the show featured early hits like “Into the Groove” and “Burning Up,” with the visuals evoking New York City in the early 1980s.
There was a moving take on “Live to Tell,” which featured images of people who died during the AIDS crisis. Madonna’s young daughter Esther also took her own star turn, showing off her dance moves during an extended “Vogue.”
And an acoustic singalong of 1989 hit “Express Yourself” was just as powerful as any of the dance tunes that populated the set.
I had a few gripes, though.
For one, the concert didn’t start in earnest until 10:10 p.m., with “RuPaul’s Drag Race” eighth season winner Bob the Drag Queen coming out to introduce the main act. It may be very un-rock-and-roll to complain about a show that ends past midnight, but such late start times don’t often happen anymore at major shows.
It was also the loudest show I’ve attended in quite a while, with the low end overpowering everything else at times. It wasn’t clear if this was a feature or a bug, though Madonna did thank the crowd at one point for putting up with the sound issues, saying that “You’ve got to roll with the punches, am I right?”
The strength of the music and performance ultimately rendered these quibbles minor, though.
The show ended, like it began, with a string of hits. The singer danced above the crowd in what looked like an elevator car during a remixed “Ray of Light.”
And penultimate song, “Bitch I’m Madonna,” saw her dancers clad in outfits from throughout her career, including a nod to her role as a Rockford Peaches baseball player in A League of Their Own.
While that and the rest of the show was an exercise in nostalgia, it didn’t feel like it. Instead, the singer found unique ways to freshen up her music and performance for a new decade.
But with the high bar she sets, should we have expected anything else?
Setlist:
1. Nothing Really Matters
2. Everybody
3. Into the Groove
4. Burning Up
5. Open Your Heart
6. Holiday
7. Live to Tell
8. Like a Prayer
9. Erotica
10. Justify My Love
11. Hung Up
12. Bad Girl
13. Vogue
14. Human Nature
15. Crazy for You
16. Die Another Day
17. Don’t Tell Me
18. Mother and Father
19. Express Yourself
20. La Isla Bonita
21. Don’t Cry for Me Argentina
22. Bedtime Story
23. Ray of Light
24. Rain
25. Bitch I’m Madonna
26. Celebration
Eric Heisig is a freelance writer in Cleveland. He can be reached at [email protected].
[ad_2]
Eric Heisig
Source link
